Nelson Oliva’s first fight at 154 pounds was a success.
Oliva defeated Alfonso Olvera on Saturday night at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. The scores were 79-73, 79-73 and 78-74 for Oliva, who improved to 12-0, 8 knockouts.
Olvera was wild and won the opening round, but Oliva was the more efficient and accurate fighter throughout the rest of the fight. The southpaw Oliva boxed Olvera from long range or on the inside and repeatedly landed lead or left hands to the head.
Every time the taller Olvera tried to mount offense, Oliva swung the momentum back by putting him on the defensive with two-punch combinations. Oliva clearly won the fight, but trainer Henry Ramirez thought Oliva could have fought a more fluid and complete fight.
“(Nelson was) very slow in there tonight, but (has) good rounds of experience,” Ramirez said after the fight.
In his previous fight on March 30, Oliva, who grew up in Los Angeles, defeated Franyerson Puerta by unanimous decision. On November 4, Oliva scored a one-sided victory over Dario Guerrero-Meneses.
All three fights Oliva has fought in the past year have taken place at Thunder Studios. Oliva has fought under the Thompson Boxing Promotions banner and the CBN Promotions banner since making his pro debut in February 2021.
The 28-year-old is trained by Henry Ramirez.
Originally from Nogales, Mexico and now living in Tucson, Arizona, Olvera falls to 13-9-3, 5 KOs. In his previous fight on May 13 last year, Olvera knocked out Ousmane Sylla.
Prior to the win over Sylla, over a span of 11 months, the 34-year-old lost back-to-back fights to Quinton Randall and Delonte Johnson.
In a clash of undefeated junior featherweight prospects, Hector Lopez defeated Noah Contreras by majority decision. One judge scored the bout 57-57, while the other two judges scored the bout 60-54 and 58-56 for Lopez, who improved to 6-0, 4 KOs.
After the first two rounds, which produced solid exchanges, Lopez began to exert control in the ring, outboxing Contreras in the middle rounds. Contreras would switch to southpaw, playing into the hands of Lopez, who stunned Contreras on a handful of occasions.
Even at distance, Lopez connected with the more effective combinations than Contreras punch output during the final two rounds.
Contreras, who lives in Fort Mohave, Arizona, is 9-1, 4 KOs.
In junior flyweight action, amateur standout Terry Washington of San Bernardino was successful in his pro debut, knocking out Ezequiel Robles (1-2) of Tepic, Mexico in the opening round.
After the midpoint of the first round, Robles tried a two-press combination that missed. Washington countered with a left-right combination, followed by a left uppercut that dropped Robles to the canvas. Referee Raul Caiz, Jr. Robles counted out at 1:55.
Washington was recently named ‘Most Outstanding Boxer’ at the 2024 US Olympic Trials.
In lightweight action, Eric Mondragon improved to 11-1, 4 KOs, defeating Jose Valenzuela (3-16-1, 2 KOs) of Puebla, Mexico by unanimous decision. The scores were 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 for Mondragon, who lives in nearby Maywood.
Middleweight Blazen Rocili won by knockout after the second round after Selim Martinez (6-8, 2 KOs) of Matamoros, Mexico elected not to continue. Originally from Waipahu, Hawaii and now training in Las Vegas, Rocili improved to 7-0, 6 KOs.
In the opening bout of the CBN Promotions card, featherweight Kenario Davidson dropped India’s Gurjant Singh (2-1, 1 KO) in round three en route to a decision victory. The scores were 38-37, 38-37 and 39-36 for Davidson, who made his pro debut.
