A sizzling 10-round bantamweight bout between Oscar “El Jaguar” Negrete (18-1-1, 7 KOs) and Joshua “El Profesor” Franco (14-1-1, 7 KOs) was ruled a split draw.
The scores were 96-94 for Franco, 96-94 for Negrete, and 95-95. Each boxer threw more than a thousand punches: 1,146 for Negrete, and 1,111 for Franco.
The outstanding bout was the main event of a Golden Boy on ESPN card on Thursday at The Hangar At The OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California.
There was thrilling two-way action from first bell to last. Negrete, 31, originally from Colombia but fighting out of Los Angeles, applied relentless pressure, while Franco, 22, of San Antonio, seemed to be the harder puncher.
It appeared that the busier Negrete was slightly ahead after six rounds, but Franco rallied in the second half of the fight, slowing Negrete’s attack with accurate combinations to the head and body.
During the final round, the crowd rose to give the fighters a standing ovation.
In the co-feature, hot prospect Danielito “El Zorro” Zorrilla, 24, of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, stopped Dakota “Lone Wolf” Linger, 23, of, Buckhannon, West Virginia, at the 2:59 mark of the second round of a scheduled eight-round junior welterweight bout.
Zorrilla (9-0, 8 KOs) was all over the overmatched Linger (10-1-2, 6 KOs) from the start, hitting him flush with virtually every punch in his arsenal.
The end came when Zorrilla landed 10 unanswered punches that left Linger propped in a corner, holding the ropes for support, blood pouring from his nose.
In the TV opener, junior lightweight Jousce “Tito” Gonzalez (8-0-1, 8 KOs) remained unbeaten but had to settle for a majority six-round draw with Ivan “Striker” Delgado (12-1-2, 5 KOs).
Gonzalez, 23, of Glendora, California, and Delgado, 28, of Los Angeles, took turns unleashing flurries of punches throughout a close, hard-fought match.