Munguia stays unbeaten, Rosado scores epic knockout to highlight Golden Boy Boxing in El Paso
EL PASO, Texas - The legend of Tijuana native Jamie Munguia continues to grow with each knockout, and after Saturday's thrashing of Kamil Szeremeta, El Paso becomes the latest stop on the tour.
Before a heavily-biased crowd at UTEP's Don Haskins Center, Munguia stayed aggressive on Szeremeta from the opening bell before the former world challenger tapped out after the 6th Round.
Munguia seized control in the 6th, landed a career-high 53 punches in the single round.
Before a crowd that included former world champions Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins, Munguia (37-0) earned his 30th career knockout.
But the highlight that drew the biggest 'oohs' from the crowd came in the fight before Munguia, when super middleweight fighter Gabriel Rosado knocked out Bektemir Melkusiev in the 3rd round with one punch.
Rosado, a Philadelphia native, had been on the defense in the earlier rounds, but his patience paid off when Melkusiev exposed vulnerability in front of the northeast ring corner.
"We call that getting knocked the (expletive) out," said a fired up Rosado after the bout.
In the first fight, 31-year-old welterweight Blair "The Flair" Cobbs knocked out Brad Solomon in the 5th round.
The enigmatic Cobbs, who ABC-7's Nate Ryan detailed in a fascinating profile on Friday night, originally learned to fight in Mexico as a teenager after he and his father were forced to flee the United States while CObbs' father was wanted by the FBI.
The knockout keeps Cobbs' record unbeaten (15-0-1).
In the WBC Women's Flyweight title, native Texan Marlen Esparza won by unanimous decision over incumbent champion Ibeth Zamora.
Esparza, who has deep family ties in El Paso, won the title belt in her first bout as challenger.
"I've been coming to El Paso since I was a kid, at least 2-3-4 times a year," said an emotional Esparza after the fight.
"My family's from here. I'm from here. This is where my parents met. We moved to Houston, but this is where I grew up."
Esparza is also a former Team USA Olympic Bronze Medalist.
The day's event was promoted by Golden Boy Boxing, the brand associated with Oscar De La Hoya.
