Unlucky Friday the 13th!
Barrera Edges Out Archuleta for NABA Belt in Upset Majority Decision Win

text and photos by chris cozzone

If you are superstitious that bad things happen on Friday the 13^th, you were right on the money last night at Isleta Casino. While the horde of slot-machine players might’ve gotten lucky last night at the casino, hometown hopeful Frankie Archuleta did not, losing his belt and a close fight to Alejandro Barrera.

While only a thousand or less came out to see the fight, Archuleta had the hometown advantage, and a fight record boasting better opposition. While undefeated, Barrera—cousin to the Featherweight King, Marco Antonio Barrera—had fought marginal opponents; Archuleta was a swan dive into contendership—a risk that paid off.

Barrera had two attributes that made the difference: his pedigree, and his hunger.

While Barrera set the pace in the 1^st by pressing forward, Archuleta asserted himself by coming off first in the exchanges, landing several left hooks that reassured the crowd that this was his fight. But Barrera made the right adjustments between rounds and came out in the 2^nd utilizing a jab that Archuleta would abandon throughout the fight. The better shots were Barrera’s, and although a close round, the challenger’s effective aggression was in his favor.

In the 3^rd, an unintentional headbutt opened up a cut over Barrera’s right eye. The stream of blood streaking down Barrera’s forehead triggered Archuleta to let loose. Now fighting with more aggression, he went to work on Barrera, throwing more combinations.

The 4^th went back to Barrera. During one heated exchange, Archuleta was laced, opening up an identical cut over his right eye. This time, Barrera pressed the action and by the end of the round, it was two rounds apiece, with both fighters bleeding from similar cuts. Frankie was also swelling under his right eye.

Archuleta slowed down in the 5^th, giving Barrera and his jab the round. While he landed the better shots in the 6^th, making it a difficult round to score, Archuleta was letting Barrera outhustle him. Throwing one punch at a time wasn’t going to win Frankie this fight.

The 7^th was a better round for the champion. Coming out aggressive, he counter-pressed Barrera and landed short combinations. But in the 8^th, he did not throw much of anything, at least for the first two minutes. But in the final minute, Archuleta stole the round by suddenly opening up on Barrera, sealing the round with a beautiful left hook that snapped Barrera’s head back just before the bell sounded.

Finally fighting with hunger, Archuleta battled back in the 9^th, making it the best round of the fight. When the two went toe-to-toe, as they did often in this round, it was Archuleta giving more than he was getting, landing the better shots.

Frankie’s activity nose-dived in the 10^th and for part of the 11^th. Barrera simply outhustled, outworked Archuleta, who was not throwing enough. The final round saw Archuleta load up early, starting out strong and winning the round until Barrera’s last reserve kicked in.

I had the fight a draw, 114-114. Judges had it 117-113 (Al Martinez); 115-113 (Levi Martinez); and 114-114 (Esther Lopez), making it a majority decision for While the crowd booed the decision, and one bozo threw a wad of paper into the ring, Barrera was too busy smiling, posing for photos with his new belt. Promoter Lenny Fresquez wasn’t too thrilled, though, and made it a point to have a few nasty words with judge Al Martinez, who countered Fresquez with a one-two expletive of his own.

While the 122-pound division breathed a sigh of relief when Marco Antonio Barrera moved up to 126 a couple years ago, super bantamweight champs and contenders should ready themselves for Alejandro, who remains undefeated at 15-0 (10 KO’s).

As for Frankie, who falls to 22-3-2 (14 KO’s)? There’s already talk of a rematch—the fight was close enough to go either way. But, now beltless, we should expect to see Archuleta slip down the rankings where he’d been hovering near the top ten.

Archuleta said afterwards that he thought the fight was pretty close, but called Barrera a "dirty fighter."

"I was laced in the 3rd and that's what caused the cut," says Archuleta, who also says that he was constantly elbowed and laced throughout the fight.

NABA representative George Martinez says the fight was close enough to warrant a mandatory rematch and that a tape of the fight would be reviewed.

What now, New Mexico?

Archuleta’s bad-luck-Friday-the-13^th loss wraps up a bad-luck year for New Mexico. Six months ago, we were on top of the world: Johnny Tapia was champ again; Danny Romero was knocking out guys on his way to a 3^rd world title; Ray Sanchez III was looking like a hot prospect; and Frankie was edging his way into contendership. Well, Tapia lost—convincingly lost, for the first time in his career—to Barrera; Romero lost by injury to Carbajal in a world title fight; Sanchez III was beaten by a bad-ass little Mexican opponent; and now, Archuleta has been unbelted, as well.

Barring those still early on their career with fights in the single digits, things are looking Joseph Brady. The undefeated FecarBox champ, while not yet proven against also-rated jr. middleweights, continues to show a toughness and hunger worthy of the up-and-coming Mexican fighters.

Mad Max Clinics Clown

Topping off the undercard at last night’s battles was the formerly-nicknamed “Hollywood” Max Heyman, who has now re-emerged as a near-middleweight sporting the “Mad” Max alias. Now training exclusively under Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Heyman, who weighed in at an all-time low of 164, showed increased speed and power.

Matched up in a get-back fight against the “Irish Express” Roland Commings, Mad Max took care of business in what had to be the most entertaining fight of the night.

At the opening bell, the “Irish Express”, head first, rushed Heyman like a freight train, looking to derail the superior opponent with one fell headbutt. Mad Max saw it coming and stepped to the side, grabbing Commings in a clinch.

When the fight resumed, it took all of five seconds to figure out that Commings was hopelessly outclassed by Heyman—and that, if he couldn’t beat Mad Max by fouling, he would attempt to hopelessly outclown the hometowner.

Too strong, too fast, too skilled for Commings, Mad Max dominated his foe, who would react by flailing himself across the ring after a punch, bouncing off the ropes like he was a WWF wrestler, and sling-shotting himself back at Max with a Hail Mary punch, elbow or head-butt.

Wise to Commings’ clownish antics, Max took his time to take his man apart. By the end of the 1^st, Commings was already bleeding and by the end of the 2^nd, it looked like his nose had broken.

Outclassed and on his way to a knockout loss, Commings continued his slapstick frolicking. If he wasn’t mocking either Max or referee Larry Chavez, Commings would be playing possum, pretending that he was ready to drop, then throw himself at Max with a loopy, winged punch or an elbow.

This hilarity continued on, and in the 3^rd, Commings actually grabbed Heyman and lifted him overhead before letting him crash down on the canvas! Heyman, who would’ve been hurt had it not been for his wrestling background, got up, unfazed while ref Chavez deducted two points off Commings for his blatant disregard of the rules.

The circus would continue but one more round.

Heyman slammed Commings with a left hook and down he went. Visibly hurt and now bleeding from at least two cuts on his swelling mug, Commings reacted by mocking the referee, counting along with him in an exaggerated manner. In between his continued clowning, Commings spent the rest of the round trying to survive, and did not answer the 5^th round bell.

Heyman rises to 16-4-3 (10 KO’s); Commings evens out at 22-22-3 (10 KO’s).

Barela Wins a Dull One

In the only dull fight of the evening, Farmington’s Victor Barela (6-0, 2 KO’s) kept his record clean with a unanimous decision over Heriberto Velasquez (4-13-2, 2 KO’s), who took the fight on 24 hours notice.

This fight was a rematch from last year, in which Barela outhustled Velasquez for four; this time, he did it for six, but in less-impressive fashion.

Velasquez might be 4-13-2, but he always comes to fight. Throughout the fight, it was Velasquez pressing the action, Velasquez looking to mix it up—and Velasquez losing almost every round on the scorecards, somehow.

In his first six-rounder, Barela fought a safe fight on the outside, staying away from exchanges, a la Floyd Mayweather, and doing just enough to win each round by throwing non-committal punches.

“What’s he waiting for?”

“Throw something!”

That’s what the crowd was shouting at Barela by the 3^rd round. Reluctant to mix it up, he spent his rounds backpedaling away from the aggressive Velasquez and throwing trivial shots. Barela looked like he was trying to conserve energy and was breathing out of his mouth by the 3^rd.

In the final round, Velasquez was maneuvering the undefeated Farmington prospect against the ropes when Barela threw a loopy punch and immediately took a knee, overextending his shoulder.

Although ruled as a knockdown, one judge actually failed to count it as a winning round for Velasquez. Scorecards read it as a near shutout for Barela: 59-55 twice and 60-54. I had it 58-56 for Barela, giving Velasquez the 2^nd round and also the 6^th, although making it a 10-9 rather than 10-8 for Velasquez.

Taylor Makes Wade

In a good action four-rounder, Tucson prospect Jonathan Taylor came to town—and went to town—on Donnel “Donamite!” Wade.

While Wade could probably bench press a couple Jonathan Taylor’s, he lacked the height, skill and speed to beat him up. Taylor, a solid prospect with only one loss to Seschew Powell (and a majority decision loss, at that), had it going on from the opening bell.

He took the steam out of Wade early on by battering him to the ribs. Forced to cover up and fight mainly on the defensive, Wade had his moments, landing a few big shots but, for the most part, unable to get past Taylor’s defense. Egging Wade to, c’mon, let’s fight, Taylor hammered away from the outside and, as the fight wore on, stood there in front of Wade.

Squared off, Wade could not land cleanly, nor could he see the openings—mainly, up the middle with a well-placed uppercut. Taylor, on the other hand, saw his openings and in the 3^rd, had Wade in a bit of trouble. Staggered by an uppercut, Wade tried to hang on most of the time, when he wasn’t trying to protect his battered ribs.

The final round saw Wade in survival mode, barely throwing at all while Taylor, grinning like a demon, hammered away.

At the end of 4, all three judges had it for Taylor, 39-37. I had it a shutout for Taylor, 40-36. Wade gets his first loss (1-1-1); Taylor moves up to 4-1, 2 KO’s.

New Mexico Superfight: Martinez vs. Valdez in a Battle of Undefeateds

Twenty-four hours. That’s all the time Espanola’s Tony Valdez had to prepare for David “Finito” Martinez. But despite the short notice, Valdez did not hesitate, and accepted the fight, putting his clean record on the line for the chance to upset a rising prospect.

Balls. Valdez must have the biggest ones in the state. Aptly named the “Warrior,” Valdez, after four easy opponents, finally got the chance to show us that he’s for real. Unfortunately, he was just a little too inexperienced for David Martinez, who must have four times the number of amateur fights Valdez has.

Deserving of equal-if-not-greater praise is, of course, Martinez, who also showed the fans what he’s made of last night, and that he’s for real. Looking his best yet, Martinez showed a solid defense and a ring-savvy plan of attack against Valdez.

The fight opened up razor-close, with Valdez on the attack and Martinez trying to counter while holding up a tight defense. After the first minute, Martinez had established authority by counter-punching Valdez and landing cleaner punches. In the last minute, a right followed by a left hook drove Valdez back.

Valdez came out like an animal in the 2^nd, pounding away at Martinez who was against the ropes. Martinez weathered the storm, though, and sticking to game plan, regained composure by using his jab. As the round wore on, Martinez started to take command of the fight.

While Valdez never backed down and continued to hurl himself into the fight, he had less effect as the fight wore on—while Martinez went from winning to schooling Valdez. There were a few times in the last round that Martinez looked like he was on his way to stopping Valdez but he could not follow up or did not want to, as Valdez remained dangerous throughout the duration.

At the end of four, all three judges had it a shutout for Martinez, 40-36. Still undefeated, Martinez moves up to 6-0 (2 KO’s); Valdez gets his first loss at 4-1 (4 KO’s).

Conan Destroys Espinoza

The El Paso-Juarez spoiler responsible for Shawn Gallegos’ first loss, and Tommy Aragon’s first knockout loss, Miguel “Conan” Torresillas, was supposed to take on Ray Sanchez III conqueror Jose Juan “Maromerito” Mendez, but after Mendez was unable to sneak across the border, Jose Espinoza was brought in from Cozumel, Mexico.

Espinoza, at 6-2 to Mendez’s 8-8, and nearly 6’0” to Mendez’s 5’2” was a solid step-up in competition, at least on paper.  But Torresillas was able to neutralize yet another opponent with the most impressive stoppage of the night, and best knockdown shot seen since he floored Tommy Aragon.

Espinoza towered over Torresillas and it was obvious in the 1^st, that Conan was going to have trouble getting within range and landing. Espinoza peppered him at first, while Torresillas glared upward, strategizing a way inside.

It didn’t take long. Halfway through the 1^st, Torresillas was stepping inside and letting his hands go, landing left hooks and overhand right hands.

In the 2^nd, it was a overhand right in the first minute that suddenly had Espinoza flat on his back, gazing upward at the lights. He beat the count but half a minute later, he was down again in similar fashion. After crawling to his hands and knees, the ref took a good look at Espinoza and called it off.

Could Miguel “Conan” Torresillas, now 12-3 (6 KO’s), be the best lightweight prospect in the Southwest? Part of the JCG crew that manages/trains Cesar Lopez and Alex Becerra, Torresillas is quickly becoming the most exciting fighter on the Isleta ticket.

Isleta Action

Despite the disappointing attendance, last night’s card might’ve had the best line-up all year on a New Mexican card. Unfortunately, the hometown team lost the main event, and Frankie Archuleta joins the “We’ll Be Back!” crew that includes Tapia, Romero and Sanchez III.

Isleta returns in January and then again, in March.

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