Without Missing Beat, Navarro Beats Valenzuela

Unbeaten junior featherweight Carlos Navarro had a game plan for his opponent when he got in the ring Friday night at the Irvine Marriott.

So what if the guy he was prepared to fight didn’t make the bout?

Jabbing and punching at will, Navarro had little trouble with journeyman Rodrigo “Baby Face” Valenzuela, a late replacement for Juan Manuel Chavez.

Chavez reportedly was turned back at the United States-Mexico border Friday morning because he didn’t have a work permit. Navarro turned back Valenzuela (10-14-1), known as a professional opponent who has been knocked down only four times, when his corner threw in the towel at the end of the fifth round. Navarro raised his record to 8-0, seven by knockout. His only fight to go the distance was an eight-rounder against Valenzuela early in his career.

“We fought him before and we had a game plan for him,” Navarro said. “Both he and the other guy [Chavez] fight similar.”

The plan was simple: Navarro hammered away with combination after combination.

“I was supposed to work away at him. He took some pretty good shots,” Navarro said.

The biggest surprise of the evening was a split decision draw in the bout between welterweights Horatio Garcia of Sacramento and Jesus Gutierrez of Mexico. A crowd pleaser among the 1,049 spectators and a heavy favorite, Garcia entered the ring with a 7-0 record, including six knockouts, while earning the name “The Stretcher.”

But after a flurry of punches in the first round, Garcia, on the advice of his corner, turned to the jab in response to the fact that Gutierrez often switched to fighting as a southpaw. That ultimately hurt him in scoring with the judges.

Rodrigo Aranda threw the punch of the night, knocking out Rene Olivio with a left hook 2 minutes 8 seconds into the first round of their scheduled four-round super flyweight bout.