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By special correspondent Tarrah Zeal
(By special correspondent Tarrah Zeal) PICO RIVERA, Ca.-A large fight card saw Angel Rodriguez and rapidly rising female star Adelaida “La Cobra” Ruiz in co-main events on a cool Saturday summer evening at the outdoor Pico Rivera Sports Arena. Dubbed “Path 2 Glory,” the Red Boxing Promotions show featured two bouts with strong female contenders who left the crowd fully entertained.
Local fighter Angel Rodriguez (3-0) of Pico Rivera used his athleticism and speed to derail any hopes of James Stewart gaining a foothold in their lightweight clash and won by majority decision after four rounds.
Despite Rodriguez’s many offensive and defensive weapons Pomona’s Stewart did not allow the fight to be a run away and maintained a steady course of retaliation in their lightweight clash. It was toe-to-toe action that left the judges in a quandary. Though one judge scored it a draw, the two others saw Rodriguez the winner.
A super bantamweight clash saw South Gate’s Anthony Casillas (8-1) out-bludgeon Northern California’s Ivan Varela (3-2) to win by a unanimous decision that was much closer than the scores might indicate. Casillas and Varela never waned in throwing punches. It was a fight that had fans cheering lustily with each side thinking they had won.
After four rounds all three judges deemed Casillas the winner 39-37.
The first female fight of the night was an exciting match that had two light flyweight women coming back into the ring with hopes to go home a winner after recent losses on both of their records.
Twenty-three-year-old, Lorraine Vilalobos (3-2) of Whittier, CA. who trains at Grampa’s boxing gym in Orange County, was scheduled for four rounds with twenty-four-year-old Danielle Saldanha (2-3) of Fort Collins, CO.
During the early rounds, Villalobos was the aggressor. Saldanha showed her skill by landing a few punches and smooth defense. With Saldanha moving around the ring a lot, Villalobos kept the pressure and stayed technical amidst the constant clashes between the two.
Connecting jabs and overhand rights were setting Villalobos up for what would have been a clear decision that the judges would’ve given to the stronger fighter of the two, Villalobos. But the fight never got to the scorecards as Villalobos landed a clean left hook to the chin of Saldanha which sent her flat on the canvas.
There was a look of mixed feelings of excitement and shock as Villalobos watched Saldanha struggling to get up, she didn’t know how to correctly react to her opponent being laid out, “this was my first knock out in my career.”
Villalobos most recent loss was a corner stoppage against Australia’s tough pugilist Louisa “Bang Bang Lulu” Hawton (in a scheduled 10-round bout that only lasted five at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.).
Female co-main
Los Angeles native Adelaida “La Cobra” Ruiz (8-0, 4 KO) continued her undefeated record with a unanimous decision over a strong-willed southpaw, Myrka Aguayo (2-1) from Tijuana, Mexico.
In the scheduled six-round super flyweight contest, Ruiz did what she had always done and that was dominate her opponents with her great technical style and powerful hooks to the body.
Getting too close proved to be a big mistake for Aguayo as she was met with a flurry of body punches every time. But, she wouldn’t give up too easily as she set herself up for more of a beating from the “La Cobra” throughout the rounds.
Ruiz used her distance and vicious hooks to the body as the crowd chanted “Cobra, Cobra”. The crowd was all too familiar with this fan favorite and her style to never disappoint. The Tijuana’s pugilist had a hard time keeping her mouthpiece in.
Even though her last bout was nearly seven months ago, “La Cobra” showed no mercy in finding perfect openings to lay multiple body shots and hooks punishing her opponent as if she never took a day off. Even an elbow to the head of Ruiz’ had her right eye slowly closing in the final rounds but, that didn’t slow down the constant attacks.
After six rounds of pure punishment, all three judges scored the bout 60-54 for “La Cobra.”
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