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Longakit
Whips Alarcon for CO Jr. Lightweight Belt!
Four
KO’s and one Bad Decision for Debut Rocky Mountain Boxing Card
by chris
cozzone
Except
for one fight, the tagline held firm:
“Brawl
‘til they Fall!” was the title of the Cinco de Mayo card in
Pueblo, CO, a debut show by Aguilar & Toribio’s Rocky
Mountain Boxing Promotions; and except for one match, every fight
ended in dramatic KO fashion.
The
main event was an 8-round match for the Colorado State Jr.
Lightweight belt; a bout between Corey Alarcon and Ronnie Longakit
that many thought would go the distance.
Alarcon
showed more skills than Longakit in the 1st, but the
rangy Denver-based Filipino had a style too difficult for Alarcon
to handle. Longakit would throw one’s and two’s, then tie up
Alarcon, who would try to ensnare himself from Longakit’s
octopus-like grasp to land inside, but, to no avail. Other than
win a couple early exchanges, it was Longakit who landed the
better blows, uppercuts inside and right hands when coming in. A
right hand landing at the end of the 1st had Corey a
bit dreamy-eyed.
Longakit
continued to throw Alarcon off his game plan in the 2nd.
When he was able to sneak in that right, it would have a visible
effect on his opponent and unless Alarcon was going to get busy,
it was just a matter of time before the Filipino found his range
and landed that one optimum punch that would put Alarcon on the
night’s damaged goods list.
Alarcon
waited too long to get busy, and at :53 of the 2nd,
Longakit landed that one perfect right hand. Down went Alarcon—for
good.
Beating
the count was an impossibility for Alarcon, and Longakit became
the new Jr. Lightweight champ for the state of Colorado.
It
was a night of knockouts.
The
semi-main was a short-but-sweet six-round featherweight banger
between Denver’s Terri Cruz and Prescott, AZ’s Brandy
Leon—one of three bouts that did not make it past the opening
round.
Cruz
came out strong, rocking Leon back with shots . . . but then Leon
threw a right hand, it caught Cruz unaware and dropped her on the
seat of her trunks. She got up rubber-legged and Leon made the
mistake of letting her recover. Recover she did, and just past the
one-minute mark, both fighters threw a right hand that connected.
While Cruz staggered a bit, Leon got the worst of it: she found
herself staring up at the chandelier lights hanging down from the
ceiling and was counted out at 1:22.
The
fight preceding Cruz vs. Leon was the only fight that went the
distance (not counting a 4-round exhibition bout that opened the
show.) Albuquerque’s Danny Almanzar was pitted against the
“Hurricane,” Earl Jackson, who was coming back after a 5-year
lay-off.
Word
was, the “Hurricane” was beating up guys left and right in the
gym. Don’t know what sort of guys that entails, but they were
not the sort of guy Danny Almanzar showed himself to be.
“Hurricane?” Try “Light Breeze,” for Jackson may look be
ripped and buffed—intimidating as hell—but he was not match
for Almanzar.
It
was Almanzar’s fight. Almanzar outworked Jackson through four
rounds and very nearly had him out several times—but somehow it
was Jackson who walked away with an unearned win.
Jackson
beat Almanzar? I think not. It was the timekeeper and referee who
beat Almanzar, not Jackson.
In
the 3rd Round, Almanzar was controlling the fight—as
he’d done since the 1st—outhustling the hometowner
and landing rights and left hooks that had Jackson stumbling
about, ready to drop (although Jackson would, every once in a
while, fire back with a hard shot.) Near the two-minute mark, the
referee moved to break Almanzar and Jackson; Almanzar slipped and
fell to the canvas. There were no punches thrown but the
timekeeper started counting anyway. Almanzar was up and the ref
was ready to wipe his gloves clean to continue the fight but saw
the timekeeper counting. So, he must’ve felt obligated to pick
up the count; he started counting and undeservedly,
Almanzar’s slip was ruled a bullcrap knockdown.
Sensing
his chance to even the rounds, Jackson threw everything else he
had at Almanzar and landed some pretty good shots after the
“knockdown,” perhaps stealing the round, and sealing it a 10-8
round, changing the course of the fight.
Jackson
wilted again in the 4th and it was Almanzar’s fight
yet again, outworking, outlanding and taking the fight to the
Hurricane.
Forced
to score the 3rd round a 10-8 round, I still had
Almanzar winning the fight: 38-37, but only one judge saw it my
way—and at 39-38. The other two had it for Jackson, 38-37,
giving Earl an unmerited comeback win.
An
exhibition bout opened up the card. Amateurs Eric Trujillo and
Eloy Varos fought a 4-round jr. lightweight bout.
Trujillo
started out stronger and faster but wilted in the second half when
Varos took control. Trujillo’s faster hand speed and hard right
hand had Varos fighting half-heartedly in the 1st. More
rocking right hands and snappy one-two’s from Trujillo had Varos
in deep waters in the 2nd.
But
in the 3rd, Trujillo started to tire; just as Varos
began to warm up, throwing much-needed combinations and pressing
Trujillo. It was a close round that could’ve gone either way,
but I thought Varos did enough to win it.
The
4th was all Varos. Although a left hook rocked Varos
early on, he outworked Trujillo and landed a stinging left hand
that gave him the round.
The
judges did not score the exhibition bout but I did: I had it a
draw.
Celebrated
amateur Andrew Marquez was up next, making a last-minute pro debut
against 0-5 fighter Eloy Lucero.
Marquez
was originally on the card but he got sick and was out of the gym
for a few weeks. But just the other day, when Star Johnson ran
into troubles getting out of Texas, the promoter asked an
overweight Marquez to reconsider fighting on the card. Marquez,
nearly 20 pounds over his normal fighting weight, said, ‘What
the Hell?’ and took the fight.
Despite
the time off for illness; and fighting overweight, two divisions
over his norm, Marquez schooled Lucero for the just-less-than one
round it lasted.
Lucero
was game, but Marquez was fast. Blazing left hooks and deep body
shots took an early toll on Lucero. In the final minute, a left
hook snapped Lucero’s head back and not long after, another left
had Lucero hugging the canvas where he was counted out.
A
lightweight battle of pro debuters finished off the undercard when
Pueblo’s Tony Loudy and Arizona’s Jose Cabanillas mixed it up.
This was another fight that wouldn’t make it out of the opening
round.
Loudy
went to work right away, backing Cabanillas up and throwing
combinations. Cabanillas covered up, weathered the storm, and was
able to sneak in a short right or two before the fight moved to
the center of the ring.
There,
at just :29 of the round, a big right hand landed on Loudy’s
chin and Loudy blinked once before his eyes rolled back and he was
out cold—he, then, continued on his downward journey where he
landed face-first on the canvas.
Fortunately,
he recovered, and when he came to, he did not realize the fight
was over. The several paramedics surrounding him dutifully
informed him what had happened, which launched an expletive from
Loudy.
Despite
a less-than-expected crowd of 500 or so, and a dark ring that
prevented any fight photos to be taken, the debut production of
Aguilar and Toribio Promotions was a knockout card. Look for the
next card on July 6th in Pueblo when Las Vegas, NM’s
Shawn Gallegos headlines.
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