IRVINE BOXING : Zavala Gets Workout, Then Drops Diaz in Fifth Round

Rudy Zavala combined a training session with a main event and came away with a fifth-round knockout of Hector Diaz in the junior featherweight bout Thursday at the Irvine Marriott.

Zavala (20-1-1), of Costa Mesa, was in command from the first serious punch, a right uppercut that drew blood from the nose of Diaz of Sonora, Mexico.

Zavala knocked down Diaz (25-21) later in the first with a sharp left to the body.

“I kind of felt sorry for him,” Zavala said. “It was like he was going to fall apart. I’ve been working on (throwing) body shots and not getting hit in return.”

Zavala spent the second through fourth rounds primarily working the body, but in the fifth started pounding Diaz’s face before the fight was ended at 1 minute 26 seconds of the round.

Zavala is next scheduled to fight Kennedy McKinney for the International Boxing Federation junior featherweight title April 17 at a site to be determined.

Herb Stone, Zavala’s manager, didn’t want his boxer to fight at the Marriott for fear of being cut. But

Zavala said he promised Stone he wouldn’t get hurt and was true to his word, as Diaz never landed a damaging blow. Plus, Zavala, who last fought in early January, didn’t want a long layoff before the title bout.

“I could have finished him early but needed the work,” Zavala said. “. . . Now, I want to bring a title back home to California in April.”

Matthew Brooks of Houston scored a second-round knockout of cruiserweight Todd McPhee at 1:19 of the second round in the semi-main event.

Brooks pounded McPhee with lefts in the final minute of the first round and continued the assault in the second. The bout was stopped after McPhee stood defenseless in the center of the ring after taking a punch.

The knockout of the night came on the undercard: Walter Papaua of Ontario dropped Joe Johnson of Modesto with a crisp right at 2:10 of the first round of the light heavyweight bout.

Papaua had knocked Johnson to the canvas earlier in the round with a hard left to the jaw, then a right to the face.

Noe Alcantara, a light heavyweight from Santa Ana, made his professional debut and was knocked out at 2:30 of the first round by Jeff Medley of Upland.