Tonight on ShoBox from Atlantic City, Roiman Villa put on a performance in a unanimous decision win over Janelson Bocachica in the opener, and Joseph Adorno’s first major test at 140 pounds saw him survive a rough and relentless Hugo Alberto Roldan in the main event.
Roldan (21-1-1, 7 KO) charged like a bull for much of the fight, coming ahead with a rough and ragged style and doing most of his damage with headbutts. Adorno (17-1-2, 14 KO) moved well on light feet, but the stiffer-legged Roldan did a lot of damage with his forehead, particularly on the bruised and swollen left eye of Adorno.
The difference maker came early, as Roldan took a soft knockdown at the very end of round two. At first glance, it looked like a slip or bad balance fall, but replay showed that Adorno did hook or clothesline him just before Roldan went down. That swung what could have been a 10-9 round for Roldan to 10-8 for Adorno.
Roldan used excellent stamina to keep himself in this one, as Adorno started fighting more off his front foot in the fifth through seventh, but then slowed down in the eighth while Roldan stayed relatively fresh. Roldan had a great eighth round, but suffered a significant cut on an Adorno punch. It looked like it could be an issue, but was patched up promptly and brilliantly by his corner.
In the end, all three judges had it 95-94 for Adorno. Unofficially, I had it the same way as Showtime’s Steve Farhood at 96-93 Adorno.
If not for the knockdown in the second, Roldan would have exited his US debut with at least a draw, and potentially a narrow win. As it is, he suffers his first defeat, and Joseph Adorno notches an emotional win as a junior welterweight.
Frency Fortunato SD-10 Bernard Angelo Torres
I’ll be frank, and admit that this inaugural TV showcase for both Bernard Angelo Torres and Frency Fortunato would probably have only gotten a bullet point result with a note or two if the opener hadn’t been good enough to justify a 325 world recap.
Fortunato (14-1, 10 KO) largely controlled the first half of the fight, and knocked Torres (16-1, 7 KO) down in round four. Fortunato may have gassed out a bit, or may have felt confident in his points lead, as he seemed to ease up a bit and allow Torres to do more in the back half.
Judges were split, with contrasting 95-94 cards for each man, and the deciding score 97-92 for Fortunato. I felt a greater spiritual kinship with the wide Fortunato card, but I don’t begrudge any of the three judges their opinion.
Roiman Villa UD-8 Janelson Bocachica
The opener was a punishing eight rounder where Roiman Villa beat Janelson Bocachica for all but the first round. And I don’t mean “beat” in the sense of “he won.” I mean Villa (25-1, 24 KO) put a beating on Bocachica (17-1-1, 11 KO) that looked like bad choreography from the least verisimilar Rocky film you can remember.
Bocachica went down for the first time in his career in the second round, taking three or four savage punches before finally falling over. In the aftermath, Bocachica lost or spit the mouthpiece three times in that round. He got two extended delays that allowed him to survive to the bell, but referee Harvey Dock announced a point deduction on the third mouthpiece replacement. That deduction didn’t seem to manifest itself in the final scores, but more on that later.
Villa started slowing down a bit midway through, but still kept landing more and cleaner punches despite whatever fatigue he may have felt. He knocked Bocachica’s mouthpiece out again, legitimately or not, in both the seventh and eighth rounds.
All three judges had it wide for Villa, 78-73 and 79-72 twice. The scores don’t seem to reflect a 10-7 round including both the knockdown and mouthpiece deduction. Fortunately, it didn’t change the final result.
Villa’s only career loss came three years ago on a 13 day turnaround and a 10 pound weight cut. Even then, he only lost a close split decision in Mexico to a Mexican fighter. He’s knocked out 24 of his other 25 opponents, and Bocachica easily could have been number 25 if not for some mouthpiece gamesmanship and a willingness to eat a constant barrage of flashy, savage punches.
Bocachica showed a lot of toughness, but not a lot of positive results. Not the sort of bounce back he may have hoped for after a very questionable draw in his last fight. As for Roiman Villa? The next time you see his name on a televised card, make a note to check him out.