Canelo unercard: Arroyo claims interim belt, Zhilei and Forrest fight to draw

Prospects Pacheco, Castro, Davis shine

McWilliams Arroyo dominated late replacement Abraham Rodriguez, stopping him in the fifth round to win the vacant WBC interim flyweight title on the Canelo Alvarez-Avni Yildirim co-feature on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Arroyo dished out a lot of punishment before Rodriguez’s corner threw in the towel and referee Sam Burgos waved it off at 1 minute, 41 seconds.

Rodriguez, who was coming up two divisions from strawweight, was an extremely late substitute for WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez.

Martinez and Arroyo appeared together at Thursday’s final news conference but hours later Martinez pulled out, claiming a right hand injury and scuttling a fight that had already been previously postponed.

Matchroom Boxing quickly secured Rodriguez (27-3, 13 KOs), 26, of Mexico, and flew him to Miami on Friday.

Rodriguez, a former junior flyweight world title challenger, who had won four fights in a row, got a rude welcome to the fight when he suffered a cut from an accidental head butt in the first round. He held his own for a few rounds but could not hold Arroyo off.

Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs), 35, of Puerto Rico, was too much and broke him down. He dropped Rodriguez with a right hand to the body with 45 seconds left in the fourth round and was having his way in the fifth round before Rodriguez’s corner asked for the fight to be stopped.

Zhilei, Forrest fight to draw

In a sloppy fight, Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang and Jerry Forrest fought to a draw in a fight in which Forrest got knocked down three times.

One judges scored it 95-93 for Forrest but the two other judges had it 93-93.

Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs), 32, of Newport New, Virginia, pulled out the draw by dominating the second half of the fight.

He was having an excellent first round but then Zhilei landed a clean left hand on the chin to knock him seconds before the round ended.

Zhang (22-0-1, 17 KOs), 37, a southpaw, also dropped him with a right hook in the second round and with a three-punch combination, two hooks and a left hand, in the third round.

After that Zhang appeared to tire. He spent an inordinate amount of time draping himself over the shorter Forrest and pushing his down while in clinches Zhang initiated. Forrest more or less took over the fight after the fifth round and Zhang looked even worse after suffering a cut over his right eye from an accidental clash of heads in the eighth round.

Referee Frank Gentile finally deducted a point from Zhang for the incessant holding in the ninth round. Forrest went for the knockout in the 10th round when he burst out of his corner and landed several punches to wobble Zhang in the opening seconds. Forrest buckled Zhang’s legs later in the round and had him in huge trouble in the round but he managed to hang on until the final bell.

Pacheco takes wide decision

Super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco (11-0, 8 KOs), 19, of Los Angeles, was pushed but won a unanimous decision against Rodolfo Gomez Jr. (14-5-1. 10 KOs), 31, of Laredo, Texas.

Pacheco was in his first scheduled eight-round bout and went past six rounds for the first time but 79-73 on all three scorecards. But Pacheco had predicted a third-round knockout but never came close to scoring a stoppage or even knocking Gomez off his feet even though he landed many right hands.

Gomez, who has never been stopped, had his moments and landed some solid counter shots but saw his three-fight winning streak end.

Castro blitzes Moraga

Junior lightweight prospect Marc Castro (1-0, 1 KO), 21, of Fresno, California, who turned pro on Alvarez’s Dec. 19 undercard, blew out late replacement John Moraga (1-3, 1 KO), 36, of Phoenix, in the second round.

Castro dropped Moraga three times, with a right hand in the first round and twice more in the second round on another right and then a fight-finishing left uppercut that caused referee Frank Gentile to wave it off at 2:29.

Moraga did not arrive in Miami until Friday night after being pressed into service to replace Ray Corona, who fell out after a positive Covid-19 test.

Davis wins pro debut

Lightweight Keyshawn Davis, a decorated amateur, made his professional debut by knocking out Lester Brown in the second round.

Norfolk, Virginia’s Davis, who turns 22 on Sunday, was a favorite to make the 2021 U.S. Olympic team but was recently removed from the qualification due to an undisclosed “violation of the USA Boxing Athlete Selection Procedures.” That’s when he decided to turn pro.

He had no problems with Brown (4-3-3, 1 KO), 25, of the Bahamas. Davis dropped him with a left hand in the second round and then stopped him on his feet in the follow-up attack with 10 seconds left in the round.

“I didn’t really feel like I showed all my talent. Of course, better opponents are going to bring the best out of me, but I’ve still got a lot more to show,” Davis said. “I was a bit upset the fight was stopped in the second round. I feel like Lester had a bit more to show but he was hurt so I appreciate and respect the stoppage.

“Everyone will see me back in April. I appreciate the support DAZN and Matchroom have been doing this week, hyping me up. It made this performance what it was supposed to be, and I appreciate that. Coming into the second round I knew that he was ready to go. I felt his energy and saw it in his eyes.”

Photos: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing