Fighting in a hometown may be too much for some. 

Not for Jose Miguel Borrego.

In front of a boisterous crowd, Borrego outboxed Etoundi William, dropping him once en route to a hard-fought unanimous decision victory at el Deportivo Ferrocarrilero in his hometown of Aguascalientes, Mexico. Scores were 97-92, 97-92, and 98-91 for Borrego, who improved to 21-4, 17 knockouts. 

Borrego was the aggressor from the opening bell, taking the initiative and throwing and landing hooks behind a consistent jab. Both exchanges combinations over the next couple of rounds, but William would begin landing consistently with uppercuts. Borrego was content to hang in the pocket, but blood began coming out of his nose by round four.

The action produced solid exchanges, but it was a two-punch combination that dropped William to the canvas in round five. William was able to fend off Borrego’s onslaught of punches after beating the count, whether it was clenching or fighting back, even having a decent sixth round that saw him outbox Borrego.

By round eight, William slowed down, possibly from exhaustion, only throwing in spurts. Borrego would walk William down towards the ropes, connecting to the head and body.

Even as Borrego eased his aggression during the last two rounds, William continued to back up, preferring to fight off the ropes. Borrego did let his hands go, outboxing William and landing his share of punches until the final bell.

The 26-year-old Borrego, who has recently fought on PBC and ProBox TV cards, previously fought on November 3 of last year, knocking out Diego Perez Vigil in round three. The fight also took place in Aguascalientes. 

In his previous fight in February 2022, Borrego lost by unanimous decision to then-unbeaten welterweight prospect Peter Dobson. With the win over William, Borrego has won seven of his last nine fights. 

William, who is originally from Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and now lives and trains in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, falls to 16-1, 12 KOs. William previously fought on April 26, which took place in Mexico City, stopping journeyman Ricardo Banuelos Cernas.

The 31-year-old has notable wins over fringe contender Jorge Garcia Perez and Endry Saavedra, who was unbeaten prior to stepping in the ring against William.

In the co-feature, featherweight Kevin Barron Crespo of Tijuana, Mexico defeated Nazario Castro by unanimous decision. Scores were 97-92, 97-92, and 99-90 for Crespo, who improved to 15-1, 9 KOs.

Crespo dropped Nazario in round two. Crespo was the more-effective fighter throughout most of the fight, but both fighters produced solid exchanges between the two.

Nazario, who resides in Guamuchil, Mexico, falls to 13-5-1, 8 KOs.

Junior welterweight Antonio Aguilera of Tijuana improved to 10-0-1, 2 KOs, defeating Francisco Vital Macias (4-3, 4 KOs) of Aguascalientes by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 58-56 in favor of Aguilera.  

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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