BOXING AT THE POND : Mosely Looks Sharp Against Aging Foe

Sugar Shane Mosley of Pomona looked every bit like the next lightweight champion Friday night at The Pond in front of an estimated 750 spectators. He had a wicked left jab, a punishing overhand right, a slippery defense and vicious body punches.

Then again, it was hard to tell how good Mosley was in his fourth round knockout of Mauricio Aceves of Mexico City. He was fighting a former champion who hadn’t won a fight in six years, and who seemingly gave up after being hit with a body shot.

Mosley (18-0, 17 knockouts) said he was barely touched over the three-plus rounds.

“I think he grazed me with a right hand once,” he said. “My main concern was his head. I was looking for that. But I wasn’t affected by his punching power.”

Mosley’s left jab seemed to do the most damage against the charging Aceves.

“My father and I were working on the jab,” he said. “I knew he’d be coming in.”

Finally, in the fourth Mosley caught Aceves (26-13) with a right and then dropped him with a left hook to the ribs.

“He was dazed when I hit him with the right, then I hit him with the hard left and I felt it sink in,” Mosely said.

How did Mosely rate his performance?

“It was a good, but it could have been better,” he said.

Mosely said he sensed Aceves was past his prime.

“Age might have caught up with him,” he said.

In the semi-main event, California middleweight champion Randy Smith of Azusa survived a second-round knockdown to gain a technical draw with Armando Campas of Obergon, Mexico. Smith (15-2-2) won a close first round over Campas (14-13-4) then head-butted Campas over the right eye early in the second round.

Campas and Smith exchanged solid flurries for more than a minute, before Campas dropped Smith with a flash left uppercut midway through the round. As Campas continued his attack, ringside doctor Adam Karns stepped in and stopped the fight when Campas’ cut opened up again.

Because 53 seconds remained in the second round, Campas’ knockdown of Smith did not count on the scorecards. However, Smith was still penalized a point for the head butt. Therefore, every judge scored it a draw.

On the undercard, Mark Lewis (9-1 with seven knockouts), a promising junior welterweight from Mira Loma, knocked out Lorenzo Garcia of Sonora, Mexico, at 2:08 of the fifth round. Lewis dropped Garcia in the third round with a left hook, pounded on him for a few more rounds before finishing him with a left uppercut and a right hook.

Middleweight Steve Hurley (2-1) of Huntington Beach won a unanimous four-round decision over Viateschlan Martymouk (0-1-1) of Moscow, Russia. The two boxers fought to a draw earlier this summer. Hurley dropped Martymouk with a right hook in the second round and won every round on two scorecards.

Welterweight Yoani Cervantes (6-6) of Bell won a unanimous six-round decision over Francisco Mendez (6-2) of Hermosillo, Mexico.