by Francisco Salazar |
COMMERCE, Calif. – Raul Lizarraga needed a challenge after winning all of his previous fights by knockout.
He took it over from Ulises Sierra and managed to win convincingly.
Lizarraga overcame a complex start to win a hard-fought unanimous decision behind schedule Saturday night in front of a raucous and biased crowd at the Commerce Casino. The scores were 79-73, 79-73, 78-74 for Lizarraga, who improved to 14-0 with 13 knockouts.
In the first round, Sierra landed a series of combinations that overwhelmed Lizarraga. A left hook to the head sent Lizarraga crashing to the ropes. Lizarraga recovered and landed his own share of combinations to Sierra’s head in the last 20 seconds of the round. Lizarraga suffered a cut above his left eye as the round ended.
“What happened (in that first round) was I messed up my finish,” Lizarraga told The Ring after the fight. “We knew he was going in with his head when he was leaning in. He was throwing good punches, but a lot of them were slipping off me. I got caught in his head (which caused a cut), and when you get hit with a headbutt, it (kicks you off balance). And then he threw (and landed) a hook that hit me.”
From the second round onwards, the left-handed Lizarraga was the aggressor, putting Sierra on the defensive and driving him back to the ropes. Lizarraga was the better of the exchanges between them. During the middle rounds, Lizarraga began to move in and out of Sierra’s range, landing punches and combinations to the head and body. Lizarraga boxed well from range, occasionally receiving a straight right to the head from Sierra.
“I should have done it from the start, but the first two rounds are when you’re nervous,” said Lizarraga, who is trained by Jesse Moreno. “And we waited a little bit today. But there are no excuses. We trained rigid to look good from the start. I got a little excited. He grabbed my ass. That’s when I took two steps back. My defense had to be there. After the first round, my trainers got to my ass. When they raised their voices, I calmed down. That’s when I become perilous. Then I became solid.”
Both were in the pocket from the sixth round onwards. Lizarraga was able to win a few exchanges by throwing and landing more punches and combinations. Sierra landed a few straight rights to the head that looked like they stunned Lizarraga for a moment, but Lizarraga was able to keep fighting.
In the final round, Lizarraga outboxed Sierra in the pocket. Sierra had his moments but was unable to land anything that felt even as Lizarraga continued to dominate the action with his sheer volume of punches.
In his previous fight on May 3, Lizarraga completed his toughest test to date, on paper, Lizarraga scored a fifth-round knockout victory over the once-beaten Marcos Osorio-Betancourt. The victory over Osorio-Betancourt came less than six months after Lizarraga scored a fifth-round knockout victory over Noe Larios Jr.
Lizarraga believes he could have done better and hopes to fight before the end of the year.
“We needed an opponent like that. We needed a fight like that. We know where we are. We can’t get cocky. We can’t get too comfortable. We have to go back to the drawing board. Let’s work on what we have to work on. I thought I worked rigid as is. It’s not good enough. There’s always going to be someone who shows you that you need to work on something. Yeah, I have the W. My people around me expect more from me. I expect more from myself. I know I won, but I felt like I could have done more. I should have beaten him.
“As soon as the (medical) suspension is over, I hope to be able to organize something. Hopefully (in) October. I’ll be 23 in September, so I’d like to fight in October or November. Come back and make a statement. I have to make up for that performance. Even if I won, I could have done better.”
Sierra drops to 17-4-2, 10 KOs. The 35-year-old previously fought super middleweight contender Bektemir Melikuziev on Jan. 27, losing by third-round knockout. The loss snapped Sierra’s two-fight win streak. In January 2020, Sierra faced current super middleweight contender Vladimir Shishkin at ShoBox, losing by unanimous decision. Nearly 11 months later, Sierra lost by first-round knockout to current super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga.
Both players were born in the San Diego area. Lizarraga lives in nearby Murrieta.
Junior middleweight Terrell Adams defeated Jamarcus Warren (3-7-2, 1 KO) of Tyler, Texas via majority decision. One judge scored the fight 57-57, while the other two judges scored it 60-54 and 59-55 for Adams, who improved to 10-1, 4 KO.
Adams, who lives in nearby Watts, is the younger brother of top junior middleweight contender Brandon Adams.
In a clash of undefeated welterweights, Heartfelt Brooks (5-0, 2 KOs) of nearby Long Beach knocked out Javy Lopez in the first round. A left hook to the top of the head wobbled Lopez. Brooks followed up with another left hook, dropping Lopez to the canvas. Lopez beat the count but was able to continue, prompting referee Kristi Rosario to stop the fight at 2:14.
Lopez, who lives in San Antonio, is losing 2-1, 2 KOs.
In a airy heavyweight bout, Guillermo Alvizures of nearby Downey defeated Zlatko Ledica (2-6-1, 1 KO) of Oxnard via majority decision. One judge scored the fight 38-38, while the other two judges scored it 39-37 and 40-36 for Alvizures, who moves to 5-0, 4 KO.
The left-handed Ledic, who has not fought in almost five years, will turn 41 in two weeks.
Featherweight Bryan Albarran of nearby Inglewood knocked out Ricardo Luna in the second round. A wide right cross caught Luna, knocking him down near the ropes. Luna struggled to his feet, prompting referee Rudy Barragan to stop the fight at 2:08. Luna is from Tijuana, Mexico, and currently lives in Glendale, California. Both fighters were making their pro debuts.
In the flyweight division, Enkhmandakh Kharkuu improved to 3-0 by defeating Armando Castillo (1-2, 1 KO) of Palm Springs, California, via unanimous decision. The scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Kharkuu, who is originally from Mongolia and currently resides in Los Angeles.
In the welterweight bout, Osmel Avila of Fresno, California, made his professional debut by knocking down Joseph Hernandez four times en route to a knockout victory. After the fourth knockdown, referee Kristi Rosario stopped the fight at 2:19. Hernandez, who lives in Vista, California, lost 1-1.
In the first fight of the “Battle of the Rising Stars” card, junior middleweight Henry Mendez of Wilmington, California, won the first fight of his professional career, stopping Nicholas Noriz in the third round to win by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 39-36 in favor of Mendez, who improved to 1-11-3. Noriz, who lives in nearby Whitter, was making his pro debut.
The card was promoted by longtime Southern California boxing promoter Ed Holmes.
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