Diego De La Hoya needed to accept a lopsided factors win on an evening the place he was properly on his solution to a knockout end.
An unintended conflict of heads left journeyman Jose Santos Gonzalez with a grotesque reduce over his proper eye, prompting an instantaneous stoppage of their DAZN-aired co-feature. The foul compelled the competition to go to the scorecards, the place De La Hoya gained on the scorecards of Jerry Cantu (80-70), Rudy Barragan (80-70) and David Soliven (80-70) to say a technical unanimous choice Saturday night at Commerce On line casino & Lodge in Commerce, California.
De La Hoya entered the ring at a career-heaviest 131 kilos however appeared to hold the additional weight properly. Gonzalez was far too straightforward to search out, standing straight in entrance of the legacy boxer, the nephew of promoter and Corridor of Fame former six-division champ Oscar De La Hoya.
The technique—or lack thereof—led to the bout’s first knockdown. De La Hoya was in a position to stroll Gonzalez straight right into a proper hand, sending the Guadalajara native to the canvas. Gonzalez beat the rely however was unable to defend towards a swarm of proper arms upstairs for the rest of the spherical.
Gonzalez properly labored behind his jab in spherical 4, additionally providing a extra defensively accountable strategy as he sought to clear his head. De La Hoya went on the hunt however clearly hoped to catch lightning in a bottle as he ignored the physique whereas seeking a gap for a fight-ending proper hand upstairs.
It wasn’t a knockout blow, however De La Hoya discovered success with the shot early in spherical 5. An overhand proper cracked Gonzalez on the chin, sending him to the canvas within the first minute of the spherical. De La Hoya was calm as his countryman beat the rely, this time going to the physique and as he methodically picked aside and bloodied Gonzalez.
Time was referred to as in between rounds by referee Thomas Taylor, who summoned the ringside doctor to look at Gonzalez. An all-clear was given, although Gonzalez was unable to fend off De La Hoya for a lot of rounds six and 7.
De La Hoya absolutely hit his offensive stride in spherical eight, jabbing to the physique and touchdown crisp energy punches upstairs. Gonzalez was compelled to retreat and play protection as De La Hoya landed a four-punch mixture. An tried follow-up assault as an alternative resulted in a conflict of heads at shut quarters. Gonzalez (23-11-1, 13KOs) turned away in ache as time was referred to as, although the examination carried out by the ringside physician lasted mere seconds earlier than the bout was dropped at a halt.
De La Hoya superior to 24-1 (11KOs) with the win, his third in a row since his lone profession defeat greater than three years in the past.
Headlining the present, Guadalajara’s Raul Curiel (11-0, 9KOs) faces fringe welterweight contender Brad Solomon (29-5, 9KOs) of Douglasville, Georgia in a scheduled ten-round bout.
Jake Donovan is a senior author for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox