BOXING: NORTH HOLLYWOOD'S ESPINO GETS DECISION.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES

Staff Writer

SYLMAR -- Heading into his fight Saturday against Arturo Ortega, Miguel Espino had won six consecutive since losing to Peter Manfredo Jr. on the first season of "The Contender" reality show.

Sergio Mora beat Manfredo for the championship of that first season, and he was in the house to watch North Hollywood's Espino take on Ortega in front of about 500 at the National Guard Armory.

Although Ortega proved a tough, awkward opponent, Espino came through with a victory via unanimous decision. Judges Marty Denkin and Lou Filippo both had Espino winning the eight-round middleweight main event by a score of 78-73. Judge Gwen Adair scored Espino the winner by a 77-74 count.

The terrific body punching by Espino, along with some crisp right hands to the head, went a long way in helping him run his record to 16-2-1. Ortega (12-5-3) reacted to the decision with disgust, as if he thought his charging style was enough to emerge victorious.

But he wasn't about to fool these particular veteran judges.

"Those body shots were absolutely devastating; they hurt him a lot," Espino said. "I'm sure he is going to be feeling them for another few days."

Ortega went after Espino from the opening bell, and he appeared to easily win the first round. But as the fight went on, it was clear who was landing most of the solid punches. Still, Espino wasn't exactly thrilled with the job he did.

"My performance? (Was) a C+, B-," Espino said. "Like my trainer, John Bray, said, I made that fight more difficult than I had to. But it's a learning process. As long as I shine when I'm on HBO or Showtime or ESPN, that's all I'm worried about."

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