Tonight on ShoBox in Atlantic City, Roiman Villa put on a performance in a unanimous decision win over Janelson Bocachica in the opener, and Joseph Adorno’s first major test at 140lbs saw him survive a rough and unforgiving Hugo Alberto Roldan. in the main event.
Roldan (21-1-1, 7 KOs) charged like a bull for much of the fight, coming in with a rough and uneven style and doing most of his damage with headbutts. Adorno (17-1-2, 14 KO) moved well on light feet, but Roldan, who had stiffer legs, did a lot of damage to the forehead, particularly to Adorno’s bruised and swollen left eye.
What made the difference came early, when Roldán received a soft knockdown late in the second round. At first glance, it looked like a bad slip or fall off balance, but replay showed that Adorno hooked or strained it just before Roldán fell. That changed what could have been a 10-9 round for Roldan to 10-8 for Adorno.
Roldan used excellent stamina to stay on this one, as Adorno started to fight more with the front foot from fifth to seventh, but then slowed down in the eighth as Roldan stayed relatively fresh. Roldán had a great eighth round, but suffered a significant cut with a punch from Adorno. It seemed like it might be a problem, but his corner fixed it quickly and brilliantly.
In the end, all three judges had it 95-94 for Adorno. Unofficially, he had it the same way Showtime’s Steve Farhood did in 96-93 Adorno.
Were it not for the knockdown in the second, Roldan would have come out of his US debut with at least a draw and potentially a narrow win. As it is, he suffers his first loss, and Joseph Adorno pulls off an emotional victory as a junior welterweight.
Frency Fortunato SD-10 Bernard Angelo Torres
I’ll be blunt and admit that this inaugural TV showcase for Bernard Angelo Torres and Frency Fortunato would probably only have scored a standout with a note or two if the starter hadn’t been good enough to warrant a 325 world roundup.
Fortunato (14-1, 10 KOs) largely controlled the first half of the fight and dropped Torres (16-1, 7 KOs) in the fourth round. Fortunato may have worn himself out a bit, or he may have felt confident in his points lead, as he seemed to loosen up a bit and let Torres do more in the back half.
The judges were split, with contrasting scorecards 95-94 for each man, and the deciding score 97-92 for Fortunato. I felt a greater spiritual affinity with Fortunato’s extensive letter, but I bear no grudge against any of the three judges for his opinion.
Roiman Villa UD-8 Janelson Bocachica
The first match was an eight round punishment in which Roiman Villa beat Janelson Bocachica in all but the first round. And I don’t mean “beat” in the sense of “won”. I mean, Villa (25-1, 24 KOs) gave Bocachica (17-1-1, 11 KOs) a beating that seemed like the least believable bad choreography from the Rocky movie you can remember.
Bocachica went down for the first time in his career in the second round, taking three or four wild shots before finally going down. Bocachica subsequently lost or spat out the mouth guard three times in that round. He earned two lengthy delays that allowed him to survive to the bell, but referee Harvey Dock announced a point deduction on the third mouthpiece replacement. That deduction didn’t seem to show up in the final scores, but more on that later.
Villa began to slow down a bit midway through, but continued to land more and cleaner punches despite the fatigue he may have felt. He knocked out Bocachica’s mouthguard again, legitimately or not, in both the seventh and eighth rounds.
The three judges had it deflected for Villa, 78-73 and 79-72 twice. The scores don’t seem to reflect a 10-7 round that includes both the drop and the mouthpiece deduction. Fortunately, it did not change the final result.
Villa’s only career loss came three years ago in a 13-day trade and 10-pound weight reduction. Even then, he just lost a split decision in Mexico to a Mexican fighter. He has knocked out 24 of his other 25 opponents, and Bocachica could easily have been number 25 were it not for his ability as a mouthpiece and his willingness to eat a constant barrage of flashy, wild punches.
Bocachica showed a lot of toughness, but not many positive results. Not the kind of recovery he expected after a very questionable draw in his last fight. As for Roman Villa? The next time you see his name on a televised card, make a note to check it out.
