Tommy Takes Stevie in Distance Fight!
Aragon vs. Aragon Tops Off a Card of Unanimous Decisions

text & photos by chris cozzone

The bingo hall at Sky City had a packed house last night to see who the better Aragon was—Seboyeta’s Stevie or the slugger Tommy. After eight rounds topped off with a furious exchange that had Steve on the canvas from a punch that may or may not have occurred after the bell—the only knockdown of the night—it was Tommy who’d walk away with the unanimous.

Although it later became a game of give and take, the early rounds were Tommy’s. Steve spent the first two-and-a-half rounds too cautiously, jabbing air and staying away from a stalking Tommy. He was too far away to be effective.

The punches that counted were Tommy’s. They were not many—but they landed with meaning and they tested Stevie’s suspect chin, which held up. For the first time ever, Tommy was also using a jab to set up his bombs. After the 1^st, there was already a mouse under Stevie’s eye.

Steve finally got to work in the final minute of the 3^rd, beginning to move in and out with combinations rather than stay on the outside while Tommy tried to cut off the ring. In the best exchange so far, Stevie unleashed a straight left that actually moved Tommy backward. It wasn’t enough to steal the round from Tommy, but it was enough to show us that Stevie had come to fight.

The fight was on in the 4^th. Using speed and stickin’ to game plan, Steve worked his way in and out from a less busy Tommy. At one point, Steve actually wobbled Tommy with a right hook. It was Steve’s round.

Round Five was close enough to go either way. Steve was getting braver, and beginning to score more often, although the meaningful punches continued to come from Tommy. Round Six was more of the same; Steve scoring in and out and Tommy popping his jab and landing left hooks and rights that were beginning to swell Stevie’s face. By the end of the fight, Stevie looked like a gargoyle and had grown an extra forehead from the swelling.

The first half of the 7^th was slow but the two Aragons mixed it up in the 2^nd half, exchanging toe-to-toe more often. Again, Tommy was scoring the better shots although Stevie was effective in his in-and-out attacks. In fact, his strategic strikes were taking the last round until the very end when they duked it out in the final minute.

In a round that might’ve gone Steve’s way, Tommy landed a shot that would, in delayed action, put Steve on the canvas. Only problem was, did it happen just before the bell, right at the bell, or just after? It was difficult to tell as both fighters were still throwing punches as the bell rang. As ref Russ Mora broke things up and stopped the action, Steve was down and dazed. He ruled it a no-knockdown, saying the punch that had put Steve down had occurred after the bell rang.

Fortunately, the knockdown-or-no-knockdown did not effect the outcome, although I had the fight damn close at the end: 5 rounds to 3 for Tommy, although I thought one or two of those rounds could’ve gone either way and made the fight a draw. At worst, for Tommy, it’d been a draw; at best, it was 6 rounds to 3.

The judges did not see it as close. Two judges had it 78-74; the third, 79-73, all for Tommy Aragon.

It’s cliché to even say it, but regardless of the outcome, neither fighter really lost. While Stevie gets the ‘L’, he showed a tougher chin than many of us thought he had. He also displayed some firepower. Had Stevie started out earlier, it could’ve had a different outcome.

On the other hand, Tommy was much more than the one-dimensional slugger he’s been in previous fights. He utilized an effective jab and threw straighter punches than those loopy swimmer’s-crawl bombs he’s famous for.

“I outboxed him and he ate my jab all night long,” Tommy said after the fight. “But he was tougher that I thought he’d be.”

When asked if he’d ever been hurt by some of Steve’s punches, he said, “They were nothing. I was never hurt. They caught me off-balance when they landed.”

Steve Aragon, too, admitted that he’d underestimated his opponent:

“He had a stiff jab and he was counterpunching effectively. He was also quicker and tougher than I thought he’d be. The guy can punch, too. He had me hurt in the 5^th.”

The punch at the end, Steve said, came after the bell. Although it had him dazed, he says, it was more of a slip than a true knockdown.

Tommy’s camp begs to differ.

“They should’ve given him the count,” says Rocky Stapleton, who served as Tommy’s cutman. “The punch came before the bell.”

Worthy of a rematch, Aragon vs. Aragon may settle the matter who the best Aragon is . . . but it still leaves questions who the best lightweight is in the state. With Ray Sanchez III fighting closer to junior welterweight, there are but two others who should be pitted against Tommy: undefeated Shawn Gallegos, considered by most to be the best 135-pounder in NM, and possibly Jacob Romero, who’s been talking about coming off a 3-year layoff to give boxing another shot.

Valdez Takes Torres

While the main event had its share of great exchanges, the co-main between welterweights Jeremiah Torres and El Paso’s Bobby Joe Valdez stole the show for toe-to-toe fighting.

While Torres showed grit and heart, he was too raw for the more-refined Valdez who was able to continually land his shots through Jeremiah’s many openings.

Valdez gave Torres a taste of his power early on. Torres kept on getting rocked when moving straight back—something he did nothing to remedy through six rounds. Never once backing down, Torres came out strong and in the 3^rd and 4^th looked his best, when he used footwork to get in and out of Valdez’s range. Pacing himself, Valdez was less busy in these two rounds, although he still did enough to take the 4^th with more telling blows.

In the 5^th, it looked as if Valdez might take Torres out but Jeremiah showed a big heart and stayed upright, tying up when necessary. The action continued in the 6^th with Torres trying to finish strong but it was Valdez’s fight.

At the end of six, all three judges had it unanimously for Valdez: 59-56 x 2 and 59-55. I had it 59-54.

Valdez looked sharper than he’s looked in quite some time. He’s been somewhat sloppy in his last few fights, keeping his gloves low and looking to slug things out. But against Torres, Valdez fought intelligently and kept his gloves up—if he continues this way, a rematch against Vernon Payne may be in order.

Torres, who was originally slated to fight Payne in what would’ve been a mismatch, should not be written off, despite the loss to Valdez. Kid’s got heart and raw talent—he just needs to be crafted.

Undercard Action

The undercard opened up in a battle of retirees: 36-year-old Danny Almanzar, who’d not fought in 8 years, went up against 37-year-old Ed Abeyta, out of action for three years.

Got to admit, I thought Abeyta wouldn’t last a single round going into the fight. But when the bell rang, this guy was more fun than a barrel of drunk monkeys.

Abeyta took the fight to Almanzar, fighting like it was a Toughman contest but fighting to win, nevertheless. Almanzar, the more skilled of the two by far, almost forgot to box in the 1^st and the round, I thought, went to Abeyta for his aggression.

Danny started boxing in the 2^nd, trying to tame the “Wildman” while blocking Ed’s crazy punches. Fighting in spurts, Abeyta lost a bit of steam in the 3^rd and Almanzar utilized his reach and stayed busier.

The 4^th was a slower round at first, but Abeyta was landing these wild hooks that almost gave him the round until Almanzar rallied, looking like he might actually be able to knock Abeyta down—but then again, Abeyta had looked like that before the fight actually started.

At the end of four, the more-skilled Almanzar took the unanimous: 40-36 x 2 and 39-37.

Compton-born Donnell Wade was up next, looking for his first win against a guy with nearly 30 fights: the ever-popular Jaime Bretado.

While Fightfax has Bretado’s record at 1-14, Boxing-Records lists a detailed 2-23. Last September, when he KO’d Jesse Hernandez in the 1^st for his second win ever, Bretado himself confirmed a 2-23 record. But yesterday, Bretado’s camp said it was really 1-8-1. (“We’re scaling it down, taking some of those fights away,” Bretado’s trainer told me laughing. Hell, maybe next time Bretado fights in New Mexico (which will happen, sooner or later), his record will be further reduced to 1-2.)

Despite the record and experience, Bretado was not able to educate “Donomite” Wade.

When he chooses to be, Wade is a bad-ass in the ring—and his tats and physique serve to heighten this perception. He started off landing right hand bombs and having Bretado unwilling to trade.

Bretado suffered a bad cut in the 2^nd from an unintentional head butt and landed only low blows against Wade, who seemed distracted from the fouls. Still, it was Wade’s round.

Bretado was able to land when he fought, but another low blow in the 3^rd was the most telling blow from the Mexican. Wade continued to dominate, throwing one and one-two power shots.

Bretado lost a point in the 4^th from another low blow, although he was able to stagger Wade with a right hand near the end of the round. It was a little too late for Bretado who would lose the near-shutout decision to Wade: 40-35 x 2 and 39-37.

The final undercard fight was a four-round “flyweight” bout between 114-pound Cesar “El Gallito” Lopez and Jesus Jimenez, who outweighed Lopez by six pounds the day before at weigh-in.

You got me, how Jimenez was able to stay upright after Lopez’s body attack, but this guy just wasn’t going down. Lopez opened things up with powerful left hooks to the body, pounding away at Jimenez from corner to corner. Cesar dominated the fight, doubling and tripling those left hooks to the body but somehow Jimenez, who never gave Lopez trouble, was able to take it.

After four rounds of domination, Lopez took the unanimous shutout: 40-36 x 3.

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