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Escobedo wins NABO Featherweight belt!
In just over a month since defeating Rey Bautista in the Second Annual Golden Boy Promotions Boxing World Cup, WBO and IBA Junior Featherweight Champion Daniel Ponce de Leon, 33-1 (30), needed just five rounds to take out the rugged Columbian Reynaldo Lopez, 27-6-2 (19), at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon, California.
The fight started with Ponce de Leon shooting his signature wild shots at a fast pace, obviously looking to make a statement. But Lopez seemed to be much more prepared for the awkward style than Bautista had been a month earlier, using good head movement and a nice jab to ward off the constant attack.
By the third round, the body punishment that Ponce de Leon was delivering began to take its effect and he started to find the range with his powerful left.
Lopez was momentarily stunned late in the third and the champ jumped all over him, but the Columbian challenger landed his best punch of the night, a left uppercut, and seemed to slow the onslaught for the remainder of the round.
Ponce de Leon started to land big left hands in the fourth round and truly began to find his power. The best action of the night came when Lopez ate a big left and began to fire back with hard shots of his own, none of which seemed to faze Daniel in the least.
It was evident from the constant pressure by Ponce de Leon that he could take anything that Lopez had to offer.
In what would be the final round of the fight, the Mexican native scaled back his attack during the first minute and a half. Lopez appeared to grow confident by the middle of the round and got caught with a hard left that sent him crumbling to the canvas.
Referee Tony Crebs started to count him out, but quickly realized that Lopez was out of it and called a stop to the bout. The official time was 2:39 of the fifth round.
The bout was obviously a “stay busy” type fight for Ponce de Leon, as it was a scheduled 10 round non-title attraction.
The card is the first of a major deal between Golden Boy Promotions and Morongo Casino Resort & Spa which should see a good number of bouts in the coming years.
Fresh off a week of controversy, promoter Oscar De La Hoya was in attendance alongside his father, Joel De La Hoya.
In the televised undercard, Golden Boy Promotions prospect and 2004 Olympian Eduardo Escobedo, 20-2 (14), handed Columbian Jose Mendoza, 21-1-0 (17), the first loss of his career by KO at :35 seconds into the sixth round.
Escobedo controlled the fight from the opening bell, using a quick stiff jab throughout the first five rounds which helped the young fighter set up the perfect 1-2 that would end the fight.
With the win Escobedo claimed the NABO Featherweight title.
