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by chris cozzone The newly-formed promoters of "Duel in the Desert" had everything going against them: a fight card in the middle of nowhere, a venue at the local high school, devoid of booze; and two title fights that come complete with overzealous sanctioning fees, two sets of officials (more fees plus travel, room & board) and the inflated price of two "jewel-encrusted" title belts. Plus, there were two no-shows on the undercards. But Southwest Sports & Entertainment Group pulled it off with an entertaining evening and some good boxing.
For their first boxing event, Southwest Sports (consisting of Ketan Patel, Greg Reid & Shirley Archer) approached Danny Romero, catching him at a good time--between contracts. Romero's fight last night was his first out of his contract with Top Rank. Word is, he will soon be signing with Frank Warren. That left him free to work as a free agent with Southwest Sports in a tune-up fight with Arman Pedimonte on his way to fulfil a promise to New Mexico that the year 2001 will be THE year he secures World Title #3. Last night, a good-sized Artesian crowd showed up at the Bulldog Pit to watch Romero beat the crap out of someone. That "someone" last night was "tough Phillipine fighter" (as the poster claimed) Arman Pedimonte, who actually turned out to be tougher than expected. More on him later . . . . The fight card started 'round 6 PM and with the loss of two undercards, promised an early night. The first round KO of Fight #1 was another bad omen for a quickie card. Hell, I thought I'd never get to see the ring girls--a pack of real-live Hooters chicks--do their thing! But there was a god smilin' down on Artesia last night, for the other fights all went the distance (well, 'cept for the Romero-Pedimonte fight, but you knew that was at best, a 3 or 4-rounder.)
The fights were competitive. The first two fighters
"favored to win" did not win. Juarez fighter Carlos
Alvarado (must not be a "legit" part of the seen-too-often
"Mexican Meat Wagon" but a real fighter) tore Hobbs, NM
pro debuter Jaime Velasquez apart with a 1st- The Chikita vs Chiquita fight, I mean, the Delia Gonzales vs Imelda Arias bout was better than expected--much better than watching Gonzales vs Ortiz, or Arias vs Ortiz. These two fought it out and no one had to get frustrated trying to catch Jayla Ortiz in the ring.
Reed also had plenty to say about the weigh-in. Linson had come in 3 pounds heavy and had to sweat out the excess. When he returned to the scale (so said Reed), the inspectors let him "wiggle around" on the scale until the number fell from 148-something to 147; plus, according to Reed, the inspectors actually "fiddled around" with the electronic scale until it "did what it was supposed to do and he made weight."
Whatever. The bad vibes added to the fight. Reed promised to take Linson out this time, which he failed to do. He was able to taunt Linson more this time, to the crowd's great amusement. In the end, the result was the same as last time: Linson by decision. Onto the main event . . . Arman Pedimonte might have been one of those "no-namers", but if you take the time to talk to him, he turns out to be one of those massive underdogs you end up wanting to win (well, if he wasn't up against one of the few NM champs.) Poor guy had a helluva time finding decent food in Artesia. Turns out, there aren't too many oriental-type places to eat there. Plus, New Mexico was a wee bit colder than his native land.
Too bad I'm a sucker for the underdog . . . when Romero flattened him in Round One, I thought, This is it . . . But there was a happy ending. Pedimonte was able to make it through the round. And in the next couple rounds, he gave Romero a fight. Plus, in Round Two, Pedimonte actually started smiling. The crowd went beserk:
"Wipe the smile off his face!" But it wasn't a cocky smile. It was a different sort of grin (which was later confirmed by Arman's managerial team from Denver, Ed & Debbie.) Arman wasn't mocking or taunting Danny; he was just happy to still be on his feet. It was a smile of self-confidence. And after giving Romero a hard time for two more rounds and meeting the inevitable end (Danny's KO punch), Arman was still a happy dude--he'd just made enough money to go back home to the Phillipines to buy a home and a bakery. Romero got his win plus an unexpected possibly-broken nose. After the fight, he praised Arman and then stuck around the Bulldog Pit to sign autographs for an hour. And that was that. Done by 9:15. It was time to hit the bars and find out from various boxing people the real scoop behind the night's card. The "Victory Party" was at the Wellhead on Main street, a decent enough place with a friendly staff but a piss-poor selection of beer (sorry, but Bud Lite, Bud, Coors Lite and Miller Lite--all in a can--plus "Our Own" on tap (which, the mere mention of by the waitress made her wrinkle her nose in distaste) don't cut it.) My traveling companions ("Bad" Andy and Tom the narco-cop from 'Burque) and I spent the next couple hours chatting with members of the boxing community who showed up. There's nothing like bitching about boxing with boxing people . . . always a good time talking the fight game and complaining about the high costs of putting on a show, asking the Vargas or Tito? Tyson or Lewis? q's, and listening to Louie Burke's solid plan (albeit idealistic but what the hell?) for a national commission to rid the world of boxing's evils: the ABC's, the bad promoters, the corrupt officials and the average fighter's unwillingness to fight someone of quality and be damned with the fight record! Plus, there was talk of bad ring girls of past fights who wear their too-short shorts or mini skirts and then neglect "maintenance work" . . . and of course, talk of future fights from "Duel in the Desert's" promoters, which is in the works. And then the place had closed and it was time to move on to "Chapz", a local thug dive where the Hooters ring girls had also moved on to. We weren't there long before last call and on went the overhead lights . . . it was time to go. Just as we were were leaving, though, one of the promoters of the fight card had taken over the microphone in the back to tell the crowd that yes, there were just a few Danny Romero T-shirts left for sale and if you bought one, you would also get a FREE dance with one of the Hooters ring girls . . . Too bad, I thought. I'd already gotten my wife a shirt . . . .
Results: |
Romero
Pounds Pedimonte! Retains NABO Title . . . .
Even
if it was
in Artesia . . . the land of ranch and oil refineries,
population 12K. The nearest city is Roswell, which is, of
course, famous for the 1947 UFO crash that actually
happened not in Roswell but 40 miles away in
Corona, if it happened it all. But at least Artesia
looks
Southwestern. Roswell could be Anyplace, USA; a
white-bread community lacking the New Mexican spirit: no
low-riders and not enough Mexican restaurants. What you
do get is an overabundance of Sonics and the UFO
Museum, plus overkill on the alien theme (oh, isn't
that just cute? That streetlight looks just like an
alien head!) Speakin' of overkill --back to "Duel in
the Desert" . . . .
round
TKO; and Santa Fean Raul Gonzales, part of the Linson
team, fought a tough one with Robert Porras. (Porras is
one to watch; a 40-year-old who can pack a punch.)
The
Linson-Reed fight? I'd already seen that movie
before, only this time, Linson had more stamina, and won
an even more convincing win than last time. And Reed did
even more not to win rounds, despite filling us
with promises before the fight that he was here to rectify
the "road robbery" he'd received back in July when Linson
whupped him the first time. 
On
the other hand, not too many people fell in love with
Gerald Reed. 
But
I knew the poor guy was doomed before the fight when he
said that his battle plan was to start pressing Romero in
Round Five. Round Five!! And that until then, he
was going to just "feel him out." Romero was gonna squash
this guy in 3 rounds or less! 'Feel him out!' Yeah, sure!
"Finish
him, Danny!"