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Brav-oh!
Brady
Shows Skills & Class in 8-Round Win Over Nito Bravo
by
chris cozzone
The
‘South San Jose Assassin’, Joseph Brady, remains
undefeated with an impressive win over Tucson’s Nito
‘El Gallito’ Bravo last night at the Sky City Casino
in Acoma, NM.
Refusing
to get suckered into a brawl, and abstaining from the
occasional wrestling and below-beltline tactics we’ve
seen him employ in the past, Brady kept a level head and
stuck to a solid stick-and-move game plan that gave him at
least five of the eight rounds.
The
first round was a tentative round. The best punch came
from Bravo, although Brady was the busier fighter. Things
began to heat up near the end of the round. It was a close
round, as was the 2nd, which saw Bravo
attacking the body while Brady outlanded.
It
was beginning to look like a damn close fight, until the 3rd
Round. Corner adjustments were made between the 2nd
and 3rd because Brady came out for the 3rd
a different fighter. Brady was moving now, employing
hit-and-run tactics rather than stand in front of Bravo
trading blows. While Bravo was successful in making Brady
miss, when the hometowner did hit, he connected solid.
 The
4th might’ve been Bravo’s best round. He
was the effective aggressor and was able to cut the ring
off from Brady. He also landed some bombs that had Brady
trying to keep his distance.
The
5th and 6th went back to Brady, who
was able to stick and move, stick and move, frustrating
the smaller Bravo who spent his time in pursuit.
Bravo
came back in the 7th, landing enough body shots
to give him the round, but Brady outpointed him in the 8th
and final, securing the decision.
Judges
scored it 78-76, 78-75 and 79-73. I had it 78-75, scoring
the first even and giving Bravo Rounds 4 and 7.
Bottom
line is, Bravo just wasn’t busy enough. And he could not
nail Brady down in one place long enough to land what
appeared to be harder shots.
Brady?
He never looked better.
By
the time Brady vs. Bravo was over, it was nearly
midnight—a late night at Sky City where they like the
bouts to end by ten. Although there was the usual 15-30
minute late start, the reason for the late night was
because every single fight went the distance—a first for
the Sky City – Fresquez cards. Not only did they all go
the distance, but there was only one knockdown in all six
fights.
Normally,
a shortage of knockdowns or knockouts make a dull fight
card—but that was not the case here.
The
action started up at 8 with a super bantamweight
four-rounder between Farmington’s Victor Barela (2-0, 1
KO) and Heriberto Hernandez (3-8, 1 KO) from Denver.
Barela,
who recently made his pro debut in Ignacio, CO, is a
pleasant surprise in a state that’s beginning to see a
shortage of super bantamweights. He moves well and handled
himself against a veteran of 11 fights.
Barela
kept to the outside and let Hernandez pursue him,
frequently catching the veteran when he was coming in. The
1st saw Barela landing the cleaner, harder
shots despite a busier Hernandez who was busier but less
effective. The 2nd and 3rd was more
of the same; a slower Hernandez pursuing while Barela
outpointed.
If
there was a round to give Hernandez, it was the 4th.
Barela ran a bit too much for my taste, in the final
round, while Hernandez desperately tried to cut the ring
off and connect a few.
Two
judges had it a shutout for Barela, 40-36, while the third
had it 39-38. I saw it 39-37 for Barela.
 The
second bout of the evening was a 4-round women’s
superbantamweight bout between Rosales’ Gym fighter
Jackie Chavez and Nicole Gallegos from Denver.
Gallegos
proved tough but Chavez proved tougher.
In
the 1st, Jackie, while pursuing Gallegos, had
difficulty getting in and landing. When she did, Gallegos
fought back and, I thought, picked up the round. The rest
of the rounds were Jackie’s; she figured out what to do
in the 2nd, throwing more punches and jabbing
her way inside the distance Gallegos created. Although not
as busy as the 3rd, Chavez landed the telling
shots.
Those
telling shots landed in frequency in the 4th
and nearly resulted in Gallegos getting knocked out near
the end of the round.
At
the end of 4, two judges had it 40-37 for Chavez; the
third had it 38 even, which made it a majority decision
for Chavez.
Now
at 2-0 (1 KO), Chavez shows great promise. Plus, she’s
kinda fun to watch. When she concentrates hard, she has
this ‘evil squint’ to her eyes. What she has to stop
doing, though, is be so girly-nice to her opposition. Her
and Gallegos were practically hugging between every round
in a beyond-the-call-of-duty sportsmanship. While I’m
busy banging away verbal abuse, I’ll throw one at
Gallegos: What’s up with those foamy chest guards? They
were massive and unsecured.
Is
there such as thing as regulation chest guards in
women’s boxing? If so, what are the specs?
Back
to the subject of boxing . . .
The
next bout of the night I’d figured would be the Fight of
the Night . . . and it nearly was.
In
a six-round flyweight bout, Santa Fe’s Bryan Garcia made
a return to the ring against hot prospect Alex “El
Diablo” Becerra, from El Paso.
I’d
figured on a damn near-even fight that would see Bryan
edge out a decision. At the end of six, I had to eat my
words after Becerra showed himself not only a hard puncher
but quick and crafty.
For
the first half-minute of the 1st, Becerra held
back while Garcia took the lead. It was almost as if
Becerra was studying his opponent. After about 30 seconds,
he went to work—and it looked as if he had Garcia’s
style figured out. Although Garcia remained the busier of
the two, Becerra’s harder punches gave him the round.
 I
thought Garcia was fast . . . but Becerra was faster.
Plus, he found all of Garcia’s openings in the 2nd.
Becerra’s left hand had Garcia in trouble in spots.
In
the 3rd and 4th, Becerra continued
to dictate, landing hard shots in the least-expected
angles. He was beginning to unravel Garcia now,
counterpunching his way to a win.
The
5th Round, though, was different. Becerra was a
bit out of steam and Garcia outpointed Becerra until the
end of the round when a hard left convinced me to give the
round to Becerra . . . and a few seconds later, a great
left-right from Garcia gave him back the round. I gave
Round 5 to Garcia and scored it a 10-8 round after Becerra
lost a point from a low blow.
Becerra
was back in full form in the 6th and nearly had
Garcia out. But Garcia held on and survived.
At
the end of six, Becerra was given the unanimous: 59-55,
58-55 and 58-56. I had it 58-55.
Becerra
is the man to watch in the super flyweight division.
Recently signed with Ten Goose Sports along with
stablemates from the Jorge Garcia team in El Paso, Adan
Hernandez and Cesar Lopez, Becerra rises to 7-1.
Fellow
Santa Fean Chris Linson, Jr. was up next, in a tune-up,
return to the ring bout against Eugene Lopez from Denver.
 Although
he was a few pounds overweight from his usual welterweight
level, Linson looked good in spots as he shook off his
ring rust and controlled six rounds with the much-slower
Lopez.
Linson
went to work on Lopez’s body and nearly had him down in
the 3rd and 6th—and did
have him down in the 4th from a left hook.
Except for the 5th round when he looked a
little tired, Linson took every round.
The
scorecards read 59-54, 60-54 and 59-54, all for Linson. I
had it 59-54 for Linson.
Linson
will continue his comeback in January on a card headlined
by Frankie Archuleta. In the Spring, Linson may be facing
Vernon Payne—plus, there’s talk about fighting Hector
Camacho, Jr.
 The
final undercard bout and semi-main turned out to be the
night’s best fight. In a battle of bangers, Tommy Aragon
went up against the rugged Arturo Cruz from Denver.
The
three factors in this fight turned out to be Tommy’s
knockout power punches, Tommy’s wind, and Cruz’s chin.
The
first three round were all Aragon’s. Although Cruz
surprised me by fighting on the outside and boxing,
staying out of range, it was Tommy’s looping left hands
that gave him the rounds.
Aragon
has definite knockout power and there aren’t many who
can stand those punches for very long . . . but Arturo
Cruz has one helluva set of whiskers.
Rounds
4 through 8 were all Cruz’s rounds.
From
Round 4 on, Tommy got tired. His bombs were no longer
landing squarely and many of ‘em missed Cruz who was
able to avoid while he popped Aragon with jabs and
left-rights.
 Cruz
turned up the heat in the 5th and in the 6th,
staggered Aragon several times. While Aragon huffed and
puffed and went into ‘turtle mode,’ Cruz continued to
hit him with combinations—many of which hit Tommy’s
gloves, many of which
didn’t.
The
final round was the best round. Aragon staged a desperate
comeback but by then, it was too late. Cruz was hurting
him too much and getting the best of their exchanges.
At
the end of 8, I had it 77-75 for Cruz. The judges had it
80-75, 78-74 and 77-75, all for Cruz.
Special
guests at the fights, in town for the Andres Fernandez
benefit the night before, included Clarence “Bones”
Adams and Francisco “Panchito” Bojado. Bones will be
fighting Paulie Ayala on February 23rd in a
rematch and promised to “beat his ass.” Bojado also
returns to the ring in February, with yet another step up
in competition. At the fight, he mentioned Joel Casamayor,
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Kostya Tszyu all as possible
opponents in the next year or so.
#
# #
Joseph
Brady
(8-0, 1 NC, 3 KO's) UD 8
Neto Bravo
(11-4-1, 8 KO's)
Chris
Linson, Jr.
(21-3)
UD
6
Eugene Lopez
(8-19-1, 2 KO's)
Arturo
Cruz
(16-10-1, 7 KO's)
UD 8
Tommy Aragon
(5-3, 4 KO's)
Alex
Becerra
(7-1)
UD 6
Bryan Garcia
(4-5)
Jackie
Chavez
(2-0, 1 KO)
Majority Decision 4
Nicole Gallegos
(1-2-1)
Victor
Barela
(2-0, 1 KO)
W 4
Heriberto Hernandez
(3-8-2,
1 KO's)
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