BOXING IN IRVINE : Toney Wins When Renteria Fails to Answer Bell in Sixth

The end of the fight held the same lack of excitement as the bout itself as Rodney Toney was credited with a fifth-round knockout of Agustine Renteria in the main event Thursday in front of 1,087 at the Irvine Marriott.

Toney, a middleweight from Campo, improved to 20-1-2 when Renteria failed to answer the bell for the sixth round. Renteria told ring-side officials he was hurt and didn’t wish to continue.

Toney used combinations, worked the body, then the head, but never unleashed more than three or four punches at once.

He was ahead, 50-45, 49-46, 49-46, when the bout was stopped. It was his 12th knockout.

Toney’s best round was the third, when he worked the body hard then threw a strong uppercut that snapped Renteria’s jaw.

Renteria (7-12) let loose with a few combinations but never appeared to hurt Toney.

On the undercard:

Johnny Vasquez, a bantamweight from Huntington Beach, put on an impressive show in scoring a second-round knockout over Boni Lara of Mexico.

It was the fourth knockout for Vasquez (5-3). Lara is 7-7.

The first round was largely even but Vasquez dominated the action from the outset of the second. He used a left-uppercut and short right to drop Lara midway in the round. Lara struggled to his feet only to be put right back down. Lara, looking dazed, got to his feet once more but couldn’t defend himself and the bout was stopped with two minutes 37 seconds left.

Mike Semaza of Orange overcame a first-round cut near his left eye to win a unanimous decision in a six-round featherweight bout over Idelfonso Bernal of Mexico.

Semaza (13-0-1) threw a flurry of punches to start the second, looking for a quick knockout.

After that, he settled down but kept up a steady attack. He won by scores of 59-54, 59-54 and 60-54.