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photos
& story by chris cozzone It
can’t be easy going up against someone like Julian “Baby” Rodriguez.
Before those fists start to fly and your mind begins to change, you see a kid
before you. Sure, he’s 20 years old, but Julian Rodriguez looks all of 14. And
when he fights, his face is forever frozen in an eyebrows-up, smirky little
half-grin that can lull your belligerence to sleep. The
kid’s no kid, but already a veteran of at least 17 fights—a dangerous
opponent and last night, a challenger to be wary of. But Jose Sarabia’s been around the block. His 37 fights has thrown him in with some of the best in his division (Hugo Dianzo, Cruz Carbajal, Adan Vargas, Oscar Larios and Martin Castillo—all losses.) His record may be an unimpressive 15-20-2, but in August, his skills and experience were enough to outpoint tough Rodrigo Facio (a former stablemate of Rodriguez’s, and who’s also beaten him) for the Miller Lite Texas Bantam belt. Last night would be his first title defense.
Twelve
years and 20 fights separated the champ from the challenger, but after the first
few rounds the experience gave way to youthful hunger. No
doubt about it, Sarabia took the opening rounds. Baby played cautious while the
grizzled veteran scored not often but hard enough to take the first few. And in
the second, this fight looked like it was going to be a school lesson for
Rodriguez when Sarbia landed a hard right that had Rodriguez sitting on the
canvas wondering what had happened. But
Julian got up, as he always gets up. And after coasting through the round
clearing his head, he came back a new fighter in the 3rd, letting his
hands go and moving forward.
The
3rd was close, but in the 4th it was all Rodriguez. He
started landing rights and had Sarabia on the ropes several times. The 5th,
the 6th, the 7th, the 8th . . . every round saw
Julian pick up the pace, landing more punches while Sarabia began spending his
time in defense, covering up, moving back. After
the final round, there was no doubt who’d won the fight—although one judge
dared to score it a draw. The other two had it clearly for Rodriguez, 78-73 and
77-74, giving him the majority decision and black leather Miller Lite Texas
Belt—his first title. If
you don’t remember this kid’s name, you’ll remember his nickname, or his
baby-face . . . Only remember: don’t be fooled by his appearance. The kid can
fight . . . . Fight of the Night, Fighter of the Night Julian
Rodriguez might’ve won the most significant fight of the night, but Cesar
Lopez gets my vote for 'Fighter of the Night'; and his fight against Omar
Gonzalez easily makes 'Fight of the Night.'
This
fight had it all: heart and guts and knockdowns and action.
There
was no wait on the action. Both fighters started throwing punches up close.
Things looked about even until halfway into the round when Cesar Lopez landed a
straight right that put Gonzalez on the canvas. He
got up a bit wobbly and managed to tie up and backpedal his way to the end of
the round. This
fight wasn’t going to last long. Lopez was too strong for Gonzalez. That’s
what we all thought—I’m sure that’s what Lopez thought, too. But
Gonzalez’s corner told him to make an adjustment and he did; Omar came out
with a hit-and-move routine. Lopez came forward trying to land but Gonzalez was
quicker on his feet; he’d land and move, land and move . . . easily his round.
The
4th was all Gonzalez—until the very end, which I’ll get
to. Gonzalez was schooling Lopez now, landing harder and harder shots and
leaving only empty air for Lopez’s shots. Two minutes into the round, Lopez
landed hard—but it was a low blow that ended up costing him a point (he’d
already been warned in previous rounds.) The
fight was as good as over for Lopez. He’d been dominated for three rounds and
with the point off, there was no chance for a decisioned win. “Knock
him out!” his corner yelled at him. “You need a knockout!” At
2:43 of the 4th and final round, that’s exactly what Cesar Lopez
did: a left hook dropped Gonzalez to the canvas and when he got back up, he
stumbled around so bad the ref called it quits. You
see a lot of fighters lose heart when they’re outboxed; when they know
they’re losing. Many are content to merely survive until the end. Yet, a few
others never stop trying—that’s what made Cesar Lopez stand out in last
night’s card. The Undercard
Throughout
the four rounds, Losoya played the aggressor, trying to draw Gomez into fighting
on the inside. Gomez was able to catch Losoya coming in with crisp, hard shots
but, more often than not, was suckered into brawling—Losoya’s domain.
Gomez
showed more wear and tear in the 3rd than Losoya, who’d had him
hurt against the ropes, at one point. But Gomez did come back in the final
round, doing what he should’ve done all along—stay on the outside and outbox
Losoya. After
the final bell, judges saw it unanimously for Losoya; all three had it 39-37. I
had it a draw.
Perez
started out good, keeping his cool and outboxing the slicker-looking Cotti. But
Cotti manhandled him, smothered his punches and roughed him up. Perez’s eye
was suddenly swelling and he’d thrown his game plan out of the ring. It
didn’t take long for the ref to stop it and give the TKO win to Cotti.
It
should’ve been an easy fight for Valdez, but it wasn’t. Rivera is awkward as
hell, with a low crouch, weird overhand punches and the oddest uppercuts
you’ll ever see—thrown like a pitcher hurls a ball in women’s softball. A
fighter like Valdez, who constantly keeps his gloves too low, is an easy target. In
the 2nd, Rivera landed a right that dropped Valdez. He got back up
and a low blow from Rivera gave him the time he needed to recover safely. Bobby
Joe returned the unpenalized foul with a kidney shot thrown on a break. Valdez
came back strong in the 3rd and started to batter Rivera around the
ring, landing more body shots than anything. Rivera answered with low blows. He
lost not one, but two points in the 3rd from low blows. In
the 4th, Valdez continued to dominate . . . and Rivera, who was
showin’ wear ‘n’ tear, continued to foul. He lost another point from a low
blow and after an intentional head butt, ref Rocky Burke stopped the fight and
raised Valdez’s glove in victory.
Gomez
was pretty confident before the fight that he could beat Becerra again. But
after Round One, and with each following round, that confidence faded away. Becerra
was hungrier, and it showed. He was ever the aggressor and he forced Gomez into
fighting a defensive fight. Becerra landed the harder shots and the cleaner
shots. For the first two rounds, it looked as if Gomez was waiting for Becerra
to tire himself out with his constant attack mode. But it was Gomez who lost his
zip. At
the end of six, it was nearly a shutout for Becerra (which was how I had it):
60-59, 59-55 and 60-53. ABC Belts vs. Beer Belts I
used to be my usual cynical self, poking fun at titles named after beer. But
this year, after 15 (and three more on the way by ’02) fight cards rotated
throughout Texas, Miller Lite and Gamez Productions have done a hell of a
lot for boxing in Texas, not to mention New Mexico and Juarez. They’ve
done a lot more than any ABC organization.
What
other organizations keeps fighters busy? The ABC’s are out to control boxing
and collect sanctioning fees; Miller Lite, while no doubt making a profit on
fight cards while they bombard us with advertising, are, at least, giving boxers
what they need most—fights. For
the Miller Lite TX Bantam Belt 6-round
Super Bantam: 6-round
Welterweight 4-round
Super Flyweight 4-round
Light Heavyweight 4-round
Lightweight #
# # |
Like
all the bouts on this card (but for one late-minute replacement), this fight was
a great match-up between two 1-1 super flyweights. Omar Gonzalez is part of Tony
Ayala, Sr.’s stable in San Antonio; his opponent, Cesar Lopez, was a
hometowner, part of the J.G. Boxing Team in El Paso.
The
3rd was like the 2nd: Lopez coming forward and Gonzalez
beating him to the punch every time. Lopez was getting frustrated now. Gonzalez
was becoming more dominant.
The
night’s action started out with a 4-round lightweight bout between pro debuter
from Las Cruces Colbert Losoya and El Paso’s Freddy Gomez, at 1-0. 
The
second fight saw two light heavy pro debuters going it at: David Cotti from El
Paso and Humberto Perez from Anthony, NM. 
Super
Welterweight Bobby Joe Valdez also picked up a DQ win over a last-minute
opponent from Juarez. Alejandro Rivera—a consistent lightweight who somehow
was able to gain enough weight to get into the ring with 149-pounder Valdez.
The
last undercard fight saw a potentially-explosive rematch between cross-town
rivals Alex Becerra and Jacob Gomez. Last time, on the Vargas vs. Rivera card,
Becerra lost a very close 6-round decision to Gomez—the only loss on his 5-1
record. He vowed to beat Gomez this time.