Last night’s FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS televised by TELEFUTURA and co-promoted by Frankie Sanchez Promotions in conjunction with Golden Boy Promotions, gave Denver fight fans the opportunity to let the rest of the country know there are no more rabid fans than here in the Mile High City.
The main event featured 3-time National and 2005 Cuban and World amateur Welterweight Champion Erislandy Lara (12-0, 7 KO’s) dismantling Puerto Rican William Correa (8-4, 8 KO’s) by way of first round TKO.
Lara, the slick boxing and powerful Cuban defector now residing in Miami, Florida, let Correa know he meant business by immediately digging hard, solid, body shots that were too much for the either knockout or get knocked-out banger from Puerto Rico.
In his 8 wins, Correa has been victorious by KO. His 4 losses have all been by KO.
Hometown hero Ricky Lopez, Jr. (7-1, 2 KO’s) was clearly the crowd favorite when entering the ring against Florida’s Derrick Wilson (7-1-2, 2 KO’s) in the co-main event.
Wilson quieted the crowd with as best a first round performance on the road ever seen in any boxing arena.
Knocking down Lopez, Jr twice in the round and totally dominating the action put Wilson in the drivers seat.
The second round was Wilson’s as well when Lopez, Jr. needed the round to get his feet back under him and his head cleared.
The third round was fairly even but two things were obvious. Lopez, Jr. was no longer in trouble, and the thin air of the Mile High City was taking it’s toll on Wilson.
Ricky Lopez, Jr. did his fans and himself proud by coming back strong from what seemed a devastating early round TKO loss and could have/should have earned himself a draw in this fight.
Able to survive the next three rounds while taking advantage of his first round performance had the judges seeing Wilson the majority decision winner by scores of 56-56 (draw), 56-55, and an utterly ridiculous and shameful 58-54.
The undercard: Zeytunyan over Chacon Carrillo over Vargas Limon over Medina (female) Dennisson over Cruz Kiser over Green
For the fight fans who stayed to watch the heavyweight bout between 6 foot tall and 43 year-old John “The Killer” Kiser (20-24-5, 9 KO’s) and Chris “Da Future” Green (8-6-1, 6 KO’s), they were not disappointed as these two had everyone in the arena on their feet for the entire five rounds of this slugfest.
“Father time” would not knock on the door of “The Killer” last night as he pulled off the upset in winning a unanimous decision victory over the 6 foot 5 inch tall Green.
CONGRATULATIONS to Frankie Sanchez Promotions for providing a quality, competitive fight card showcasing both the fighters of Denver an it’s fantastic fight fans.
Stephen Johnson feature writes for INSIDE BOXING.com, UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND.com, and co-hosts INSIDE BOXING LIVE!
