Semaza Looks Sharp in Winning Technical Decision

Thursday night’s boxing card at the Irvine Marriott showed two careers going in opposite directions.

Orange featherweight Mike Semaza, in only his third fight in 18 months, looked sharp in winning a technical decision from Oscar Saenz of Chihuahua, Mexico. But crowd favorite Johnny Vasquez of Huntington Beach probably fought for the last time as he was soundly beaten by junior bantamweight Edgar Decena of Lakeside in a 10-round unanimous decision.

Semaza, whose training has been hampered by shin splints and Achilles’ heel problems, knocked Saenz down in the second round with a left hook to the body and cruised through the first five rounds. In the sixth, Semaza and Saenz butted heads, opening a gash under Saenz’s left eye. When Saenz (10-6) could not continue, Semaza was awarded a technical decision because he was ahead on all three scorecards. Semaza (15-1-2) rejoined trainer Jackie McCoy, who worked with Semaza for his first 14 bouts.

Vasquez, who hadn’t fought since April, fell behind on points early as he was knocked down by Decena in the first round. Decena had won 18 of his 31 fights with only six knockouts, but he punched harder and worked harder. Vasquez showed glimpses of his old fiery style but never landed a punch that hurt Decena.

Maybe the most telling sign that Vasquez (8-6) is past his prime was the empty ring after the fight. Vasquez is known for having hundreds of dollars thrown in the ring, win or lose. But the crowd of 1,078 decided it had better places to spend its money.

Afterward, Vasquez sounded like a fighter ready to quit.

“I’m going to definitely think about [quitting],” he said. “It’s been a good career so far, but I’m going to think long and hard about it.”

On the undercard, Long Beach welterweight Raul Franco knocked out Oleverio Ramirez at 2:30 of the first round with a devastating left hook. Franco, a California Golden Gloves champion, has won his first two fights by knockouts.