Wins by Perales, Garcia highlight Harlingen boxing show

     HARLINGEN - Brownsville bantamweight Sergio "Time To Shine" Perales remained unbeaten with a sixth-round knockout against Josimar Olivares of Mexico in the main event of Friday's "Back With A Vengeance" boxing show presented by Julio Marines at Casa de Amistad.

     In a non-title matchup, Perales (14-0, nine knockouts), fighting a scheduled 10-rounder, received all the battle and more that he wanted from Olivares. Still, he prevailed by flooring the Mexican fighter at the 2:40 mark of the sixth round, just one round after Olivares appeared to stun Perales with a solid right.   

    "He's a warrior, and I give him a lot of credit," Perales said of Olivares. "My trainer (Robert Campos) told me in the fifth round to get ready because the fight at that point looked like it was going to go the distance.

     "I hit him with so many punches that I don't remember exactly what one it was (that ended the fight)," Perales added. "I was trying to catch him as he was coming in to double the force of the punch. I think that what did it was he walked into a left."

     Olivares (12-6, six KOs), a WBC Latino Federation champion, seemed content to trade punches with his opponent throughout the first five rounds of the fight, but Perales' blows proved to be more effective, especially during the sixth.  

     "I figured that in the later rounds he as going to come at me even harder, but I was able to get him in the sixth round, so it feels pretty good to get this win," Perales said. "He was the toughest opponent I've faced, and my hat's off to him." 

     Another highlight of the show was the return to the Rio Grande Valley of Weslaco super middleweight Roberto "La Amenaza" Garcia, who defeated Puerto Rican Jose "El Macho" Medina on a technical knockout at the 2:57 mark of the third round of a scheduled eight-round co-main event. It was Garcia's first fight in the Valley since 2007.

      "La Amenaza" was greeted by waves of cheers from his fans, who were happy to see him fighting again in the Valley.

      The fight was a rematch of three years ago when Garcia defeated Medina on a third-round KO, but was knocked down before earning the victory.

      "The first time (against Medina) was a lot tougher," Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) said. "This time I tried to concentrate on being effective (with my punches) while being defensive, too.

     "I hit him with a left hook to the gut to bring his hands down, then I dropped him with a straight right," Garcia added.

      Medina appeared stunned and the referee seconds later stopped the match. Medina, who fights out of Philadelphia, dropped to 15-18 with 11 KOs.

      On the undercard, Edinburg super middleweight Raul "El Tigre" Casarez (15-2, eight KOs) dispatched Efren Diaz (5-11-2) of San Juan on a TKO at the 2:22 mark of the second round.

      "I needed another win under my belt," Casarez said. "That's why I came out fast so I could prove a point. Efren is an opponent -- he's not the right opponent -- but he's gone the distance with some big names out there, so that's why I wanted to prove a point. It felt great to be back in the ring. I needed to get this win."

      Also on the undercard, Brownsville bantamweight Jerry Guevara (3-0, two KOs) pounded out a four-round unanimous decision against Edson Renteria (0-3) of Odessa.

    "I feel like I'm starting out the year in the right way with this win," Guevara said.

     In the evening's early fights, Jordan Washington (1-1) of McAllen prevailed over Ivan Rios (0-3) of Reynosa on a TKO at the 1:56 mark of the second round, while Jevon Borsseau (3-4) of Houston defeated Gerardo Alvarado (1-9) of Monterrey, Mexico, on a four-round unanimous decision.

     A crowd of approximately 1,800 fans turned out for the show.

 

    Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com