Villa Park’s Mike Semaza Fights His Way Back to Victory at Irvine

IRVINE —  Mike Semaza was a bit upset with his effort Monday night, but the 128-pound boxer from Villa Park was pleased with the result.

Semaza punched his way to a fourth-round knockout of Sergio Medina in the semi-main event in front of a crowd of 1,280, the largest of the year at the Irvine Marriott.

Semaza (5-0-1) was fighting for the first time in six months, after suffering a hand injury in a bout at Irvine.

“My conditioning was there,” Semaza said, “but I just couldn’t get off my punches.”

Semaza spent most of the first two rounds Monday ducking Medina’s punches and slipping in an occasional strong right.

Medina (4-3-1) of Corona was staying close to the quicker Semaza, not letting him get free to throw punches.

In the third round, Semaza landed a left uppercut and followed a few seconds later with another left, both landing square on Medina’s nose.

Blood poured from Medina’s nose for the remainder of the third round and most of the fourth. Semaza stayed active, landing punches until the fight was stopped with six seconds left in the fourth round.

The main event was stopped after three rounds with Felipe DeJesus of Baldwin Park winning with a knockout of Jorge Palmares of Los Angeles at 129 pounds.

DeJesus (29-6) used a combination late in the second round to open a deep gash over Palmares’ right eye. The cut got worse in the third round, and the fight was stopped on the advice of the ring-side doctor.

In an earlier bout, Shane Kaplan of Irvine scored a first-round knockout victory against Everett Burnell of Coachella Valley in the professional debut for both at 155 pounds.