COMMERCE, Calif. – Raul Lizarraga needed a challenge after winning all of his previous fights by knockout.
He got that from Ulises Sierra, and was able to come out with a convincing victory.
Lizarraga overcame a rough start to win a hard-fought unanimous decision late Saturday night before a raucous and partisan crowd at the Commerce Casino. Scores were 79-73, 79-73, and 78-74 for Lizarraga, who improved to 14-0, 13 knockouts.
Moments into the opening round, Sierra connected with a seres of combinations that overwhelmed Lizarraga. A left hook to the head sent Lizarraga reeling against the ropes. Lizarraga did recover to connect his own share of combinations to the head of Sierra during the last 20 seconds of the round. A cut appeared above the left eye of Lizarraga once the round concluded.
“What ended up happening (in that first round) was I messed up in my end,” Lizarraga told The Ring after the fight. “We knew he comes in with his head, when he leans in. He was throwing good punches, but a lot of them were slipping off of me. I got caught with his head (which opened a cut), and when you’re hit from a head-butt, it (throws you off). And then he threw (and landed) a hook, it landed on me.”
Beginning in round two, the southpaw Lizarraga was the aggressor, putting Sierra on the defensive and walking him back towards the ropes. Lizarraga got the better of the exchanges between the two. During the middle rounds, Lizarraga began moving in and out of Sierra’s range, landing punches and combinations to the head and body. Lizarraga boxed well from distance, occasionally receiving a straight right to the head from Sierra.
“I should’ve done that from the get-go, but you get the jitters in the first two rounds,” said Lizarraga, who is managed by Jesse Moreno. “And we kind of waited a little longer today. But, no excuses. We trained hard to look good from the get-go. I got a little too excited. He caught my ass. That’s when I took two steps back. My defense had to be on point. After the first round, my coaches got on my ass. Once they raised their voice, I calmed down. That’s when I get dangerous. After that, that’s when I got solid.”
Both stood in the pocket from the sixth round on. Lizarraga was able to win several exchanges by throwing and landing more punches and combinations. Sierra did connect on a few straight right hands to the head that looked as though they momentarily stunned Lizarraga, but Lizarraga was able to fight on.
During the final round, Lizarraga outboxed Sierra in the pocket. Sierra did have his moments, but was not able to land anything flush, as Lizarraga continued to get the better of the action through sheer volume of punches.
In his previous fight on May 3, Lizarraga stopped his toughest test to date, on paper, Lizarraga scoring a fifth round knockout victory over once-beaten Marcos Osorio-Betancourt. The victory over Osorio-Betancourt took place less than six months after Lizarraga scored a fifth round knockout win over Noe Larios, Jr.
Lizarraga believes he could have done better and hopes for a fight before the end of the year.
“We needed an opponent like this. We needed a fight like this. We know where we’re at right now. We can’t get cocky. We can’t get too comfortable. We need to go back to the drawing board. Work on whatever we need to work on. I thought I worked hard, as it is. This isn’t good enough. There’s always someone who’s going to show you need to work on things. Yeah, I got the ‘W.’ My people around me, they expect more of me. I expect more of myself. I know I won, but I felt I could’ve done more. I should’ve taken him out.
“As soon as the (medical) suspension is over, I hope to get something set up. Hopefully (in) October. I turn 23 in September, so I’d like to fight in October or November. Coming back and make a statement. I got to make up for that performance. Even though I won, I could’ve done better.”
Sierra falls to 17-4-2, 10 KOs. The 35-year-old previously fought super middleweight contender Bektemir Melikuziev on January 27, losing by knockout in round three. The loss snapped back-to-back wins for Sierra. In January 2020, on a ShoBox card, Sierra faced current super middleweight contender Vladimir Shishkin, losing by unanimous decision. Almost 11 months later, Sierra lost by knockout in the opening round to current super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga.
Both fighters were born in the San Diego area. Lizarraga resides in nearby Murrieta.
Junior middleweight Terrell Adams defeated Jamarcus Warren (3-7-2, 1 KO) of Tyler, Texas by majority decision. One judge scored the fight 57-57, while the other two judges scored the bout 60-54 and 59-55 for Adams, who improved to 10-1, 4 KOs.
Adams, who resides in nearby Watts, is the younger brother of fringe junior middleweight contender Brandon Adams.
In a clash of unbeaten welterweights, Sincere Brooks (5-0, 2 KOs) of nearby Long Beach knocked out Javy Lopez in the opening round. A left hook to the top of the head staggered Lopez. Brooks followed up, throwing and landing another left hook, dropping Lopez to the canvas. Lopez beat the count, but was in condition to continue, prompting referee Kristi Rosario to stop the fight at 2:14.
Lopez, who resides in San Antonio, falls to 2-1, 2 KOs.
In light heavyweight action, Guillermo Alvizures of nearby Downey defeated Oxnard’s Zlatko Ledic (2-6-1, 1 KO) by majority decision. One judge scored the bout 38-38, while the other two judges scored the bout 39-37 and 40-36 for Alvizures, who goes to 5-0, 4 KOs.
The southpaw Ledic, who had not fought in almost five years, will turn 41 in two weeks.
Featherweight Bryan Albarran of nearby Inglewood knocked out Ricardo Luna in the second round. A sweeping counter right cross caught Luna flush, dropping him to the canvas, next to the ring ropes. Luna struggled to get up, prompting referee Rudy Barragan to wave the fight off at 2:08. Luna is originally from Tijuana, Mexico and now resides in Glendale, California. Both fighters were making their professional debuts.
Flyweight Enkhmandakh Kharkuu improved to 3-0, defeating Armando Castillo (1-2, 1 KO) of Palm Springs, California by unanimous decision. Scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Kharkuu, who is originally from Mongolia and now resides in Los Angeles.
In junior welterweight action, Osmel Avila of Fresno, California was successful in his pro debut, dropping Joseph Hernandez four times en route to a knockout victory. After the fourth knockdown, referee Kristi Rosario stopped the fight at 2:19. Hernandez, who resides in Vista, California, falls to 1-1.
In the opening bout of the ‘Battle of the Rising Stars’ card, junior middleweight Henry Mendez of Wilmington, California won the first fight of his pro career, dropping Nicholas Noriz in round three en route to a unanimous decision win. All three judges scored the bout 39-36 in favor of Mendez, who improved to 1-11-3. Noriz, who resides in nearby Whitter, was making his pro debut.
The card was promoted by longtime Southern California boxing promoter Ed Holmes.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]
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