FRIANT — Carlos Navarro counted himself out of his WBC Continental Am?ricas super featherweight title last Friday evening in a nationally televised bout at Table Mountain Casino, then told The Fresno Bee he was retiring. Earlier, Modesto’s Osvaldo Sarabio made an impressive professional debut, M?xico’s Abraham Esquivel remained unbeaten and Brazil’s Joilson Dos Santos turned in an impressive showing in an action-filled card.
It was the main event, however, that produced the biggest fireworks in a scheduled 12-round fight that headlined the ‘Friday Night Fights’ on ESPN2.
Navarro showed his frustration — and results of receiving numerous body shots — in the seventh round against Bobby Pacquiao of the Philippines in losing for only the fourth time in 30 professional bouts.
The 28-year-old Navarro was knocked down twice in the round, and seemed startled that referee John Shorle began counting him out the first time. Navarro claims Shorle didn’t count correctly.
“I took some really good shots to the body and I had to catch my breath,” said Navarro. “I’m waiting for the referee to start the count. A fighter, when he goes down, knows how much time he has. I’m arguing with the guy. That’s the last thing I should be doing.”
A minute later, Navarro went down again and began counting himself out. “I had to teach (Shorle) how to count. I counted myself out and that’s it,” he said.
Pacquiao, who delighted a record sellout crowd of 1,195, improved to 22-11 with 10 KOs. First, however, he had to adjust to a new pair of boxing shoes that had him slipping in the early rounds.
“I didn’t realize it was that slippery,” said Pacquiao through an interpreter. “A friend gave me the shoes.”
Pacquiao’s corner wrapped tape around the bottom of the shoes that allowed the boxer to get better traction. The rest was history as Pacquiao was awarded the KO victory 2:54 into the seventh round.
Minutes prior to the Navarro-Pacquiao bout, Sarabio, a 1996 graduate of Beyer High School, showed his power in a fourth-round knockout over Rub?n Ju?rez of Oxnard in a lightweight bout.
“I thought I was going to win by knockout, but after the second and third rounds, I thought it would go all the way,” said the 27-year-old Sarabio. “He kept getting up and kept throwing hard punches. I knew he was tough after that.”
Sarabio, who was born in Culiac?n, Sinaloa, and raised in Modesto, has been frustrated by injuries, especially broken hands that have sidelined him for up to three years at a time.
“I’ve had broken knuckles, lots of problems,” said Sarabio. “I feel real good right now. I have the experience.”
Sarabio, who had a point deducted in the second round for hitting below the belt, said the problem is that he prefers body shots. Sarabio got the KO 2:06 into the fourth round. Ju?rez drops to 3-1.
Esquivel improved to 3-0 with a majority decision victory over Sacramento’s Danny Savala, who drops to 5-3, in a featherweight bout.
Esquivel, who is from Monterrey, Nuevo Le?n, took advantage of a cut above Savala’s right eye to get the win. The scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 38-38.
Dos Santos, now 9-1, took advantage of his height advantage against Daniel Stanisavlejevic in a middleweight bout to score a KO 2:18 into the fifth round.
Fresno’s Raymond ‘Hershey’ Seja lost his professional debut when referee Shorle stopped the fight 1:30 into the third round against Karl Jaimes Noons. Noons improved to 2-0.
Notes, notes, notes
Navarro, the older brother of top-ranked flyweight Jos? Navarro, had pictures of his wife, baby, parents and grandparents taped to his shoes. “Win or lose, I don’t care who I am going to fight or where I’m going to fight, I will have my family with me all the time,” said Navarro. By the way, his wife got so excited about the fight that she unexpectedly dropped the couple’s baby … Among those in attendance were former boxer Jenifer Alcorn, Jos? Navarro and former world champion Kevin Kelly … Vitali and Wlad Klitschko, the brothers who formed K2 Promotions, addressed the crowd via video … Julia La Gringuita M?s Mexicana sang the national anthem prior to the fights.
