Thursday Night Fights results: Carlos Morales and Mercito Gesta fight to technical majority draw

Carlos Morales and Mercito Gesta were unfortunately cut short in tonight’s Thursday Night Fights main event. Just as the bout seemed to be really heating up, a cut suffered by Morales in the fourth round caused the fight to be stopped after six, sending us to the scorecards for a technical decision.

The judges came back with a majority draw, so nothing was settled this evening in what was a competitive, entertaining bout that, again, seemed like it was just about to go to another level.

The official scores were 57-57 on two cards, and 58-56 for Morales on the third. Bad Left Hook had the fight 58-56 for Gesta.

Morales (19-4-4, 8 KO) suffered the cut on an accidental clash of heads, and you could see him pawing at it repeatedly in the next couple of rounds, though he was still fighting hard. Gesta landed the best shot of the fight, a stiff left hand in the fifth round, but with what we had the judges just couldn’t split them. The scores were fair, as it was certainly no wider than 4-2 for either man, and 3-3 is plenty reasonable.

Morales said the blood and medicine were both getting into his eye and he was having trouble seeing. Gesta said he’d like to run it back and, and Morales didn’t necessarily say the same, but he did say it was exciting, and I doubt he’d turn it down.

Jonathan Oquendo UD-10 Charles Huerta

Kyte Monroe-Hoganphotos/Golden Boy

This was a meeting of veteran fighters, and the 36-year-old Oquendo just had way more in the tank than the 33-year-old Huerta in this one, winning a straight shutout on the judges’ cards, 100-90 across the board. Those scores were totally fair, too; BLH had it 99-91 for Oquendo, giving Huerta the third, but not by much.

Oquendo (31-6, 19 KO) just outworked and outmuscled Huerta (21-7, 12 KO) in the phone booth for 30 full minutes here. Huerta’s game plan seemed a bit ill-advised early, as he tried to fight Oquendo’s fight, and then when it clearly wasn’t working so great, he never adjusted. Maybe he just couldn’t adjust. His father and trainer told him after round six that he was considering stopping the fight, but he never did. The encouragement got less and less as each round passed, though, and by the end he was just advising his son to do his best to hurt Oquendo without getting hurt himself.

Huerta has been a staple on these Golden Boy shows in California for a long time and has had a lot of tough fights that flew under the radar of most fans. He looked like an old 33 here, and he should probably take some time to really consider his career.

Oquendo, meanwhile, isn’t going to break into any reasonable top 10 at 130 with this win, but he was pretty dominant here, and he was very competitive in May with Lamont Roach Jr. He’s still got some fire in the ring, still a tough out up to a certain level, and worse fighters get world title shots all the time.

Travell Mazion UD-10 Diego Cruz

Kyte Monroe-Hoganphotos/Golden Boy

Mazion is 24, big for a junior middleweight at 6’2” with a 75-inch reach, and has obvious physical gifts, a lot of athleticism, he moves well, occasionally he can be slippery on defense. But he also still has a habit of getting caught because he’s maybe not as slippery as he thinks he is, and Cruz (19-8-2, 15 KO) definitely got him in the opening round of this fight and kept landing shots pretty much throughout.

That said, Mazion (16-0, 12 KO) won on scores of 98-91, 99-90, and 99-90, and he deserved those wide tallies, because he won basically every round. BLH had it 99-90 for him, the only point he didn’t get coming from a point deduction in the seventh round on a bad low blow.

He’s a little hard to project — he has time to get better, but he’s no blue chipper, and with the way he gets clipped, better opponents will be dangerous, particularly if they can punch. But he’s someone worth watching, too; he’s a pretty good prospect at the very worst, and he also comes to fight. He throws punches, he doesn’t shy away from contact, and he fights with confidence.

“I gave him a sweet boxing lesson and that’s what I came to do,” Mazion said after the fight, but not in an arrogant manner.

Of going 10 rounds for the first time, he said, “I didn’t get tired, I wasn’t winded at all,” and he didn’t seem to be at any point during or after the fight. And he was active here, so it looks like he’s got the gas tank.

Keep Mazion on the radar. If nothing else he’s going to be a fun TV fighter, and there’s a good chance he’ll be more than that.