Eric Mondragon continues to climb towards a contender at 130 pounds.

Mondragon won a hard-fought majority decision Saturday night over Kevin Piedrahita at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. One judge scored the fight 57-57, while the other two judges scored the fight 58-56 and a ridiculous 60-54 for Mondragon, who improved to 10-1-1, with 4 knockouts.

Both fighters stood in the pocket, exchanging punches and combinations, but Mondragon was the busier and more exact fighter during the first two rounds.

Piedrahita clearly won the third round, taking more initiative and being more aggressive. The tactic worked as he managed to put Mondragon on the defensive.

Both had their moments in a competitive and tighter fourth round, but Mondragon changed the pace over the last few rounds. Mondragon varied his attack, connecting more to the body and counterattacking with left hooks and right crosses to Piedrahita’s head.

Mondragon, who lives in nearby Maywood, has amassed a immense fan base, much like his previous fight on March 30, which also took place at Thunder Studios. Mondragon defeated Jenel Laus by decision after six one-sided rounds.

The 25-year-old has won his last two fights since losing by decision to Haven Brady in October 2022. His other notable fight came on the Top Rank card at “The Bubble” in June 2020, fighting to a majority draw against Sanchez’s Mike in a fight in which both undefeated fighters were knocked down.

Piedrahita, who is from Pereira, Colombia and now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, drops to 9-2, 8 KO. Piedrahita previously fought on April 19, defeating Johan Rodriguez Arreguin in the third round.

The 24-year-old has won his last four fights since losing to Lisandro Barazarte in a clash of undefeated prospects in July 2022.

In the main event of the CBN Promotions event, lightweight Tayden Beltran defeated Cesar Villarraga by unanimous decision. The scores were 78-74, 78-74 and 77-75 for Beltran, who improved to 9-0-1, 4 KOs.

The two had their moments in the back-and-forth fight, but the judges were probably impressed with Beltran’s greater punching power. Beltran, who lives in Huntington Beach, California, has won his last seven fights since the September 2021 majority draw.

Residing in Bogota, Colombia, Villarraga drops to 10-10-1, 5 KOs. The 38-year-old has lost his last five fights, all by decision.

In the junior welterweight division, hard-hitting Juan Sanchez of nearby Buena Park improved to 8-0, 7 KOs, defeating Florida’s Jaylan Phillips en route to a knockout victory at 1:39 of the fourth round. Phillips (currently 3-3-4, 2 KO) was undefeated in six previous fights, including three draws with Antoine Cobb.

Sanchez is trained jointly by Abel Sanchez and Ben Lira.

In featherweight action, Compton’s Hector Lopez knocked out Jeronil Borres (12-11-2, 6 KO) of the Philippines at 1:19 of the third round. Lopez (5-0, 4 KO) knocked down Borres twice in the third round, prompting referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight at 1:54.

Featherweight Jared Hermosillo of Oak Hills, California, found success in his professional debut, defeating Arturo Herrera (0-5) of Killeen, Texas twice en route to a third-round knockout victory at 2:19.

Colombian super middleweight Aristides Garcia overcame a first-round knockout and defeated Henry Rivera (2-7, 1 KO) from Las Vegas by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 38-36 in favor of Garcia, who was also making his professional debut. Garcia also dropped Rivera in the fourth round.

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Author: Sean Crose

“WBC super lightweight world champion Devin Haney has requested to be granted half-time champion status,” the World Boxing Council announced in a press statement on Monday. “The WBC Board of Governors unanimously acceded to Champion Haney’s request and declared him the WBC World Champion at half-time.” And so Haney, fresh from a very controversial defeat to Ryan Garcia, vacated the WBC junior welterweight belt.

“Concurrently,” the WBC continued, “the WBC Board of Governors has declared current interim world champion Alberto Puello the WBC Super Lightweight World Champion…in accordance with its Bylaws, the WBC will order a free negotiation period for a mandatory defense of Puello’s title against the WBC’s No. 1-ranked challenger. and mandatory challenger Sandor Martin.”

Haney’s reign as the WBC junior welterweight king was relatively low. After winning the undisputed lightweight world title by defeating the great Vasyl Lomachenko in an extremely close fight, Haney moved up to junior welterweight and fought Regis Prograis for Prograis’ WBC belt. It was a highly anticipated fight, but when all was said and done, Haney absolutely dominated – in his hometown of San Francisco, no less. But then came the April fight with Garcia.

Although Haney finished the fight on his feet, he was beaten horribly by Garcia, going down three times in three different rounds before losing by decision. Things were very strange as Garcia got into a fight over the scheduled weight, claiming he had been drinking before the match. Still, there was no denying that Garcia dominated his man honestly. Until it was discovered that Garcia had tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in tests conducted before and after the Haney fight.

Due to positive drug tests, Garcia was stripped of his victory over Haney by the Recent York State Athletic Commission. Still, while his allegation was at least somewhat substantiated, there is no doubt that Haney was damaged by Garcia’s performance during their fight (how it all would have played out had Garcia not had the banned drug in his system is simply an unanswered question) .

The next question is: what happens to Haney from here? He is undoubtedly talented, but – rightly or wrongly – he was completely crushed by Garcia. Things like this can have a physical and emotional impact. Warriors, on the other hand, are a sporadic breed. Haney, if he came back robust, certainly wouldn’t be the first boxer to make an impressive comeback.

Last week, BoxingScene reported that Dave Harris, the head of the Ringside Charitable Trust (RCT), is losing faith in the boxing industry’s efforts to lend a hand the charity in its bid to open a care home for retired boxers. Five days later, Harris confirmed that Anthony Joshua, one of the most influential figures in all of sport, had expressed an interest in providing significant assistance.

Joshua, a former heavyweight champion, remains in contact with his former amateur coaches and one of them, John Oliver, is a board member of the charity. It is known that Oliver has raised this topic with Joshua, whom he wants to lend a hand.

“I spoke to John Oliver today and he confirmed that he had spoken to Anthony Joshua and expressed an interest in working with the Ringside Charitable Trust to build a nursing home for former boxers,” Harris said on Monday.

Joshua himself confirmed that such conversations with Oliver are indeed taking place during an appearance on BBC’s Desert Island Discs on Sunday.

“They are suffering themselves, that’s why we talked about opening a nursing home,” Joshua said. “It would be part of my boxing legacy – giving something back to the sport that shaped me.”

The six-year-old registered charity solely aims to lend a hand former boxers in need by placing them in long-overdue care homes given the number of fighters who retire in difficulty for a variety of reasons .

Although Harris and his team in the UK have raised over £200,000, they are yet to receive any real lend a hand from those who can make a difference and ensure a sustainable future for the charity and the home.

Until now.

“We would like to express our enormous gratitude to Anthony Joshua for recognizing the real unmet need for specialist support for former boxers following their departure from the sport,” Harris continued.

“Anthony Joshua is the first elite boxer to publicly acknowledge this need and we hope that more in the boxing community will follow suit.

“Anthony Joshua has expressed his desire to work with his friend and RCT board member, John Oliver, with RCT to build a care home.

“At Ringside we look forward to working with him in the future.”