ESPN Friday Night Fights Results: Ojeda dominates Meza-Clay, Rosa KOs Perez

Monty Meza-Clay met Reynaldo Ojeda in the main event in what this writer expected to be a competitive fight. This writer was wrong. Ojeda (17-0, 9 KO) outboxed his opponent beautifully, making great use of his legs to outmaneuver Meza-Clay throughout the bout and sitting down on just enough power punches to make Monty cautious about chasing him too recklessly. Unfortunately for Meza-Clay (36-5, 22 KO), his footwork completely failed him, as he struggled all night to cut off the ring effectively, and found himself following his long-legged opponent rather than trapping him and going to work as a short pressure fighter should. Altogether, and impressive performance for up-and-comer Ojeda over the aging Meza-Clay--a low-profile passing of the torch.

Reynaldo Ojeda defeats Monty Meza-Clay by Unanimous Decision (99-91 x 2, 98-92)

Bad Left Hook scored it 98-92 for Ojeda.

The second fight of the night was a classic style matchup of boxer and swarmer, pitting seasoned vet Johnathan Perez against hot prospect Luis Rosa. Rosa (20-0, 10 KO) had the obvious power advantage early, rushing through Perez's jabs to land thudding body shots with both hands. As the fight wore on, however, Perez (33-10, 27 KO) began to work his jab at range and land sharp counter rights as Rosa rushed in. Rosa suffered a questionable point deduction in the fourth round for pulling Perez down to the ground--though he was certainly fighting roughly enough to get a point deduction at some point. This seemed to enrage him, as he came out of the neutral corner like a maelstrom, punishing Perez with crushing body punches and uppercuts to win the round despite the deduction. A similar flurry in the next round was enough to convince the referee to call things off.

Luis Rosa defeats Johnathan Perez by TKO (referee stoppage) at 2:29 of Round 5

Ivan Golub took on Henry Beckford in the opening bout. Beckford (2-2, 1 KO) was a very short notice replacement for Kostatyantyn Rovenskyy, Golub's original opponent. All things considered, Beckford looked very good, and took the first round from Golub with his powerful counter right hook. The Ukrainian Golub (8-0, 6 KO) had every advantage as the bout wore on, however. His vicious body attack was key, not only wearing down the presumably ill-prepared Beckford, but hurting him badly and setting him up for a fifth round knockdown, after which the referee wisely chose to stop the bout.

Ivan Golub defeats Beckford by TKO at 2:17 of Round 5