Battle of Bellevue
Boxing in Bellevue? That’s right. Makina Boxing Promotions held a card of ten boxing matches on Saturday, March 13 in downtown Bellevue at the Meydenbauer Center. It was a sellout and the promotion announced during the fights that they plan to put on fight cards every two months in the future. Hopefully that is the case as the Meydenbauer Center is a great location and it was a good night of fights. Here is a recap of the evening’s fights.
Devontae McDonald Earns First Professional Win with First Round Knockout
It was a successful start to Devontae McDonald’s pro career as he earned a quick stoppage in the first round over Kelton Hall. McDonald who fights out of Wenatchee wasted little time getting started as the action was fast paced and furious. Hall, who fights out of Redmond, dropped to 2-1 in his professional career.
Alarenz Reynolds Improves to 4-0 with Majority Decision Over Juan Jackson
Both fighters were working their jabs early in this fight. Reynolds likely won the first round with several effective body shots and forward pressure. Jackson had a nice moment in the round with a quick right hand as Reynolds moved in. Reynolds also landed a big right hand late in the first round that backed up Jackson.
Jackson started well in the second round as he was a little busier than in the first round. He landed a couple of nice uppercuts early in the round. But a Reynold’s jab followed by a big right hand had Jackson hurt and up against the ropes. Reynolds hammered Jackson’s body from the clinch during the sequence. As the fighters moved to the corner, Reynolds continued to pummel Jackson’s body. A big right hand appeared to hurt Jackson as Reynolds inflicted a lot of damage in this round. Jackson, to his credit, showed an impressive chin in this round. The second round was clearly Reynolds.
At the start of Round 3, Reynold’s landed some big shots, while Jackson snuck in a nice little uppercut as Reynold’s pursued Jackson into the corner. The fourth and final round saw a flurry of action late as both fighters were throwing hard, but it was Reynolds who appeared to land the cleaner blows.
Julio Ocampo Hernandez Wins First Professional Bout Against Marcos Lopez
Julio Ocampo Hernandez won his professional debut against Marcos Lopez who was also appearing in his first pro fight. Hernandez came out aggressive and hit Lopez early with a big right hand. Both fighters were throwing hard and furious early. Hernandez then landed another big right hand that put Lopez up against the ropes as Hernandez worked the body. Hernandez continued doing nice work with his man up against the ropes as he was able to split Hernandez’s guard with a nifty uppercut. A big left hand by Hernandez then hurt Lopez and after a flurry of punches from Hernandez the referee stepped in with the standing eight count. When the fight restarted a clean right hand for Hernandez, followed by shots to the body had the referee calling the TKO at 1:30 of Round 1.
Margarito Hernandez Boxes Way to Split Decision Over Jose Cervantes
Margarito Hernandez put on a bit of a boxing clinic as he was able to effectively avoid Jose Cervantes big right hand for most of the fight. Hernandez was impressive as he repeatedly was able to use his footwork to evade Cervantes’ big shots by stepping out of range and hitting his man with counter attacks. Cervantes had been impressive in his first two professional bouts, as he won both by TKO. The judges gave Hernandez the split decision, but Seattle Fights scored the fight as a unanimous decision victory for Hernandez.
Both of these fighters have the potential to have nice pro careers. Keep an eye on Hernandez, in particular, as his ring IQ and boxing skills shined in this fight and portend well for his boxing future.
Gilberto Duran Wins By Knockout Against Jahelel Brito Carillo
Say this for Jahelel Brito Carillo, he is a fighter who will go out on his shield. Constantly moving forward and applying pressure, it took a strong effort by Gilberto Duran as he was effective in dealing with the pressure. Duran displayed excellent footwork in this fight, occasionally switching stances. Carillo, the smaller fighter in this bout, appeared to be throwing with more power and occasionally found success working the body with Duran up against the ropes. Round 1 was close, but Duran did some really nice work late in the round. At the start of Round 2, both fighters came out throwing hard. Early in the round, Duran landed a sequence of three punches that all found their mark. Carillo, to his credit, continued to move forward and make this an all action fight. Carillo landed two nice body punches, but a counter left hook dropped Carillo. When the fight restarted after the standing eight count, Carillo looked wobbly. Duran then put Carillo in the corner and landed several nice body punches and a couple hooks upstairs.
Showing an impressive chin, Carillo continued to march forward, undeterred by several hard punches by Duran that snapped Carillo’s head. Carillo likely threw too much caution to the wind, clearly hurt as he pressed forward. A couple of big shots then dropped Carillo for the second time to give Duran the knockout win.
William Hernandez Bests Jacob George By Third Round Knockout
William Hernandez improved to 8-2 against Jacob George. Hernandez opened the fight by pressuring George. George did well early when he landed a big right hook that appeared to hurt and wobble Hernandez. George then pressed his advantage and landed a couple more solid hooks. Hernandez then started to turn the tide of the fight as he landed a clean left hook that knocked out George’s mouthpiece. When the fight restarted, Hernandez landed a nice right hand that put George up against the ropes. Late in the round, Hernandez landed a nice hook upstairs. But George closed strong at the very end of the round with several hooks that landed with his back to the corner.
Hernandez pressed forward at the start of Round 2 as both fighters were throwing hard and landing punches. Midway through the round Hernandez had a really nice sequence as he landed a couple of hooks, then tripled up on his jab and landed a nice right hand to follow. Hernandez then landed a couple of uppercuts that appeared to hurt George as George went to the corner. George’s mouthpiece once more found its way to the canvas as the fight was stopped. On the re-start, Hernandez continued to press forward. Both fighters then landed, but it was Hernandez with the better punch as he landed to the body. Hernandez then finished the round very strong landing a bunch of clean shots. Hernandez landed two massive hooks at the end of the round.
The end came in Round 3, as Hernandez continued to land punishing shots. Somehow George’s mouthpiece almost came out a third time in the fight and as he was attempting to position it back in his mouth, the referee had seen enough as Hernandez had thoroughly punished George. The referee waved off the fight 52 seconds into Round 3.
James Browning Impressive in TKO Victory Against William Parra Smith
James Browning opened his fight against William Parra Smith by doing good work with body shots. Browning pressed forward throughout most of the round. Browning easily won the round and clipped Parra Smith several times with hard punches.
It was a rather uneventful start to Round 2. Midway through the round, Browning started having a good deal of success. Parra Smith did have a nice moment to close the round with a nice left hook but it likely wasn’t enough to win him the round.
Round 3 was the best round for Parra Smith. He landed a clean left hook to Browning’s head. Parra Smith moved forward this round, which was a departure from the first two rounds. Round 4 was a solid round for both fighters.
The end came in Round 5 as Browning got busy. Two hard right hooks to the body dropped Parra Smith, giving Browning the TKO victory at 2:19 of Round 5. Browning improved to 9-0 with the victory, seven of those wins coming by knockout.
Richard VanSiclen Improves to 12-0 in Entertaining Fight With Cameron Rivera
Richard VanSiclen remained undefeated with a unanimous decision victory against Cameron Rivera. VanSiclen had success going to the body in a pretty uneventful first round. VanSiclen snuck in a nice right hand that snapped Rivera’s head back early in Round 2. Rivera had a nice moment with a nice hard right hand counter. But a big left hand from VanSiclen staggered Rivera late in the round. As Round 2 came to an end the fighters got a bit busier. Rivera continued to press forward in Round 3, as he did for a good portion of the fight. VanSiclen showed some nice boxing in Round 4 during a nice sequence when he landed to nice right uppercuts followed by a left to the body. Rivera landed a good, short right hook upstairs in the round as well as two clean blows to the body by way of a left hooks. This was one of Rivera’s better rounds as he also snapped VanSiclen’s head with a right hand.
Stretches of this fight saw a fair amount of lackluster action, but Round 5 was one of the best rounds of the fight. Rivera once more had a nice sequence when he landed a big shot that staggered VanSiclen. Rivera closed the round landing several shots to the head. VanSiclen tried to play it off by shaking his head but it seemed pretty apparent Rivera did some real damage.
To VanSiclen’s credit, he recovered well between rounds and looked solid to start to the round. VanSiclen then had one of his best moments as he staggered Rivera and teed off. Rivera, showing good toughness, recovered quickly, however. Rivera landed a big right hand toward the end of the round. As the round closed, both fighters were throwing hard and the crowd responded with loud cheers.
Rivera continued pressing forward in Round 6 and early on had a nice sequence as he pummeled VanSiclen in the corner. VanSiclen clipped Rivera with a solid right hand late, and also scored with a good uppercut to close the round. In the final round, Rivera landed the most significant blow with a big right hand. Both fighters were clearly exhausted as this 8 round bout came to a close.
Jonathan Fierro Shines With Second Round KO to Take NABA Featherweight Championship
Both fighters came out in Round 1 throwing hard. A big left hand by Jonathan Fierro rocked his opponent, Daniel Bailey early in the round. With the fight entering the clinch, Bailey picked up Fierro and had Seattle Fights briefly thinking that Bailey might complete a wrestling takedown. After Bailey ultimately set Fierro back down, Fierro appeared to land a big left overhand that may have caught Bailey in the back of the head. Fierro then cracked Bailey with a couple of hooks with Bailey up against the ropes. Fierro also landed a nice uppercut to the body. A late body shot by Bailey dropped Fierro to one knee and the standing eight count followed. That was clearly Bailey’s best moment of the fight.
In Round 2, Fierro showed that he recovered quickly from the knockdown as he came out and quickly landed a big straight left hand that had Bailey backing up. Another big left hand by Fierro clipped Bailey. A straight left hand for Fierro appeared to hurt Bailey as he backed up. Fierro stepped in and was hammering Bailey with hooks up against the ropes. Bailey then wisely tied up Fierro in the clinch. The referee stepped in to separate the fighters and on the restart Fierro aggressively pressed forward and slammed Bailey with several hooks that dropped Bailey. The referee had seen enough as Fierro earned the KO at 1:46 of Round 2.
Deonte Brown Defeats Jesus Saracho by Ninth Round TKO
Round 1 of the WBO Latino / NABA Championship Lightweight bout was fairly uneventful as there was not much to separate the two fighters in a close round. Bailey had some success midway through Round 2 with some nice body work. A big right hook upstairs also found the mark for Bailey. A flurry of action at the end of Round 2, however, saw Saracho get the better of the exchange. Saracho was a bit more aggressive in Round 3. Bailey scored with some nice jabs to start Round 4, which likely went Bailey’s way. Saracho won Round 5 with a flurry of action late in the round as he scored to the body. Round 6 continued to see the momentum turn in Fierro’s favor as he landed several solid combinations. The most significant action of the fight occurred at the start of Round 9 as Bailey snapped Saracho’s head back with a left hand. Both fighters to their credit threw hard in the round. Bailey got the stoppage at 1:09 of Round 9 as Bailey dropped Saracho up against the ropes.
