And The New…UCA Jr. Welterweight Champion

The 9th bout of the night featured the undefeated 2^nd ranked Shant Sheklanian – Madera PD vs the UCA Champion Francisco Flores – Stanislaus SD for the UCA Jr Welterweight Title. Both fighters would come out slow to begin this one. The mutual respect shown by each boxer was obvious. Both men very aware of the power the other possessed. They were judicious with their punches in the beginning. But it didn’t take long for the action to start. Shant Sheklanian, the boxer-puncher, landed hard, crisp 1, 2, 3 combos to the head & body of the forward-fighting Francisco Flores. His strikes would let off a loud thud that could be heard throughout the auditorium. Flores would take these punches in stride and avoid some of the others with side to side head movement. Flores would land a big right hand of his own. He tried to keep Sheklanian on the ropes to keep on landing his bombs, but Shant would simply spin out of them. The challenger caught the champ with well-timed 1, 2’s and hard counter hooks that would put the average fighter to sleep. But Flores just kept on stalking him. The champ’s chin was resilient. Feeling the fight and the title slipping away from him, the champ came back in the 3rd and fought back with ferocity. His champion’s mettle and will was apparent. He traded punches with Sheklanian in the center ring and landed some big combos and hooks of his own.  But so did Sheklanian. Francisco would still keep the pressure on. But Shant, well ahead on the scorecards, would finish by sticking and moving his way to a win. When the decision was announced, both fighters embraced one another with great, mutual respect. Sheklanian was as gracious in victory as Flores was in defeat. And the New UCA Junior Welterweight Champion is Shant Sheklanian.