BOXING AT THE IRVINE MARRIOTT : Bantamweight Vasquez Stops Orejel in First Round

Huntington Beach bantamweight Johnny Vasquez awoke himself and the Irvine Marriott crowd of 1,134 from a Thursday night catnap with a vicious right uppercut that seemed to come from nowhere. Vasquez followed up his knockdown with a barrage of more than 100 punches that eventually knocked out Tijuana’s Jose Luis Orejel with 20 seconds left in the first round.

By the end of the 90-second barrage, Vasquez had the crowd, which slept through the four undercard bouts, on its feet and throwing dollar bills into the ring. Before Vasquez landed his uppercut, it appeared he might be the fighter tasting the canvas.

Vasquez (6-4) got caught flush on the jaw with a left hand by Orejel and he staggered a bit. But halfway through the round, Vasquez came off the ropes to land the right uppercut. From there, Vasquez was out of control, throwing punches non-stop until referee Lou Moret stopped the fight.

“I felt real confident coming in,” said Vasquez, who was coming off a controversial loss in July. “I decided if I was going to get hit, I was going to go down punching. Then when I got him, I said I’m going to hit him ‘till he goes down. I kept hitting him with solid punches but he wouldn’t go down.”

The crowd caught its breath for a couple rounds, but was back on its feet by the end of La Mirada junior welterweight Mike Walsh’s eight-round unanimous decision victory over Juan Carlos Barreto of Tijuana. Walsh (16-1-3) was sluggish early as he seemed confused by the left-handed Barreto’s awkward and aggressive style.

But he came on late and almost had Barreto on the canvas when the final bell rang.

“I had it in the back of my mind that it was my first eight-rounder and I was pacing myself,” said Walsh, who is hoping to fight for the vacant California junior welterweight title in November. “But by the end, I realized I didn’t need to pace myself.”

Santa Ana middleweight Malcolm Brooks made an impressive debut in the undercard--winning a four-round unanimous decision over Ron Rivota of Los Angeles. Brooks used an effective left jab and a wicked right hand to dominate the overmatched Rivota (4-6).