Jose Miguel Borrego knocks out Etoundi William, wins a unanimous decision in Mexico
Fighting in their hometown can be difficult for some.
Not Jose Miguel Borrego’s.
In front of a raucous crowd, Borrego knocked out Etoundi William, leaving him once en route to a hard-fought decision at el Deportivo Ferrocarrilero in his hometown of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The results were 97-92, 97-92, and 98-91 for Borrego, who improved to 21-4, 17.
Borrego was the aggressor from the opening bell, taking the initiative to throw and land hooks behind a steady jab. The two would exchange combinations over the next few rounds, but Williams would start landing more uppercuts. Borrego was content to hang on to the pack, but blood started coming out of his nose at four o’clock.
The action produced some solid exchanges, but it was a combination of two punches that dropped Williams to the canvas in the fifth round. Williams was able to fend off Borrego’s attacks after hitting the count, whether it was rolling or fighting, until he had a good sixth round that saw Borrego on the ball.
In the eighth round, Williams slowed down, perhaps due to fatigue, throwing only a few rounds. Borrego was walking William down towards the ropes, connecting to the head and body.
Even as Borrego eased his temper during the final two rounds, Williams continued to back up, choosing to fight to the ropes. Borrego let his hands go, punching William out and hitting his fair share of punches until the final bell rang.
The 26-year-old Borrego, who recently fought on PBC and ProBox TV cards, previously fought on November 3 of last year, knocking out Diego Perez Vigil in the third round. The battle was again in Aguascalientes.
In his previous fight in February 2022, Borrego lost a unanimous decision to undefeated welterweight Peter Dobson. With Williams’ victory, Borrego has won seven of his last nine fights.
William, who is originally from Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and now lives and trains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is 16-1, 12 KOs. William previously fought on April 26, which took place in Mexico City, stopping the journeyman Ricardo Banuelos Cernas.
The 31-year-old has impressive wins over Jorge Garcia Perez and Endry Saavedra, who was undefeated before entering the ring against Williams.
In the co-feature match, Kevin Barron Crespo of Tijuana, Mexico defeated Nazario Castro by unanimous decision. The scores were 97-92, 97-92, and 99-90 for Crespo, who improved to 15-1, 9 KO.
Crespo dropped Nazario in the second round. Crespo was the more successful fighter during most of the fight, but both fighters produced strong exchanges between the two.
Nazario, who lives in Guamuchil, Mexico, falls to 13-5-1, 8 KOs.
Junior welterweight Antonio Aguilera of Tijuana improved to 10-0-1, 2 KOs, defeating Francisco Vital Macias (4-3, 4 KOs) of Aguascalientes by unanimous decision. All three judges scored 58-56 in favor of Aguilera.
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]
