DENNIS LAURENTE KNOCKS OUT AYI BRUCE IN 7TH ROUND

MGM GRAND, LAS VEGAS ? Surging Filipino welterweight Dennis Laurente (41-4-5, 22KOs) of Palompon, Leyte finished off Ayi Bruce of Ghana (20-5-0, 12KOs) at 57 seconds of the 7th round. Laurente dominated the fight all night peppering Bruce with combinations to the body and the head. All three judges had Laurente way ahead at 59-55, 60-54, 60-54 before the stoppage.

In earlier bouts, up and coming Jose Benavidez Jr (14-0-0 12KO) of Phoenix, Arizona won by UD over Sammy Santana (4-5-2, 0KO) of Puerto Rico in their Junior Welterweight battle. Santana was down twice in round 1 and once in rounds 2 and 4. Scores were 60-50 from each of the three judges in favor of Benavidez Jr.

Benavidez (C) looks on the fallen Sammy Santana. Photo by Dr Ed de la Vega.

In the second bout of the evening, Victor Pasillas of East Los Angeles won by unanimous decision over Jose Garcia of Bakersfield, CA in their superbantam bout. Scores were 40-36, 40-36, 40-36 in favor of Pasillas.