In front of a sell out crowd from the cozy and intimate Avalon Theater in Hollywood, California, Golden Boy Promotions presented an exciting five bout card. The event was televised on HBO Latino's "Boxeo de Oro" and it had an international flare. In the main event, Arturo Morua of Guadalajara, Mexico would take on Jung Bum Kim of Korea. In the co-feature, England's Carl Froch would take on Costa Rica's Henry Porras. To make things even more interesting, the venue provided a cozy, close view of the ring from any seat, and the balcony of the Avalon made some folks feel like they were at the famous Philadelphia's Blue Horizon.

       In the main event red hot Arturo Morua took on Jung Bum Kim of Korea in a 10 round junior welterweight bout. With a title shot with Vivian Harris looming in June, Morua had too much on the line to take the tough Jung-Bung Kim lightly. Kim was making his first appearance in the U.S. Early on Morua was able to find a consistent home for his left hook against the charging Kim. Kim was able to land the occasional shot while charging in, but Morua was able to slam left hooks off of Kim's cheek. Kim continued to stalk Morua through rounds three and four, but Morua was able to step back or to the side and pound away with combos.

       In the fourth round, Kim showed that his chin was made of steel, as he constantly took shot after shot unfazed. Even though the shots seemed to not faze Kim, Morua was racking up points through a wide variety of punches. Morua continued the assault on Kim, but Kim tough as nails never gave up trying as he continued to stalk Morua. Rounds five and six were more of the same. In round six, the crowd started chanting, "Mexico!!, Mexico!!", which led to a flurry by Morua, but to Kim's credit he never gave up on trying to stalk Morua.

       Rounds seven and eight slowed down a bit. Morua slowed down his pace, and started to stay away. Morua was probably sensing that he had the fight in hand, and with a world title fight on schedule, didn't want to do anything foolish to mess it up. The final round ended with both fighters exchanging big blows at close quarters, with Morua getting the better of it. As the fight went to the scorecards, Morua would win a unanimous decision by the scores of 97-93, 97-93  and 98-92. A big win for Morua, who can now look forward to his title shot on the Gatti-Mayweather undercard against Vivian Harris. Morua of Guadalajara improves to 22-6-1 with the win, while Kim of Taegu, Korea falls to 23-3-1.

       In the co-feature, one of the most talked about prospects in Europe, Carl Froch, made his U.S. debut on Thursday night, and got all he wanted from the very tough Henry Porras of Costa Rica. Froch came in with a 14-0 record with 11 KOs. There was a lot of talk of Froch's punching power coming into this fight, but early on Froch showed that he could box too. Froch came out in round one and controlled the round behind a good stiff left jab. Froch consistently kept it popping throughout the round, Porras made things close as he was able to counter a couple of the jabs with overhand rights. Again in round two Froch showed off his boxing skills, as he stayed back and boxed from the outside. Towards the end of the round, Froch landed a great right uppercut which snapped Porras' head back. Froch also did a good job of mixing up his punches.

       Porras came out strong in round three landing some good overhand rights, both fighters effectively used head feints in this round. Froch got away from his jab this time and it got him into some trouble as Porras peppered him with right hands. A good round for Porras. Round four was close as both fighters landed some good right hands, Froch's looked to be a little crisper. Froch seemed to start to turn the fight in his direction in round five as the action went into close quarters. Froch landed some big shots and appeared to have Porras wearing down. Just as it looked Porras was wearing down he made a last surge in round six. Froch got back to his jab early in the round, as the fight returned to a boxing match. Porras also got back to landing his overhand right in this round.

       But, just as Porras gained a little momentum Froch took it right back with big shots in round seven. Froch came out with his signature jab again, until Porras finally timed one and countered with a great overhand right which seemed to just spark Froch. Froch then unloaded with lefts and rights to the head, and amazingly Porras stayed on his feet. At one point Froch landed four straight times on the chin, which stunned Porras, who was forced to grab Froch in order to stay on his feet. Porras showed a lot of guts surviving an onslaught from the hard punching Froch. Porras took more punishment in round eight, then after 2 left hooks and a hard right cross, Porras's corner threw in the towel to rescue their game fighter. Froch wins by TKO at 56 seconds of the eighth round. An impressive, but tough victory for Froch in his first fight in the U.S. Froch improves to 15-0 with 12KOs, while Porras falls to 29-5-1.

       There were three other fights on this Golden Boy Promotions card. In an eight round featherweight bout, Jose Gonzalez of East Los Angeles TKO'd Angel Mata of Los Mochis, Mexico in the fourth round. Gonzalez was all over Mata from the start, constantly swarming him. Finally in the fourth, Gonzalez charged Mata and dropped him in his corner. The corner of Mata decided to throw in the towel at 1:49 of the fourth round. Gonzalez improved to 11-2, while Mata fell to 10-12.
  
       In a four round lightweight attraction, Lionel Madrigal of Oxnard, California battled Richard Alduenda of Azusa, California. Madrigal used crisp combinations at short range to easily cruise to a shutout unanimous decision. Madrigal throughout the fight was able to land compact combos, while also avoiding most of Alduenda's wild shots. Alduenda early on was able to land a few combos, but not enough to offset Madrigal's combos. Madrigal stunned Alduenda with a good right uppercut in the third round. Madrigal's shutout unanimous decision win improves his record to 4-1, while Alduenda falls to 1-3-1.      

       In another four round lightweight attraction, Anthony Salcido of San Diego made short work of Jesus Macias of Los Angeles. Salcido dropped Macias hard in the opening round with a overhand right which dropped Macias and sent his head crashing against the canvas. Amazingly Macias beat the count, but Salcido went right back at him with a flurry until referee Pat Russell stopped the fight at 1:36 of the first round. Salcido improves to 5-0 with 3KOs, while Macias falls to 2-2.

       This wrapped up a solid five bout card from the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, California. The card was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

VISIT OUR EXCLUSIVE MORUA - FROCH PHOTO GALLERY... by Jose Hernandez

4-21-2005