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text & photos by chris cozzone It was bad blood bedlam last night when “Vicious” Vernon Payne took on veteran Rudy “Bad Boy” Lovato at the Sky City Casino. But after three rounds of fouls and fight action, and both fighters living up to their nicknames, it was Payne taking home the win and Lovato, earning only a suspension. It was an intriguing match-up: Lovato, a ring veteran of 40-something fights pitted against the undefeated prospect, Payne; slick defense ring savvy vs. fast, aggressive youth. As much as both fighters wanted to tear into each other, it was a fight that promised to be a tactical fight . . . But sometimes bad blood can get the best of you, as it did with Lovato. The fight was nearly over just as soon as it began, the first time Lovato and Payne tied up. The ref called “Break!” and Rudy threw a punch as Payne let go. Payne immediately retaliated and the two started scrapping as the ref tried to pull one fighter off the other. Trainers, seconds and Sky City security jumped into the ring trying to break up the fighting as the two duked it out from one corner to the other. “Let calmness prevail!” shouted ring announcer Ricardo Trujillo. Lovato’s corner would later insist it was Payne who started the fouling, with an intentional headbutt; other spectators said that Lovato had blatantly headbutted Payne, then followed up with hitting on the break. Regardless, it was an ugly scene; one that made the Brady-Varela fight on the last Fresquez card look like a peaceful chess match.
There wasn’t much left, minutewise, to the round but there was plenty of time for more fouls: Lovato was warned again, for pushing down on Payne (he said Vernon was coming in with his head.)
Due
to the point off Lovato, I gave the first round to Payne. Otherwise, it
would’ve been an even 10-10 round.
Round
Two had equal fouling and fighting. Lovato lost another point, I can’t
remember whether it was for hitting on the break or for throwing Payne
against the ropes.
Points
for fighting had to go to Payne who was using his speed to move in and
out and score effectively. Lovato, who’d planned to attack Payne’s
body and keep up a tight defense, had thrown his game plan out the
window. His temper was losing the fight for him.
Payne
took over in the 3rd, keeping his head together and zipping
in and out, landing hard shots that rocked Rudy several times. Rudy was
warned again, for pushing Payne down, and then was penalized yet again
for hitting on the break. The crowd had switched over from chanting
“VERN-ON! VERN-ON!” to “RU-DY SUCKS! RU-DY SUCKS!”—a few
enraged spectators threw cups into the ring.
Needless
to say, it was another 10-8 round for Payne.
It
was also the last round, for after the bell rang, Rudy threw
another punch and that was the last straw for the ref who called it
quits, giving Payne the win by DQ.
From
the look of the 3rd Round, it appeared as if Lovato was
saving himself a stoppage in the 4th—it was better to lose
by DQ than by KO/TKO. But Rudy says otherwise:
“By
the 3rd, it was a lost cause,” he said after the fight.
“The ref took too many points off me.”
Lovato
admitted he let his temper get the best of him, but he also says the
“ref added fuel to the flame” by showing favoritism. As Lovato’s
new trainer, Dan Stenado put it:
“I’ve
been in this business 43 years and I’ve never seen such an inept
referee. There were no warnings and after that first scuffle, the
referee should’ve brought both fighters together to warn them both.
Payne was coming in with his head and not once did the ref warn him.
Rudy’s got a cut to prove it. The ref let the fight get out of hand
and did not once step in between the fighters to break it up.”
While
Lovato did have a bad cut over his left eye, what it was caused by, is
unknown.
“Vicious”
Vernon denied Lovato’s accusations. Said Payne:
“Why
would I need to foul? I don’t need to fight dirty. I was hitting him
hard and he was backing up. But let him talk all he wants . . . I said
before his mouth was going to get him in trouble. Bottom line is, he
couldn’t handle my power.”
Unfortunately,
for Rudy Lovato, his career is now on hold because the NM State Athletic
Commission has suspended his license. They came damn near close to
holding the purse, too, after last night’s fight.
What’s
next for Payne?
Fred
Esquibel, Payne’s trainer, says he wants to continue to increase the
level of opposition. Other than Chris Linson, Jr., there’s no one left
in the state to challenge Vernon.
The
first official fight of the night saw the pro debut of Jackie Chavez,
against 1-4 fighter from Arizona, Brandy Leon.
Chavez
was the aggressor from the start, putting pressure on Leon and throwing
combinations. At the end of the round, Chavez had Leon against the ropes
and in trouble but Leon tied up to avoid the damage.
Chavez
also took the second round but almost gave it away by waiting too much
and not throwing punches. The last punch of the round made the
difference in the round. Again, Leon tied up to avoid further
punishment.
Round
Three saw Jackie Chavez coming out strong again, applying pressure and
throwing combinations. At :29, she downed Leon with a hard right that
bloodied her nose and referee Rocky Burke stopped the fight, awarding
the TKO win to Chavez.
It’s
been a year since Jesus has fought, and that ring rust showed—for at
least 30 seconds of the first round.
Orrantia
came to fight, and he nearly finished off Banuelos in the first 30
seconds by landing powerful rights that rocked Jesus. But Banuelos got
his bearings straight and retaliated, bloodying Orrantia’s nose and
fighting back. He took back that round by slipping punches, moving
around and throwing combinations—at least I thought so.
Banuelos
was also strong in the second, fighting calmly and avoiding Orrantia’s
looping punches and answering back with his own combinations. Perhaps
more punches landed on Banuelos than should have but he still
commandeered the round.
Round
Three saw Jesus fall apart. Suddenly, Banuelos was out of steam and
Jaime Orrantia was landed hard punches that nearly finished him off. He
held on but lost the round.
The
last round saw both fighters tired, although Jesus had something of a
second wind going—almost enough to take Orrantia out. But Orrantia
tied up when possible and somehow made it to the end.
Somehow,
the judges had a split decision. One had it 39-38 for Banuelos (I had it
39-37 for Banuelos.) The other two judges had it for Orrantia:
39-37 twice. At worst, it should’ve been a draw, depending on how you
saw that first round, but how anyone could’ve given the 2nd
or 4th round to Orrantia is beyond me.
The
final undercard fight of the night saw Steve Aragon up against Guillermo
Vara.
While
Vara wasn’t the world’s fastest opponent, Aragon has never looked
better. He’s beginning to settle into a very definitive style that
suits him: move, circle, hit, move, hit . . . . Vara spent all six
rounds turning around and looking for Aragon, who was never in one place
for more than a jab or a one-two.
In
the 4th, Aragon almost had Vara out with hard-rocking shots
but the Mexican showed heart and stayed upright. Aragon came close
again, in the 5th and 6th, but again, Vara tied up
when possible and never gave up trying to land shots on the faster
Aragon.
At
the end of six, judges had it unanimously for Aragon: 60-54, 60-54 and
59-56. # # #
“Vicious”
Vernon Payne
(7-0, 4 KO’s)
Win by DQ 3
“Bad Boy”
Rudy
Lovato
(19-22-3, 6 KO’s) ©
2001 by New Mexico Boxing.com. |
What the ref
should’ve done right there was bring both fighters into the middle of
the ring to give them a verbal warning, but instead he just started up
the action again after taking a point off Rudy for hitting on the break.
The
fight card opened up with an exhibition bout between amateur Hector
Munoz and 1-2 fighter Jose Luis Rivera. Munoz showed solid skills and
was in control of every round before putting Rivera down with a hard
body shot in the 4th. Rivera has looked better, in the ring
and in the gym.
Jesus
Banuelos was up next, against 3-0 fighter Jaime Orrantia.
In
the 1st, a headbutt drew several streams of blood from a cut
high on Aragon’s forehead; but he kept to his hit-and-move game plan,
scoring hits and confusing Vara. This continued through the first three
rounds.