Nilo Guerrero Defeats Mandeep Jangra in Battle of the Undefeated Prospects
Nilo Guerrero (left) and Jandeep Sangra play defense during their 10-round fight on September 19 in Yakima, Washington. Photo credit: Nestor Salgado, Legends Casino Hotel
Nilo Guerrero has taken a big step forward in the status of a contender.
Guerrero defeated Mandeep Jangra by majority decision on Thursday night at the Legends Casino Hotel in Toppenish, Washington. Judge Alan Krebs (95-95) scored a tie. Vincent Santino (96-94) and Perla Rodriguez (98-92) had it on Guerrero in a clash of undefeated junior lightweight prospects.
With the victory, Guerrero (10-0, 7 knockouts) won the junior world title.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” said Guerrero, a Nicaraguan prospect based in Coachella, California. “All the sacrifices and all the hard work were worth it. Now I am more motivated than ever to get back to work and strive to be better every day.”
Guerrero became the most successful fighter during the first half of the fight. The 24-year-old undefeated Jangra changed his offense and connected to the head and body.
Sensing that he was down on the scorecards, Jangra rallied in the final three rounds. He managed to win the tenth round with two out of three cards. If he had won it on Santino’s card, the knockout would have resulted in a split decision.
Instead, Jangra—an Indian-born boxer now based in Florida—was forced to taste defeat for the first time. Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions-represented the 31-year-old—who also trains with a Hall of Fame boxer from Pensacola—falls to 10-1 (7 KOs) with the setback.
In his last fight on June 15, Guerrero defeated Diuhl Olguin by unanimous decision. Olguin’s victory came four months after Guerrero knocked out Dan Hernandez in the opening round.
Guerrero is promoted by Toro Promotions and managed by Vartan Torosyan.
Two soldiers also trained by Jones won.
Featherweight Dominique Roundtree of Augusta, Georgia defeated Roberto Cantu Pena by decision in six one-sided rounds. All three judges scored it 60-53 in favor of Roundtree, who went 10-0, 6 KO.
Cantu Pena, originally from McAllen, Texas and now living in Rio Bravo, Mexico, dropped to 4-4, 3 KO.
In junior middleweight action, Keon Papillion (10-0-1, 7 KOs) of Lafayette, Louisiana stopped runner-up Rondale Hubbert (16-33-3, 10 KOs) of Duluth, Minnesota after two rounds.
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]
