Soto Karass-Kamegai Slugfest Ends in a Draw

Golden Boy Promotions’ L.A. Fight Club hosted another thrilling event Friday night and the main event, which was televised on Estrella TV, didn’t disappoint. Most boxing experts expected that the duel between Jesus Soto Karass and Yoshihiro Kamegai would be an action-packed toss-up and it was.

The junior middleweights tore into each other from the opening bell and never relented, each giving as good as he took. “Renuente” landed dozens of stinging shots with his constant pressure, but the Japanese fighter never backed down. “Maestrito” was equally assertive in the brawl and bombs were thrown throughout, though neither warrior was ever taken off his feet.

In the end, the judges couldn’t agree on a victor. One official saw it for Soto Karass (28-10-4, 18 KOs) 96-94, the second favored Kamegai (26-3-2, 23 KOs) 97-93 while the third had it even at 95 apiece.

Light heavyweight contender Vyacheslav Shabranskyy improved to 16-0 with his 13th career knockout. He dropped Derrick Findley (23-19-1, 15 KOs) in the third with a vicious left to the body and he finished the round, but Findley opted not to come out for round four.

Genaro Gamez was sensational in his pro debut as he flattened Archie Weah (1-6) in the first. The super flyweight cornered his foe and finished him with a blistering combo, sending him to the canvas for good. The end came officially at 2:24.

In the off-TV preliminary card, junior middleweight Niko Valdes took out Roberto Ramirez (0-3) at 1:58 of the first in his pro debut; welterweight Jonathan Navarro (5-0, 4 KOs) stopped Tavorus Teague (3-11-2, 2 KOs) at the end of round two; and Jousce Gonzalez also had a great pro debut as he took out Noe Perez (1-2) at 1:23 of the opening frame.