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Venezuela's Johan Perez stepped forward in the welterweight division tonight at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, dominating his 10-round bout against Yoshihiro Kamegai, winning by unanimous decision on scores of 97-93, 98-92, and 100-90. BLH had it 98-92 for Perez.
Perez (17-1-1, 12 KO) was fairly easily able to handle the walk-and-stalk style of Kamegai, who suffered his first pro loss, dropping to 22-1-1 (19 KO). The Japanese fighter looked slow and overmatched as Perez gave him angles on top of angles, moving around the ring, fighting well off the ropes when he did get stuck there, and landing a variety of power shots from all different angles, including lead left hand uppercuts, as Kamegai simply found himself in over his head tonight.
Perez isn't exactly a legitimate world title contender off of this win, but it's a very nice step forward, especially after two straight mediocre outings (a loss to Pablo Cesar Cano and a majority decision win over washed-up Steve Forbes) in his first two Golden Boy bouts. At 29, it's unlikely we see him make drastic strides from this point, but he's still got a little time to sharpen his game, too.
It's a big setback for the 30-year-old Kamegai, and sort of exposed his immobility and his lack of second options. He landed some good single right hands in the bout, but he wasn't able to put together combinations, which Perez did consistently. Kamegai may have found his ceiling with this one, but he's got nothing to lose from here on, either.
Other Bouts
Joseph "Jo Jo" Diaz Jr stayed unbeaten, or stayed having just one loss depending on where you fall on the World Series of Boxing debate (it's raging! says Tompkins), beating Rigoberto Casillas in a decent little scrap. Diaz was clearly the superior fighter and ended it in three, when referee Lou Moret called it off after that round. Highlight was the corner basically telling Casillas after round three, "We'll let you go out there, but if he knocks you out, it's your fault."
In the TV opener, Gerald Washington (8-0, 5 KO) won an eight-round decision over veteran Sherman Williams (35-13-2, 19 KO). I missed this one, but reviews of the 31-year-old prospect weren't exactly sterling.