ESPN TNF Results: Williams Jr rips Ornelas in 3; Martinez turns back on Lopez

By Peter Wells:



Bringing the heat: Williams Jr (right) punishes Ornelas (left) to the body

After involvement in an early contender for round of the year, Thomas Williams Jr, showed fans more of the potential he possesses last night as he blew away veteran Enrique Ornelas in 3 rounds.

At 26 years of age, Williams Jr - now 17-0(12) - is moving along nicely at Light Heavyweight, building himself a healthy reputation, as a solid puncher and quality boxer. He highlighted his intelligence when admitting before this fight that he had looked for significant improvements in his defence after his back-and-forth one rounder with Cornelius White in January. Williams Jr could well have implemented the same go-for-broke tactics in this fight, relying on his heavy hands to bring victory, while juggling with the chances of defeat. Instead he boxed behind stiff punches, banging to the body and slowly but surely breaking down the 33 year old former world title challenger.

With the knockout victory Williams Jr became the first man since 2004 to stop Ornelas, despite him being in the ring with world champions like Bernard Hopkins, Robert Stieglitz and Marco Antonio Rubio.

Williams Jr remained on the front foot, but came forward cautiously, landing heavy bombs around Ornelas's guard, before digging shots in down low. Putting combinations together, Williams Jr never allowed the experienced Ornelas a moments rest, and the pressure paid off in the 2nd when a left hook to the side of the head sent Ornelas to the canvas, a flash knockdown.

Williams Jr remained composed, and that same approach was rewarded again in the 3rd when a heavy volley of punches - it was hard to tell which punch caused the most damage - left Ornelas on his back. Ornelas lifted himself onto his knees, composed himself, but as he tried to rise to his feet he fell backwards, leaving the referee to stop the fight.

With the loss Ornelas drops to 34-9(22) and he may now want to seriously consider his next step in the boxing ring. As for Williams Jr, he asked afterwards in the ring that viewers give him his just dues for this win, and he truly earned them with a fine display of how to bring upon father time on a fighter who has enjoyed a long career - Ornelas turned pro in 1999. Having only been past round 5 twice - albeit Williams Jr handled himself very well in 8 and 10 round points victories over Otis Griffin and Yusaf Mack respectively - more rounds against similar opposition will do him the world of good, before taking that extra leap onto the world scene.

The main event of the evening on ESPN Thursday Night Fight ended bizarrely as Aaron Martinez turned his back on opponent Josesito Lopez midway through the 5th round. Experienced official Jack Reiss stepped in to wave off the contest, believing Martinez had simply abandoned the fight.


Overwhelmed: Lopez (left) taking it to Martinez (right) on the ropes

Martinez argued the call, but ultimately by turning his back on the action under the rules he was in no position to defend himself and was signalling he wanted to stop the fight. Whether or not that was really going through Martinez's mind, no one except the fighter could no for certain, but none of that will concern the now 32-7(19) Lopez.

Lopez was in command of proceedings before the ending, seeming too big for Martinez who could not deter the forward-thinking Lopez. Martinez was never in any trouble himself and he kept things interesting, especially in the 3rd. But as he implored Lopez to come forward for most of the 4th, it was obvious that the Mexican was running low on ideas.

Lopez trapped Martinez on the ropes in the 5th, stinging him with a left hand, before Martinez turned his back on the action, seemingly to just avoid more shots as he was locked in the corner, but it was a reckless decision that resulted in the first stoppage loss of his 19-3-1(4) career.

While the 'Riverside Rocky' may never reach the heights of his 2012 shock win over Victor Ortiz, he can certainly be an interesting player in a rock solid Welterweight division.

Elsewhere Immanuwel Aleem improved to 8-0(4) with a comfortable 2nd round knockout of overmatched and out of shape Mike Noriega 4-3(4). The 20 year old Super Middleweight can expect tougher challenges on his way up, but last night at the Agua Caliente Casino in California he did what he had to do, winning in fine style.