Donald Camarena (16-1, 9 KOs) had his hands full against very game Jorge Alberto Padilla (6-2, 1 KO) before scoring a unanimous 10-round decision to retain his WBC Continental Americas super lightweight title on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights in front of a hometown crowd at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Padilla, a Mexican amateur standout, pressured from the start, throwing punches in bunches and staying in the pocket, in stark contrast to the wait-and-counter style utilized by the southpaw Camarena in the first three rounds.
Camarena, behind a sneaky counter right hand, slowly got back into the fight in the middle rounds by landing shots to the head and body. But Padilla remained on the attack, having his moments going into the ninth round by trapping Camarena against the ropes and unloading while the hometown favorite landed his share of shots in between his opponent's charges.
The 10th round did not disappoint as Padilla pressured, pinned Camarena against the ropes, and did not let up. However, Camarena landed the cleaner shots, managing to back the challenger up in the final seconds of the fight.
Scores were 96-94, and 98-92 (twice) for Camarena. Many in the crowd (won over by the game Padilla) booed at the ridiculous eight-round disparity in the scorecards, as Padilla certainly looked to have won more than two rounds.
Castaneda decisions Galaviz
In the FNF co-feature, fringe super lightweight contender Rogelio Castaneda (20-10-3, 7 KOs) defeated Hernan "Tigre" Galaviz (12-8-1, 9 KOs) via technical decision in seven.
After a slow opening round, Galaviz shook his foe with a good counter right hand in the second round. Both fighters ended the round at a nice clip, trying to set up the fight's tempo.
Castaneda got to work in the third by pinning Galaviz against the ropes and working his short shots for most of the round. Castaneda showed more variety in his punches by working shots at long range, and landing clean left hooks to the body and head.
Galaviz came out in the fifth round with an air of urgency, only to end up on the canvas early in the round as both men got tangled up near the ropes. Castaneda stayed on top of his attack, once more pinning his opponent and working him over against the ropes for the rest of the round.
Castaneda found a mixed bag in the sixth round as Galaviz opened an old cut over the right eye due to an accidental head butt early in the round, and a body shot dropped Galaviz a few moments later. Galaviz made it up to resume battle, just to end up being badly cut in the same spot as Castaneda threw a looping right hand while coming in. Galaviz also came in clashing heads, and he went down to the canvas once more. After a close look, the referee stopped the
fight, sending the fight to the scorecards.
The fight went Castaneda's way via scores of 60-54 across the board.
Hernandez-Martinez draw a crowd-pleaser
Super lightweight David Hernandez (3-2-2, 2 KOs) engaged in a brawl against James Martinez (1-2-1) which left people in attendance on their feet at the end of the scheduled four-rounder.
In a very competitive bout, the difference between both fighters seemed to be the slightly faster hands and pesky jab of Martinez, against the cagey inside work from Hernandez, something that factored into the cards as Judge Tyrone Short scored it 39-37 for Martinez, while judges Ed Kugler and Steve Waldman scored it 38-38, for the majority draw.
