‘Ghost’ boxes way to victory

GLENDALE — Venturing for the first time into an eight-round bout, Gapo “The Ghost” Tolmajyan came away with his burgeoning boxing career pointed in the same upward direction.

The Glendale fighter easily outpointed journeyman Yogli Herrera via eight-round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez as part of the untelevised undercard in the latest installment of Showtime’s “Shobox” series.

“Gapo was just too much boxing for him,” said Tolmajyan’s trainer and cutman, George Bastrmajyan. “By the time he threw his right, Gapo was behind him.

“The guy was overmatched.”

Tolmajyan (10-1, three KOs) garnered his eighth straight victory, while sending Herrera (22-13, 15 KOs) to his 10th straight loss after a once promising career that saw him begin at 22-3 and challenge for the International Boxing Assn. belt.

“We wanted a knockout, but [Herrera] didn’t really do anything,” Bastrmajyan said.

The super featherweight bout ended with Tolmajyan winning 80-71 on two cards and 79-72 on the third.

“He won every round,” Bastrmajyan said.

The biggest highlight came in the sixth round, when Tolmajyan floored Herrera with a counter-right hook.

Noted for his boxing skills, as he had a lengthy amateur career, Tolmajyan’s traditionally a stellar counter-puncher, but Herrera’s inactivity made it increasingly difficult to get off.

Still, the bout saw the 24-year-old Tolmajyan improve to 4-0 in 2010 after nearly a five-month layoff. It was also a test of his durability, as all but one of Tolmajyan’s previous fights had been of the four-round variety. The one exception was a scheduled six-round bout that Tolmajyan won by knockout in the first.