Junior middleweight prospect Madiyar Ashkeyev remained unbeaten Saturday night, stopping late-sub Rodolfo Martinez after the end of the fifth round at the Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens, California.
With the win, Ashkeyev improves to 14-0, 7 knockouts.
Ashkeyey, who now resides in the boxing hotbed of Oxnard, fought in his home country of Kazakhstan in his previous bout on July 5, defeating veteran Igor Faniyan by technical decision after the end of the seventh round.
Martinez took the fight earlier in the week and was unbeaten in his previous four bouts but had not fought since Gustavo Sanchez by unanimous decision on Dec. 22.
The 31-year-old Ashkeyev struck early in the fight, hurting Martinez with a right hand to the head before dropping him with a one-two punch combination. Martinez beat the count but fought the rest of the fight cautiously and defensively.
As the fight progressed, Ashkeyev closed the distance and cutting off the ring, feinting at times to entice Martinez to engage. The tactic worked as Ashkeyev dropped Martinez midway through round three with another right hand to the head. Martinez beat the count and fought on.
The end came as Ashkeyev dropped Martinez to the canvas with another vicious right hand to the head at the conclusion of round five. Martinez beat the count and walked back to his corner, with the bell sounding to end the round. To save their fighter from receiving further punishment, Martinez’s corner told referee Jose Cobian to stop the bout.
Ashkeyev is managed by Egis Klimas and promoted by Main Events.
The 37-year-old Martinez, who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, drops to 43-9-3, 16 KOs.
In the co-feature, welterweight prospect Enriko Gogokhia stopped gatekeeper Miguel Zamudio at 47 seconds of the fifth round.
Gogokhia is from the Central Asian country of Georgia and now lives and trains in Oxnard. The 28-year-old is also managed by Klimas.
Zamudio, who lives and trains in Guasave, Mexico, falls to 44-15-1, 27 KOs.
In welterweight action, Stephen McKenna won again by knockout, stopping Argentina’s Gonzalo Dallara in the second round.
Dallara (6-7, 4 KOs) came out throwing wild hooks and crosses, but McKenna stood in the pocket, landing the shorter and more-effective punches. A barrage of punches moments into the second round dropped Dallara, where he was counted out at 29 seconds.
McKenna, who is originally from Ireland and now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, improves to 4-0, 4 KOs.
In junior featherweight action, Daniel Constantino of nearby Compton defeated Los Angeles’ Lucnor Diserne by unanimous decision.
All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Constantino, who improves to 5-3-2, 1 KO. Junior lightweight Teodoro Alonso (2-2) defeated Guadalupe Arroyo (3-18) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout for Alonso.
The ‘Gardens Casino Fight Night’ card was the fourth and final card for Roy Englebrecht Promotions at the Los Angeles-area casino.
Story Courtesy of BoxingScene.com
by Francisco Salazar