Salud Wins Unanimous Decision From Gonzales

Jesus Salud, a former world junior featherweight champion, didn’t impress the Del Mar Fair crowd or his opponent, Vincente Gonzales, but he had enough to make believers out of the three judges, winning a unanimous decision Friday night.

Salud (39-4) never did figure out Gonzales’ awkward style, but he landed enough punches to carry most of the rounds. Judge Fritz Werner had Salud winning 99-92, Ernie Swank had it 98-92 and Frank Rustich scored it 97-93.

Gonzales (15-10), who fights out of Los Angeles, didn’t agree with any of the judges.

“I thought I won it really clearly,” Gonzales said. “I don’t know what (the judges) were thinking. The public saw it.”

Salud saw it as a victory, but not a convincing one.

“The guy was awkward, and he was very durable,” said Salud, who is from Honolulu but resides in Spring Valley. “I had a hard time figuring him out. These kind of guys make a good fighter look bad.

“He threw me off my rhythm. He’d throw punches in different directions.”

Rich Wambold, Salud’s trainer, said he was happy with his boxer’s performance.

“Gonzales usually fights two weight classes higher and he came in three-quarters of a pound overweight,” Wambold said. “I thought Jesus slipped Gonzales’ punches really well.”

Salud looked sluggish, especially in the ninth round.

Gonzales caught Salud with a flurry of punches to the head, sending him into the ropes. Salud tried to battle back, but he could not seem to find any punching room. By the end of the round, the crowd was cheering for Gonzales.

Salud said he was never hurt, but he acknowledged that Gonzales caught his attention.

“He stung me a couple times in back of the ear,” Salud said.

Salud had his best round in the seventh when he began to throw right uppercuts that stopped Gonzales from coming in. But in the last three rounds, Salud abandoned his uppercut attack.

Until his dominating ninth round, Gonzales’ best round was the fifth. He landed a straight right hand to Salud’s jaw early in the round. Later he connected with a left hook that dazed Salud.

After a slow first two rounds, Salud began to apply more pressure in the third. He connected on several overhand right hands and started to work Gonzales’ body.

Although he carried the middle rounds with difficulty, he won them because he was the more effective puncher.

Wambold said Salud’s next fight will be in San Diego as part of the Terry Norris card Aug. 17 at the Sports Arena, or in Hawaii.

In the undercard, San Diego middleweight Paul Vaden (3-0), who fought in front of a hometown crowd for the first time in 10 years, disposed of Jesus Lopez (1-1) of Los Angeles with a right uppercut at 2:06 of the second round.

“I knew he was vulnerable to the uppercut,” said Vaden, who attended Patrick Henry High. “He kept crouching down. My corner said to keep pawing the jab at him until he came up.”

In the second fight, Jose Jimenez of Tijuana (9-7 with seven knockouts) knocked out Paulino Gonzales (6-3) of Culican, Mexico, at 1:13 of the second round.