Navarro Rallies to Decision Licona, Win Title

IRVINE — Highly billed title fights typically leave a lot to be desired. But Thursday night’s clash between Carlos Navarro and Marcos Licona for the vacant California State super-bantamweight championship lived up to its promise.

Navarro won a 10-round unanimous decision over Licona to win the belt during Irvine Marriott’s monthly boxing card, but early on it appeared the fight could go either way.

Navarro (11-0), a 5-foot-7 left-hander from Los Angeles who was the 1996 U.S. amateur champion, needed some strong closing rounds to finally distance himself from Licona, who had never before gone beyond six rounds.

In the end, judge Vince Delgado had the score 96-93, Raul Ciaz scored it 97-92, and Larry Rozadilla gave Navarro a 99-90 edge.

Licona (10-1-1, four knockouts) kept Navarro busy fending off a combination of body blows and uppercuts in the early rounds.

By the middle rounds, Licona appeared to be gaining confidence as he took some of Navarro’s best shots and didn’t flinch. Meanwhile, Navarro kept a business-as-usual look on his face and slowly started to wear down Westminster’s Licona.

Both fighters were warned for low blows in the sixth round, and Licona was finally penalized early in the seventh round for a shot that nailed Navarro in the thigh.

Navarro then had his best round of the bout in the eighth, scoring well with two flurries that included half a dozen consecutive shots to the head and body of Licona.

Navarro was then content to keep his distance the final two rounds, dipping in for a punch and then backing out.

In earlier action, Navarro’s brother, Nacho, suffered the first blemish to his record when he and Gustavo Tapia battled to a draw in a four-round lightweight match.

In another four-round bout, Memo Moreno of Beaumont appeared to get the best of East Los Angeles’ Gustavo Tapia, but was edged in a four-round split decision.