Northern California Round of the Year:  Ryan Bourland vs. Cesar Ruiz II, Round 3 [Woodland, Ca]

Ryan Bourland had fought Cesar Diaz once before after being knocked out by Israel Duffus in 2015 in the Los Angeles area, the lone loss of Bourland’s career. Diaz was his comeback fight in 2016 when he fought on the undercard of a fight card at Cache Creek, promoted by Don Chargin and Paco Damian. Bourland would go on to stop Diaz in the third round of that fight, one of which Borland dominated.

As was the case with Borland over the past year, a lot of his opponents have either gotten injured or pulled out of the fight before fight night seeing him rematch a couple of his foes, Ruiz being one of them..

Bourland broke from his game plan in the second fight deciding to trade rather than box the brute slugger in Ruiz in the third round as what ensued with an all-action fight that seemingly didn’t stop until the sixth round when both fighters were tired. Borland was landing the better shots, but it was not for nothing as he had to take some solid hooks from Ruiz, who at the final bell felt that he might have won the fight. The third round saw both fighters spend a minute to a minute and a half in the pocket trading punches looking for the other to fall as nearly the whole crowd at Woodland Community Center were on their feet.

Bourland, who was our 2016 Northern California fighter of the year, picked up another honor as his fan friendly style, blue-collar work ethic and will to win put him in a tough bout that saw him have to work through moments of difficulty to win.

Honorable Mention: Alberto Torres vs. Adam Fiel, Round 4