Heavyweight Contender Quezada Racks Up Another Win;
Eloy Perez Remains Undefeated

San Jose Ca. By:  Jeff Townsend, (BASD) Boxing and MMA Writer
Bayareasportsdrive.com
06-06-08

 

Heavyweight Manuel ‘El Toro’ Quezada (23-4, 15 KOs) of Wasco, California pounded out a workman-like performance over late sub John Clark (12-13-1, 7 KOs) of Los Angeles, California to earn a eight round unanimous decision in the main event of ‘Fight Night at the Tank’ at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on Thursday night. 

This was a rematch of a six round September 2005 fight that Quezada won by split decision.   This time around, Quezada consistently kept a good distance away from Clark and controlled the fight by jabbing to Clark’s head and body.  ‘El Toro’ would mix in some good body shots to Clark’s flabby body which wore down Clark as the fight progressed.   Clark tried to establish his jab throughout the fight but never was effective in landing any hard punches.   

Quezada stepped up the action in the seventh and eighth rounds, opening up a cut around Clark’s right eye.  Clark seemed to be tiring while Quezada stuck to his game plan of jabbing and working Clark’s body.  It was a consistent strategy but not that exciting of a fight to watch.  One almost got the feeling that the fighters had made a secret pact of ‘I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me”.  However, both fighters were game and there were few clinches in the fight.  

A lot has changed in the last three years since their first fight which probably explains why Quezada had a pretty easy time with the much bigger Clark (Clark outweighed Quezada by 66 pounds on Thursday night).  When the first fight took place, Quezada was a 10-3 fighter who had just recently come back after taking two years off from boxing.   Quezada has been very active in that time, going 11-1 and coming in eight pounds lighter than their first match-up. 

On the other hand, Clark has compiled a 1-5 record since that first fight and tipped the scales at the heaviest weight of his career on Thursday, a hefty 289 pounds.  Clark was such a late replacement that he did not even make it to Wednesday’s weigh-in.  A heavyweight fighter does not have to make weight but it is certainly interesting to know their weight in order to assess their conditioning.  

Quezada may potentially have what it takes to be a heavyweight contender and it is encouraging to see him fight pretty frequently, along with coming in at 223 pounds which is one of the lightest weights in his career.  However, he has been knocked out once and he has suffered three decision losses against very ordinary opponents (3-17, 6-12, 0-0). ‘El Toro’ has had one MMA fight and comes from a kickboxing background but seems committed to being a boxer. 

Eloy Perez Remains Undefeated

In the co-main event, Salinas’ Eloy Perez (11-0-2, 2 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision against Jorge Pimentel (12-7, 10 KOs) of Sonora, Mexico in a junior lightweight bout.  Perez effectively boxed Pimentel throughout the entire fight, using his jab and combinations to easily win a decision. 

Pimentel clearly packs a powerful punch, notching 10 knockouts in 12 wins, and Perez seemed intent on avoiding being hit with a hard shot.  Pimentel was the aggressor for most of the night but in a rather ineffective manner.  He would come forward, throwing punches that Perez could easily avoid.  Perez was then able to counter Pimentel with jabs and quick combinations.  Perez is at his best when he uses his fast hands, quick reflexes and effective footwork to take control of the fight and that is exactly what he focused on against Pimentel. 

Perez probably won every round but seemed reluctant to take chances by throwing hard punches or flurries of punches that might have hurt Pimentel.  By doing so, he would have potentially been vulnerable to being hit.  Perez’s jab always seemed to land along with left hooks to Pimentel’s head.  Pimentel was cut over his right eye in the sixth round in what appeared to be caused by an accidental clash of heads. 

The judges scored the fight 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75, all for Eloy Perez.  Perez is trained by Max Garcia and is managed by Salinas’ Garcia Boxing which has a great reputation for managing and training fighters.  At 21 years of age, Perez may have a very bright future in front of him.   Experience and throwing a few more combinations may be all it takes for this young fighter. 

Undercard Results

The winner of the “You Be the Judge” contest was super middleweight Jason ‘JP’ Peterson (1-0) of San Francisco, California who knocked out Steve Martin (1-2, 1 KO) in the second round of their scheduled four round fight.  Peterson picked up the first win of his professional career along with a bonus check of $500. 

Carlos Herrera (1-2, 1 KO) won via TKO in the first round against Anthony Chavez (1-1)

Keith Spencer (4-0, 3 KOs) KO’d Theron Johnson (1-1) in the second round

Mike Dallas, Jr. (2-0) won a unanimous decision against Marlo Cortez (2-5-2, 1 KO)

Rico Ramos (3-0, 2 KOs) won via TKO in the second round against Jerry Mondragon (3-1, 2 KOs)

Attendance at this latest installment of the American Metal & Iron’s Fight Night at the Tank, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, was 3,012.   Former heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison served as the special guest for the evening.