Eddie Gomez Loses, David Grayton, Immanuwel Aleem & Hugo Centeno Jr. Win
Photos by Esther Lin for Showtime
by Gautham Nagesh
Bronx welterweight Eddie Gomez dropped a harsh unanimous decision to Francisco Santana for his first professional loss Friday night on ShoBox from Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, Calif.
Gomez impressed early and was clearly the more gifted fighter, but Santana staged a rally in the late rounds that won over the judges. We didn’t score the fight, but a draw or a close victory either way would have been justified. Scores of 97–93 and 98–92 for Santana were laughable, while 96–94 from the third judge was fair.
Gomez was shorter, but his punches were more compact and quicker. Unfortunately, his defense and ring generalship were overlooked in favor of Santana’s higher work rate. To be sure, Gomez took his foot off the gas after dominating the first half of the fight. He has no one but himself to blame for this loss. Santana appeared to rock Gomez in the 6th and 7th rounds, and controlled the latter stages
However, for us Gomez was simply sharper all-around, and able to counter effectively. While Santana had his moments courtesy of some hard charges forward in the later rounds, Gomez looks like the fighter with the brighter future. He showed a good chin, solid defense in the pocket and the ability to land precise shots with power. If he takes a lesson from the loss and comes back ready to fight 12 hard rounds, he could challenge almost any welterweight down the road.
The televised main event saw Oxnard prospect Hugo “the Boss” Centeno Jr. school late substitute Gerardo Ibarra (below) in a matchup of unbeaten 23-year-olds at middleweight. Centeno was too fast, skilled and tall for the doughy Ibarra, who had only a week to prepare for the fight. Centeno looked straight from central casting before and after the fight, with nary a hair out of place by the bout’s end. He won an easy unanimous decision.
Ibarra tried his best, but had neither the conditioning nor the ability to challenge Centeno. He was a sitting duck for right uppercuts inside, and unable to handle Centeno’s superior length at distance. Hugo doesn’t appear to be a huge puncher, but he has everything else you want in a prospect, especially marketability. Still, original opponent Domonique Dolton of Detroit would have been a much tougher test.
Showtime offered TV highlights of 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha of Cleveland dominating James Winchester over 10 rounds on the undercard. Gausha scored a knockdown in the 8th with a vicious straight right hand and left Winchester with nasty cuts over both eyes. Gausha was the most impressive American man in London, and should be knocking on the door at 160 lbs. before too long.
Two DMV fighters also notched wins on the untelevised undercard to stay unbeaten. According to BoxingScene, Richmond supermiddleweight Immanuwel Aleem dropped Cameron Allen in the 2nd round with a left hook to the body, then floored him again with an overhand right in the 4th. Another knockdown via two more left hooks to the body was enough for referee Raul Caiz Sr. to end the fight.
Stiff Jab favorite David “Day Day” Grayton IV scored final-round TKO over German Valdez at 59 seconds of the 6th. According to FightNews, Grayton dropped Valdez in the 2nd with a body shot and closed it with a flurry late. It’s great to see Grayton getting wider exposure, and his exciting style should have the boxing world taking notice very soon.
