After trying to sell me steroids, Rene took out a newspaper and showed me the article about the fights that night, with weigh-in photos. On the facing page was a giant ad on the fight, proclaiming three title fights, the pro debut of an Olympian, and four additional fights—70 rounds total in all. I’d known Cesar Soto was on the card facing Edgar Barcenas, but that was all I knew. My efforts on obtaining further information from the promoters had been a difficult task.

Speaking of promoters . . . .

The Soto-Barcenas fight was hardly the real battle here in Juarez. The real war was between promoters. Tonight’s card was promoted by ‘Boxeo Verdad’, run by a Valentin Calanche. It was BV’s first promotion here in Juarez and according to the article my new good friend Rene translated for me, it hadn’t been easy to get things going and compete with the already-established Promociones Del Pueblo, headed by Oswaldo Kuchle (who also is the man behind Kirino Garcia, David “Tacubayo” Murillo, Juan Carlos “Ranchero” Ramirez, and many other top Mexican fighters.)

Kuchle’s fight cards are a tough act to follow. I’ve written before that PDP’s boxing events are the best I’ve ever seen, and that every fight fan should make the pilgrimage to Juarez at least once in their lifetime to see a Kuchle card.

But you got to give a new promoter a chance . . . and you got to give anyone credit for trying to put on a fight card. And, as a journalist, you still have to cover the events, no matter who puts on the show. So, here I was . . . .

Rene and I talked a bit more boxing, then he gossiped about Kuchle, which made it especially easy for him to steer the conversation back to his favorite subject: the service industry. He talked about one of the bars Kuchle owned, then talked about bars, in general, in the Red Light district and how inconvenient and tragic it was for customers to overpay for service. Not only do you have to pay the fee for women, but you have to buy drinks, tip the managers, tip the condom lady, and then negotiate a fee with the man in charge. No, bars were no good, he said, not when such stand-up establishments like his own existed.

Funny thing, the massage parlor. It was located in a typical office park-like building with a travel agency, a dentist’s office, an insurance agency in the compound. It was that feeling of legitimacy, he said, that made him buy the business for just $25,000 Now, it nets him a good $1,000 profit a week—and he only has to work 11 hours a day, manage 8 girls in 2-3 shifts, and pay the low overhead: $1,200 a month for rent plus supplies: condoms, towels, etc.

By the time my friends came out, red-faced and smiling, I knew everything there was to know about whoring. But being in the boxing business, I already knew most of it . . . .

Back to boxing.

Having satisfied their needs, my friends were ready to accompany me to the fights.

The Poliforo

It was not a good night for boxing in Juarez.

Adjacent to the Poliforo, located on the Fairgrounds, are the soccer fields—and tonight there was a mega-soccer event going on. It seemed as if half of Juarez were at the soccer games.

The usual sell-out 5,000 crowd was but a fraction at the Poliforo. One commission member said yes, it had to do with soccer, but it also had to do with Oswaldo Kuchle locking in his own once-scheduled-then-cancelled fight dates, which served to maneuver Boxeo Verdad to take the 31^st date instead of their original 29^th or 30^th date. (He also said that next month, Kuchle has reserved April 27^th for his own fight card; and that Boxeo Verdad has the 28^th scheduled for a card headlining Alfred Ankamah.)

Yet, others say the Kuchles have developed a solid fan base through their productions and their stable of popular fighters, and that there isn’t yet an interest in what Boxeo Verdad have to offer.

Can Boxeo Verdad compete with Promociones Del Pueblo? Time will tell.

Last night, though, was no threat (at least not yet.) The fights might’ve been competitive . . . there might’ve been three title fights . . . but the atmosphere of the Poliforo last night couldn’t match what I’ve seen there before.

There were technical problems, too. For one, the lights were missing (another scheme some credit/blame Kuchle, who runs his shows at the same venue.) Throughout the night, the house lights were kept on, which were supplemented by these horrendous banks of lights that were shining/glaring/blinding down on each corner. It not only made the fights hard to watch but made it nearly impossible to photograph.

Another problem was the ring. The posts and canvas had been freshly painted and the fumes were awful (I decided I’d better get drunk on Carta Blancas before I got too high off the paint fumes but I guess the two cancelled each other out and I remained seriously sober all night, damn it all.) Plus, there was so much rosin on the canvas the boxers would’ve been better off in cleats.

The usual rowdy atmosphere was missing, too . . . but that usually comes with a bigger crowd, and most of the drama in a fight card can be piloted with proper use of the lights (y’know, light in the ring, dark outside the ring.) To be fair, you got to give Boxeo Verdad a few fight cards to work out the technical kinks.

On to the meat of the fight card: the actual fighting . . . .

8 fights, 70 Rounds Scheduled

The fights started well after 8 PM, which meant that if all the fights went the distance, we’d be getting out of the Poliforo by the next afternoon. We were in for one long-ass evening . . . which is okay if the fights are right.

Bout #1 was the card’s one and only 4-rounder: Ernesto Garcia vs David “Chino” Gonzalez in a lightweight 4-rounder. Gonzalez was cut on the eyelid in the 3^rd and Garcia slipped hard on the rosin in the same round; but the two fought a decent fight. Judges scored it 39-37, Garcia; 38-37 for Gonzalez; and 39-37 for the winner by split-decision, Garcia.

Featherweights Pedro Garcia and Jesus Hernandez were up next. Round 1 & 2 saw Garcia, who was all business, beatin’ the crap out of Hernandez. Hernandez woke up in the 3^rd and gave Pedro a bloody nose. But Garcia came back in the next three rounds and won a lop-sided decision over Hernandez.

The third bout featured Cesar “Cobrita” Soto’s brother Orlando, up against a guy I’ve seen fight half a dozen times: Juan “Maromerito” Mendez. I didn’t know jack about Orlando Soto, but Mendez, I knew, is one of those guys you can’t stop. He keeps throwing punches and he’s got a solid chin; the only way to beat him is to outbox him and stay on the outside—which is what Rodrigo Facio found out last month when he lost to Mendez.

Round One was pretty even, but Mendez took all next 7 rounds. Mendez threw punches non-stop and although he seemed calm and able to weather Mendez’s storm, Soto could not launch an offensive fight. Mendez took the unanimous decision.

By now, I was getting worried that all of the fights would be going the distance. With the spring-ahead time change in the U.S., that meant a sleepless night for me.

But Saul Duran bought us some time with a 1^st Round KO over Pablo Garcia. Garcia never had a chance . . .

The 5^th fight gets my vote for Best Fight of the Night.

Alejandro “Pajarito” Estrada and Cruz Carbajal fought a hellish fight for the National Mexico Bantamweight championship belt. The action was continuous, the blows landed were hard and going into the sixth round, I could not honestly say who was winning. It was that close. And then at 2:40 of the 6^th, Estrada took a wicked body shot from Carbajal. Immediately, he turned his back on Carbajal and quit.

Winner by TKO: Carbajal.

Mexican Olympian Daniel Ponce de Leon was up next for his pro debut. He was slated for a 10-rounder against Serrando Solis (record unknown), but it might as well have been a 30-rounder . . . . Solis was down and out in Round One.

The WBA Superlightweight Fecarbox Intercontinental title fight was next, between Columbian Antonio Pitalua and Mauro “Golden Fists” Lucero of Juarez.

The first round was cautious but Lucero had the edge during the second round. Lucero’s aggression and domination increased with every round until by the 6^th, he was clearly winning this fight. Pitalua found himself backpedaling and fighting a defensive fight.

Until Round 6.

Lucero was hit with a solid right, which was probably the only hard, solid shot that landed all night by Pitalua. It was enough: Lucero went down and was counted out.

By now, it was well after midnight. My head was aching and my eyes hurting from staring into the glare . . . and I was sneezing from all the rosin dust. What made matters worse, was the guy next to me who’d had a few too many Carta Blancas. He was yelling in my ear and acting pretty obnoxious. I was gonna kick his ass but he had these big, sad cow eyes that made me feel sorry for him.

Finally, came the main event. Edgar “El Relampago” Barcenas was defending his WBC Continental Featherweight title against Juarez homeboy Cesar “Cobrito” Soto.

It was a tactical fight between two skilled fighters . . . unfortunately, neither one’s punches could hurt the other, which made the fight last through the 12^th. There were no knockdowns and no dramatic moments.

By the end of the fight, I had Soto ahead by a few rounds, but somehow, only one judge saw it that way. The other judge had ruled it a win for Barcenas; and the third, had it a draw. So, Barcenas kept his belt.

And that concluded Boxeo Verdad’s first fight card . . . Next up for BV: April 28^th will feature both Alfred Ankamah and Gerson Guerrero.

Stay tuned.

# # #

Soto vs Barcenas

 

Estrada vs. Carbajal

 

Pitalua vs. Lucero

Ponce de Leon vs. Sollis

 

Duran vs. Garcia

 

Mendez vs. Soto

Garcia vs. Hernandez

Garcia vs. Gonzalez

Edgar “El Relampago” Barcenas (19-6-4, 13 KO’s) MAJORITY DRAW Cesar “Cobrita” Soto (54-9-3, 40 KO’s)
Barcenas retains WBC Intercontinental Featherweight belt

Antonio Pitalua (31-2, 25 KO’s) KO 6 Mauro “Punas de Oro” Lucero (33-8-1, 21 KO’s) Pitalua wins WBA Fecarbox Superlightweight title

Cruz “Chucho” Carbajal (19-11-1, 16 KO’s) TKO 6 Alejandro “Pajarito” Estrada (25-2-3, 19 KO’s)
Carbajal wins Mexican Bantamweight title

Daniel Ponce de Leon (1-0, 1 KO) TKO 1 Serrando Solis (?)
10-round Super Flyweight bout; 2000 Olympian Ponce makes pro debut

Saul Duran (30-5-1, 25 KO’s) KO 1 Pablo “El Tiburon” Garcia (16-3-1, 12 KO’s)
10-round Super Lightweight bout

Juan “Maromerito” Mendez (4-4-1, 1 KO) W 8 Orlando “Rol” Soto (3-1-1, 3 KO’s)
8-round Super Bantamweight bout

Pedro Garcia (10-2, 7 KO’s) W 6 Jesus Hernandez (?)
6-round Featherweight bout

Ernesto Garcia (?) W 4 David “Chino” Gonzalez (?)
4-round Lightweight bout