Gomez makes fast work of Davis on Fight Night Club card

LOS ANGELES – Frankie Gomez didn’t get much of a chance to test his new-and-improved skills.

The junior welterweight prospect put Jason Davis down and out with a vicious left-right combination to the head only 25 seconds into their scheduled six-round fight on the Fight Night Club card Thursday at Club Nokia.

Gomez, formerly a top amateur, worked with new trainer Abel Sanchez for six weeks in Big Bear, Calif.

“I didn’t want to knock him out in the first round,” Gomez said. “I just hit him in the temple and he went down. I’ll take a first round knockout.”

So will Sanchez, who raves about the 19-year-old’s raw ability.

Sanchez said Gomez (9-0, 7 knockouts) has remarkable natural gifts but has been unable to harness them, leaving him a wild, undisciplined fighter. The trainer has provided structure.

“I would rather he show off in the gym,” said Sanchez, who worked with Hall of Famer Terry Norris. “If this happens in the ring … that’s why we do all the hard work in the gym. He didn’t get to practice some of the things we worked on but that will come when we bring up his level of opposition.

“I’ve had him only six weeks. I’d rather have this for the first one. He still needs to learn this works.”

Gomez weighed in at 141.8 for the fight, which had an agreed-upon catch weight of 144. However, Sanchez said he wants to whittle his fighter down to 135, where he could be a terror if he doesn’t struggled to make weight.

“He was walking around at 142, 143 and that was before training,” Sanchez said. “I’d like to get him down to 139 for his next fight then settle in at 138. Then, if an opportunity comes up, we could go down to 135.”

Davis (11-9-1, 3 KOs) is from Vancouver, Wash.

In other fights, Ramon Valadez (8-1, 4 KOs) of East L.A., a popular Fight Night Club fighter, defeated Rafael Lora of the Dominican Republic by a unanimous decision in a six-round junior lightweight matchup.

Junior middleweight prospect Alfonso Blanco (5-0, 2 KOs) of Venezuela defeated a game but overmatched Juan Carlos Diaz (7-13, 6 KOs) of Santa Ana, Calif., in a four-round bout.

Ernesto Ocon (3-0, 2 KOs) of Los Angeles knocked out Miguel Pizarro (1-2) of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 58 seconds into the third round of a scheduled four-round welterweight fight.

And junior welterweight prospect Fidel Maldonado Jr. (10-0, 9 KOs) of Albuquerque stopped Jorge Cordero (4-7, 4 KOs) of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, 1:30 into a scheduled six-round bout.