GLENDALE, Arizona – Elijah Garcia had Rowdy Legend Montgomery down twice and on the verge of a stoppage.
The locally based southpaw instead had to settle for a distance win, scoring a six-round shutout in their middleweight bout. All three judges scored the bout 60-52 in favor of Garcia (11-0, 9KOs), who twice floored Montgomery (7-4-1, 5KOs) in round three but unable to close the show in the first bout on the undercard to go to the scorecards Saturday evening at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Micky Scala rewarded his early arriving local fans with a spectacular showcase performance. The unbeaten 19-year-old from nearby Mesa floored Mike Plazola early and often in racking up a first-round knockout win. Iowa’s Plazola (2-2, 1KOs) was down four times before the junior middleweight fight was mercifully halted at 1:39 of round one.
Scala—who signed with Mayweather Promotions at just 17 years of age—registered the quickest win of his young and promising career.
Jesus Ibarra has been brief in all of his knockout wins, a trend that continued in his first-round stoppage of Agua Prieto, Mexico’s Ernest Guerrero (33-34, 24KOs). Ibarra (14-0, 7KOs)—a 24-year-old featherweight from Apache Junction, Arizona—floored Guerrero three times en route to an early finish at 2:42 of round one.
Estevan Villalobos deserved to have the cameras rolling for what should have been a highlight reel knockout. The streaking prospect from Mount Vernon, Washington flattened Houston’s Christon Edwards (13-4, 6KOs) with a picture-perfect right hand, producing an emphatic third-round knockout win. The fight was waved off without a count at 1:59 of round three, with Edwards on the canvas for several minutes before eventually making it to his feet.
Villalobos boxed with confidence and patience, controlling the action and the distance through the first two rounds. Edwards stuck around for a split second too long when he was clipped on the chin, with the referee calling for an end to the contest on the spot to allow for medical attention from the ringside physicians.
Villalobos (16-1-1, 12KOs) has now won five straight since a ninth-round stoppage loss to Blair Cobbs in an August 2019 battle of unbeaten prospects that saw both fighters hit the deck.
Chavon Davis enjoyed a successful pro debut, flooring Brent Oren (4-9, 1KO) three times in a first-round knockout win. The all-Pennsylvania battle saw Davis (1-0, 1KO) apply early pressure, dropping Oren in the first 30 seconds of the bout. A body shot had Oren down moments later, with Davis closing the show after trapping his opponent in a corner for the third and final knockdown midway through the round.
Julio Ocampo Hernandez remains perfect and brief in his young career. The 20-year-old lightweight from Kent, Washington needed just 121 seconds to get rid of Gilbran Perez. Hernandez scored two knockdowns en route to a first-round knockout win.
San Marcos, California’s Perez (0-1) was down within the first minute of the fight, taking the full eight count before being permitted to continue. Hernandez (2-0, 2KOs) continued to apply pressure, forcing Perez down again and this time for the full ten-count at 2:01 of the opening round.
Hernandez turned pro this past March 12, also against a pro debuter as Marcos Lopez lasted just 91 seconds.
All bouts served as part of an eleven-fight card. Headlining the show, two-time WBC super middleweight titlist David Benavidez (25-0, 22KOs) from nearby Phoenix faces former IBF middleweight titlist David Lemieux (43-4, 36KOs). The scheduled 12-round main event is for the interim WBC super middleweight title, airing live on Showtime atop a televised tripleheader.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox