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Sanchez Stopped in Shocker!
ringside
by chris cozzone and ricardo trujillo
photos by cozzone
“I got
a big surprise for Ray Sanchez.”
That’s
what Jose Juan “Maromerito” Mendez was saying a couple hours
before he was scheduled to fight the undefeated prospect from
Albuquerque.
“What is
the surprise?” we asked.
The squat
little tattooed cholo from Juarez looked down, motioning
to one fist, then the other “The surprise? My left . . . and my
right.”
Mendez was
wrong—it was to be his right, then his left.
Mendez was
called in to give Sanchez a little bit of Hell—not a
lot—and, ultimately, another ‘W’. The .500 fighter from Juarez,
who fights anywhere from jr. featherweight to, now, jr.
welterweight, was not only giving up natural weight, but 8
inches in height—he was 5’2” to Ray’s 5’10”.
Needless
to say, he was not supposed to win.
Sanchez
III, groomed for “Big Things,” and a possible WBC Youth Title
shot next year, was deemed the “New Pride of Albuquerque.” No
one expected a career derailment so soon, if at all.
Round One
was close. Sanchez, more effective when boxing the much-shorter
Mendez, threw his game plan out at times, choosing to slug it
out with his foe. While caught at times with loopy right hands,
Sanchez eked out the 1st with his cleaner punches.
Sanchez
was boss in the 2nd, although it was easy to see that
he was having a hard time landing cleanly on Mendez. Sanchez’s
height advantage worked against him, as he chose to crouch and
“fight small.”
Trying to
get in, Sanchez led with a left uppercut to start off the 3rd
round. But, Mendez pressed the attack throughout the round,
driving Sanchez back. Looking awkward for the first time as a
pro, Sanchez abandoned his plan to box and duked it out with
Mendez.
Big
mistake.
With just
40 seconds left in the round, while the two were trading in the
center of ring, Mendez fired a short right lead followed by
looping left hook, sending Sanchez stumbling back and crashing
to the canvas near the ropes.
Glassy-eyed, Sanchez looked like he was trying to find a focal
point as he grabbed at the ropes and hauled himself upright in
the nick of time. Some gathered ringside said the count exceeded
ten, but Sanchez was somewhat upright when the ref’s fingers
showed “nine.”
It was
survival time. First clutching at Mendez for a few precious
moments of recuperation, Sanchez tried to keep Mendez off of him
with his jab, taking a few more loopy right hands before the
bell saved him. He staggered back to his corner where he was
sponged down by Miguel Diaz, then thoroughly and desperately
worked over while Ray Sanchez II shouted to his son to “Box!
Don’t brawl with this guy!”
But either
Sanchez was not listening, or he never truly recovered.
Fighting
on instinct and heart, Sanchez tossed out strategy to go
toe-to-toe with Mendez—a fight Sanchez was not going to win in
his current state.
Mendez
stayed on top of the taller Sanchez, pounding him to the body
and scoring with his wild right hands, driving the prospect
back. At the end of the round, clearly won by Mendez, Sanchez,
once again, staggered back to his corner, looking shell-shocked
and ready to drop.
The fight
for revival did not last long. Thirty seconds to the 5th
round bell, Sanchez was seen shaking his head. Moments later,
the corner stopped the fight, giving Mendez the win by TKO.
Before the
finish, all three judges had Mendez ahead: 37-36 and 39-34
twice. The two judges who scored it 39-34 gave Mendez 10-8
rounds in both the 3rd and 4th. Fightnews
and NewMexicoBoxing had it 38-37 for Mendez, giving Sanchez the
first two and Mendez, the third and fourth.
Mendez,
now 9-7-2 with 2 KO’s, ate up the crowd who cried out their
approval in seeing the local opponent make good.
“I am so
happy with this victory,” he said after the fight. “I was
surprised when I put him down.”
When asked
if Sanchez had ever hurt him, he said, “іNunca!”
(“Never!”)
Feeling
dizzy with a headache, Sanchez went to the hospital as a
precautionary measure. Manager Cameron Dunkin later said he was
okay but that he was disappointed. Sanchez also apologized to
his fans.
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Pacheco
Keeps Title in War!
ringside
by chris cozzone and ricardo trujillo
photos by cozzone
The
card was a cut-and-paste job; the six-bout card dropped to
four on the day of the weigh-in; Olympian Daniel Ponce de
Leon’s opponent was a no-show; the Southwest superfight
between Anthony Mora and Adan Hernandez never materialized;
and there wasn’t a single El Pasoan on the card.
But it
was still the best El Paso card this year.
There
was no lack of action last night at the El Paso Convention
Center on a Telefutura-televised card that saw a bloody
world title fight preceded by a shocking upset.
Twelve-hundred fans came out hoping to watch a Mexican
contender beat a Flyweight champ; a fair amount of those
came from Albuquerque to watch their undefeated hopeful
score another win.
Not
everything went according to plan.
In the
main event, Columbian Irene Pacheco (27-0, 20 KO’s) might’ve
taken the scorecards, but Los Mochis, Mexico’s Alejandro
Montiel (47-5, 27 KO’s) won the praise and adoration of the
crowd.
Such
heart!
Southpaw Pacheco picked up the first four rounds,
controlling the pace with his right hand jab, keeping the
fight in the center of the ring. From the first couple power
shots Pacheco landed, it was clear that he was the stronger
fighter. Montiel could not get past the jab and by the end
of the 4th, his left eye was puffy.
In the
5th, Pacheco, getting cocky, motioned Montiel to
the ropes. The challenger obliged, landing his best shots of
the fight. Taking the fight to the champ, Montiel continued
to fight, do or die, winning his first round.
In the
6th, Montiel was bleeding profusely from an
accidental headbutt occurring the round before. In what was
to be a routine affair, the referee had the doc check things
out. The gash over Montiel’s left brow dribbled blood into
his eye but he was deemed able to continue—this time and the
proceeding five times the physician checked him out.
When
the fight resumed, in a show of desperation, Montiel backed
Pacheco to the ropes and pounded him to the head and body.
The 7th was a repeat round: the ringside doc
checking out Montiel’s injury, and the Mexican turning up
the heat, taking the fight to the champ who’d slowed down
somewhat.
In the
8th, Montiel continued waging desperate warfare,
despite the numerous headbutts by Pacheco and the ringside
doc breathing down his back. The much more aggressive
Monitiel, urged on by the crowd chanting, “Mex-i-co!
Mex-i-co!” landed the harder, cleaner shots winning a 10-8
round after Pacheco lost a point for hitting and holding.
Bleeding like a stuck pig, Montiel stayed aggressive
throughout the 9th. The more he bled, the more
aggressive he fought. But in the 10th, Pacheco
got his second wind and starting fighting from the outside
again.
In the
11th, both fighters were tired, but Montiel, who
should’ve been drained of blood by now, kept on playing the
aggressor, countering Pacheco’s headbutts with plenty of
thrown elbows.
In the
final round, Pacheco played it safe, boxing a
still-aggressive Montiel who was, somehow, still able to
stay on his feet.
Fightnews & NewMexicoBoxing had it 116-111 for Pacheco.
Judges saw it 117-110, 118-109 and 115-112, all for Pacheco
who retains his IBF Flyweight title.
Pacheco, still the champ, earned only boos from the crowd;
Montiel, although losing the fight, had to settle for
winning the crowd.
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Bebe Beat by Cobrita’s Bro
Lanky
and flashy.
That
was Marinho Gonzales through six spirited rounds with local
fave Julian “Bebe” Rodriguez. Spurred on by the home crowd,
Bebe gave him a fight, but was outclassed by former
featherweight champ Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzales' little
hermosa.
Content to counter-punch, Rodriguez gave up the first and
second rounds to Gonzales who was coming coming forward and
landing the harder, cleaner shots. By the 3rd,
Bebe was inching his way closer to the showboater although
his right eye was puffing up. Gonzales, while showing much
skill and winning the rounds, was too methodical in his
punishment of Rodriguez. He was also too strong for Bebe.
Bebe’s
corner implored their man to “take the clown out of
Gonzales," which he was not able to do. In the last round,
Rodriguez poured it on but it was too late to sway the
judges who saw it 60-54 twice and 59-55.
Valdez
Beats Aranday in No
Contest
It was
another mismatch of weight classes: Adrian “Gallero” Valdez,
who fights consistently at bantamweight, came in at 132 to
take on grizzled veteran Juan Aranday, who campaigns at
130-140.
Gallero
still whupped Aranday, only to lose out in the end to
a premature stoppage with a No Contest decision declared
after an unintentional head butt opened up a gash over
Aranday's eye.
Valdez’s southpaw stance perplexed Aranday and he controlled
the action from the outside, popping away at the veteran,
while the fight lasted. Aranday rushed in to counterpunch in
the 2nd, only to hit air when Gallero used his
footwork. The unintentional clash of heads occurred in the
3rd and the bout was declared a No Contest under the TX
State Athletic Commission as the fight did not reach four
rounds.
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