Bouts Hold Different Outcome for Slugging Stablemates

Two Santa Clarita Valley fighters slugged their way into the hearts of local boxing fans on Saturday night at the Valencia Hyatt Hotel--with mixed results.

Juan Ruiz of Santa Clarita and Kim Bain of Newhall, both of whom attended Hart High and are stablemates at Santa Clarita Boxing gym, highlighted a competitive undercard before a sparse crowd gathered for a WBC FECAR junior lightweight title fight between Roger Medal of Pasadena and Israel Correa of Oxnard.

Medal took Correa’s championship by knockout at 2:23 of the 12th round.

Ruiz, 20, provided the most punch, body-slugging his way to a six-round unanimous decision over Arturo Flores of Pacoima in a junior-featherweight bout that concluded with a standing ovation for both fighters.

Bain, 29, making his professional debut, was knocked out in the fourth round by Juan Rodriguez of Thermal, Calif., in another see-saw slugfest.

Ruiz and Flores staged the kind of bout that might make the fledgling local promotion a success. The program was the third this year at the Hyatt. Another program is tentatively scheduled for August.

Ruiz and Flores traded hard combinations from bell to bell, doing most of their business in the center of the ring. But Ruiz’s blows were more telling, including a left hook to the body that dropped Flores to one knee in the fifth round, the fight’s only knockdown.

All three judges scored the bout 59-54. Ruizis 2-0, Flores 3-1.

“[The crowd] helped me in the later rounds,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz appeared sharp from the outset and capable of taking a punch. A partisan crowd urged him on by chanting his name.

In the sixth, Flores rallied, scoring with two hard rights to Ruiz’s head. But Ruiz said he was never hurt.

“I was blocking his shots,” Ruiz said. “I got hit sometimes. I was going to the head. But I knew he was tired, so I started going to the body.”

Bain dominated early, knocking Rodriguez down in the first round with a short left hook to the chin. He landed another sharp left just before the bell and appeared still in control during a hard-fought second round.

Rodriguez battered Bain with combinations before the fight was waved off at 2:43 of the fourth round.

Rodriguez (1-1), who is hearing impaired and removes a hearing aid before each bout, said he was stunned early.

“There were a couple of shots there,” Rodriguez said. “He surprised me. But I wanted to win this fight badly.”

Said Bain: “I got tired after the first round. I dropped my hands. I’m disappointed.”

In a four-round women’s bantamweight bout, Bertha Gonzales (1-1) of North Hills earned a split decision over Paula Faye (1-3) of East L.A.