Professional boxing returned to Emerald Queen Casino on Friday, April 7th. The casino hosted seven professional bouts in association with California based promoter Toro Promotions. The Pacific Northwest once more turned out for boxing as it was an announced sellout at the EQC Event Center. Read on for a recap of all seven bouts, in reverse order of their appearance on the card.
Brandon Valdes Wins Vacant WBA Fedebol Featherweight Championship With Unanimous Decision Over Angel Antonio Contreras
The main event was an entertaining back and forth fight that saw Brandon Valdes do well early and late as Angel Antonio Contreras found success in the middle rounds. Seattle Fights scored the close fight 96-94 in favor of Valdes. The official judges’ scorecards did not reflect how close the fight was with scores of 99-91, 98-92, 98-92.
Round 1 went to Valdes in a close round, due to Valdes landing the cleaner and heavier punches. Round 2 was a pretty dominant round for Valdes. In Round 3, Contreras started having some success as he pushed forward and landed some heavy uppercuts as he pushed Valdes up against the ropes. Contreras then landed a solid right hand that appeared to hurt Valdes. Round 4 was close but also appeared to be Contreras’ round as he landed a big right hand as he moved forward and put Valdes up against the ropes. Round 5 was evenly contested but Contreras likely pulled it out late with more activity. Valdes then took control of most the remainder of the fight as he landed the cleaner shots, but Seattle Fights scored a close Round 8 for Valdes.
Neeco “The Rooster” Macias Returns From Retirement With Fifth Round TKO Of Ramon Ayala
Neeco Macias returned after a four-year layoff to outwork and stop Ramon Ayala when Ayala didn’t answer the bell to start Round 6. Macias is an entertaining fighter. His walkout to the Alice in Chains’ grunge rock hit anthem Rooster was a sight to behold. Macias also does an interesting rooster impression. But when the fight starts the man is all action. In all five rounds he repeatedly bullied Ayala into the ropes and from there he went shoulder to shoulder with the Mexican and simply outworked Ayala. Ayala would occasionally fire back countershots with his back on the ropes, but Macias was relentless in his attacks and was nonstop action.
Ayala was starting to look tired and worn out in the fourth round and after the fifth round he remained in his corner as the sixth round was set to start. The TKO stoppage for Macias improved his record to 18-2, ending a two-fight skid after losing to former WBA interim welterweight title challenger Jesus Soto Karass and Jeremy Ramos.
Josue Cadena Impresses in Pro Debut With Round 3 TKO of Jayden Salway
Josue Cadena was impressive with a third round TKO stoppage in his pro debut against Jayden Salway, who fell to 0-2-1 with the loss. In the first round, pressured Cadena and had some success. Salway landed a big overhand right midway through the round. But Cadena also had some success counterpunching and also landing right hands to the body. It was a close round that Seattle Fights scored for Salway due to his forward pressure and activity. Salway continued to press forward in the second round and had success early in the round. Cadena then took control of the fight with to hard shots to the body that had Salway on the canvas, drawing the standing eight count from the referee. Salway showed good fight on the re-start as he pressed forward throwing shots to the body as he backed Cadena up to the ropes. Cadena then turned Salway and had him up against the ropes landing shots to the body. Cadena once more dropped Salway with a left uppercut to the body after he had landed an overhand left. After the standing eight count, Salway appeared to have recovered, despite wearing damage on his face. But early in Round 3 a right hand to the body dropped Salway 30 seconds into the bout resulting in Cadena’s first pro victory.
Jon Bryant Displays Some Flash In Unanimous Decision Victory Against Timothy Parks
Jon Bryant intends to entertain when he fights as he repeatedly showboated during his bout against Timothy Parks. Bryant, of Clinton Utah, improved to 7-0 with the victory. Bryant, who is a long and rangy fighter at 6’3 repeatedly gave Parks problems with his length. Bryant displayed good boxing skills, repeatedly using his jab and effective counterpunching and footwork whenever Parks was able to pressure Bryant. Parks to be sure, had some success in this fight, but he was unable to hurt Bryant or score enough to make this a competitive fight.
Bryant had his best moment in Round 3 when he staggered Parks with an uppercut. Parks was able to recover and survive, but Bryant temporarily had him in trouble up against the ropes. Parks had his best moments in the fight during Round 6, which produced some of the best action of the fight. The judges scored the fight 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55 for Bryant. With the loss, Parks’ record dropped to 5-4-1.
Michael Portales Takes Unanimous Decision Over Margarito Hernandez
Michael Portales improved to 3-1-1 with a unanimous decision victory over Margarito Hernandez. With the loss, Hernandez fell to 3-6-1. Both fighters showed pretty fast hands to start the fight as they opened throwing some heat. Round 1 was pretty clearly Portales’ round as he landed some clean right hands that snapped the Hernandez’s head back, one of which staggered Hernandez. Round 2 was a closer round, with Portales rating a slight edge. In Round 3, Portales landed a big right hand that buckled Hernandez. Late in the round, a big left hand and some more hard punches in tight landed for Portales as Hernandez was clearly hurt. At the end of the round, Portales scored with a big right hand that had Hernandez stumbling to the canvas, but the referee ruled it a push. Portales landed a couple more solid punches at the end of the round that left Hernandez wobbly. To Hernandez’s credit he recovered well to start the final round as he was throwing heavy punches, realizing he was down on the scorecards. There was some great action as Round 4 came to a close, with Hernandez showing good fighting spirit and landing some hard shots. Hernandez twice buzzed Portales with right hands, one of which appeared to land close to the temple.
Dario Guerrero-Meneses Defeats Alejandro Avalos By Unanimous Decision
Dario Guerrero-Meneses improved his professional record to 2-5-1 against San Antonio’s Alejandro Avalos in a high action bout. Both fighters were happy to stand toe to toe in this bout and bang as both fighters were aggressive and threw heavy punches. Round 1 was close as there wasn’t much to separate the fighters. Guerrero-Meneses was more active in Round 2, moving forward more than the opening frame. Guerrero-Menses started to separate himself in the second round as he repeatedly found a home for his left hand, both to the body and upstairs. Round 3 was another clear round for Guerrero-Menses. Avalos’ best moment in the round came when he landed a nice uppercut and straight left combination. In the final round, Dario Guerrero-Meneses had success landing left hooks as the fighters fought much of the round in close range.
The judges scored the bout 39-37, 40-36 and 40-36 for Guerrero-Meneses. With the loss, Avalos record fell to 0-2.
Dante Stone Takes Unanimous Decision Over Detrailous Webster
Dante Stone improved to 12-1 with a solid victory over Detrailous Webster, who dropped his first professional bout to fall to 5-1. Stone, 276 pounds, had a significant size advantage in this bout and repeatedly took advantage of it as he repeatedly pushed forward, often firing hard 1-2 combinations into Webster’s guard. Webster seemed to be frustrated with Stone’s length and weight advantage. Webster repeatedly threw heavy heat as he would lunge forward and throw sweeping hooks. However, Webster was unable to connect clean on any of those attempts. And while Stone never appeared to have Webster hurt it was clear that he had an experience advantage on Webster and the better boxing skills.
Webster’s best moments of the fight came in Round 2 when he landed a big right hand off of a clinch break. Webster then landed another solid right hand as he went on the attack but Stone then defended well to stem Webster’s advance. In Round 3, Stone landed a big left hand midway through the round as he also started to work effectively to Webster’s body. In Round 4, Webster looked for big punches to turn the tide of the fight to no avail. Stone did some solid work to the body from the clinch with left hands and also landed a hard 1-2 combination during the round. In Round 5 there were a couple entertaining moments when Stone twice charged forward resulting in Webster being pushed through second and top ropes.
Stone swept the judges scorecards 60-54.
