Ortega outpoints Gonzalez, Villar dominates Vivas in eight-round bout

Eveling Ortega’s mettle and chin were tested Friday at Polideportivo Alexis Arguello in Managua, Nicaragua, when she outpointed Karol Gonzalez to defend her minor 108-pound belt in her home country.

Nicaragua’s Ortega (8-5, 2 KOs) and Mexico’s Gonzalez were the chief support of the Roman Gonzalez-Rober Barrera main event.

Judges scored the eight-round fight 77-75, 78-74, 79-73 for Ortega.

The fighters began trading punches from the opening bell, with Ortega landing more leather and forcing Gonzalez into retreat. Gonzalez landed a left hand during an exchange in the second that seemed to give Ortega pause and possibly win her the round on a judge’s scorecard.

If Ortega and Gonzalez had made a blood pact before the fight vowing to neither throw a single jab, it might have explained a few things. The fighters shoe-shined, windmilled and otherwise swing for the fences with practically every punch, though Gonzalez’s offerings proved  straighter and more effective into the middle rounds.

Ortega hacked away at her opponent’s body in the fourth, but the approach exposed her head for Gonzalez to land her own assault. Ortega seemed to think better of the strategy in the second half of the round, ducking and countering to show more science and sweetness than mindless slugging.

Although Gonzalez showed more power, Ortega likely outlanded her across a fight whose rounds were tight and difficult to score from end to end. An Ortega left hand to endt fifth might have won her the round, and a left hand and uppercut from Gonzalez seemed to earn her the frame – but there was no way to know in the moment..

Although gassed and failing to do significant damage, Ortega was able to rally in the eighth and put in the more productive work of the two fighters. Gonzalez, by now tiring herself, couldn’t find the heavy punches she had landed earlier in the fight to muster the knockout she needed to ultimately get her over.

In an entertaining action bout, junior flyweight Azael Villar took an eight-round unanimous decision over Kevin Vivas.

Villar (21-3-4, 15 KOs) took control from the start, landing hard shots with both hands, changing levels and stepping lively to mostly avoid return fire from Vivas (7-3, 2 KOs). Although Vivas engaged and showed stunning resilience, Villar mostly poured on the offense over the next few rounds to seemingly signal, at worst, a runaway decision – and possibly an early night.

In the fourth, Villar, 30, of Panama, landed a barrage of uppercuts to Vivas’ chin late in the round, seemingly on the verge of closing the show. Nicaragua’s 26-year-old Vivas, on shaky legs and having endured a fight’s worth of punishment already, was only saved by the bell.

Somehow, in the sixth, Vivas tapped into reserves that no one in the building could have imagined remained. Unloading punches, several of which landed flush and powerfully to Villar’s head, Vivas shifted the momentum and stirred the crowd.

Villar began winning it back by the end of the round, and he created more separation in the scorecards in the seventh by landing several thunderous right hands and left hooks.

In the eighth and last, the action – back and forth throughout the fight, if mostly won by Villar – was stunted by three breaks to tend to tape and a mouthpiece. But the pace and punch quality never dipped, and although Vivas’ face was bloodied in the final frame, the defeated fighter showed incredible grit simply to finish standing at the final bell.

In a scheduled eight-rounder, strawweight Edwin Cano blasted out Michael Carmona for a fourth-round knockout win.

Carmona (5-1, 3 KOs), a 20-year-old from Nicaragua, made his mark early, landing a right hook-straight left hand in the first round that drew a smile from Mexico’s 26-year-old Cano (13-2-1, 4 KOs). Another hard left hand from Carmona moments later and a combination at the bell seemed to put him firmly in control.

But from the outset of the second, something clicked for Cano. He began closing distance, hopping in and out of the pocket and working Carmona’s midsection. Ducking, blocking shots and countering the long, loping punches of Carmona – a lanky southpaw – Cano continued to thump away at the body, dulling his young opponent’s aggressiveness.

Midway through the fourth, with Carmona now dropping his gloves to protect his flanks, Cano shifted his efforts upstairs. He broke through with a flurry that Carmona attempted to counter. Instead, Carmona got caught on the chin by a pinpoint Cano right cross and went careening to the canvas. Referee Ramon Gonzalez didn’t offer a count, waving off the fight with 30 seconds left in the round.

In the broadcast opener, Billy Aceituno stopped Alexander Hernandez in the third round of their scheduled four-round junior middleweight bout.

In the first, Guatemala’s Aceituno (3-3-1, 1 KO) landed a 1-2 in the first minute that wobbled Hernandez (6-1, 3 KOs), of Miami, then rocked him with a right hand in the corner in the last minute. Hernandez was the busier of the two fighters, but he didn’t punch with much conviction or power.

Aceituno swarmed Hernandez when he was backed against the ropes in Round 3, landing a right hand up top, then hacking at the body. With Hernandez in a crouch, Aceituno zinged two right hands and a left hook under his elbows – the last of which dropped Hernandez on all fours. When Hernandez was slow to respond, the referee called the fight at 1:57 of the third.