The much anticipated main event on CKO5 in Fort Worth, Texas gave the crowd what they wanted and more in a battle of bantamweights from Dallas and Fort Worth. Going into this fight, both fighters were undefeated and city bragging rights were one of the topics on the line. But the main topic was which fighter would keep his undefeated record and which one would not. Ray Ximenez, Jr. (12-0, 3KO’s) from Pleasant Grove (Dallas, Texas) came into this fight after fighting in September of last year with a unanimous decision over Jesse Anguiano. On Saturday night, Ximenez returned to Fort Worth and took on the tough Jesse “Angel” Hernandez (4-1, 4KO’s) who came into the fight looking for another knockout to add to his record.
The fight started out with both fighters fighting orthodox and it turned into a night of strategy stances as Hernandez changed to southpaw early on in the first round as they both used their jabs to settle into the fight in front of a full house of fight fans. But it was Ximenez who claimed the pace of the fight, and he made it a fast one, which is something he always brings to the ring. Although Hernandez forced the action throughout the round, the lightning fast Ximenez counter-punched his opponent as he used exceptional hand speed and footwork to maneuver his way around the ring to get his shots off. Ximenez eventually switched to the southpaw stance as well and in doing so he outboxed Hernandez just as he predicted to NTF before the fight. He had told NTF that if Hernandez would fight him orthodox he would catch him with the right hand, and if Hernandez fought in the southpaw stance, he would outbox him. And that is exactly what happened in this fight.
Early in the second round, Hernandez was able to connect with several glancing punches on Ximenez, and the crowd began to chant his name as he continued to force the action in the fight. Despite the punches being thrown by Hernandez, Ximenez would quickly throw counter shots. The tough Hernandez was able to get Ximenez in the corner, but got outpunched by the fast hands of Ximenez, who asked for more. In the third round, it was much more of the same as the quicker handed and fleet footed Ximenez put on a sweet science show and it appeared that Hernandez was somewhat frustrated as he went to his corner.
The fight continued the fast pace for the Fort Worth crowd as Ximenez stayed in the southpaw stance as Hernandez forced the action to the delight of his hometown crowd. Ximenez then threw a combination, but Hernandez was able to fend off the punches and he landed a good body punch. They both then traded a left and right hand in the middle of the ring and the crowd started to get loud. Hernandez then got Ximenez on the ropes as he attempted to land the big shot that he was looking for all night.
Going into the fifth round, the crowd was now in a frenzy as they awaited the sound of the bell for the final two rounds. Hernandez continued to force the action and he landed a good right hand to the body of Ximenez and then they traded punches in the middle of the ring. Everything that Hernandez was throwing was being slipped by Ximenez as he bobbed and weaved his way around the ring. Ximenez fought his way out of the corner as Hernandez tried to cut off the ring and Hernandez landed a glancing right hand. At this point in the fight, they both settled for the southpaw stance and it was to the advantage of Ximenez, who connected with a good body punch and finished the round off with a right hand as the bell sounded.
The rounds seemed to move along fast, and that was because it was non-stop action by both fighters in every round. In the final round, it started out with Hernandez landing a glancing right hand, but Ximenez countered back with a double combination. Hernandez was looking for the knockout just as he had throughout the fight, but his arsenal needed more than that to be successful against a smart and more experienced boxer like Ximenez. Hernandez was then able to force Ximenez on the ropes and in the corner, but Ximenez slipped all the punches in a rope a dope fashion and gestured to Hernandez for more punches. The crowd had gotten very loud at this point as both fighters gave them what they wanted to see. As the ten count was heard, both fighters let their hands go and the fight was over. Unfortunately for Hernandez, who gave it his all, Ximenez fought his game plan to perfection and he went on to win by a split decision. The scorecards totaled out as 59-56, 58-56, 59-55. Ximenez will be fighting for the featherweight Texas Title at the “A Night To Fight” boxing event on February 12, 2015 in Dallas, Texas benefiting the Ring of Hope Boxing Club.
NTF had seen middleweight Joey Dunmoodie (8-3) and we knew he would come to fight and that is exactly what he did against Jeremy Hall (2-4). Dunmoodie had the most experience coming into this fight because in the past several years he has taken on the likes of James Freeman, Corey Washington and veteran Larry “Slo Moshun” Smith.
Dunmoodie started out quick as he countered shots from the oncoming Hall and he landed a nice uppercut to the delight of the crowd in the first round. From the outset it was clear that Hall wasn’t going to back down as he went back to his corner looking very confident. Early in the second round, Hall forced the action and attempted to fight on the inside. But in the middle of the round, he got too close and Dunmoodie tagged him with a short right hand uppercut and rocked him back towards the ropes. Hall recovered quickly and Dunmoodie went after him and landed a big right hand, but the tough Hall just said “come on.”
In the third round, Hall became vocal as he ranted at his opponent as they exchanged punches, and even yelled at Dunmoodies corner. In the beginning of the fourth round, Dunmoodie picked up the pace and quickly landed a nice right hand. Hall took all the punches well and continued to hold his ground in the middle of the ring. It was obvious, Hall came to fight and he seemed to get angrier as the fight went on.
In the fifth round, Dunmoodie landed a right hand that backed up Hall, but he kept coming forward. Dunmoodie followed that up with another right hand and a combination, but Hall just shook it off. At the end of the round, Dunmoodie landed a straight right hand and Hall staggered back to his corner. When the sixth round started, Dunmoodie continued to land the most punches as he backed Hall up in the ring. Dunmoodie was the busier fighter in the final round and when the bell sounded, Hall’s left eye was almost closed from taking punches. Hall is a very tough fighter, but Dunmoodie went on to win by unanimous decision.
In the lightweight division, Francisco Paco Cruz (4-0) and Ryan Mar (2-1) gave the crowd an all out war for four rounds that had the crowd yelling for both fighters throughout the fight. Both fighters came out landing punches in bunches and Cruz started to use his jab to get his distance. Mar then landed a good body punch and began to back up Cruz in the middle of the round. Mar then landed a left hook at the end of the round and as the bell sounded, he came back to his corner very confident. In the second round, Mar threw his jab and followed it up with a right hand. But Cruz came right back and went after Mar and he landed a stiff left hook. Mar then caught Cruz with a short uppercut and then they went toe to toe, neither giving an inch in the middle of the ring as the crowd went crazy. Cruz then returned the favor and landed his own uppercut and the bell sounded. Mar went back to his corner, but this time his left eye was beginning to swell. Looking at this fight, it reminded me of old boxing movies where fighters just went toe to toe in every round.
In the third round, both just came out swinging for the fences in the middle of the ring as the crowd cheered them on. Paco started to back up Mar, but he would have none of it, and he countered back with both hands. Cruz then moved in and landed a sharp uppercut and they started slugging it out again. Cruz went to the body and then landed a huge right hand, but Mar kept his ground and slugged back. At the end of the round, Mar’s eye was starting to close. At the beginning of the final round, Mar and Cruz were ready to get after it, because both knew the fight was very close. They then went after each other and began slugging it out, neither giving ground in the ring. Paco then landed a nice left hook, but Mar followed that up with a combination of his own. The crowd started to chant Paco’s name as they both went at it toe to toe until the bell sounded. In the toe to toe fight of the night, the cards ended up in favor of Cruz who went on to win by split decision. 39-37, 39-37, 40-36.
In the shortest, but most explosive first round of the night, Dallas’ Hector Valdez (2-0, 2 KO’s) who fights out of the Ring of Hope Boxing Gym, didn’t waste time in showing his boxing skills to the crowd in attendance. NTF had seen Valdez before and he looked even better than the last time we saw him. We knew he was a technician in the ring and he used that to break down Cody Fuller (1-4) quickly as he landed a lightning left hook that put Fuller on the canvas near the ropes. Fuller took the count and Valdez quickly went after him and landed two left jabs and followed that with a straight right hand that put Fuller on the canvas again. The fight was stopped by TKO at 1:17 of the first round. Look for Valdez to put on another exciting fight on February 12, 2015 at the Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas.
In the battle of 175 pounders, Martinez Porter (3-3) took on the tough Eddie Wilson (1-4). In this four round match, Wilson started the first round out fast as he forced the action to counter punching Porter. Wilson was very calm throughout the fight as he moved tactically around the ring. He even started to drop his left hand to his side in the second round as he attempted to draw Porter in for the right hand. In the second, Porter went to the body and landed an uppercut. Toward the end of the round, he countered with a big left hand that almost sent Wilson through the ropes. In the third round, Wilson came out throwing right hands, and he backed up Porter to the ropes. In a strange ending, Porter landed a body punch followed up by a glancing right hand to the back of the head of Wilson as he attempted to duck the punch. The referee then stepped in as Wilson was leaning down and then he stopped the fight. Porter wins by TKO at 1:10 of the third round.
In the middleweight division, the game David “Roc Hance (0-3) took on Brandon Wyatt (2-5). Having seen both fighters before, NTF knew that Wyatt was a heavy handed puncher. In his last fight, he took on a much taller and bigger Eddie Wilson and he held his own. The quick handed Wyatt went after Hance after the bell sounded and landed a huge right hand and Hance hit the canvas right in front of NTF on the edge of the ring. Hance quickly got up and boxed out of harms way until the end of the round. In the second round, the confident Wyatt was seen smiling to his corner as he landed a left hand to the head of Hance as his corner kept telling him to “close the gap.” Then when Hance landed a left hook on Wyatt, the ref stopped the round momentarily because Wyatt’s corner forgot to put his mouthpiece in. Hance looked much better in this round as he fought smarter and used the ring to his advantage. He continued to get better in the third and he landed a nice right hand and countered a punch from Wyatt. As they continued to fight, Wyatt was starting to look tired but then he woke up and landed two left hooks to the head of Hance. They both went to the corners appearing sluggish, but when the bell sounded for the fourth round, Wyatt landed a massive left hand to the head of Hance and he hit the canvas. Hance got up and took the count and Wyatt went after him and then landed a left hook and Hance went down again. The fight was stopped by TKO at 54 seconds of the fourth round.
In the bout between Anthony Hill (1-6) and Errol Sidney (3-1-2), Hill came out swinging wild punches but he got outworked by Sidney. In the second round, Sidney started to connect with the left hand to the body and head of Hill. Hill was not deterred, and he began talking smack to Sidney and said “Hit me the jab.” Hill was able to connect with the left hand to the head of Sidney, and as the round ended, Sidney had a small cut over his right eye. Then in the third round, the both went at it, toe to toe in the corner of the ring, and Hill continued to talk the smack. At this point, Sidney’s cut was still bleeding and Hill started to force the action, but he was quickly countered by Sidney. Then Sidney got angry and went after Hill, and he started to return his smack talk, and even laughed at his opponent. The crowd then got excited when both fighters traded punches at the end of the round. In the final round, Hill got Sidney on the ropes, all the while still talking, and Sidney just did his rope a dope and just smiled at the crowd. They both went after each other in the last ten seconds and when the bell sounded, Hill said “You Lost.” Although Hill put on an entertaining fight, Sidney went on to win by unanimous decision.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
