Last night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA, Thompson Boxing Promotions former featherweight world title challenger, Ruben “Drac” Villa (19-1, 6 KOs), who is co-promoted with Banner Promotions, scored a ninth-round knockout over Horacio Garcia (35-6-1, 25 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico. Villa vs. Garcia, a scheduled 10-round main event, headlined Thompson’s “Path To Glory” event, as this was their second consecutive sold out show.
Villa dominated the action from the opening round, using superior footwork to land hard punches off in angles. Garcia had no answer for Villa’s lateral movement from the southpaw stance and was clearly outboxed for the entire fight. After a few rounds, Villa got into a nice rhythm and started to sit on his punches, landing hard shots to the head and body. In the ninth round, after Garcia had taken a lot of punishment, the referee saw enough and stopped the fight at the 1:12 mark. With the win, Villa promises to be back in a world title fight.
“This was one of my best performances against a tough fighter,” said Villa, who last scored a knockout in 2018. “Garcia has never been stopped, so to get the knockout against him, assures me that I’m back stronger then ever. During this long layoff, I never stopped training, now I’m ready to take on all contenders in the featherweight division.”
In the 6-round middleweight co-feature, Richard Brewart Jr. (11-0, 4 KOs), dominated Antonio Duarte (2-3), defeated him by unanimous decision. Both fighters were engaging throughout the fight, landing a lot of power shots, but it was Brewart Jr. who was landing the cleaner blows. Neither fighter was ever hurt but Brewart Jr. showed his superior class. Scorecards read 60-54 across the board.
“This was my first fight since having knee surgery and I felt good moving around,” said Brewart Jr. “I still have a lot to work on, but it feels great to know my knee held up for six rounds. I’ll be back in the gym next week ready to work.”
In the previous bout, super lightweight Pedro Valencia (9-0, 7 KOs) got off the deck in round one, to win a unanimous against Edgar Palacios (3-1, 1 KO). Palacios, a tall southpaw, dropped Valencia with a straight left, and almost took him out, but was saved by the bell. Valencia got his legs back, and outworked Palacios for the rest of the fight, winning many of the remaining rounds. Scorecards read 57-56 in favor of Valencia by all three judges.
“I showed that I can come back from being hurt early in a fight,” said Valencia. “Palacios is a very tall fighter and I had to make an adjustment to win the fight. A lot of good things came out of this fight and I’m happy that I was able to get the victory.”
In a scheduled 6-round welterweight bout, Esteban Munoz (6-1, 4 KOs) was dominant against Kenny Williams (4-7-1, 2 KOs), before the bout was stopped by an accidental head butt after the third round, resulting in a TKO.
“It was unfortunate that the fight was stopped by an accidental head butt,” said Munoz. “I feel I would have won regardless as I was winning every round in my opinion. This was my first fight of the year and I’m hoping to get right back in the ring as soon as possible.”
In the second bout of the night, middleweight Nelson Oliva (2-0, 2 KOs) dropped Manuel Martinez (6-6-4, 3 KOs) twice in the opening round, forcing the referee to stop the bout at the 1:42 mark. Oliva sent Martinez to the canvas both times with powerful left hooks.
“Getting another knockout to start my career felt incredible,” said Oliva, who fights out of the southpaw stance. “I knew it was a matter of time that I would get him out of there after the first knockdown. My confidence is right where I want it. I feel I can compete with anyone in the division.”
In the opening bout, bantamweight prospects Alejandro Barajas (1-0) and Ulises Rosales (0-6) went the distance in their scheduled 4-round bout. Barajas won every round by outworking Rosales from start to finish. Scorecards read 40-36 in favor of Barajas, who was making his pro debut.
“Winning my pro debut was something I’ve envisioned since I started boxing,” said Barajas. “I have a long way to go but and I know I have a lot to learn. I’m going to keep working hard and I’ll be ready when my name is called again.”