Trini Ochoa outboxed and outworked Jose Jacobo Friday night, winning a hard-fought unanimous decision at the Celebrity Theatre in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. Scores were 96-94, 97-93, and 99-91 for Ochoa, who improved to 19-0, 8 knockouts.

Jacobo was game and had his moments during the fight, but Ochoa displayed his pedigree by landing the more-telling punches, particularly to the body. Midway through the fight, Jacobo was bleeding from his nose, due to the amount of accurate punches Ochoa was landing. As the fight progressed, Jacobo’s punch output dropped, paving the way for Ochoa to convincingly wins rounds by continuing to outbox Jacobo.

“It was a challenging fight for me,” Ochoa told The Ring Saturday evening. “My opponent’s game-plan was to try and outbox me by sticking and moving, mostly utilizing his jab and taking off whenever I got close. It made it a little challenging to come in, but I was able to cut off, control the ring, and apply pressure the whole fight. I was tagging him with some good body shots early on and, by the latter half of the fight, I slowed him down enough and was able to take control and beat him with angles and outwork him.”

Ochoa was proud of his performance, and appreciated the crowd support, which included hundreds of family members and friends, including fans of him throughout the Phoenix area. All but two of his pro fights have taken place at the Celebrity Theatre. 

“It was a good experience with a tough opponent who did his homework, and trained to beat me,” said Ochoa. “I had to stay sharp, disciplined, and focused if I wanted to secure the win and bring that (WBC regional title) belt back to my hometown of (nearby) Mesa. It was a great fight, fans enjoyed it, and I showed my ability to adapt and overcome. 

“I was happy with my performance, but there’s always room to improve, so I plan on heading back to the gym and getting right back to work. Nothing set in stone yet, but I am looking to make a title defense soon, hopefully early 2025.”

The 26-year-old Ochoa previously fought on August 24, defeating gatekeeper and Olympian Jose Angulo by unanimous decision. The win over Angulo marked Ochoa’s first scheduled 10 round fight.

On April 27, Ochoa defeated Jesus Gutierrez by decision over eight one-sided rounds. 

Jacobo, who is from Grand Island, Nebraska, falls to 15-2, 6 KOs. Jacobo also previously fought on August 24, defeating journeyman Clay Burns by unanimous decision over six rounds.

The 30-year-old Jacobo had not lost since a unanimous decision defeat to Misael Lopez in July 2016, which was his second fight as a pro.

The Ochoa-Jacobo fight headlined a card promoted by Iron Boy Boxing.

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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