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And still the Champ! Franchon Crews Dezurn takes the win. Photo by Hogan Photos.
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Dezurn lands a hard right on Cornejo. Photo by Hogan Photos.
To know about the tradition of boxing on Mexican Independence Day will give you some insight to the meaning of the incredible “Maya” trophy belt that was made for this spectacular boxing event. On Saturday Sept 14, on Mexican Independence Day weekend, Golden Boy Promotions brought us a night of boxing at Health Dignity Sports Center in Carson. 7,311 people filled the stands.
The Maya belt, is the third belt in a series of trophy belts that the WBC has made in recognition of the culture of Mexico and the sport of boxing. It has been a long standing tradition for Mexican boxers to fight on Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day. The belt is incredibly ornate with jade serpents representing shadows of the pyramids and the mystique of Mexico. Boxing promoter Pepe Gonzales from Cancun Boxing gave the most beautiful presentation speech in Spanish about the belt at the weigh in press conference.
In the world of boxing, to “fight like a Mexican” is the goal internationally. Athletes as far as the Ukraine aspire to “fight like a Mexican.” The Mexican style of boxing is known to be a relentless non stop forward pressuring approach in the ring. Many boxers such as “Triple G” Gennady Golovkin from the Ukraine take pride to be known as fighting in the “Mexican style.” The tradition goes as far back as 100 years. A prime example is Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, and the Golden Boy himself Oscar de la Hoya, and now to today’s World Champion Mexican fighter in the main event, Jaime Munguia.
Duno vs Delgado. Photo by Hogan Photos.
Golden Boy promotions promised to bring a solid night of boxing and did they ever. The event was complete with Banda, Mexican food vendors, and sponsor Tecate Beer.
This boxing event started with lots of “chisme” or gossip. Ryan “King Ryan” Garcia, the Fashion Nova sponsored undefeated superstar, was set to fight Avery Sparrow. Sparrow was arrested at the airport and was unable to make the weigh-in or the fight. Avery Sparrow, 10-1 had a warrant and was picked up by the Airport Marshalls and sent straight home to Philadelphia.
WBC and WBO Champion boxer Franchon Crews Dezurn 5-1 (2 KOs) was set to fight Mexican boxer Alejandra “La Tigre” Jiminez 12-1 (9 KOs) but she had issues with her visa for whatever reason, and was prohibited to travel to the USA.
On top of that, there was a twitter explosion of back lash between the “King Ryan’s ” camp and Golden Boy Promotions. Turns out Ryan’s team turned down a fight with the Philippine’s “Ruthless” Romero Duno 20-1 (15 KOs). Garcia was not happy to hear that anyone said Duno was “too tough” an opponent. Goldenboy said Garcia wanted more money for the last minute risk, which didn’t go over well. All of the twitter frenzy and fans voicing opinions just makes fight night all the sweeter. I don’t think it would be fight night without drama.
The event started out with all solid boxers fighting in the blazing heat with the sun directly in their eyes.
Local boxer Diego Pacheco fighting out of Los Angeles came out to a screaming and excited crowd. He obviously had his fans in the house. Pacheco remains undefeated with a new record of 6-0 in the super middleweight division going 4 rounds against Terry Fernandez 2-1 (2 KOs) who took a good beat down.
Next up we had flyweights going 8 rounds with Cancun’s Joselito Velasquez vs Chihuahua’s Francisco Bonilla 6-7 (3 KOs). Joselito put on a great fight with a 4th round knock out, and is now 11-0 (9 KOs). Joselito is a star athlete that has won gold medals in the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games.
Mungia vs Allotey. Photo by Hogan Photos.
The Romero Duno vs Ivan Delgado was a captivating fight. Although Duno was victorious, Ivan Delgado forced Duno into fighting his fight. Delgado was 4 pounds over weight at the official weigh-ins. He was not ready for this fight, and yet was able to strategically keep Duno at bay, using minimum physical exertion until he found the energy to cough up a flurry. Duno, did not let the buzz of him possibly landing a last minute fight with the famed Ryan Garcia shift his focus.
“I know that Delgado wanted to win this fight. I just do my job to make it a win so that Ryan Garcia will come to watch.”
Romero Duno was unable to knock out the tired and out of shape Delgado. Ivan Delgado’s team through in the towel in the 7th round, giving the win to Romero Duno, who’s record is now 21-1 (16 KOs). Let’s look forward to his bout with Garcia.
Now, the fight we had all been waiting for. Since female WBC Super Middleweight champion boxer Franchon Crews Dezurn’s opponent was stuck at customs, she was hooked up with a last minute rematch with Los Angeles’s Maricela Cornejo 13-4 (5 KOs). Maricela took the challenge on two days notice, after just coming back from a vacation. Cornejo, looking ready as ever, made weight no problem. The crowd’s cheers for Cornejo reminded Dezurn that we were in “La Diva’s” house. Los Angeles fight fans showed Maricela huge amounts of support, while they booed the champion Dezurn. Franchon “Heavy Hitting Diva” Crews Dezurn walked out to a Cardi B track, in her own original design boxer’s apparel, with hot pink crystal embellished head gear. It was an incredible showcase of power to see. The bout was set for 10 two minute rounds, and went the full gamut.
🇲🇽🏆 @jaimemunguia15 destroys Patrick Allotey!
Felicidades Campeón! #MunguiaAllotey @DAZN_USA pic.twitter.com/mrECoVCEcq
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) September 15, 2019
Round one pretty much set the pace with Dezurn dominating throughout. An incredible amount of combinations were thrown, but the win was for Dezurn. Franchon did her best to win over the fans.
“I’m so happy. First of all, I have history with Mexico, my sister is Mexican, I love boxing just like you. I’m for unity and this is not just for me. This is for women boxers from Mexico and China and Russia and America. This week has been hell and I stood and held strong. This is just another testimony to show if you believe in yourself, you put the work in, you stay focused, no matter how many distractions, no matter how much bull crap comes your way you just stick to the plan and complete the mission.”
Dezurn made her pro debut in 2016, and is signed with Golden Boy.
“I got out here thinking I was going to fight one person, a person who had been bullying me on the internet. Alejandra Jimenez, if you want this one, you can come get it too. I’m not here for a good time, I’m here for a long time. This is the land of the warriors not the posers, not the models. I want to be respected just like the men are respected. I’m going to step up to the plate and take the challenges. I don’t go into any match thinking I’m entitled to anything.”
Crews Dezurn spars with her husband Glen Dezurn, a super bantamweight boxer with a record of 9-2-1. Dezurn, fighting out of Baltimore Maryland, scored the vacant WBO title on this night as well as retaining her WBC title. Fight fans can’t wait to see her rematch with world champion Clarissa Shields. Let’s hope we get to see that fight.
And still the Champ! Franchon Crews Dezurn takes the win. Photo by Hogan Photos.
And now, on to the main event…The Los Angeles County fight fans sang the Mexican National Anthem just as loud as the American National Anthem. The vibe was fire, the crowd was lit up with anticipation. Munguia vs Allotey was up next. Munguia is a young Mexican boxer fighting out of Tijuana BC. This bout was for the WBO Super Welterweight title going 12 rounds. Jaime Munguia made weight no problem. His challenging opponent, Patrick Allotey fighting out of Accra, Ghana 40-4 (30 KOs) is no stranger to danger, but he looked much smaller than Munguia (154 lbs), who should be heading up to the next weight class very soon. What was absolutely amazing about Allotey was his poker face. He never showed any emotion whatsoever, a true fighting machine. But Muguia at 6’ 2” is incredibly powerful and could not be defeated.
“The journey getting here was hard but I feel really good with these people who came to support me. This is Mexican Independence Day and I feel really good and I’m ready to go further for more.”
Munguia came out to traditional banda music to huge fan fare, and Alottey was booed. Munguia’s body shots took Allotey down hard. The 22 year old Jaime Munguia made it look easy winning in the 4th round with a TKO in his fifth title defense fight. Allotey’s corner had had enough, and knew their fighter was taking a punishment.
Congratulations to the champions Munguia, and Dezurn on retaining their champion title belts and for winning the prestigious Maya trophy belt. You can catch the replay of the entire fight on DAZN.
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