|
'Railroad' Tye Derails
Barcelete
Easy win for ESPN-bound giant Fields
text and
photos by
chris cozzone
It wasn’t a sell-out crowd like the last two cards—a few
hundred short of the 1,300 capacity—and it was the first time
without an amateur show preceding the pros, but last night’s
“Summer Storm” at Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, CO was not short on
action—uh, unless you count the main event.
In the main event, heavyweight giant “Railroad” Tye Fields
picked up an easy win over outsized, outclassed opponent Carlos
Barcelete.
The first round was ho-hum, with the slippery Barcelete on
the run or tying up whenever the 6’9”, 270-pound behemoth came
within range. Clinging to Fields like a wet t-shirt, Barcelete
hugged away until ref Al Martinez broke out the crowbar to pry
the two apart.
Fields was unable to land cleanly until the 2nd
when the first combination, mainly body shots, gave Barcelete
the excuse he needed to make a pile on the canvas where he was
counted out.
At
1:06, Fields
had his 28th win (27th by kayo). With the
win, the once-lost-but-avenged Fields is finally headed for his
first real test in September when he takes on Sherman “Tank”
Williams on ESPN2.
Barcelete, mistakenly announced as a 17-2 fighter by the
MC, drops to
7-11-2.
Sunshine
outhustles Jeter 2nd time in rematch for vacant IFBA
title
The co-main event women’s title fight more than made up for
the heavyweight match-up.
In a ten-round battle for the vacant IFBA welterweight
title,
Phoenix’s Sunshine Fettkether continued her blazing winning streak
with a well-fought, unanimous decision over game Mitzi Jeter.
The 1st was somewhat cautious. Fettkether set
the pace by coming forward but it was Jeter’s straight rights
landing solid that gave the
Atlanta
fighter the round.
Sunshine came out in the 2nd a different
fighter, throwing bunches-O-punches and hitting Jeter with fast
combinations. Jeter landed the best two punches—straight right
and a left hook—but Fettkether was establishing control.
Fettkether continued to call the shots in the 3rd
until an accidental elbow stopped the action for early five
minutes when Jeter started to ooze blood from the top of her
head. The ringside doc and Jeter’s corner conversed and the
action resumed.
Jeter finished strong, landing solid power bombs to
Fettkether’s busier but lesser punches.
Jeter continued to land the better shots throughout the
next seven rounds—mainly left hooks—but she let herself get
outhustled by an extremely busy Fettkether. Sunshine’s workrate
gave her round after round . . . .
After a while, it looked like a workout on the heavy bag:
Fettkether hittin’ the body, hittin’ the arms, going to the
head. Once in a while, Jeter would remind Fettkether that she
could hit back, but while landing flush, her punches would
rarely do more than gain her a momentary pause in Fettkether’s
relentless attack.
After ten rounds, I’d given Jeter only two rounds: the 1st
and 3rd, scoring it 98-93.
Judges had it 98-93, 97-93 and 96-94, all for Fettkether,
who picks up her first big title with the IFBA welterweight
belt.
# # #
Undercard
In the opening bout,
Denver’s Terri
Cruz whacked away at stablemate Vangie Abeyta for a round and a
half before the ref stopped the slaughter.
 While Abeyta landed a couple sneaky rights, Cruz spent the
first round walking her down and looking for a place to land her
power shots. It wasn’t difficult to do, and in the 2nd,
Cruz was gleefully banging away at Abeyta who was trapped
against the ropes. At
1:58, the ref
had seen enough—and Abeyta had earned yet another loss, this
time for her home team, adding another ‘W’ to Cruz, now 8-3-2.
As ill-matched as the first bout was, the 2nd
was even worse.
 Las Vegan pro debuter Afshin Montedaeiny might’ve looked a
bit like Marco Antonio Barrera, but the resemblance came to a
screeching halt the moment he threw his first punch.
Brazilian Gilberto
Zaragoza was
no De La Hoya, either, but he came forward, threw punches and
had Montedaeiny turning his back several times in the
round-and-change they spent in the ring.
Pinning his unwilling foe against the ropes in the 2nd,
Zaragoza let loose until ref Al Martinez waved it off at :38.
The third undercard bout made up for the first two.
After nearly eight months out of the ring,
Farmington, NM
hopeful Victor Barela made his return to the ring in what was
supposed to be a somewhat simple tune-up. The undefeated
bantamweight, trained by Danny Romero, Sr. in Albuquerque, was
pitted against 6-11-2 veteran from Juarez, Ruben Contreras.
Contreras is part of Ariel Conde’s camp, which means, to
most in the Southwest, a guaranteed ‘W’ for the hometown kid.
But once in a while, Conde’s bag-of-opponents will hold a
surprise.
While Contreras has lost his last four fights, a second
look at his record will reveal solid wins in
Mexico over
top fighters, including Alejandro Moreno and Evaristo Primero.
Barela started out strong. In the first, he used his jab
and landed solid left hooks, one of which staggered Contreras
late in the round. The veteran kept his gloves up and continued
moving forward, throwing a overhand right now and then but
giving the round to the fast-moving Barela.
Round Two was closer. Contreras started out the round with
a solid overhand right, and gave him Barela trouble with
occasional left hooks. But Barela who’d stopped jabbing, won the
round on his own left hooks.
The 3rd was a toss-up. No one landed significant
punches but Contreras pressed forward while Barela slightly
outlanded. I scored it 10-10.
The rest of the fight went downhill for Barela. The
exchanges were more often now that Barela started to tire—and
most of ‘em were won by Contreras. Left hooks and uppercuts
landed frequently on Barela’s chin.
The 5th and final round was a repeat of the 4th,
easily Contreras’. Barela tried to hit and move but Contreras
was able to corner him and let loose with meaningful shots.
At the end of 5, I had it two rounds apiece with the 3rd
10-10, making it a draw. The judges saw it differently, giving
Barela the edge: 48-47 twice and 47-46.
Barela wasn’t happy with his performance. He said he’d
injured his left shoulder in the 2nd, rendering him
unable to utilize the jab. He’d also tired after the 3rd,
saying that he’d have to figure out a better way to diet down to
bantamweight.
Despite the less-than-powerful performance, Barela remains
undefeated, now 6-0 (3
KOs).
# # # |
Brady Breezes Through
Hurricane!
The Assassin Joseph Brady makes his return with impressive kayo
over Earl Jackson
text and
photos by
chris cozzone
It was his first fight out of
New Mexico,
the first time unsheltered by a local promoter, and it followed
an eight month layoff.
Joseph Brady couldn’t have had a better night.
In what could only be described as his strongest
performance so far,
Albuquerque’s
“Assassin” rose to the occasion last night with a blistering 3rd
round knockout over Earl “the Hurricane”
Jackson.
While his ring smarts would’ve won him a safe fight fought
from the outside, it was Brady’s seek-and-destroy attitude that
not only made an exciting fight, but enabled him to reduce the
Hurricane to a harmless drizzle in less than half the scheduled
rounds.
As expected,
Jackson came
out strong. Fighting southpaw to southpaw, he had Brady
bewildered in the first half of the round, pursuing aggressively
and landing several straight left hands. Brady kept to the
outside, trying to establish rhythm.
In the second half of the 1st, Brady got into
the swing of things. Pawing his jab at
Jackson
enabled Brady to return fire, striking back at
Jackson
with his own straight lefts and making it a difficult round to
score.
In the 2nd, Brady let
Jackson lumber
forward, then he jabbed and popped him with a left before
changing angles and moving away. Continuing to plod forward,
Jackson
swung but more often than not, his punches sailed harmlessly
through empty air.
Brady started to pick
Jackson apart,
landing solid lefts and staggering the Hurricane at the end of
the round. Unless Jackson could make a much-needed adjustment,
it was only a matter of time before he was going down.
In the 3rd, Brady took the initiative, coming at
Jackson
and forcing him to fight on the retreat. Several more left hands
later, Brady had Jackson on the ropes where he fired off a rapid
combination ending with a straight left that the Hurricane dead
on his feet.
Before
Jackson
could spill onto the canvas—and just as his corner waved
surrender—and as ref Al Martinez raced toward the fighters to
wave it off—Brady clobbered
Jackson
several more times before the ref stepped in. The Hurricane made
his excruciatingly slow plummet to earth, face down, as Brady
raised his arms in triumph.
Jackson was
out—conscious but the deadpan glazed-eyes telling tales of
dreamland. Unfortunately, it’s been, for Jackson, a familiar
universe. Having lost too many fights in a row now, by knockout,
it may be time for him to hang up the gloves—before he is unable
to return from dreamland.
Brady said after the fight that he did not expect to knock
Jackson
out.
“I was out there to box him and let the butterflies go
away,” Brady said. “But I saw his legs wobble in the 2nd
after I threw a straight left.
“I didn’t expect him to come out a leftie, so I had to
figure out what to do in the 1st. I started blinding
him with the jab, just touching his left hand, knowing he
wouldn’t use it, then throwing my straight left. It worked.
“In the 3rd, I hit him with jabs then let a
straight left go. I saw his legs buckle and I knew I had him.”
Brady, now 13-0 (6
KOs), said the
motivation for a knockout win came from his former
manager/trainer who passed away in a skiing accident last
December.
“This one’s for Jim Johnson.”
Brady vs.
Garcia: the Promised Showdown
New Mexico and
Colorado fight fans have been waiting for three years now for
the all-too-often promised showdown between their top two
middleweights. Last night, after announcing Brady’s win, the MC
teased the crowd with the possibility of October’s Sky Ute card
headlining Brady vs. Garcia.
“Elco? I’m ready to do it,” Brady declared after last
night’s fight.
“The question is, let’s see what Elco is gonna do.”
Elco Garcia was at last night’s fight, and had a few
comments of his own:
“Anytime. If he gives me the opportunity, whether it’s here
or in his hometown, I will fight any time.
“Tonight, he looked good and I give him credit. But Earl
Jackson is a shot fighter.”
Last year, Garcia took on
Jackson,
knocking him out in the 6th.
“I know Brady is good, but I am not worried.”
With both parties agreeing, it’s now up to promoter Ben
Fernandez of Sky Ute to make it happen financially.
# # #
Barela vs.
Contreras
|
