Locked and Loaded Recap: Ruben Villa and Saul Sanchez emerge victorious in Corona

By Davon McLaughlin

There is no better way to spend a Friday night than an evening “at the fights”. This Friday would prove to be no different and Thompson Boxing Promotions “Locked And Loaded” was the place to be if you wanted to bare witness to some of California’s fastest rising stars. In the main event we saw Ruben “RV4” Villa (13-0, 5 KO’s) emerge victorious in dominating fashion defeating seasoned veteran Jose Santos Gonzalez(23-6 13 KO’s) over 8 rounds en route to a hard fought unanimous decision. With the victory came another defense of his WBO youth featherweight title. Villa quickly proved that the experience gap would be a non factor as he came in very poised and showed fans just why he deserves to be in the spotlight. He made very effective use of his hand-speed and quick lateral movements from the opening bell keeping his opponent off balance and at bay for the duration of the fight. Villa was very deliberate in his use of the jab to set up opportunities that would jolt his opponent throughout the fight. His clear advantage in speed caused Gonzales to overcommit on his punches in hopes he could catch Villa out of place, but that wouldn’t be the case. Gonzales struggled to solve the riddle Villa presented for him and was punished in his attempts to close the gap with clinches. By round number six Villa opened up a cut over Gonzalez’s right eye that he continued to attack until the end of the fight. Though a very experienced fighter, Gonzalez proved to be no match for Ruben “RV4” Villa.

The Co main event was a fireworks display from Saul “The Beast” Sanchez (10-0, 6 KO’s) who was competing in his first 8 round contest. He would need only half of that time to secure victory over Ernesto Guerrero (28-24, 17 KO’s) after his original opponent Christian Ayala had to withdraw from the fight with an injury. From the opening bell Sanchez embodied every bit of his nickname and gave the fans the only knockout of the night aggressively scoring the finish at 1:58 Mark of round number 4 with a vicious body blow leaving his opponent on the canvas grimacing in pain. With this victory Sanchez moves to 10-0 with a 60% knockout percentage. “I came in ready to take him all 8 rounds, I wanted the experience, but I knew from the first time I hit him that I could knock him out”. Sanchez who added extra sparring to his training camp, claimed it made a world of difference in the pace he maintained throughout “ I would have had no problem going all 8 tonight but ultimately I got the knockout and sent the fans home happy” Sanchez is a very capable young fighter showing power in both hands and good footwork. He is sure to rise through the ranks quickly so don’t miss an opportunity to see him fight.

In the undercard, Luis Lopez moved to (4-0, 3 KO’s) after a very one sided TKO of Edgar Garcia, (7-18, 2 KO’s) Pleasing his hometown fans in Corona.

Daniel Guzman (2-1-1) and Luis “Cañitas Montellano (0-3-2) fought a very tough four rounds resulting in a split draw.

In a heavyweight battle San Diego’s Elvis Garcia (6-2 5 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Oswaldo “Power” Ortega (3-9, 1 KO) who was able to withstand the Brutal punch power of Garcia for the duration of the fight.

In the opening bout Keith “Danger” Carson dropped his professional debut against Carlos Velazquez who traveled from Phoenix Arizona to also make his debut, Enduring Carson’s early power punching to win a unanimous decision

Fans both live at the outdoor arena, and watching the live Facebook broadcast witnesses an excellent showcase of upcoming talent on all six bouts of the night. A very well rounded card promoted by Thompson’s boxing promotion who will be holding their next card On September 21st from Ontario, California. If you don’t already follow, be sure to follow Thompson Boxing on Facebook, And YouTube to catch a replay of the nights event and broadcasts of all future events.