Lewis Warms Up to Wear Down Hernandez in the Main Event

Mark Lewis of Mira Loma shook off a slow start to defeat journeyman Raul Hernandez in a California State Athletic Commission-sanctioned junior welterweight bout in front of 1,081 Friday night at the Irvine Marriott.

Early in the second round, Lewis (16-2) got caught with a left hook that drew blood from his lower lip. Late in the third round, Lewis landed a left hook to the body of Hernandez, who found an opening and dropped Lewis with a left hook to the head.

Lewis started to show his form in the fourth and fifth rounds, catching Hernandez with several sharp blows, but not enough to knock him down.

Finally, after another punishing round in the eighth, referee Lou Filippo stopped the bout as Hernandez sat crumpled in his corner.

“I was rusty,” said Lewis, ranked 10th by the World Boxing Organization. “I was off for three months.”

In the eight-round semi-main event, Carlos Hernandez of Coachella took advantage of a big second round to earn a unanimous decision over Fernando Valencia (10-2) of Mexico in a super flyweight bout.

Julio Gonzalez of Huntington Beach improved to 4-0 in the light heavyweight division after his first-round knockout against Robert Rios of Beaumont, who making his pro debut.

Gonzalez pinned Rios against the ropes early in the opening round, and then Filippo stepped in and stopped the four-round bout with 29 seconds remaining.

In other four-round matches, Santa Ana’s James Shipp was stopped at 1:23 of the second round in his pro debut by Mexico’s Juan Pablo Rodriguez in the heavyweight division.

Shipp put Rodriguez against the ropes early in the second round, but Rodriguez countered with a right hook that switched the momentum, and referee Marty Denkin quickly stopped the fight.