On Friday night Louie Lopez and crosstown rival Adrian Vargas fought to a split draw in the ten-round welterweight main event from the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California.  Not there to waste any time, both fighters came out firing from the opening bell. Vargas (15-0-2, 10 KOs) stung Lopez (16-2-4, 5 KOs) with a hook in round two, although Lopez got his share of big shots in as well. Lopez punctuated a strong round four by landing a sharp right hand that briefly forced Vargas to hold on. Vargas, who had never previously gone past four rounds in his career, appeared to be coming on in rounds five and six, but ran into a strong right hand from Lopez in the seventh that shifted the fight’s momentum yet again. After a strong round nine for Vargas, Lopez closed the show well by edging out a competitive final round. After 10 blistering rounds that had the large crowd on its feet, the scores were 96-94 Vargas, 99-91 Lopez and 95-95.

ADDITIONAL RESULTS

The show was promoted by Christy Martin Promotions and Patrick Ortiz’s Ringside Ticket Inc. In the night’s ten-round co-feature, junior middleweight Emeka “The Lion Heart” Nwokolo (16-1, 13 KOs) of Los Angeles via Benin City, Nigeria, successfully defended his title with a well-fought ten-round unanimous decision over late-sub opponent Jose “El Guerro” Sanchez (14-6-1, 4 KOs) of Albuquerque.  

Sanchez, who had been scheduled to fight Abel Ramos on tomorrow night’s Pacquiao vs. Barrios card, started well, gliding around the perimeter and catching Nwokolo coming in several times with sharp right hands. 

The clear aggressor throughout, Nwokolo had a good round six, as he upped the intensity and trapped Sanchez against the ropes with an extended two-fisted attack. Nwokolo appeared to badly sting Sanchez in an exciting round nine with a left hook, but the rugged New Mexican managed to stay on his feet and even landed a few haymakers of his own near the end of the round. Miraculously, Sanchez came out for round 10 looking energized and landed several multi-punch salvos to the head of Nwokolo.

“That guy is a warrior,” said a happy Nwokolo, post-fight. “I’m looking for any opportunities I can get. I’m ready to take on anyone.”

The scores were 97-93 x 2 and 96-94, all for the champion.

18-year-old former two-time national amateur champion Paolo “Pow” Barredo (4-0, 2 KOs) of Walnut, California, scored a dominant four-round decision over 30-fight super featherweight veteran Luis Valdez (8-21-1, 2 KOs) of Tijuana. Showing patience, the well-schooled Barredo finally dropped Valdez with a hook in round three, but the Mexican survival expert was able to avoid being finished and ultimately made the final bell. The scores were an academic 40-35 across the board for the promising Barredo. 

Junior middleweights Devin “White Chocolate” Parrish (5-0-1, 5 KOs) of Chicago and Oscar Trujillo (2-0-2, 1 KO) of Riverside, California, retained their undefeated records by fighting to an exciting six-round split draw.  In a fight that could have been contested in a phone booth, both men went to work on each other, nose-to-nose, from the opening bell.

Parrish briefly staggered Trujillo with an overhand right in round two and again early in round three with a right hook, but in both cases, Trujillo shook it off and came back with his own power shots. Parrish appeared to be the stronger fighter, while Trujillo was more active. The scores were 59-55 Trujillo, 59-55 Parrish and 57-57.

Murrieta, California welterweight Michael “Boogeyman” Meyers (7-2-1, 3 KOs) fought to an entertaining and hard-fought six-round split draw against a game Josias Gonzalez(2-5-2) of Whittier, California.

Meyers kept the pressure on, loading up with two-fisted haymakers to the head and body, while Gonzalez moved around the ring firing three- and four-punch combinations.

Gonzalez got off to a good start, while Meyers came on stronger in the second half. The scores were 58-56 each way, with a 57-57 card securing the draw. Both fighters expressed the desire for a rematch and the energized crowd strongly agreed.

In the opening fight of the night, lightweight William King (6-2-2, 3 KOs) made quick work of Markus Bowes (3-9, 2 KOs). After sizing Bowes up for a minute, King landed a perfect straight right hand at 1:43 of the opening round, dropping Bowes for the full 10 count. King looked sharp and dangerous for a fighter returning from an 11-month layoff.