A DULL NIGHT OF BOXING AT THE PLAYBOY MANSION By Kenny Perrault

The Playboy mansion in Beverly Hills, California along with Golden Boy promotions hosted this weeks ESPN2's Tuesday Night Fights. The night started off with a four round bout between Thomas Bernal and Ever Guzman. Guzman who was making his professional debut never really had a chance as Bernal jumped on him from the start.  The end wasn't far off as referee David Mendoza called a halt to the match at 2:27 of the first round. Thomas Bernal ups his record to 1-1 (1 KO) while Guzman falls in the hole early at 0-1.

The second bout of the card squared off featherweights Jose Gonzalez and Ivan Cazarez in a six round fight. The first round was a feeling out round, with little offense offered by either man. Next round both fighters cemented out their game plans; Cazarez made it clear he was going to work behind his jab and try to land an occasional counter while Gonzalez -who is four inches shorter than Cazarez- had to press his way forward and get in the inside to be effective. There really were no exciting moments in the six rounds this fight lasted.  The only real exciting moment of the fight came in the last round, when the fighters clashed heads while Cazarez landed a low blow at the exact same time the fighter’s heads came together. Gonzalez had to take a short rest to recover from the low blow. Once the fight continued Gonzalez made a few attempts at throwing punches in bunches, which won him the round.  In the end all three judges scored it in favor of Jose Gonzalez with the scores of 59-54, and 58-55 twice.  Jose Gonzalez moves his record up to 9-2 (3 KO’s) while Ivan Cazarez drops to 12-4-2 (4 KO’s). The referee for the bout was David Mendoza.

The ten round main event featured welterweights Freddy Hernandez and Jesus Soto, both men trying to take their careers to the next level, and this fight offered a chance to get their names thrown in the mix.

Freddy Hernandez started the night the same way he would end it by keeping Jesus Soto at the end of his jab. Soto would try to get his punches off but Hernandez was always quick to take control of the fight working off his jab. The eighth round proved to be the best round of the night for Hernandez as he battered Soto around the ring. Soto again offered little or no offense but did manage to stay on his feet, avoiding serious injury. By the ninth and tenth rounds Soto tried to offer some sort of attack but many of his punches were looping and wide and Hernandez easily picked many off them off with his gloves. Like the previous rounds Hernandez was able to take complete control over the rounds. In the end the judges saw it in favor of the more dominant fighter of the night, scoring it 97-93, and 98-92 twice for Freddy Hernandez, who improves his record to 17-0 (14 KO's) while Jesus Soto loses his second fight in a row and drops his record to 12-2 (8 KO's). Referee for the bout was Dr. James Jen-Kin.