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Estrada Stops Poll in 10th, Retains Title

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Times Staff Writer

Jesus Poll insisted he was all right. That’s the message he sent to his corner. That’s the message he gave referee Lou Moret.

The problem was, he couldn’t get the message through to his legs.

They deserted twice him in the 10th round of Tuesday night’s World Boxing Assn. 12-round junior featherweight title fight at the Forum before a crowd of 4,861. The first time, a pair of solid lefts from champion Juan Jose Estrada of Tijuana caused Poll to wobble around and eventually collapse in his corner.

Poll got up, but never back in the fight. An Estrada combination started the wobbling anew. Again Poll went down. Poll got up, but Moret signaled the fight was over at the 1:38 mark of the 10th.

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Although the previously unbeaten Poll (19-1-2) was favored, Estrada fought true to form. He is 35-7 with 30 knockouts.

Estrada, 122, having already knocked Poll, 121 3/4, down in the third round, was ahead on the scorecards of all three judges when the fight was stopped.

Poll, a native Venezuelan who moved to North Hollywood to fight for the Ten Goose Boxing Club, chose to match punches with the stronger Estrada for much of the fight.

“My real plan was to box,” Poll said through an interpreter, “but I felt I had him hurt several times, so I went after him.”

Estrada earned $40,000 for the fight, Poll $12,500.

One of the preliminary fights featured a scene straight out of Rocky.

Ysaias Zamudio (14-2) of Blythe won the WBA America’s flyweight title with a third-round knockout of Jose Manuel Diaz (24-17) of Mexicali in a scheduled 12-rounder.

Earlier in that round, Zamudio knocked down Diaz with a combination. But as Diaz fell, he butted heads with Zamudio, sending him down as well. For several seconds, it looked as if Zamudio was going to be the one to stay down. But he finally staggered to his feet to finish off Diaz.

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In another preliminary, former Olympian Kelcie Banks of Gulfport, Miss., won a unanimous decision over Daniel Flores (8-5-1) of Mexicali in a six-round lightweight bout. Banks was making his pro debut.

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