by Chris Morris

In front of a standing room only sell out crowd, kudos to Sparta Combat League, Misael Lopez, 4-0, 1KO, easily defeated previously unbeaten Ricky Rodriguez, 3-1, 0KO, by unanimous decision over 6 pedestrian rounds.

The first three rounds were dominated by Lopez as Rodriguez refused to engage in the fight and seldom throwing a punch, let alone trying to win the fight. Lopez pressed the action and did his best to make a fight of it. The Facebook Live feed went out in the third and I missed the fourth round.

In the fifth it was more of the same, Lopez pressing and throwing punches, Rodriguez covering up and refusing to return fire. Lopez is comfortable now and he is hitting Rodriguez with shots at will. In the sixth Lopez bloodies his nose to put an exclamation point on his win.

This fight goes to show, it truly does take two rumble.

Who could be next for Misael Lopez? While it maybe too soon for a showdown with #1 ranked Donovan Estrella or #2 ranked Chris Galvadon, who are both 9-0, a fight with Nebraska’s 5-0 Treven Coleman seems like a perfect next step. Coleman is ranked #5 and Lopez, before this bout, is ranked #8.

The co main event went exactly as expected with Mario Sierra, 2-0-1, 2KOs, putting Marco Alcaraz, 1-11, 1KO, on the canvass with the first punches he threw, Alcaraz looking for that ‘soft spot on the canvass’. The end came at the 1:30 mark of the opening round.

SCL will need to be careful in crafting Sierra’s career. Sierra is ranked the #10 bantamweight in the region. Facing Nebraska’s Abel Soriano, #5, or even a rematch with #6 Adan Gonzales seem like logical steps.

Jose Arellano, 1-0, made his pro debut in fine fashion as he befuddled and beat up Colorado Springs’s Isaac Johnson, 2-7, 0KO, over 4 rounds at super lightweight. Arellano is one helluva a body puncher, much like his coach Hector Saez used to be. He punished Johnson to the body in every round and I thought he might get the stoppage in the fourth. Johnson has never been stopped and kept his streak of ending the fight on his feet intact.

After the fight Arellano commented:

“I felt disrespected. He said things about my team and my promoter so I had to punish him.” He also mentioned going down to 35’s, could a super fight with Misael Lopez be in his future?

Will be very interesting to see where Arellano debuts in the Rocky Mountain Boxing Ratings, due out on March 1st.

In the opening pro fight of the night, Cruz Valenzuela, 1-0, earned a hard fought decision over Chris Arguello, 1-3-1, 1KO, over four rounds at super middleweight. Valenzuela took the fight to Arguello who simply didn’t let his hands go enough to score points and win rounds.

Where will Valenzuela debut in the RMB Rankings?

Matchmaker Chris Maclean-Maestas says the next SCL show is set for April 29th.