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Eloy Perez KO’s Boyd with Body Shots; Celaya Decisions Opponent
10/26/07 By: Jeff Townsend,
Boxing writer Bayareasportsdrive.com
Undefeated super featherweight Eloy Perez, 10-0-2 (2 KOs), of Salinas, California took Ron Boyd, 5-3 (2 KOs), of Washington, D.C. into the fifth round of a eight round bout before sending him to the canvas twice due to hard body shots. Perez came away with only his second knockout win against a very tall opponent who is probably the best opponent he has faced. This fight was the main event for Jerry Hoffman’s “Riot Boxing” event held in downtown Monterey at the Monterey Conference Center.
Perez must have heard some motivating words from his corner at the end of the first round because he started throwing punches and fighting more aggressively in the second round. Throwing more combinations was a smart strategy for Perez and he ended up catching Boyd with a good body shot near the end of the second round. It was clear Boyd had been hurt by the punch, as he began to merely cover up by holding his gloves high around his head. Rounds three and four saw Perez settling in and fighting in his trademark style – jabs, good combinations and effective foot movement. Boyd was clearly unsure of how to react and spent too much of these rounds covering up and not doing much. Perez came out for the fifth round
fighting in a slightly more aggressive manner and It wasn’t long before Perez landed another hard, left hook to Boyd’s thin body, knocking him down for the second time in the fight. Seeing as Boyd was clearly hurt and would not be getting up off the canvas anytime soon, the referee called an end to the fight with about a minute to go in the fifth round. Even though Boyd looked to be in great shape and possessed a large height advantage, his boxing skills are not at the same level. He turned pro at 33 years old and, having fought for four years professionally, is now 37 years old. In these past four years, this fight was only his eighth professional fight. Boyd is trained by two-time world champion Mark ‘Too Sharp’ Johnson but even that might not be enough to really make something of himself in the boxing world. Celaya Wins Split Decision in 6 Round Fight In the semi-main event, former top welterweight contender Jose Celaya (31-3, 16 KOs) of Salinas, California was awarded a split decision win in a six round bout over Juan Pablo Montes de Oca (9-12-2, 6 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada. This marks the fifth fight for Celaya on the comeback trail since he was knocked out by James ‘Spider’ Webb two years ago and the second time he has fought Oca.
Oca got up fairly quickly and didn’t seem to be hurt despite the knockdown. Instead of going after Oca with hard punches, Celaya stuck to working behind his jab and counterpunching in order to stay in control of the fight. The fight would follow this same pattern over the course of the six round bout. Celaya would jab or throw a 2-3 punch combination and then quickly pull away. Celaya has good boxing skills and is very good at utilizing foot movement to control his opponent. This ‘hit and don’t be hit’ formula served Celaya well against an opponent like Oca who throws a lot of wide punches and who does not use a jab to get on the inside. However, Celaya had a difficult time landing any hard punches because he always seems to be moving away from the action. This prevents him from sitting down on his punches and throwing hard shots. At the end of the six round bout, two judges scored the fight for Celaya (59-54, 58-55) while one judge gave the fight to Oca (57-56). Celaya was awarded a split decision win in a fight that he clearly won. However, he looked rather ordinary against an opponent whose record (9-12-2, 6 KOs) suggests that Celaya should have dominated. This was clearly a ‘stay-busy’ fight for Celaya but it seemed more like a backwards step in his career to take this fight. When he was at his best, Celaya was making the welterweight (147) limit and would sometimes weigh in at the low 150s. In his last fight with Oca in April, Celaya came in at 155 which is one pound over the junior middleweight (154) limit. However, in this rematch, Celaya weighed in at 160 pounds which is the middleweight limit. In a post-fight interview, Celaya blamed the weight gain on being requested to consume additional liquids by his doctor due to a finding of being dehydrated. At the same time, Celaya also stated that he may continue to fight as a middleweight (160). Undercard Results In the opening bout, super flyweights Constancio Alvarado (1-0-2) of Salinas, California and Jose Pacheco (0-0-2) of Los Angeles, California fought to a 4 round draw. Both fighters threw a lot of punches and the action was fast-paced. Alvarado might have done better in the fight but he suffered a cut over his left eye in the second round which opened up even more in the fourth round. To illustrate just how close this fight was, all three judges scored the fight a draw (38-38). Cynthia Talmadge (1-1, 1 KO) of San Francisco knocked out Leonie Hall (0-3-1) of San Diego at 1:28 of the second round in a scheduled four round featherweight bout. There was history between these two fighters as Hall has a win over Talmadge in the amateurs. However, Talmadge was too much for Hall on this night. Both fighters threw a lot of punches but Talmadge’s hard combination halfway through the second round would prove to be too much for Hall and she was down on the canvas. The referee quickly called an end to the fight, giving Talmadge her first professional win. Email Jeff with questions or comments at jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com
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Once the fight began, the height
difference was startling. Boyd, a southpaw, was at least 5 inches
taller than Perez and he used this advantage to take control of the
first round. Perez seemed tentative to throw punches and was wary of
being hit via the long arms of Boyd. At this point, it looked like
Perez would have a very tough evening. 
he was rewarded for
that by landing a hard, left hook to Boyd’s body that sent him to the
canvas. Boyd is a tall, lean fighter who can be intimidating with his
height but is vulnerable to the body. Rising from the canvas, Boyd
was now on unsteady legs as Perez pounced on him. 
Celaya and Oca faced off back in
April of this year at Palma High School in Salinas, California, where
Celaya won via an 8 round unanimous decision. Oca started this fight
with his trademark wide punches and attacking style. Celaya seemed to
have learned something from their last fight and caught Oca with a
hard right hand early in the first round, knocking Oca down to the
canvas.