Jonny Mansour steps up and outlasts William King in San Diego

Lightweight Jonny Mansour won an eight-round unanimous decision over William King on Saturday at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, outside San Diego. The three scores were 80-72.

Mansour, a 25-year-old from La Mesa, California, mostly dictated the fight with his hand speed. He dazed the 30-year-old King with a left hook in Round 1 while punching in combination. Mansour stalked forward in the following round and then got more aggressive, throwing long combinations in the third, looking for a stoppage. Still, King’s demeanor didn’t change.

In the seventh, Mansour picked up the pace, mauling King on the inside as the local fans cheered him. He looked to close the show, but King, of Perris, California, was Mansour’s biggest step up in competition as a pro, and he wasn’t going away easily. By the eighth round, King was clearly out of the fight, but he appeared to make a decision that he wasn’t going to be stopped. Despite the loss, King earned something of a moral victory by hanging in to hear the final bell. 

Mansour improved to 7-0 (2 KOs), while King fell to 6-4-2 (3 KOs).

Mansour served as a co-promoter, along with fellow co-headliner and cousin Julius Ballo.

A knockdown was the difference as junior middleweight Angel Munoz won a six-round unanimous decision over Cruz Becerra Monteon. The scores were 57-56, 57-56 and 58-55.

Munoz, a 23-year-old from San Bernardino, California, knocked down Monteon with a right hook from the southpaw stance in Round 2. Monteon, 27, rallied back by attacking Munoz’s body in the middle rounds. Munoz finished the fight out strong by pressing Monteon back in a decent back-and-forth regional fight.

Munoz improved to 9-2 (6 KOs), while Monteon, of Madera, California, fell to 3-2 (1 KO).

Junior welterweight Pedro Angel Cruz knocked out local favorite Angel Juan Estrada in the first round. The time of the stoppage was 2:01.

Cruz hurt the 39-year-old Estrada in the opening round. A 28-year-old from San Jose, California, Cruz landed two straight left hands from the southpaw stance. Upon the second left hand landing, Estrada fell forward, tackling Cruz, and the referee called the bout off when both men hit the canvas.

Cruz moved to 6-6 (4 KOs), while Estrada, of Santee, California, dropped to 12-2-1 (9 KOs) in front of his hometown fans.

Junior welterweight Daniel Morales won a six-round unanimous decision over Alejandro Garcia Quintana. The three judges’ scores were 60-54.

Morales, a 22-year-old from San Diego, was in Arnold Barboza Jnr’s training camp ahead of his fight against Kenneth Sims Jnr. Morales, a southpaw, used his ability to move in and out of various punching ranges to trouble the previously unbeaten 21-year-old Quintana.

Morales advanced to 9-0 (5 KOs), while Tijuana, Mexico’s Garcia lost his first fight, slipping to 6-1-1 (5 KOs).

Junior featherweight Richard Fernandez Jnr survived a knockdown to win a six-round unanimous decision over Sugary Montales. All three judges scored the fight 59-55.

Montales, 25, dropped Fernandez with a right hand in Round 2. Fernandez, a 22-year-old from San Antonio, returned the favor, dropping Montales with a right hook at the end of the same round. Montales finished the fight with blood trickling from his swollen right eye.

Fernandez improved to 5-0 (3 KOs) and survived being knocked down for the first time in his career, while Montales, of Bangar, La Union, Philippines, fell to 6-3 (4 KOs).

Welterweight Kyle Erwin picked up a fifth-round technical knockout of Jose Marrufo. The time of the stoppage was 2:08.

Erwin, a hometown fighter from Oceanside, dropped Marruffo with a straight right hand in the fifth round. The bout was called off when the 34-year-old Marrufo was on unsteady legs upon getting up.

Erwin, 29, moved to 11-3 (5 KOs), while Phoenix’s Marrufo dipped to 15-19-2 (2 KOs).

Bantamweight Isaac Anguiano won a six-round unanimous decision over Jose Negrete. All three judges scored the bout 60-54.

Anguiano, a 22-year-old from Pomona, California, is now 11-1-1 (4 KOs), while the 27-year-old Jose Negrete of Hanford, California, dropped to 4-3 (4 KOs).

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.