Culminating a thrilling day of more than eight hours of boxing, live music, and a DJ set from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mixmaster Mike of the Beastie Boys, Jalan Walker scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Alexander Espinoza in the 15th and final bout of the “Butterfly Brawl” at the iconic Santa Monica Pier Saturday.
The stacked fight card was promoted by Fightbook and its founder and President Mark Habibi in association with Bash Boxing. All net ticket proceeds and sponsorship dollars benefited Teen Cancer America.
In the second-to-last bout, Steven Navarro thoroughly destroyed New Orleans native Delvin McKinley, dropping his four times before the McKinley’s corner through in the towel. Los Angeles’ own Navarro scored two knockdowns in round three, but McKinley, who entered Saturday’s action riding a four-bout winning streak, was able to beat the count both times, with the second coming as the round came to an end. Navarro also dropped McKinley twice in round four.
Continuing the onslaught, Navarro dropped McKinley of New Orleans at 1:35 of the fourth and seconds before the round came to an end.
After McKinely survived a second consecutive stanza of hitting the canvas twice, his corner had seen enough and directed referee Rudy Barragan to stop the onslaught at 1:14 of the fifth round.
“My coach was telling me to just be patient early on,” Navarro said. “He was saying to just go to the body and the head will fall.”
In a monumental upset, Moises Garcia Zenteno of Puebla, Mexico, down on two of the three judges’ scorecards through four rounds, fired a devastating left hook to the body and dropped previously undefeated DeAngelo Evans to the canvas in the fifth.
““My coach was telling me to just be patient early on,” a jubilant Zenteno said. “He was saying to just go to the body and the head will fall.”
Despite leading 39-37 twice, Evans, a North Carolina native who trains out of Virginia, suffered the first defeat of six-year pro career when Judge Gerard White dramatically stopped the contest 1:39 into the fifth round.
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Jalan Walker (16-1-1, 11 KOs) defeated Alexander Espinoza (24-9-3, 8 KOs) via unanimous decision
Scorecards: 99-91, 98-92, and 96-94
SUPER FLYWEIGHTS
Steven Navarro (9-1, 6 KOs) scored a fifth-round KO (1:14) over Delvin McKinley (15-6-1, 14 KOs)
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS
Moises Garcia Zenteno (8-6-3, 4 KOs) scored a fifth-round TKO (1:39) over DeAngelo Evans (15-1, 14 KOs)
FLYWEIGHTS
Andy Dominguez (14-1, 7 KOs) scored a second-round TKO (2:24) over Neider Valdez Aguilar (15-5-3, 12 KOs)
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Joseph Subia (5-1-1, 3 KOs) defeated Gabriel Alexander Torres (6-1, 4 KOs) via unanimous decision
Scorecards: 60-54 and 59-55 twice
SUPER WELTERWEIGHTS
Ebenezer Griffith (9-0, 3 KOs) defeated Yeis Solano (15-7, 10 KOs) via unanimous decision
Scorecards: 80-72 twice and 79-73
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Nikolai Terteryan (4-0, 3 KOs) scored a first-round KO (1:35) over Cristian Perez Hernandez (12-6-1, 7 KOs)
SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Tommy Hyde (14-0, 9 KOs) scored a fourth-round TKO (0:41) over Vaughn Williams (13-3, 8 KOs)
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS
Criztec Bazaldua (8-2, 2 KOs) scored a third-round TKO (2:23) over Sachin Rohila (8-6, 2 KOs)
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Jason Robledo (2-1) defeated David Reyes (3-9-1, 2 KOs) via unanimous decision
Scorecards: 40-36 (three times)
SUPER WELTERWEIGHTS
Art Barrera Jr. (13-0, 10 KOs) scored a third-round TKO (2:49) over Brian Agustin Arregui (12-9, 7 KOs)
SUPER FLYWEIGHTS
Abel Alba Jr. (4-0, 1 KO) scored a third-round TKO (1:07) over Terry Brister (0-1)
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHTS
Sasha Saldaña (4-0) defeated Destiny Jones (6-6, 2 KOs) via unanimous decision
Scorecards: 40-36 (three times)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Sebastian Terteryan (2-0, 1 KO) defeated Josias Gonzalez (2-8-2) via unanimous decision
Scorecards: 40-36 (three times)
SUPER FLYWEIGHTS
Ilene Herrera (1-0) defeated Fayeda An (0-5-1) via unanimous decision
Scorecards: 40-36 (three times)
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