The January 11 edition of Telefutura's Solo Boxeo Tecate originated from Cabazon, California featured Season One "Contender" champion Sergio Mora in the main event and former U. S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo in a co-featured 10-round lightweight bout. Mora, coming of a controversial draw with Elvin Ayala, faced former WBA middleweight title challenger Rito Ruvalcaba, who was fighting for the first time in over 3 years, while Escobedo was matched with journeyman Pascali Adorno.



The televised portion of the card opened with Escobedo taking on Adorno. It was obvious from the first round that Escobedo, who was taller and more impressive physically than the Puerto Rican southpaw, had decided advantages in reach, speed, technique, and talent. Adorno has heart. He tried to win the fight with singular hard shots, most of which missed their mark, and displayed a dogged determination to go the distance. He did not win a round but he did finish the fight on his feet. All 3 judges scored the fight 100-90 in favor of Escobedo as did TTR. The up-and-coming Californian improved to 16-1 with 11 KOs while his tenacious opponent slipped to 10-7-2 with 4 KOs.



Escobedo vs. Adorno





In the main event, Mora, appearing either lackadaisical or disinterested, gave away the first round to a visibly rusty Ruvalcaba and managed mere even rounds in the 2nd and 3rd stanzas by throwing a very limited amount of punches. Mora's corner must have gotten to him or an alarm clock went off in his head because from the 4th round on, he dominated. He found if he used his jab, he couldn't miss with it. In fact, he landed at will with almost everything he threw.



In the 6th, he threw punches furiously. The referee, in this writer's opinion, overreacted and hurriedly tried to stop the fight. In doing so, he fell to the canvas and ended up grabbing Mora's legs. The fighting went on until the ref stood and halted the contest at 1:22 of the round. While on the canvas, the referee missed that Ruvalcaba was not really hurt and was punching back.



Mora vs. Ruvalcaba





Although the stoppage seemed premature and somewhat comical in the way it was carried out, Mora appeared on his way to a certain victory. He improved his record to 20-0-1 by scoring his 5th stoppage victory. The veteran Ruvalcaba is now either 31-9 with 27 KOs or 32-9 with 28 KOs depending on the source. Like Ayala, Ruvalcaba would like a rematch with Mora but that does not seem likely.



Having time available, Solo Boxeo Tecate also showed much ballyhooed welterweight prospect Danny Garcia in his 3rd professional fight. The 19-year-old from Philadelphia did not disappoint. In the 2nd round, he deposited Marlo Cortez (2-4-1, 1 ND, 1 KO) on the canvas with a big left hook. Cortez beat the count but was soon rescued by the referee at 1:07 of the round. Garcia is now 3-0 with 3 KOs.



Garcia vs. Cortez