Foreman III wins rematch against Robinson

After George Foreman III landed a crushing right hook to David Robinson's body midway through the first round, Robinson's trainer knew something was seriously wrong with his boxer.

“When (Robinson) went to a knee, I just thought that he took a big body blow,” said manager Martin Reyes. “But then I saw the pain in his face and knew something was seriously wrong. So I had no choice but to throw in the towel then.”

Reyes said he believed Robinson dislocated his shoulder and would be taken to Yuma Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Foreman's victory Saturday night capped a six-card bout for Cocopah Casino's inaugural boxing event.

“It was great having pro boxing come here, and I am so proud of all our fighters tonight for the great show they put on tonight for all the fans,” said Cocopah Casino general manager Jerry Lane. “This was our first foray into boxing and we would love to do it again because we have a lot of local boxing fans and fighters here in Yuma. And it would give the local boxers exposure and an opportunity to turn professional someday.”

One of those locals could be Yuman Jose “Puma” Gonzalez (1-1-1), who picked up a unanimous decision victory over Milwaukee, Wis., native Josiah Smith and electrified the crowd in the process.

From the opening bell, Gonzalez unleashed rapid-fire combos on Smith and never relented, making the judges' decision an easy one after the four-round bout concluded.

“I changed my strategy for this fight,” Gonzalez said. “I switched gyms back to where I originally (trained), Arizona Athletic Club, and I would have some very hard sparring sessions … and I was tested at every session I had.”

Gonzalez credited the intense sparring for better preparing him and picking up his first win.

“It really helped … and it got me in tip-top shape,” he said. “Because I just kept going and going and going all the way up to this fight.”

For the future, Gonzalez said he was going to continue training hard, learn from his mistakes and travel across the Southwest to spar with different boxers to expose himself to different styles of fighting.

Another Yuma boxer, Jose Carbajal, fought to a draw in his first professional boxing debut against Antonio Soto.

“It felt good to fight in front of a hometown crowd even though I was a little disappointed in the draw,” Carbajal said. “Now I need to train harder and keep on throwing punches so I can win all my next fights like Salvador Sanchez, who had a draw in his first fight and hasn't lost one since.”

Another Yuman, Dominic Diaz, was scheduled to fight in an amateur bout, but his fight was canceled. The reason for the cancellation was not disclosed at press time.

In other action, middleweight Saul Beneidtez from Phoenix picked up a split decision win over Jesus Lopez and welterweight Lois Borrego had a first-round knockout against Joel Gonzales.