By Raj Sharma at ringside: Anthony Villareal had the last laugh on rival Manny Roman, prevailing by eight round split decision Wednesday night at the Marriot Hotel in Irvine, California, USA.

“My hand was raised at the end. He said it was gonna be his. I beat him,” Villareal said.

The two local flyweights both gave and took in a hard-fought contest, fought largely on the inside. Villareal made Roman miss often, slipping under punches before returning fire.

Roman seemed the harder puncher but was out worked by his nemesis, who did some effective body punching as well as score upstairs. A Villareal hook dropped Roman in the second round. Roman didn’t seem badly hurt by the punch, and also didn’t seem fazed by bleeding from his right ear and scalp.

Official scores for the bout were 79-72, 77-74, and a curious 77-74 tally for Roman. Villareal improves to 9-2(4). Roman falls to 14-1-1(5) with his first pro defeat.

Trainer Al Franco was confident Villareal could pull the upset.

“I knew he’d (Roman) been dropped seven times,” said Franco. “He’s very hesitant.”

In the chief support, unbeaten heavyweight Joe “The Future” Hanks dominated tough Lawson Baker en route to a third round stoppage. The massive Hanks hurt Baker early, and tagged the former kick boxer repeatedly with uppercuts, lefts, and rights. Baker kept coming forward, but was in trouble again when referee Jose Cobian halted the bout in the third round. Official time was 1:01. Hanks is now 6-0 (4) while Baker dips to 5-6-1(2).

Former amateur standout Hugo Centeno Jr. made a successful pro debut with a first round TKO over John Dunham. Centeno Jr., a former national PAL and Junior Olympics champion, didn’t get much of a test from the winless Dunham, who is 0-4 and been stopped in all four bouts.

Local tough guy Israel Navarette returned from a 17-month layoff with a four round unanimous decision over game Samuel Jude Yniguez. Navarette’s pressure and body punching seemed to slow Yniguez by the third. Yniguez came back to fight hard in the fourth session. Scores were 40-36 twice and 39-37 for the victor. Navarette improves to 6-4(1), while Yniguez slips to 2-4-1.

In a heavyweight four rounder, Natu Visania need only 69 seconds to dispose of Anthony Beyoune. Beyoune made the mistake of camping on the ropes with his gloves up, allowing the powerful Samoan to tee off on his body before he connected upstairs and ended the contest. Visania improves to 2-0(2).

Diego Magdaleno remained unbeaten with a unanimous decision over Alejandro Solorio. Scores for the flyweight bout were 39-37 twice and 40-37. Magdaleno’s strength advantage on the inside was the main difference, with his rights landing with more impact than Solorio’s hooks. Magdaleno improves to 2-0-2(0), while Solorio remains winless at 0-2.

Local lad Jose Sanchez, from nearby Santa Ana, made a successful debut with a first round stoppage of Francisco Solis in the lightweight opener. The southpaw Sanchez was a class above Solis, knocking him down twice before referee Pat Russell halted the bout at the 3:00 mark. Solis slips to 0-2.