Mike Dallas Jr Stops Javier Castro, Brandon Gonzales Stays Flawless
Photos by Jan Sanders for Goossen Tutor Promotions
by Gautham Nagesh
Junior welterweight Mike Dallas Jr. (above, right) stopped Mexican veteran Javier Castro (left) in the 6th round of the main event of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights from San Jacinto, Calif. Sacramento middleweight prospect Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales (below) improved to 16-0 (10 KOs) in the co-feature with a rugged eight-round clean sweep of Elie Augustama on the scorecards.
[[MORE]]Dallas has now won two straight after losing the first two bouts of his career last year, both on ESPN. While both losses were to quality opponents (Mauricio Herrera by majority decision, Josesito Lopez by KO), the Bakersfield, Calif. native knew he had to impress against Castro to continue his ascent. He delivered, showing superior desire and maturity compared to his earlier efforts. The early portion of the fight wasn’t pretty, but Dallas used his jab to get the best of it. Both fighters suffered cuts in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, but Castro appeared more bothered by the bleeding. Castro showed heart, but Dallas landed some vicious body shots and looked to be winning the fight.
A big right hand from Mike landed flush in the 6th, signaling the beginning of the end. Another hard right followed, as Castro seemed ignorant of how to protect himself when hurt. Instead of tying up, he retreated, and Dallas pounced with a series of punches from either hand. A few more hard shots on the ropes were all it took for referee Dr. Lou Moret to step in and halt the action. Dallas knows the road will only get tougher from here, but he showed growth and could eventually make some noise at 140 lbs.
Gonzales was less impressive but still handled Augustuma easily, bullying his way inside and landing some heavy uppercuts. He also sustained a cut from a headbutt, but did a nice job of ignoring the bleeding and continuing his work. Gonzales does nothing spectacular, but is a solid all-around fighter. I’m not sure his defense is good enough to compensate for his lack of world-class speed or power, but I’ve been wrong before. He still needs some seasoning before reaching contender status at middleweight.
The early stoppage in the main event allowed time for a televised nightcap, a four-rounder at junior middleweight featuring former amateur star Joshua Conley and debutante Dante Stowers. Stowers was clearly in over his head against the smaller, but much more experienced Conley. Referee Dr. Lou stopped the fight in the second round after Stowers appeared to have no response for Conley. Goosen Tutor Promotions informs us the un-televised portion of the card saw Sacramento featherweight prospect Guy Robb improve to 8-1 (4 KOs) with a 5th-round knockout of Rodrigo Aranda. Former Olympian Javier Molina scored a 3rd-round stoppage after a brawl with Octavio Navarez.
