LONG BEACH, CA –– Once-beaten welterweight Eric Tudor (13-1, 7 KOs) showed disciplined skills and resilience in overcoming a strong challenge from upset specialist Kevin “Thunderstorm” Johnson (12-6, 8 KOs) of Las Vegas in the 10-round main event of tonight’s ‘LA Friday Night Fights’ series, presented by Paco Presents and Golden Boy Promotions from Thunder Studios in Long Beach, CA, and streamed live on DAZN.
Tudor got off to a fast start, using his educated skills to fight his way to an early lead with fast jabs and well-considered right hands. The fight shifted sharply in round seven as Tudor started bleeding from a cut on the left eye and continued to bleed in round eight.
Taking a page from the Emanuel Burton playbook, Johnson began to assert himself strongly in the later rounds with well-chosen power punches, while also taking time to showboat defensively. By round 10, Johnson was fighting much more aggressively, albeit too late to matter.
The educated fists of Tudor had already assured him victory.
At the end of a competitive and entertaining main event, Tudor had simply done more to earn his win by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94.
In the eight-round co-featured bout, super featherweight southpaw Justin Viloria (9-0, 7 KOs) showed his world-class chops in dismantling Mexico’s Alejandro Yung Wong (12-2, 6 KOs) over four dominant rounds.
Viloria, the nephew of former unified WBA and WBO flyweight and WBC and IBF flyweight champion Brian Viloria, put in a vicious performance against Wong, slamming him to the head and body with lethal sharpness until referee Referee Ivan Guillermo recognized the towel thrown in the ring by Team Wong and stopped it at 1:29.
With his vicious hand speed and slashing power, Viloria was a clear class above Wong and looked to be ready for a higher level of opponent in his upcoming battles.
Super lightweight Ricardo Sonny Robledo (11-0, 3 KOs) got off to a fast start and fought off a late-round rally by opponent Dante Ettore (11-2-2, 7 KOs) of Las Vegas to win a hard-fought majority decision in their eight-round battle.
The southpaw Robledo was busier and more aggressive, especially in the early rounds, and then did enough to hold off the surging power punches of the more technically gifted Ettore in the late going. Ettore landed several strong shots and made a good account of himself, but Robledo had the steadier activity throughout the tough eight rounder.
The scores were 76-76 draw, overruled by 78-74 and 79-73 scores for Robledo.
Undefeated super lightweight Javier Meza (3-0, 2 KOs) lost some blood but managed to score a four-round unanimous decision over Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Luciano Ramos (2-9). The rugged pair went back and forth throughout the action-rich fight, with Meza landing the more effective punches enough to deserve the nod. To his credit, the MMA-centric Ramos, who reportedly rolls with the Nate Diaz crew in Scranton, was able to bloody Meza’s nose with his work.
The scores were 60-54 x 2 and 59-55.
Hometown warrior Larry Serrano Romero (3-4-2) and pro debuting Roy “El Principe” Cano fought to a four-round majority draw in their bantamweight slugfest.
Better than his journeyman record would indicate, Serrano Romero fought a smart fight, throwing three- and four-punch combinations to the head and body. The more powerful Cano hurt Serrano briefly with left hooks in round three and four but failed to press his advantage. Both times, Serrano Romero came roaring back with his own fireworks. An entertaining battle between two game sluggers. The scores were 40-36 Romero, overruled by two scores of 38-38.
In the opening bout of the night, super lightweight Danilo “Gato” Diez (3-0, 1 KO) stopped Venezuela’s Giovanny “El Monstrico” Gonzalez (2-7, 2 KOs) at 2:55 of round two. The pair came out swinging freely, but it was Diez’s more disciplined punches that found their mark with greater frequency. With Gonzalez fading quickly from the onslaught, Referee Ivan Guillermo mercifully waved it off.
Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.
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