Maurice Lee of Van Nuys won a four-round unanimous decision over Juan Carlos Sanchez of Mexico City in a lightweight bout Saturday at Fantasy Springs Casino.
Lee (3-0) won by three scores of 40-36. He is trained by Joe Goossen of Van Nuys.
Sanchez is 1-2.
The fight was on the undercard of the Chris Arreola-Seth Mitchell heavyweight fight.
Super bantamweight Joet Gonzalez of Glendora won a unanimous decision over David Reyes of Montebello on Saturday at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio.
Gonzalez, now 5-0, won the four-round bout by scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37. Reyes is 2-5-1.
The fight was on the undercard of the heavyweight bout between Chris Arreola and Seth Mitchell, which will be televised by Showtime.
We’re not going to tell you why, but make sure you tune in Saturday at 10 p.m. on Showtime for the third episode of “All Access: Mayweather vs. Canelo.”
The documentary goes inside the camps of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who Sept. 14 will square off in a junior middleweight title fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view).
Mayweather, 36, is 44-0 with 26 knockouts. Alvarez, 23, is 42-0-1 with 30 knockouts.
Within one year’s time – from March 2007 to March 2008 – Rafael Marquez engaged Israel Vazquez in three hard-hitting super bantamweight title fights, two of which were won by Vazquez
Fast forward to present day, and Marquez has lost three of his past five. It’s true, the losses were to fine fighters such as Juan Manuel Lopez (November 2010), Toshiaki Nishioka (October 2011) and most recently Cristian Mijares (October 2012). Still, Marquez – younger brother of 40-year-old phenom Juan Manuel Marquez – is 38 and it all makes many wonder if Marquez might be done.
Efrain Esquivias is not among them. He’ll take on Marquez on Saturday in the semi-main event at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio (on Showtime).
“It would mean the world to me to be Rafael Marquez,” said Esquivias, 30, of Carson. “Some people say he has lost a step, but I don’t think so. Look at his brother, Juan Manuel Marquez. These guys are built for longevity.”
Esquivias, 30, is 16-2-1 with nine knockouts. Marquez is 41-8 with 37 knockouts.
Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin on Thursday was on hand at the Raddison Hotel near LAX. He was there for a news conference promoting his upcoming title defense against Curtis Stevens on Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden (on HBO).
Golovkin was born and raised in Kazakhstan and represented his country in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where he won a silver medal. During an interview session with reporters, he talked about all the sports he played as a kid. One reporter asked him if he ever played hockey.
Golovkin held up his dukes and smiled.
“No, too much fighting,” he said.
It was just a one-liner, but his delivery coupled with the irony – though fake – was enough to have every reporter as well as PR types laughing their heads off.
Golovkin, 31, is 27-0 with 24 knockouts. Stevens, 28, is from Brownsville, N.Y. He is 25-3 with 18 knockouts.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has a guaranteed purse of $41.5 million for his upcoming Sept. 14 junior middleweight title fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to be contested at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view), ESPN.com reported Wednesday.
Mayweather will break his own guaranteed-purse record of $32, which he had for his fights with Miguel Cotto in May 2012 and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero this past May.
“Floyd is the biggest star in the sport and the best in the sport, and when you’re the biggest star and you are the best, you get paid the most money,” Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, told ESPN.com. “So this comes along with the territory.”
Mayweather could make more than his guarantee depending on pay-per-view numbers, which are expected to be very high.
The bout is being co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Kenny Bayless, one of the top referees in boxing, has been named to referee the Sept. 14 junior middleweight title fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view).
The three judges will be Dave Moretti, C.J. Ross and Craig Metcalfe.
Interestingly, Bayless was the third man in the ring when Mayweather won a split decision over Oscar De La Hoya in May 2007 at MGM Grand. De La Hoya is Alvarez’s promoter.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez recently told reporters he has spent quite a bit of time watching film of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s unanimous-decision victory over Miguel Cotto in May 2012 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Although Mayweather won by six, six and eight points on the scorecards, Cotto had a few good moments, even drawing blood from Mayweather’s nose.
Mayweather on Wednesday was asked what Alvarez might be able to take from that fight that will serve him well when they square off in a junior middleweight title fight Sept. 14 at MGM Grand (on Showtime pay-per-view).
Mayweather gave the best answer he could give.
“Only thing he can learn from the Cotto fight is how to lose,” Mayweather said.
Mayweather, 36, is 44-0 with 26 knockouts. Alvarez, 23, is 42-0-1 with 30 knockouts.
Oscar De La Hoya squared off with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a junior middleweight title fight in May 2007 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the same venue where Mayweather will tangle with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Sept. 14 in a junior middleweight title fight (on Showtime pay-per-view).
De La Hoya did very well in the first half of the fight, but he stopped using his jab and Mayweather emerged with a split-decision victory. De La Hoya believes that Alvarez will do what he and other great fighters of Mexican descent – namely Jose Luis Castillo, Juan Manuel Marquez and Chicanito Hernandez – could not do, defeat Mayweather.
“For one thing, youth is on his side,” De La Hoya said of Alvarez, who is just 23; Mayweather is 36. “But the real advantage will be the intelligence. People will also be surprised with his speed.”
Alvarez said he first began following Mayweather fights in 2001 and 2002 when he fought Diego Corrales and Castillo, respectively. He apparently watched De La Hoya-Mayweather with great interest.
“Oscar, of course,” he said, when asked for whom he was rooting. What else was he going to say? De La Hoya’s his boss.
Mayweather is 44-0 with 46 knockouts. Alvarez is 42-0-1 with 30 knockouts.
HBO’s “Faceoff with Max Kellerman: Bradley/Marquez” premieres tonight at 11. It will preview the upcoming welterweight title fight between champion Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez on Oct. 12 at Thomas & Mack Center (on HBO pay-per-view).
Bradley and Marquez will be interviewed by Kellerman. The fighters will also get the opportunity to address one another, as well as their fans.
Bradley, 30, is 30-0 with 12 knockouts. Marquez, who turned 40 on Aug. 23, is 55-6-1 with 40 knockouts.