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Whittier's George "El Yuyu" Acosta put on a dominant performance against Bogota's Cesar Villarraga in the main event of Thompson Boxing's "New Blood" card on Friday. Acosta, now 15-1 with 2 knockouts, won by unanimous decision to extend his winning streak to eight fights.
From the outset, Acosta was in control of the fight, landing more punches and staying busy throughout. After moving down to super featherweight in his last few fights, he showed that he's a stronger fighter at this weight class. Villarraga tried to outbox Acosta but couldn't avoid the constant pressure. Acosta used his jab and combination punching to keep Villarraga on his back foot for the entire bout. The judges' scorecards read 78-74 and 80-72 twice.
"I feel like I got better in the ring in this fight," said Acosta. "Villarraga was using a lot of lateral movement, so I had to keep the pressure on him. I was in great shape and all the hard work I put in during training camp showed. I'm hoping this is the year I make a run to the top 10 rankings. I'm happy that I've been staying busy; it's a tremendous blessing."
In the co-main event, Rigoberto Hermosillo of Los Angeles defeated Blas Ezequiel Caro of Santa Fe, Argentina. Hermosillo, a southpaw, dropped Caro with a left hook to the body in round five. Throughout the fight, Hermosillo landed the harder shots, though Caro had some shining moments. The scorecards read 79-72 and 78-73 twice, all in favor of Hermosillo.
Anthony Chavez of Redlands, CA, won a majority decision over Diuhl Olguin of Jalisco, Mexico, in a scheduled 6-round lightweight bout. Chavez took control of the early rounds by landing the cleaner shots. Both fighters were landing counter punches, and midway through the bout, Chavez landed some nice right hands. In the end, Chavez won by majority decision. Scorecards read 60-54, 59-55, and 57-57.
Bryan Hall of Fresno, CA, defeated Arnulfo Cazares of Tecate, Mexico, by way of majority decision in a scheduled 4-round heavyweight clash. Hall, who is six inches taller than Cazares, used his height and reach advantage to control distance and won on two of the judges' cards. Scorecards read 39-37 twice, and 37-37.
In the opening bout of the evening, Kevin Salgado of Mexico defeated Steven Walker of Long Beach, CA, in a 4-round welterweight bout. Salgado outworked Walker for most of the fight, and while Walker landed some nice shots early, he came up short. Salgado won by majority decision.