Baltazar Comes Ready to Fight, Stops Young in Ninth Round

The last time Frankie Baltazar of Whittier was at the Irvine Marriott, he was dressed in a suit and tie, watching brother Tony fight in August.

Thursday, he was in his business attire--red velvet trunks, boxing gloves and shoes--while scoring a workman-like, ninth-round knockout of Charles Kirk (Mad Dog) Young of Los Angeles in a welterweight fight in front of 721 spectators.

Baltazar (41-3-1) was in control for most of the bout, content to counter-punch against Young (8-6), who stayed on his feet at least four rounds longer than he probably should have.

Starting in the second round, Baltazar took over. He used a quick, short left and a sharp right to score often against Young.

Twice in third round, referee Pat Russell was about to stop the fight, but each time Young punched his way to the next round.

Young even started a minor comeback in the fifth and sixth but never landed enough punches in a row to hurt a more-experienced Baltazar.

Before Round 8, Russell called in the ringside doctor to check out Young, who was cut under the left eye and bleeding from the mouth.

After Young was allowed to continue, Baltazar re-launched the assault until 1:48 remained in the ninth, when Young no longer could defend himself, and Russell stopped it. Baltazar was ahead on all cards, 79-73, 78-74, 78-74, entering the ninth.

On the undercard: Martin Garcia (2-1-2), fighting out of the Westminster Boxing Club, won a four-round majority decision over Gilbert Hernandez. Garcia won by scores of 39-36 and 39-37, and another judge had it 38-38.

Notes

John Armijo, the popular fighting lifeguard from Huntington Beach, will headline Nov. 21 card, the last of the year. He is scheduled to take on Ali Sanchez of Coachella.