Like Father Like Son

LOS ANGELES, CA - At the age of 42, Julio Cesar Chavez left-hooked his way to a one-sided unanimous decision over Ivan Robinson in a 10-round super lightweight fight in front of 17,692 loyal fans who screamed for Chavez like he was still a world champion.

Chavez, 108-5-2 (88 KOs) dropped Robinson, 32-10-2 (12 KOs) with a lead right hand in the fourth round and had him staggered a few other times, but Robinson withstood each challenge.

The judges scored the fight 100-88, 99-89 twice for Chavez.

Chavez, of Culiacan, Mexico, had said prior to the fight that he would retire if he did not knock out Robinson inside six rounds. He did not, however, say that after he dispatched Robinson in fine fashion, albeit by decision.

"This is my last fight in Los Angeles," Chavez said.

Chavez said he was surprised that Robinson was able to take everything he gave him.

"I couldn't do better tonight," Chavez said, "because I hurt my right hand in the fight. He was a lot tougher than they told me he was going to be. He was a tough fighter."

While things went well for Chavez, the same could not be said for Ruben Contreras of Mexico. He quit in the middle of the fifth round of his flyweight preliminary fight against Brian Viloria of Hawaii.

Contreras immediately complained of a headache, ringside physician Dr. Paul Wallace said. Then, about five minutes later, Contreras suffered a seizure.

Contreras, 9-17-3 was taken to California Medical Center where he is listed in extremely critical condition, said Catrina Salgado, a hospital spokeswoman.

The fight took place about 4:30 p.m. Later, Wallace reported that Contreras had cranial bleeding and was undergoing surgery to relieve pressure on the brain.

"There was nothing that happened in the fight that was significant where you could say, 'Something happened there,' "said Wallace, who said there was no one punch that appeared to badly hurt Contreras."

Viloria improved to 17-0 (11 KOs).

In a junior lightweight elimination bout, Jesus Chavez and Carlos Hernandez clashed nonstop for 12 rounds.

Both fighters had lost their titles to Erik Morales, who was in the audience, and sought a rematch.

Chavez, from Austin, Texas, prevailed by taking an early lead and hanging on against El Salvador's Hernandez.

A wicked right hand by Chavez hurt Hernandez in the third round, but the LA-based fighter rallied furiously within seconds. It was a recurring theme for all 12 rounds.

The match featured similar blood-and-guts fighters and ended in a split-decision for Chavez, 117-111, 115-113, 113-115.

IBF bantamweight title-holder Rafael Marquez, 34-3 (30 KOs), of Mexico City, methodically beat Tijuana's Ricardo Vargas, 37-11-3 with a steady supply of left uppercuts and crisp combinations.

A left uppercut, left hook combination followed by a right hand dropped Vargas in the 12th and final round but he survived on his feet.

The judges scored it 118-109, 116-111 twice for Marquez.

Jesus "The Hammer" Gonzalez, 17-0 (10 KOs) beat Dewey Welliver, 16-16-1, 80-72 in an eight-round middleweight bout. Alex Viramontes, 6-3 (3 KOs) survived a first-round knockdown to score a 38-36 victory over Jair Aguiar, 5-4 (4 KOs).

Bobby Roy
West Coast Correspondent

Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.