Mosley Retains His Title by Drawing With Ocegueda

IRVINE â€”  San Diego’s Russell Mosley retained his California super lightweight title Friday night when his bout with Jaime Ocegueda ended in a majority decision draw in the 10-round main event at Irvine Marriott’s monthly boxing show.

Mosley (9-17-2) earned the draw by winning the 10th round with a strong finish against Ocegueda (15-1-3), who had hurt Mosley several times early, but couldn’t sustain an attack long enough to put the champion away.

Judges Larry Rozadilla and Rudy Jordan had the fight even, 95-95, while referee Victor Delgado gave Ocegueda the edge, 96-94.

Ocegueda, who was coming off an upset victory over Mark Lewis in September that gave him the title opportunity, sustained a bad cut to the corner of his left eye in the second round and was bleeding profusely from his nose in the later rounds.

However, Ocegueda had Mosley on the verge of a knockdown in the second and ninth rounds, and appeared to be one punch away from sending Mosley to the canvas. But each time the champion battled back.

In an earlier four-round welterweight bout, Long Beach’s Raul Franco (3-0), who trains at the Westminster Boxing Gym, won a majority decision over Manuel Coronado of Mexico.

Franco, the 1996 California Golden Gloves champion, bled for the first time in his pro career when Coronado grazed the tip of his nose in the first round causing a good deal of blood loss, but Franco kept his opponent on his heels enough to win easily.

“He caught me right on the tip of my nose, it was the weirdest thing. It didn’t even start bleeding until later,� Franco said. “He wasn’t really out to fight me though. He was just out there to survive.�

Los Angeles’ Pedro Pena, a top amateur, made his professional debut with a second-round knockout of David Avila of Madera in a super flyweight bout scheduled for four rounds.