Mike Perez secured a win over veteran fighter Martine Honorio in a 10 round fight that was stopped in between the 6th and 7th round by the ring doctor after cuts over the eye of Perez were ruled too severe for him to continue. The junior welterweight showdown was the main event of Golden Boy Promotion’s LA Fight Club series on Estrella TV/RingTVLive. It was the one year anniversary of the series, which was held at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, California, the same venue that kicked off the series a year ago when Joseph “JoJo” Diaz main evented.
Perez was brought into this fight in typical showcase fashion, but those that have followed Perez’s career know that there are no traditional showcase outings for Perez who tends to fall into the typically aggressive nature of his opponent’s style.
In round 1, it looked like it would be another difficult night for Perez as Honorio took the slight edge in the fight by simply being the bigger man. He didn’t really impose his will as the bigger fighter, but by simply being taller and longer he stifled Perez’s game.
It wasn’t until round 2, the round that would pretty much shape the fight, which we started to see Honorio really impose his will. But in that round, Perez and Honorio would clash heads accidently, resulting in cuts that affect the entirety of the fight. Perez suffered from a cut over his left eye while Honorio’s cut(s) were on the back of his head, most likely the result of scar tissue from past fights.
While Honorio’s cut was much more bloody and gruesome, it was actually Perez’s cut that had a greater effect on his actual in-ring performance from that point on.
After being affected by the cut and finding a way to deal, Perez began to get comfortable. He was able to work well from the outside by landing one punch at a time. He was precise with his punches, but he was still unable to put his punches together at a higher volume.
Perez utilized his jab more and went to the body sporadically, all the while dealing with a very bloody cut that continued to affect his sight.
Perez finally let his hands go at a greater volume and his right hand couldn’t miss, but Honorio was keeping some of the rounds close with his own right hand and his ability to crash the inside.
The ring doctor took a look at a reluctant Perez following the 6th round and decided to stop the fight based on the severity of Perez’s cuts.
The fight went to the scorecards and all three judges surprisingly enough turned in the scores of 60-54 for Perez. Perez certainly did enough to win by unanimous decision, but Honorio definitely won a round or two, there were some ringside experts that felt like a draw was the more acceptable ending.
After the fight, Perez admitted to the cut bothering him and responded to commentator Doug Fisher’s question about the reoccurrence of cuts in Perez’s fights by reminding every one of the aggressive nature of his past opponents.
In the evening’s co-feature, Christian Gonzalez, a fighter that seems to be getting better every time he is shown on La Fight Club, knocked out David Rodela in the 1st round of their scheduled 8 rounder. It was a long right hand that caught Rodela and sent him to the canvas, a punch to devastating to return from.
Alexis Rocha won his highly anticipated pro debut against Jordan Rosario in earlier action.
