Roy Jones Junior Boxing
January 25, 2024
Legends Casino
Toppenish , Washington
Roy Jones Junior and boxing returned to the Legends Casino with two NBA World Title Belts on the line in the main and co main events.
The main event matched a couple of Washington fighters, Andrew Murphy from Yakima and Devontae McDonald from Wenatchee in an eight round super middleweight bout. Murphy brought his seven fight unbeaten record into the ring while McDonald sported a record of four wins and three losses. However, fans in the arena discovered at the opening bell that the records did not matter in this fight. It was intense from the beginning.
The opening round was fought in a tactical fashion as each man looked to find an opening to step forward and deliver a heavy punch. That resulted in both throwing long right hands at the other’s body. McDonald was more aggressive in the second round, though Murphy was able to move just beyond McDonald’s reach. When the men were close both threw heavy body shots.
Murphy suffered a cut over his right eye in the third round, and though he was momentarily slowed, he made the necessary adjustment in his movement to avoid further damage. Murphy closed the round stepping towards McDonald who answered with some pretty good counter punches. The fourth round was close as McDonald landed his right early, and a few of those caught Murphy flush. As the round came to a close, Murphy was able to throw left right combinations and some of those tagged McDonald’s head.
The fifth round started at a slower pace than the previous four, then McDonald moved in close to fire an assault at Murphy’s body. Murphy stepped away to create some distance and from there he was able to land his right. McDonald suffered a cut over his right eye in the sixth, the result of an accidental head butt, and while it slowed him for a short while, and that gave Murphy the opportunity to land scoring right hand shots.
The seventh round was again close until McDonald pinned Murphy on the ropes and landed a flurry of heavy scoring punches. The pace of the final round was quick. Both men were looking to land heavy shots and end the fight. McDonald may have landed more shots, but Murphy made certain he was throwing punches that scored.
After eight rounds two judges scored the fight 77-75, and the third saw it 78-74 all in favor of Andrew Murphy who would remain unbeaten behind the unanimous decision.
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Murphy's left just misses as McDonald throws a right
Murphy's right catches McDonald's chin
Jangra loads up his left
Esquivel lands a right to Jangra's body
The co main event was fought for the Junior Lightweight NBA World title. This was one of those ‘styles make fights’ kind of bouts. Gerardo Esquivel was the scrappy, always on the move, throwing punches from all angles fighter while Mandeep Jangra was the more traditional boxer, looking to fire a jab then follow it with hard shoat to the head or body.
There was a lot of action and a lot of movement in the opening round as Esquivel kept Jangra off balance by throwing with both hands, Jangra proved to be quick, though he was unable to settle and land because he was so often on the move. Esquivel continued to be aggressive in the second round. He backed Jangra into the corner as the round drew to a close and dropped Jangra with a hard right hand at the 2:50 mark of the round.
There was a lot of holding in the third round as the two men spent less time moving around the ring, 0instead taking the fight in close. When there was distance between the two Jangra began to assert himself and used his reach advantage to land his right. Early in the fourth round the referee called time out to talk to the fighters about all of the holding. After that, Jangra began to make adjustments to his assault and that adjustment saw him throw combinations that scored. Esquivel answered when he was in close by throwing his left twice and following that with his right.
Jangra pinned Esquivel on the ropes at the midpoint of the fifth round and landed a number of scoring shots. Esquivel slipped off the ropes and returned to throwing a number of punches in succession, outworking Jangra for the remainder of the round. Jangra again backed Esquivel to the ropes in the sixth round and while Esquivel was there, Jangra scored.
Jangra had a solid seventh round as his right found a target on Esquivel’s head. When Esquivel moved in close, Jangra backed up, but he kept shooting his jab to keep Esquivel at bay. Jangra continued to control the action in the eighth round and was most effective when he could pin Esquivel in the corner. With Esquivel unable to slip away, Jangra landed his left and followed that with right hands to the head.
Jangra settled in to a comfortable rhythm in the ninth round and though he had to move to keep away from Esquivel’s pursuit, he threw enough scoring combinations to score. Both men came out swinging for a knockout in the final round. Esquivel found himself in a tight spot once again pinned in the corner, but he was able to step out as the round ended.
After ten rounds the judges scored the fight 98-92; 96-93; and 95-94 all in favor of Mandeep Jangra who would wear the title belt and remain unbeaten behind the unanimous decision.
In a battle of the states, Carlos Villanueva, of Union Gap, Washington, faced Alberto Rivas of Bend, Oregon in a six round cruiserweight fight.
This fight was certainly a candidate for fight of the night as it was all action from the opening bell to the closing bell. The opening round was close as both men threw a lot of body shots. Many of them landed, but neither man backed down. The second round was much the same, though Rivas controlled the first half of the round by landing body shots. The momentum shifted in the second half of the round as Villanueva’s left landed a number of times to Rivas’ ribs.
Villanueva had a solid third round, again much of that due to effective body shots. Villanueva scored with a hard right hand to Rivas’ head at the 2:50 mark of the round. The shape of the fourth round was established in the opening thirty seconds when Villanueva backed Rivas on the ropes and landed four hard rights to Rivas body. Rivas answered with body shots as well, but he was not able to land as many or as heavy as Villanueva.
The pace of the fight slowed just a bit in the fifth round, but the story of the fight was still that of landing body shots. Villanueva threw the occasional combination to score while Rivas landed his right when the two men were close. The final round saw Rivas fire combinations, and he did score with some, but Villanueva was steady with the left to Rivas’ body.
After six rounds all three judges scored the fight 60-54 in favor of Carlos Villanueva.
Rivas throws a right to Villanueva's head
Bray throws a left with Davila on the ropes
Unbeaten Kamar Bray faced journeyman Kevin Davila in a super welterweight fight scheduled for six rounds.
Bray answered the opening bell with a furious assault. He controlled the round throwing his right hand at Davila’s head and body. Davila was able to answer, but his punches did not match Bray’s power. Bray continued to land hard and fast, forcing Davila’s corner to call for the fight to be stopped,
Bray would claim the TKO victory at 2:59 of the first round.
Two unbeaten super featherweights, Josue Cadena and Moises Molina stepped to battle in a six round fight.
Cadena controlled the action in the opening moments of the first round as he threw the heavier punches and they most often landed to Molina’s ribs. As the round was coming to an end, Molina was able to back Cadena up and land his jab. Cadena continued to control the fight in the second round, most often scoring with right hand body shots. The momentum looked like it was about to shift in the closing moments of the round when Molina was able to create some angles and land a few body shots.
While Cadena continued to land punches to Molina’s head and body, Molina proved himself to be tough enough to withstand the assault. Then, at the two minute mark of the round Cadena landed a heavy combination that staggered Molina. Molina appeared to recover and closed the round landing a few body shots. Molina had a solid opening minute of the fourth round as he was able to land punches to Cadena’s body, but as the round drew to a close, it was Cadena that reasserted control.
Molina’s corner called an end to the fight rather than continue to the fifth round. Josue Cadena would score the TKO win at three minutes of round four.
Molina shoots a right to Cadena's head
Ceresero catches Wyatt with a left
The opening fight of the night pitted two super welterweights, Bryce Wyatt and Gerardo Ceresero, making their professional debut. Both fighters were from Spokane, and the had a vocal group of supporters in the stands.
As is the case in a lot of professional debut fighters, these to spent much of the opening round flicking their jab at each other. That was an effective tactic as it allowed each man to step into a rhythm. Wyatt found his first and then began to throw and score with his right hand. Ceresero had a solid second round as he was able to keep the pressure on Wyatt, but Wyatt was able to land more scoring punches.
Ceresero found his rhythm in the third round and once there he began to land body shots and followed them with straight rights to Wyatt’s head. Wyatt showed that he could counter punch and he used them effectively when Ceresero got close. By the time the fight entered the final round both men had established that they had the requisite boxing skills. They threw scoring jabs, the landed combinations, and were able to apply pressure as well as step away from it.
After four rounds two judges scored the fight 40-36, the third saw it 39-37, all in favor of Bryce Wyatt who would claim the victory behind the unanimous decision.
Team Jangra celebrates wearing the NBA Continental Junior Lightweight Belt
