Fans Unhappy With Draw in Semaza-Rubio Bout

IRVINE â€”  Super lightweight Mike Walsh of La Mirada wooed the 1,209 crowd at the Irvine Marriott with an impressive knockout victory Thursday night. But minutes later, his stablemate, Mike Semaza, was booed by the same crowd after ring announcer Danny Valdiva relayed the unpopular split-decision draw.

Semaza (13-0-2) of Orange appeared to lose a six-round decision to Carlos Rubio of San Diego (6-2-2), who turned 18 on June 1 and had fought all his previous pro fights in Mexico. But judge Lou Moret scored it 57-57, Bill Scott had Semaza ahead, 59-55 and Chuck Hassett scored it 59-55 to Rubio.

Semaza and Walsh recently signed eight-fight promotional contracts with Roy Englebrecht, but Semaza might have some work to do before he wins back the fans.

“I’m not surprised at the reaction,� said Semaza, whose left eye was almost closed by fight’s end. “He was the underdog. I always pull for the underdog myself. I’m not here to please anybody. I’m here to be the best professional I can be.�

Jesse Reid, Semaza and Walsh’s trainer, said Semaza will have start punching more if he hopes to improve.

“We’ll see what he’s all about now,� Reid said. “We’ll see if he learns from this. We need to get him more aggressive.�

Rubio, at 6-1, wasn’t exactly aggressive either, but he had the reach and height advantage over the 5-7 Semaza and he used it to his advantage. He landed stiff left jabs in the early rounds, and didn’t let Semaza inside until late in the fight.

“I know he had more experience than what they said,� Semaza said. “He was pretty schooled.�

Walsh (15-1-2) essentially took his opponent Miguel Moreno (7-8) of San Diego to school. After feeling him out for two rounds, he landed a flurry to Moreno’s head early in the third, and then finished him off with a straight right hand to the jaw.

“I thought from the first round on, it was going to be easy,� Walsh said. “I still wanted to take my time and pick my shots.�

Walsh said he is ready for more rounds and better competition.

“I didn’t even want to fight six rounds tonight,� Walsh said. “I didn’t really get that much of a test.�

In the undercard, light heavyweight Troy Weaver (10-4-2) of Diamond Bar knocked out an overmatched Ray Villanueva (5-3) of Carson with an overhand right at 1:35 of the first round. Middleweight Floyd Weaver (13-3-1), Troy’s brother, was ahead on points but he fought to a technical draw with Luis Mejia-Glase of Santo Domingo. Mejia-Glase (6-8-1) of Santo Domingo received an accidental head butt from Weaver and the referee stopped the bout at 1:16 of the second round.