Antonio “Tony” Ojeda met the broadside of an uppercut in the third round Friday night, succumbing to the canvas. Surrendering, no.

In his home, it seemed Ojeda had met his match against the favored Nick Casal.

But this was his home crowd, and soon he heard a familiar chant: “Tony! Tony! Tony!”

Minutes after the fight, Ojeda would recall that chant, becoming emotional at the thought. “They raised me up,” he said.

Ojeda did, indeed, raise up in the third - furious as ever - and began to unleash his best punch: the right cross.

He won the fourth. He won the fifth. And - knowing he needed the final round to complete the comeback - he won the sixth.

He once again won the boxing fans' hearts at the Chumash Casino Samala Showroom in Santa Ynez, during Gary Shaw's production of ShoBox: The New Generation.

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It turned out to be a night of comebacks.

And Ojeda wasn't even in one of the two TV fights, neither of which disappointed.

In the main event, Andre Dirrell kept his record spotless (15-0, 10 KOs) with his own version of a comeback, knocking out Anthony Hanshaw in the fifth round.

Hanshaw came in with a 21-1-1 record, having last dropped a 12-round decision to Roy Jones Jr.

Hanshaw, 30, came in wanting to regain his elite status.

Dirrell, 24, came in hoping to break into the elite.

But it was Hanshaw that nearly broke Dirrell in the opening minutes.

“He rattled me,” Dirrell admitted. He nearly knocked Dirrell down. In fact, Dirrell slipped three times in the first two rounds.

But just like Ojeda, Dirrell had plenty of fight in him. The southpaw bronze medal winner at the Athens Olympic Games had plenty of fight left. So confident by the third round was Dirrell that he yelled “Is that all you've got?”

Dirrell's left hook began to connect, and by the fifth round it was only a matter of time.

Ojeda's turnaround was just as quick.

“I got on him,” Flores said, after Ojeda was knocked down in the middle of his fight. “I said, ‘I brought you here to fight, not lie down.'”

All the training in his hometown of Santa Maria, and sparring in Oxnard paid off for Ojeda, who has never missed an event at Chumash since the boxing event returned in 2004.

Ojeda dedicated the upset to his wife and kids, and gave his thanks to the Police Activities League.

By the time the fifth came around, Casal - who dropped a previous decision at Santa Ynez to Antonio DeMarco - was clearly winded.

Still, going into the final round, “My trainer told me I needed to win the last round,” Ojeda said.

He did, and took the unanimous decision, all by 57-56 scores.

In the night's other main event, Antonio DeMarco knocked out Juan Castaneda 42 seconds into round five.

DeMarco ended it with a wicked body shot to Castaneda's stomach, sending him to the floor grimacing in pain.

“I was very surprised,” DeMarco said of Castaneda's ability to withstand the punches. “But I know that he's a Mexican. He's a warrior. I just kept going to the body. And he kept getting up.”

Two in-fighters rarely left each others' reach in the third fight on the bout card. Frankie Leale and Jose Magallon nearly stole the show, throwing enough swings for an entire night's worth of action.

After six rounds, Magallon upset the favorite, winning a unanimous decision, moving to 8-5. To Leale's credit, he continued to swing away, even after receiving a punishing series of body shots and a left-right cross combo from Magallon in the fifth. He pushed Magallon away, shaken but not ready to throw in the towel. The fans stood up in appreciation.

In the night's second pro fight, Trenton Titsworth did nothing to disprove the thought that Omaha isn't exactly a “hotbed” for boxing activity.

He did survive the scheduled four rounds, losing a unanimous decision to Said “The Messenger” El Harrak.

Harrak sent his final message in the fourth round, countering Titsworth's wild swings with an uppercut to his chin. Titsworth clinched for mercy, lumbering helplessly around the ring. It was Harrak's pro debut.

In the first professional fight of the night, Abraham Lopez landed a one-punch-ends-all right cross, and Tomas Gatica found the canvas to be a comfortable surface for some time. Lopez took the fight with 2:15 left in the first round.

Chris “Hitman” Avalos of San Diego earned a unanimous decision win over Ernie Marquez after four rounds of action in the bantamweight division.

May 3, 2008