In a predictable result, former title challenger and professional B-side Josesito Lopez (35-7, 19 KOs) picked up an easy win tonight on FS1. His opponent, Saul Corral (23-9, 14 KOs), has never defeated anything approaching a quality opponent and he did not figure to begin doing so now. Alejandro Luna (22-0, 15 KOs) and Carlos Balderas (1-0, 1 KO) also picked up wins on the undercard.
There isn’t much to say about the main event. Lopez dropped and outpointed a club level fighter. He neither looked great nor terrible. The fight existed explicitly to get him a win so he can be used again to lose to true top PBC fighter when necessary. Josesito Lopez versus Danny Garcia, anyone? Something like that will happen. Lopez will be game, but he won’t win, and he will probably be stopped. Because Lopez has been in with several big names and made a good account of himself with heart and effort, he has a bit of a name and this was on TV. That is all there is to be said here.
In what I felt was actually the main event of the evening, prospect now turned contender Alejandro Luna continued his rise in the lightweight division with a pretty good win over former title challenger Andre Klimov (19-4, 9 KOs). Luna started the fight great, sweeping the first four rounds and he really delivered a beating in the second. After that Klimov found his footing and managed to fight on more even ground, but the score deficit was too much to overcome at that point and Luna’s hand was rightfully raised at the end. Klimov acquitted himself well over the last six, especially after the first four, but I found no controversy in the decision.
Also televised was the pro debut of 2016 US Olympian Carlos Balderas. The 20 year old California based prospect battered now 3-5-1 Thomas Smith for three minutes before Smith declined to come out for the second round. Smith had not been stopped in his other four defeats. Richard Schaefer seems to really be putting a lot of stock in building Balderas for his new Ringstar promotional outfit. I suspect we will see a lot of him going forward, probably on PBC cards for a while since Schaefer has historically worked well with Al Haymon.
