Trujillo retains Power Slap title; Sanchez loses to Nwokolo
Raton鈥檚 Robert Trujillo, right, strikes Dakota 鈥淭he Maritime Menace鈥� McGregor during a Power Slap 12 event in March in Las Vegas, Nevada. On Friday in New Orleans, Trujilo defeated McGregor for the second time 鈥� retaining the Power Slap lightweight title he won against McGregor in March.
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It was too much to ask.
Albuquerque鈥檚 Jose Luis 鈥淕眉ero鈥� Sanchez, fighting a bigger, stronger man on three days鈥� notice, lost to Nigeria鈥檚 Emeka Nwokolo by 10-round unanimous decision Friday on a pro boxing card in Temecula, California.
The official scorecards read 97-93, 97-93 and 96-94 for Nwokolo (16-1, 13 knockouts), who retained his NABA super welterweight title.
Sanchez (14-6-1, four KOs) had been training for an eight-round welterweight bout scheduled for Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada when he learned that Abel Ramos, his opponent, had withdrawn due to an injury.
Nwokolo, meanwhile, had seen his scheduled opponent drop out on Monday as well. Promoter Christy Martin then patched together Friday鈥檚 bout at Pechanga Resort & Casino.
The step up for Sanchez from the welterweight limit of 147 pounds to the super welterweight limit of 154 pounds appeared to be a major factor in the outcome.
Sanchez, moving and countering well, had his moments throughout the 10 rounds. But Nwokolo鈥檚 ponderous blows had gradually more effect as the bout wore on.
The mere force of the Nigerian鈥檚 punches sometimes moved Sanchez back or knocked him off balance.
Nwokolo had a big sixth round, then came close to ending it in the ninth. But Sanchez, though clearly hurt, never went down and never stopped punching back 鈥� actually winning the 10th and final round on the Journal鈥檚 unofficial scorecard.
POWER SLAPPER: In New Orleans, Raton鈥檚 Robert Trujillo successfully defended his Power Slap lightweight (155-pound) title with a third-round knockout of Canada鈥檚 Dakota McGregor.
This was a rematch. In March in Las Vegas, Nevada, Trujillo defeated McGregor by unanimous decision, becoming the Power Slap lightweight champion.
On Friday, McGregor won the coin toss and slapped first, which is a huge advantage in Power Slap. The Canadian challenger鈥檚 first blow caught Trujillo鈥檚 nose, drawing blood and prompting a brief timeout.
Trujillo鈥檚 first blow landed too high on McGregor鈥檚 head to do serious damage. But after he then took McGregor鈥檚 second blow with no apparent reaction, Trujillo鈥檚 second blow dropped McGregor to the floor.
McGregor got to his feet and continued, but his third blow again had no discernable effect.
鈥淚鈥檝e got the best (expletive) chin in the game,鈥� Trujillo said afterward on the YouTube streaming of Friday鈥檚 card.
Trujillo鈥檚 third blow put McGregor down and out.
Afterward, Trujillo 鈥� who stands 5-foot-7 and has competed in MMA at 135 pounds 鈥� said he was considering a move up to Power Slap鈥檚 middleweight (170-pound) division to challenge champion Anthony Blackburn.
鈥淏ackburn鈥檚 been tearing through his division,鈥� Trujillo said, 鈥渂ut I definitely think I could crack him.鈥�
