Zamudio Earns First Pro Victory, Balestra Trades Knockdowns in Defeat

By Ryan Maquiñana
Norcalboxing.net

Zamudio (right) was undeterred by Fernandez' prefight stare. (Edward Rodriquez)

A pair of NorCal fighters, Sacramento welterweight Nick Balestra and San Francisco junior welterweight Jhonnathan Zamudio, took the ring in separate bouts Saturday night in Tacoma, Wash., at the Emerald Queen Casino with mixed results. 

Balestra (right) had Serrano (left) down in the second. (Edward Rodriquez)

In the co-feature, Balestra, 146, gave hometown favorite Natividad "Nate" Serrano, 145, all he could handle in a two-round war.  The brawling Balestra (2-2-1, 1 KO) put the Yakima-based Serrano (4-1, 3 KOs) on the canvas in the second frame before the latter scored two knockdowns en route to the stoppage.  Official time was 1:45.

 

Zamudio gets his hands wrapped by trainer Jose "Pastel" Hernandez. (Jhonnathan Zamudio)

Zamudio, 141, earned his first pro win with a majority decision over William Fernandez, 140.5.  Zamudio (1-1-1), who makes the lengthy commute to Watsonville for training, rebounded from a hotly contested decision defeat to Ulises Soriano last October to spoil the pro debut of Fernandez (0-1). 


Boxing correspondent Ryan Maquiñana is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.
 
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