Suarez win Fists of Fury Middleweight title

By JOHN CANNON
jcannon@canvaswarriors.com

HIDALGO – San Antonio native Eloy Suarez was out to prove that his last unanimous decision victory over Mexico’s Fernando Vela in the last Fists of Fury event was not a fluke.
The last time they faced each other in February in the co-main event, many speculated that Vela won the fight and were upset with the decision.

However, Suarez (11-5, 5 KO’s) was definitely the aggressor this time as he was able to capture the Fists of Fury Middleweight title with an impressive victory over Vela (8-15-2) by unanimous decision in the main event Friday night at the Dodge Arena.

“I am very proud of my performance tonight and overjoyed by capturing the first title of my career,” said Suarez. “I trained very hard for this fight and wanted to prove that I was the better fighter.” “The last time we faced each other, a lot of people thought Fernando (Vela) beat me. So, I knew he was going to come in and do whatever it took to reverse the roles. He is a very good fighter and came out and gave me everything he had.”

Both fighters exchanged blows early on in the contest as it appeared it was going to be a slugfest. However, Suarez threw some thunderous shots to the head of Vela in the third round as he started to bleed midway through the round.
Suarez continued to work the head as he pounded on Vela throughout the remainder of the fight.

“I pretty much stuck to the same game plan as the last fight and poured on the pressure throughout,” said Suarez. “But, I think the difference from the last fight was my conditioning. I did not wear down and felt great after the fight.”

In the co-main event, Lyford’s Eric Molina made it a quick night as he defeated Arkansas native Clinton Bonds via technical knockout. Molina nailed Bonds with a thunderous right hook, sending him to the canvas and causing the referee to stop the fight at the 2:38 mark.
Molina (11-1, 10 KO’s) will travel to Los Angeles on Sunday to train with legendary trainer Freddie Roach and said that he is ready to take his career to the next level.

“I am ready to step it up a notch and move on to bigger and better things now in my career,” said Molina. “I am off to Los Angeles Sunday for some intense training and then am planning to come back and hopefully get a match against Laredo’s Gabriel Holguin for a bigger title within the next few months.”

In other action, Pharr native Saul Gutierrez and San Antonio’s Gabriel Elizondo battled to a draw in a six-round battle. It appeared that Gutierrez won the fight, but the judges saw it another way.

Mexico native Gabriel Rangel improved to 6-5 as he defeated Roberto Perez by technical knockout. Also, Mercedes native and Felix Piedra and Samuel Gutierrez won their fights via unanimous decision.