YOUNGSTOWN — It was the most anticipated fight of the night. One was an up-and-coming local, the other was the national champ from Texas.

In the end, it was Berlin Center native Zion Hensley who pulled out a unanimous decision to top Jade Rocha on Saturday night at the Maronite Center in Youngstown as part of the “Holiday Brawl.”

“It’s really motivating, especially after winning,” Hensley said. “And once you win, you want to keep going. All the people that helped me with this, they made me more motivated.”

Hensley knocked Rocha in the first round, but the quick shots by both boxers led to a competitive opening. Hensley increased the pressure on Rocha in the second round, and by the third, she was dictating the match with her willingness to go at her out-of-state opponent.

“I knew I could just pick certain shots after (gaining confidence in the first). I knew how to adjust myself and adjust my style,” Hensley said.

Hensley’s coach, Kelly Pavlik, identified a couple “bad habits” she needs to clean up moving forward.

“You see the natural ability and talent that she’s got,” Pavlik said. “Yeah, she puts on a show every time she gets in there.”

Hensley wasn’t the only local to register a win.

Youngstown’s Jose Jauregui — another Pavlik pupil — had the audience’s attention during his heavyweight bout with Pittsburgh’s Seven Earth.

The 215-pound East student gave up 90 pounds to Earth, but Jauregui used that to his advantage. Jauregui knew he wasn’t going to be able to outmuscle Earth, at least not early on, so he made it a battle of attrition.

Both boxers exchanged blows in the first two rounds, but Earth’s conditioning eventually caught up to him in the third.

“Kelly was like, ‘Let go. He’s breathing hard. Throw it down to the body, throw it down to the middle,'” Jauregui said. “That third round really won me that fight. I got caught with a lot of dumb shots, but I feel like I did great overall.”

Jauregui has scattered eight fights over the past several years, but he feels like he found the right coach in Pavlik. With a renewed interest in boxing, he wants to drop down from heavyweight to around 190 so he can face opponents closer to his size.

“He’s fought like one time in the last three years,” Pavlik said. “No matter how hard you train and how good of conditioning you’re in, when you go in there and you ain’t fought in a long time, it’s a different cardio. He was able to pull through and go three hard rounds.”

While Jauregui is trying to get back into boxing, Hensley is getting ready for tougher challenges.

Hensley wanted a competitive match, and she got one. She’ll use her weekend victory to go over some things before heading out to nationals in a couple weeks.

“I love having fights before nationals,” Hensley said. “It helps me get more experience, unlike sparring. Sparring’s more working on certain things, but once you get that fight, it feels like I’m more ready for nationals.”

OTHER RESULTS

• 85 lbs: Cleveland’s Jemari Golphin defeated Pittsburgh’s Salvatore D’Amato (referee stopped competition).

• 130 lbs: Toledo’s Blaze Billman defeated Youngstown’s K’Veon Cotton (split decision).

• 150 lbs: Elyria’s Josh Cordero defeated Youngstown’s Antwan Miller (split decision).

• 150 lbs: Cleveland’s Anthony Reed defeated Youngstown’s Isaac Johnson (unanimous decision)

• 160 lbs: Akron’s Charles Williams defeated Marty Stachowicz (split decision)

• 160 lbs: Cleveland’s Basil Abukkas defeated Alliance’s Drew Mercer (unanimous decision)

• 180 lbs: Pittsburgh’s Frank Henius defeated Youngstown’s Levi Williams (split decision).