Borderwars II Results

Oscar Tovar Jr. celebrating his win, while Roberto Perez recovers on the stool.

Official Results:

Oscar Tovar Jr. defeated Roberto Perez via TKO at 1:51 of the 3rd round.
Juan Guajardo defeated Julio Villareal via KO at 1:11 of the 1st round.
Ricardo Palacios defeats Juan Loera via decision.
David Rios defeats Hector Gutierrez via decision.
Eduardo Garza defeated Ivan Ceron via KO at 1:21 in the 3rd round.
Joe Garcia defeated Richard Hernandez via split decision.

The main event of the evening was a rematch between super-featherweights Oscar Tovar Jr. (Alton, TX) and Roberto Perez (Matamoros, Mexico). The first encounter ended via KO, with Perez being knocked out by Tovar in the first frame on June 17, 2011 at the State Farm Arena.

The first frame was a showcase of Tovar’s skills, as he was landing a stiff jab and a sneaky uppercut on Perez. At times, Tovar lead with the uppercut and eventually hurt Perez badly when he was against the ropes. But Perez managed to survive. The second frame was practically target practice for Tovar. Chaining together brutal combinations and repeatedly landing big power strikes. Tovar had him hurt numerous times and even though Perez didn’t go down, it felt like a 10-8 round. The beating came to an end in the third frame, as Tovar landed a shattering left uppercut that knocked Perez to the mat. He beat the count but the referee stopped the contest to protect the Matamoros boxer from taking anymore unnecessary punishment. With this main event victory, Tovar now moves his record to 6-1. With this crushing defeat, Perez drops down to 1-11.

The co-main even featured a heavyweight battle of Pharr vs McAllen. It’s a never ending territorial battle in the eyes of some local citizens. This time, McAllen won out in a major way. Both fighters, Juan Guajardo and Julio Villareal were making their professional debuts here tonight. Even though El Gallito Ballroom was as cold as it gets, it didn’t take Guajardo long to get warmed up. He took Julio Villarreal out with a scary left hook that sent the Pharr native crashing to the canvas and apron. Villarreal was lucky he didn’t hit the dancing floor with the level of force he was hit with. The time of the official KO stoppage was 1:11 of the very first round.

From Mission, Texas, new comer Ricardo Palacios was able to successfully cross over from amateur MMA into professional boxing with a decision win over Reynosa’s Juan Loera. Both welterweight fighters were making their debut here tonight, and Palacios made the most of this fight with a memorable performance. Palacios was at his most vicious when he was stabbing Loera in the body with ferocious rib roasters. Loera could not keep up with the movement and workrate of the Mission boxer. Palacios was using an effective jab and uppercut to string along offense during the bout. After four rounds, it was clear that Palacios was the superior boxer.

In the lightweight division, David Rios from Edinburg defeated Mission’s Hector Gutierrez via decision. Rios, the southpaw, was having success by pecking at Gutierrez’s face with a sharp jab before following up with a straight left. A vicious left hook hurt Gutierrez in the second round but Gutierrez clinched to survive. As the fight continued for its scheduled four rounds, Rios kept his momentum going to win the decision. Rios is now 1-0, while Gutierrez falls to 1-3.

In a super-featherweight bout, La Joya’s Eduardo Garza defeated Mexican native Ivan Ceron via liver punch KO at 1:21 in the 3rd round. Garza, who was announced as being “a four time Golden Gloves regional champion”, hurt Ceron in the first stanza with a left hook. Garza continued to overwhelm him in the following rounds before the hard body shot dropped Ceron in the third frame. Ceron couldn’t answer the count, thus giving Garza his first professional victory. Garza is now 1-0, while Ceron drops to 1-3.

The opening bout of the night had super-flyweight Joe Garcia (Edinburg) defeating Richard Hernandez (El Campo) via split decision. The highlight of the first frame was Garcia hurting Hernandez in an exchange. In the second frame, Hernandez adjusted and landed good body shots. But Garcia took back over, using his footwork and distance to outland Hernandez. After the four rounds had expired, the Edinburg native was announced as the winner, with a new record of 2-0.