Raul Lizarraga goes the distance for the first time, defeating Ulises Sierra by decision

COMMERCE, Calif. – Raul Lizarraga needed a challenge after winning all of his previous fights by knockout.

He got that from Ulises Sierra, he was able to come out with a convincing victory.

Lizarraga overcame a rough start to win a hard-fought unanimous decision late Saturday night in front of a raucous Commerce Casino crowd. The scores were 79-73, 79-73, and 78-74 for Lizarraga, who improved to 14-0, 13.

In the opening round moments, Sierra connected with a number of combinations that frustrated Lizarraga. A left hook to the head sent Lizarraga scrambling for the ropes. Lizarraga recovered to connect his own combination with Sierra's head in the final 20 seconds of the round. A cut appeared above Lizarraga's left eye at the end of the round.

“What ended up happening (in that first round) was that I got distracted at the end,” Lizarraga told The Ring after the fight. “We knew that it goes in the head, if it leans. He threw some good punches, but most of them came from me. I was caught with his head (which opens the cut), and if you are hit by the head, (it throws you off). Then he threw (and landed) a hook, and it landed on me.”

From the second round, southpaw Lizarraga was the aggressor, putting Sierra on the defensive and driving him back towards the ropes. Lizarraga got the better of the trade between the two. During the middle rounds, Lizarraga began to come in and out of Sierra's range, landing punches and combinations to the head and body. Lizarraga punched well from distance, occasionally landing a straight right to the head from Sierra.

“I should have done that from the start, but you get jitters in the first two rounds,” said Lizarraga, who is managed by Jesse Moreno. “And we waited a while today. But, there are no excuses. We trained hard to look good from the start. I got a little excited. He grabbed my hips. That's when I took two steps back. My defense should have been the point. After the first round, my trainers got on the donkey. Once they raised their voice, I calmed down. This is where I become dangerous. After that, that's when I got stronger.”

Both stood in the pack from the sixth round onwards. Lizarraga was able to win several exchanges by throwing and landing multiple punches and combinations. Sierra connected with several straight right hands to the head that seemed to stun Lizarraga momentarily, but Lizarraga was able to continue to fight.

In the final round, Lizarraga knocked Sierra out of the pack. Sierra had moments, but couldn't land anything, as Lizarraga continued to improve the action by using more punches.

In his previous fight on May 3, Lizarraga stopped his toughest test to date, on paper, with Lizarraga scoring a fifth round stoppage over previously unbeaten Marcos Osorio-Betancourt. Osorio-Betancourt's win came less than six months after Lizarraga scored a fifth-round knockout over Noe Larios, Jr.

Lizarraga believes he could have done better and hopes for a fight before the end of the year.

“We needed an opponent like this. We needed a war like this. We know where we are right now. We can't have a rooster. We can't get too comfortable. We need to go back to the drawing board. Work on whatever we need to work on. I thought I worked hard, as it is. This is not enough. There is always someone to show you that you need to work on things. Yes, I got a 'W.' My people who are close to me, expect a lot from me. I expect more myself. I know I won, but I felt I could have done more. I had to get him out.

“When the (medical) suspension ends, I hope that I will be able to fix something. Hopefully (in October) I turn 23 in September, so I would like to fight in October or November. He returns and makes a statement. I have to fix that play. Even though I won, I could have done better.”

Sierra falls to 17-4-2, 10 KOs. The 35-year-old fought super middleweight Bektemir Melikuziev on January 27, losing by knockout in the third round. The loss snapped Sierra in a row. In January 2020, on the ShoBox card, Sierra faced current super middleweight contender Vladimir Shishkin, losing by unanimous decision. About 11 months later, Sierra lost by knockout in the first round to former super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga.

Both fighters were born in the San Diego area. Lizarraga lives in nearby Murrieta.

Junior middleweight Terrell Adams defeated Jamarcus Warren (3-7-2, 1 KO) of Tyler, Texas by majority decision. One judge scored the fight 57-57, while two other judges scored it 60-54 and 59-55 for Adams, who is 10-1, 4 KO.

Adams, who lives in nearby Watts, is the younger brother of fringe junior middleweight contender Brandon Adams.

In a bout of undefeated welterweights, Sincere Brooks (5-0, 2 KOs) of nearby Long Beach knocked out Javy Lopez in the opening round. A left hook to the head rocked Lopez. Brooks followed, threw and landed another left hook, dropping Lopez to the canvas. Lopez hit the count, but was in no position to continue, prompting referee Kristi Rosario to stop the fight at 2:14.

Lopez, who lives in San Antonio, falls to 2-1, 2 KOs.

In a light heavyweight bout, Guillermo Alvizures of nearby Downey defeated Oxnard's Zlatko Ledic (2-6-1, 1 KO) by majority decision. One judge scored it 38-38, while two other judges scored it 39-37 and 40-36 for Alvizures, who went 5-0, 4 KOs.

Southpaw Ledic, who hasn't fought in nearly five years, will turn 41 in two weeks.

Featherweight Bryan Albarran of nearby Inglewood knocked out Ricardo Luna in the second round. A sweeping counter right cross caught Luna sliding, sending her down to the canvas, near the ring ropes. Luna struggled to her feet, prompting referee Rudy Barragan to wave the fight off at 2:08. Luna is originally from Tijuana, Mexico and now lives in Glendale, California. Both fighters are making their professional debuts.

Flyweight Enkhmandakh Kharkuu improved to 3-0, defeating Armando Castillo (1-2, 1 KO) of Palm Springs, California via unanimous decision. The scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Kharkuu, who is originally from Mongolia and now lives in Los Angeles.

In junior welterweight action, Osmel Avila of Fresno, California was successful in his debut, knocking out Joseph Hernandez four times en route to a knockout victory. After the fourth round, referee Kristi Rosario stopped the fight at 2:19. Hernandez, who lives in Vista, California, went 1-1.

In the first fight of the 'Battle of the Rising Stars' card, junior middleweight Henry Mendez of Wilmington, California won the first fight of his professional career, dropping Nicholas Noriz in the third round en route to a decision win with one voice. All three judges scored it 39-36 in favor of Mendez, who went 1-11-3. Noriz, who lives near Whitter, was doing his first job.

The card was promoted by longtime Southern California boxing promoter Ed Holmes.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]

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