Welterweight Jose Marrufo (6-2-2) had his hometown fans behind him, and he made it count. The hometown hero defeated another Arizona native, Rashawn McCain (2-4) of Tucson, Arizona Friday evening at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix in a six-round, entertaining matchup.
Both fighters wasted no time trying to take control of the fight with their fists. Marrufo came straight at McCain, who took some hard shots to the body, but was able to land some hard counter shots on the inside.
The momentum changed towards the end of the round when McCain was nailed with a head-butt, and it changed the complexion of the fight.
In the second round, the brutal display continued as Marrufo continued to dig at the body, while finding success with looping left hooks. McCain managed to land some shots, but the relentless pressure from his adversary, didn’t allow much time to recover from the first round.
The third round was another solid one for Marrufo, who was landing the more crisp, precise shots, as he cut off the ring effectively, never allowing McCain to fully use his reach advantage to full capacity.
In the fourth round, McCain continued to take damage. Marrufo, though wild, was able to land wide hooks from various angles when McCain was caught with his guard down. McCain was able to land some combinations at points in the round, but they weren’t affecting Marrufo, who took the wind out of his opponent.
If there was any round to give to McCain, round five was the clearest, with solid combinations and uppercuts landing for McCain on the inside, but Marrufo was never bothered by the shots, and saved up his energy for a Hail Mary at the end of the round; to no avail.
In the final round, both men went for the knockout as if they were both desperately behind on the scorecards. With a jubilant crowd on their feet, Marrufo caught McCain in the final moments of the round, but was unable to get the conclusive knockout.
The judges scored the bout 59-55, 58-56, and 60-54 in favor of Jose Marrufo by unanimous decision.
