Ladarius Miller knocks out Jesus Gutierrez in battle of Las Vegans
Ladarius Miller predicted Jesus Gutierrez would try to lure him into a brawl. Miller told himself before the bout that he wouldn’t fall into the trap.
Miller couldn’t resist and slugged it out with Gutierrez as the two Las Vegans had the crowd at Sam’s Town on its feet Saturday during the undercard of a Premier Boxing Champions event.
After getting rocked by a Gutierrez right hook, Miller answered with a flurry of his own to drop his opponent and win the all-Las Vegas bout with an eighth-round technical knockout.
“I am extremely happy with my performance. This is the best Ladarius Miller I have shown,” said Miller, who moved from Memphis, Tennessee, to Las Vegas five years ago. “I was familiar with him as a fighter, so I knew what I had to do in the ring.”
Gutierrez (14-2-1, 4 knockouts), who was born in Mexico and raised in Las Vegas, frustrated Miller with his aggressive assault, but wasn’t doing much damage until he landed the memorable right hook in the seventh round. The crowd began to chant Gutierrez’s nickname (Chuy) as he pinned Miller onto the ropes.
Miller (13-1, 4 KOs) responded with a left hook to make Gutierrez’s knees buckle and gained momentum into the final round. Miller, who tends to play it safe with the jab, went for the finish with a series of combinations to record his fourth knockout.
“There were little things here and there that I need to go back in the gym to perfect,” Miller sad. “My movement was a little off. I thought I had him in the first round with the uppercut, but he was in a lot better shape than I thought. He took the punches, but in the end, I knew I would end up on top with the win.”
Claudio Marrero had a shocking first-round knockout against Carlos Zambrano to take the interim WBA featherweight belt in the main event.
Marrero landed a one-two combination to drop Zambran0, who couldn’t beat the 10 count.
Las Vegan Juan Heraldez defeated Alfonso Olvera by unanimous decision (79-72, 78-73, 78-73). Layla McCarter, a Las Vegas resident, picked up her 39th victory with a seventh-round technical knockout over Szilvia Szabados.
Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.
