Arroyo feels robbed against Gomez

Boxer Guadalupe Arroyo of Huntington Beach sent Santa Ana’s Mauricio Gomez to the canvas with a roundhouse-left in the second round of their four-round junior-lightweight bout Thursday at Fight Club OC at the OC Fair & Event Center.

Unfortunately for Arroyo, the blow that connected with the right side of Gomez’s face wasn’t enough to win the fight.

In a controversial split decision, and amid boos from many of the 1,442 inside the Hangar, Gomez was declared the winner by a score of 38-37, 37-38 and 38-37.

“I thought I won,” Arroyo said.

The fight was one of six on the hybrid card, which featured four boxing and two mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts.

Gomez (3-0) came out swinging, pinning the 26-year old Arroyo (2-2), on the ropes in the opening seconds of the bout.

Arroyo avoided any damage and the action moved back to the center of the ring, where Arroyo missed with a wild right, but then connected with an overhand right.

Arroyo connected a few more times in the final seconds of the round.

In the second round, Arroyo was more aggressive, connecting with a pair of lefts, but Gomez, 28, didn’t seem fazed by the blows.

About a minute into the third round, Arroyo saw an opening and connected with a left, sending Gomez to the canvas.

But Gomez was back on his feet in under five seconds and managed to avoid any more damage in the round.

Both fighters connected in the final round, but not enough to do any damage.

Arroyo felt he won the final three rounds of the fight.

“I thought the knock-down would be enough to win,” he said.

In other fights:

German Meraz of Sonora Mexico, who fought 95 pro fights heading into Fight Club OC, including six in 2016, took on the undefeated Tug Nyambayar of Carson in in an eight-round featherweight boxing match.

While Meraz had the experience, Nyambayar was clearly the better fighter and came away with a one-sided victory.

Nyambayar, who improved to 7-0, sent Meraz (55-40-1) to the canvas with a hard left toward the end of the third round.

Nyambayar dominated the next two rounds forcing a stoppage after round-five.

In a flyweight boxing match, Carlos Licona of Westminster improved to 7-0 with a unanimous, six-round decision over Yezeber Romero (2-2) of Garden Grove.

The fastest victory of the evening came in an MMA battle of lightweights, with Emilas Jimenez of Hawaiian Gardens knocking out Vincent Borquez of Long Beach 50 seconds into the fight.

Jimenez knocked Borquez to his back with left cross and was about to pounce on his opponent, before the referee stepped in and stopped it.

The event was the final OC Fight Club of 2016 for promoter Roy Englebrecht, wrapping up six years at the 23,000 square-foot Hangar

Prior to that, Englebrecht promoted Battle in the Ballroom fight nights at the Irvine Marriott for 25 years.

Six Fight Club OC shows are scheduled at the Hangar for 2017.