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On Saturday at Polideportivo Municipal in La Pampa, light welterweight Martin Antonio Coggi took a big step up in class to knock off Carlos Wilfredo Vilches via unanimous decision and capture the South American title.
25 year old Buenos Aires southpaw Coggi, 21-2-1 (11), had largely mixed with a lesser grade of opposition and was just eight months from a tenth and final round stoppage loss at the hands of veteran Diego Martin Alzugaray when he met Vilches in the ring.
Vilches, 54-9-2 (32), has swapped punches with some of the top light welters in the world but if a fourth round KO loss to former world champion Juan Urango during a IBF title eliminator in April was a sign that the 32 year old from Sante Rosa had slipped a bit, the loss to domestic level operator Coggi confirmed the notion.
There was a battery of action in the Land of Silver on Friday with the hotspot being Buenos Aires.
At Club Ferro Carril Oeste, the vacant South American Light Heavyweight Championship was sorted when Julio Cesar Dominquez, 19-4-1 (13), dropped former Argentine Super Middle titlist Martin Abel Bruer, 19-4 (1), in the second before KO’ing his crosstown local rival in the fifth round.
The Union de Padres Los Toritos saw towering local hero Gonzalo Omar Basile, 36-4 (16), retain his WBO Latino Heavyweight crown by flooring a much smaller opponent in blown up cruiserweight Dany Lobo, 10-2 (5), in the third and fourth frames before forcing a referee stoppage at the end of the fourth.
On the undercard, WBA Fedelatin Welter titlist Rodolfo Ezequiel Martinez, 31-2-1 (11), survived a scare during a six round non-title affair against Rosario campaigner Sergio Javier Benitez, 11-20-3 (2), who pushed Martinez hard but had to settle for a narrow split decision loss.
At Gimnasio Municipal, WBC Lightweight Latino Champion Daniel Alberto Dorrego, 25-1 (17), stayed busy in a non-title bout by knocking out Sante Fe southpaw Claudio Fabian Gomez, 3-10-3 (1), during the sixth round in their third bout together.
30 year old spoiler Gomez handed Dorrego his only loss as a professional via a second round stoppage in 2005. Dorrego’s chance for revenge had to wait until November of last year when he banged out a difficult unanimous decision over Gomez in eight.
Heading away from Buenos Aires, Club Defensores de Villa Lujan in San Miguel was the site of the vacant WBC Latino Heavyweight Championship winning effort of Manuel Alberto Pucheta, 22-3 (16), who forced a referee stoppage of Saul Farrah, 36-9-2 (30), in the seventh round.
Also on the bill, heavyweight Sebastian Ignacio Ceballos, 14-6-1 (9), knocked out previously undefeated Bolivian cruiserweight prospect Ricky Torres, 10-1-1 (5), in the second.
