HIGHLIGHTS! Johan Gonzalez outlasts Guido Schramm, Jimmy Kelly wins by DQ after opponent swats referee twice

Johan Gonzalez lost his perfect 100% KO rate, but won a hard-fought decision against a bouncy Guido Schramm in tonight’s ProBox TV main event. Gonzalez (34-2, 33 KO) picked up a lot of early rounds, where Schramm (16-2-2, 9 KO) was very hittable.

It wasn’t a recipe for success early when Gonzalez was fresh and throwing with power, but Schramm hung around long enough for Gonzalez to start slowing down in the second half of the fight. Schramm looked energetic throughout, showing a lot of bounce and movement, while Gonzalez was backing up with his hands down in the 7th round. But, looking spry didn’t translate to landing scoring punches, and Gonzalez was able to rally his strength for a round or two in the latter stages.

That was enough to take a majority decision win on official scorecards of 97-93, 96-94, and 95-95. No issue with any of those scores, really, with my unofficial card coming in at 97-93 in favor of Gonzalez. Schramm was resilient, staying sharp despite a cut from an accidental head clash in the 9th round. But, his superior conditioning wasn’t quite enough to swing the fight late. Good show with good moments for each man, and either would be a welcome presence on a future edition of ProBox.

Justin Pauldo TKO-3 Jerry Perez

Sharp work from Justin Pauldo, who used fast hands and sharp counters to squash the nose of Jerry Perez and force an early stoppage. Pauldo (17-1, 8 KO) hurt Perez in the 2nd on a counter right, then used smart, disciplined pressure to ultimately break Perez’s nose in the following sequence. The corner couldn’t stop the heavy blood flow between rounds, sending Perez (14-4-1, 11 KO) out to make a gutsy effort in the 3rd while leaking blood all over himself, Pauldo, and the ring canvas. The Perez corner still couldn’t get the nose under control, electing to stop the fight before the 4th could begin.

Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly DQ-5 Juan Jose Velasco

An embarrassing performance from Juan Jose Velasco ended in disgrace, as Jimmy Kelly was awarded a victory by disqualification after Velasco swiped and shoved at the referee twice. Kelly (28-3, 11 KO) looked fine here, but didn’t face much resistance from an opponent who was barely throwing punches anymore midway through the first round.

Velasco (24-6, 15 KO) spent a lot of time complaining to the referee, some of it justified, but seemed to have the fight beaten out of him quickly. Kelly wasn’t blameless, earning a warning for low punches at one point. But, Velasco lost any moral high ground when he threw a left hand right into the jockstrap midway through the 3rd.

Velasco just didn’t seem to want to be in this fight, and took an extended break after a clash of heads. He walked away from the action, asking his corner if he was cut and trying to get a doctor evaluation, before getting challenged by the referee to fight or be finished. He continued briefly, tried to foul Kelly in a clinch, then he slapped at the referee in the break, swiped at her arm a second time when she stepped in to reprimand him, and that was enough to earn the disqualification.

We’ve been critical of some poor referee performances on ProBox TV before, so let’s take a moment and note a showcase showing by referee Alicia Collins here. She was quick and assertive dealing with a lot of shenanigans, and didn’t inject herself in the finish until Velasco took a second swipe at her. If there’s a better referee working in her part of the country, I haven’t seen them yet.

Here’s a timestamped embed right as the disqualification is about to happen, with a timely bit of foreshadowing by color man Chris Algieri:

Emiliano Moreno TKO-2 Daniel Lim

Emiliano Moreno struggled a bit early, but pounced on an opening to finish Daniel Lim in the final moment of the 2nd round. Lim (10-1, 2 KO) had a good 1st round, tagging Moreno (8-0, 5 KO) with a consistent overhand right. But Lim went down on a right hook to the body late in the 2nd, starting a sequence he couldn’t recover from. Lim was down again quickly on an intentional knee, then saw the fight waved to a conclusion after Moreno dropped him hard again with a left hand body shot before the 2nd round could end.