SPORTS WRAP
STORY & PHOTOS BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
This past weekend, Top Rank Boxing stepped inside the Theater at Madison Square Garden with a showcase of talented boxers on an eight fight card.
In the first fight, Brandan Ayala took on Julius Ballo who made his pro debut in a 4 round lightweight fight, where the young upstart scored an upset this match by decision.
In a fight for the Junior Bantamweight title, Steve Navarro stayed undefeated after beating now 11-3 Cristopher Rios by unanimous decision. The 3rd fight of the night had Yan Santana defeating Aaron Alameda, who was 30-2 coming in for the vacant Nabo Featherweight title. All three judges gave the win to Santana 100-90.
The 4th fight of the night this fight was to go 4 rounds for the Junior Bantamweight, in which Juanmita Lopez De Jesus dropped Jorge Gonzalez-Sanchez in a 2nd round surprise knockout after two knockdowns in Round 1. The next fight had Rohan Polanco beating Quinton Randall for the WBO intercontinental Welterweight crown. Polanco remains undefeated at 17-0.
In Fight #6, undefeated Emiliano Vargas scored a vicious KO on Alexander Espinoza in less than a minute in a super lightweight fight. The next fight had Brooklyn’s 15-0 Bruce Carrington win a 12-round WBC interim Featherweight World Title bout over Mateus Heita by unanimous decision.
Finally, in the main event of the night it was a battle of Mexico and Puerto Rico, with two great fighters going the distance for 12 rounds. Jorge Garcia came in at 33-4 against 21-0 Xander Zayas for the vacant WBO Junior Middleweight World Title. At the end, it was Xander Zayas winning the crown in front of a sellout crowd.
The clash between Zayas and Garcia was the last one on ESPN, as Top Rank’s deal with the network has come to an end.
