Prospects Eric Priest, Johnny Cañas, Jordan Fuentes win in prelims

LAS VEGAS – Middleweight prospect Eric Priest remained undefeated with a shutout of Luka Lozo, sweeping all three scorecards by 100-90 margins.

This was Priest’s second time being scheduled for – and going – 10 rounds. In March, he also won a wide decision, over Jose Sanchez Charles. Priest has been stepping up almost year by year in terms of fight length, competing in four-rounders in 2020 and 2021, moving on to six-rounders in 2022 – all of which never made it out of the opening round – and doing eight-round fights in 2023.

Priest controlled the action throughout against Lozo. In the opening rounds he worked behind a strong jab that tended to interrupt whatever Lozo was thinking of doing, and Priest ducked under any danger whenever Lozo did get to send something forth. Priest began to find a regular home for the left hook to the body in the third round. The action went to close range in the fifth round, giving Lozo more opportunities than in the preceding four rounds. By the end of the seventh, Priest briefly had Lozo retreating and holding on. Otherwise, Lozo never seemed in danger, though he also never was able to give Priest any trouble.

Priest, a 25-year-old from Overland Park, Kansas, is now 14-0 (9 KOs). Lozo, a 28-year-old from Splot, Croatia, is now 9-3-1 (8 KOs).

Prospect Johnny Cañas shut out Joseph Cruz (also sometimes listed as Joseph Cruz Brown) over the course of a four-round junior welterweight bout. All three judges had it 40-36.

The first two rounds were slower and belonged to Cañas, who not only had the advantages in height (he is billed at 6 feet while Cruz is listed at 5-foot-6) and skills but also weighed in at 136.8 pounds, while Cruz got on the scales at 132. Cruz didn’t seem overly eager to engage, and Cañas picked his spots, particularly with body shots. One of them, a left hook to the midsection with a minute to go in the second round, reverberated through the arena.

The fight at last moved into a second gear in the third round. Cañas sent out a few combinations. Cruz landed a left hook. Cañas scored with a hook of his own. A clash of heads led to a pause in the action while Cruz was examined by a ringside physician. Things didn’t get any better for Cruz when, shortly thereafter, his legs were buckled by a Cañas left hook. Cañas also dug in with a pair of body shots and two solid right crosses.

Cruz sought to make a stand in the fourth round, attempting to come forward or at least hold his ground. Alas, he didn’t land anything of consequence. The most notable moment of the fourth was Cañas going low and Cruz taking a little time to recover.

Cañas, a 22-year-old from Santa Ana, California, moved to 5-0 (2 KOs). Cruz, a 23-year-old from Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, fell to 7-10 (3 KOs).

Bantamweight prospect Jordan Fuentes won his pro debut, taking a four-round unanimous decision against overweight opponent James Mulder.

Mulder had to exercise in the desert heat of Las Vegas in order to get down to 127 pounds, while Fuentes did his own part to make this fight happen, eating extra food before stepping on the scales at 122.4 pounds, within the maximum five-pound margin that the Nevada State Athletic Commission required for this bout to go forward.

Neither man opened up in the first 45 seconds. A quick exchange of combos signaled that the feeling-out portion of the first round was over. Mulder was able to land a decent left, but otherwise the round belonged to Fuentes, who landed a combination in close, dug regularly to Mulder’s body – a wise move given Mulder’s struggles making weight – and finished the round with a strong right hook.

Mulder must not have been too impressed, as he began the second round with his lead hand down and continued to switch between orthodox and southpaw stances. Fuentes patiently stalked, landing flush blows when he spotted openings.

Mulder came forward in the first part of the third round, but Fuentes easily backed out of range whenever his foe approached. Then Fuentes began to use Mulder’s aggression against him. Fuentes remained at mid-range, goading Mulder in, and then caught Mulder first when he got closer.

In the fourth round, Fuentes opted mostly to counterpunch, waiting for Mulder to throw and then responding with a pair of faster, harder blows. He was finishing with a flourish, confident enough that he dropped his gloves in the final minute, though he did eat a right hand from Mulder due to his cockiness.

One judge had it a shutout, 40-36, while the other two judges saw things 39-37.

Fuentes, an 18-year-old from Fresno, California, is now 1-0 (0 KOs). Mulder, a 30-year-old from Antioch, California, is now 0-3.

In the show’s opener, welterweight prospect Jennah Creason won her pro debut, taking a four-round split decision over Kelsey Wickstrum, who wasn’t there just to be a name on an up-and-comer’s record.

Creason, an 18-year-old from Visalia, California, was the aggressor from the opening round, driving Wickstrum to the ropes with regularity and letting her hands go. Creason sought to do the same to start Round 2, and Wickstrum, a 37-year-old from Redding, California, landed a few right hands early to show she was no pushover. That helped keep the action closer to the center of the ring.

After a slower third round, they each came out throwing combinations in the fourth. Wickstrum held her own against Creason, landing a number of crisp shots and good combos, but it wasn’t enough to sway two of the three judges.

One judge scored it a shutout for Creason, 40-36. Another judge had it 39-37 for Creason, while the third judge saw things 39-37 for Wickstrum.

Creason is now 1-0 (0 KOs), while Wickstrum is 2-2 (1 KO).

Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.