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“Chocolate”
Creams Tacubayo!
Kirino Licks Lopez!
Gallero Dishes Out Just Dessert to Ventura!
Three Thriller Title Fights in Juarez!
Photos and
text by Chris “El Pelon” Cozzone
Well,
two out of three ain’t bad . . . .
“Tres
Campeonatos”—the title of the packed-in Promociones del Pueblo
card Friday night at the Poliforo in Ciudad Juarez—referred to
the Juarez triumvirate headlining the card: WBC Youth
Featherweight and WBC Mexican Featherweight champ David
“Tacubayo” Murillo; WBC Mexican Middleweight champ Kirino
Garcia; and would-be WBC Mexican SuperBantam champ Adrian
“Gallero” Valdez.
Only no
one had given Tacubayo’s opponent, Hector “Chocolate” Marquez
the script.
While
Gallero pulled off an amazing triumph in a single round
thriller; and Kirino dogged his foe every inch of the way until
he folded; matched up much tougher than his buddies, Tacubayo
could just not hang with Marquez.
On paper,
it was the farthest thing from the “gimme” fight it appeared to
be in Murillo’s hometown. While Marquez had a handful of
followers cheering him on, from Mexico City, (who were insistent
in trying to convince me that their hombre was going to
flatten Tacubayo—if truth be told, they were preaching to a
converted audience) Murillo had the crowd and ref on his side.
Marquez
was a risky move. With 35 pro fights dating back a decade, the
veteran has fought some of the best, including Guty Espadas,
Jose Luis Castillo, Ranchero Ramirez and Edgar Barcenas. Hell,
he’d already beaten Murillo in 1999 by 8th Round TKO.
Why would it be different this time around?
This time,
it would take him one less round.
Despite
having to wait ten minutes for Tacubayo to finish his flashy
ring entrance, complete with hot buxom babes and the house
dancing and chanting, “TA-CU-BAY-OO! TA-CU-BAY-OO!!,
Marquez, with a restrained-but-goofy grin on his face, remained
calm—‘til the opening bell.
Hometown
or no hometown, Marquez had come to take home that pretty little
green NABF belt sitting on the Commission’s table.
Round One
was all Chocolate. He was more aggressive and let loose the
harder, meaningful punches while Tacubayo spent the time
pressing forward trying to figure out how he was going to crack
Marquez’s style. An attempt by Murillo to establish a brawl only
earned him a bonk on the forehead from an unintentional head
butt that appeared to throw him off course.
Tacubayo
turned up the heat in the 2nd round, looking for a
way in. But Marquez maintained house, popping Murillo with jabs
and setting up his hard right hand. Round 3 was a better round
for the hometowner, who was able to sucker Marquez into a few
exchanges now. Either Marquez was losing his game plan, or he’d
decided that Tacubayo could just not hurt him. Regardless,
Marquez came away from these slug-swaps with less than wear ‘n’
tear than did Murillo.
Round Four
was wild—Murillo’s best round yet as he was able to keep Marquez
in front of him. But, it was still not enough. The round’s great
exchanges in which Chocolate indulged Tacubayo by fighting his
fight, still saw Marquez ahead.
Marquez
slowed down in the 5th while Murillo stepped on the
gas, fighting relentlessly. Throwing mad punches and trying to
melt the solid Chocolate netted him the round.
Sensing,
perhaps, that Marquez was now slowing down with the tide of the
fight turning, the frenzied crowd chanted their “TA-CU-BAY-OO!”
mantra. But Marquez, with that moth-eaten grin of his, came out
to pick up where’d left off in the 4th. Where he’d
heretofore let Murillo chase him down, now he started to back
his man up against the ropes. There, he’d bomb away at Murillo
with lefts and vicious uppercuts. At one point during Marquez’s
swarming, Murillo flew backward, seemingly on his way to the
canvas in what looked to be a knockdown. The ropes cushioned the
fall and the ref stepped in not to start counting but to help
him back up.
The ref
was gracious enough to give Tacubayo more than ample time to
rinse off his mouthpiece the two times during the round that it
slipped out of his mouth onto the canvas (although, to his
credit, he did tell Murillo that if it happened one more
time, a point would be taken off.)
Tacubayo,
though, was on his way out, or down. Only, his heart did not
acknowledge his demise. Just when it looked as if Murillo was
ready to crumple to the canvas, he would unfurl a vigorous
counterattack on Marquez, who would weather the storm. It was
only a matter of time.
In the 6th
and 7th, Murillo fought with desperation—to stay
upright as well as fight back. When he wasn’t throwing punches,
he was too busy clinging to Marquez like a drowning man hugging
his life preserver. Even the ref had trouble prying Tacubayo
free from Marquez. When he did, Marquez would continue what was
beginning to look like one-sided slaughter.
The end of
the 7th had Tacubayo, once again, getting pummeled
against the ropes—a pummeling that continued for one or two
punches after the bell rang. While it wasn’t clear whether the
ref had stepped in to end the round or stop the fight, the
result was the same. Slumped over on his stool, Tacubayo had
that blank-zombie stare that said it all: No more.
The ref
confirmed the end of the fight and crowned Marquez NABF
featherweight champion.
The
question in Ciudad Juarez is: What’s to become of Murillo? While
an exciting fighter, with a gigantic heart—his legs may not hold
him up but he’ll continue to throw punches—it’s not looking so
good for him. While still WBC youth champ as well as the
featherweight Mexican champ, it’s becoming apparent that every
step up in competition results in an ‘L.’
There
is a somewhat happy ending to this story for Juarez fight
fans. Juan Carlos “Ranchero” Ramirez, who is coming off a loss
to WBO/WBA jr. lightweight king Acelino Freitas, announced last
night that he will take it upon himself to wreak vengeance on
behalf of his stablemate, Murillo. In May, on the next Juarez
card, he will battle Marquez for that NABF belt.
It won’t
be the first time Ramirez has spanked vengeance on behalf of
Tacubayo. Last year, Ramirez beat up Enrique Jupiter, who’d
defeated Murillo. No doubt, it won’t be the last time, either .
. . .
Kirino
Gets Mad and Gets Belt
At 34 and
after 58 fights, Kirino Garcia may be on the downside to world
contendership—but this best-loved hero of Juarez can, at least
last night, fight like a furious youngster when he wants to.
While his
opponent, Arturo “Tito” Lopez, at 6-18, was the Mexican
middleweight champion, at least before the fight, he did not
have the skill or power to do little more than make Kirino
angry.
Garcia is
a slow starter, as seen in a cautious, uninteresting first
round. But something must’ve happened in that round because
Kirino came out for the 2nd with a swollen nose
oozing blood and fire in his eyes.
Seeing
blood, Lopez got brave, while Kirino went loco. It made a good
fight, at least for the few rounds before Lopez’s courage
drained away under the constant painful pressure by Garcia.
Lopez
tried to trade punches but learned over the course of a round or
two that he’d better stay on the outside. In the 4th,
Garcia attacked Lopez’s body and by the end of the 5th,
the champion was on his bike. Garcia continued to bomb away and
about halfway through the round, Lopez turned his back and gave
up.
Garcia,
the Mexican jr. middleweight champ for a zillion years, is now
the middleweight champion.
Gallero
Snags SuperBantam Mexican Belt in 1-Round Thriller
One of
Juarez’s few fighters who honor the Sweet Science by boxing
intelligently, Adrian “Gallero” Valdez has gone unnoticed in the
last couple years as a Promociones del Pueblo undercard
regular—‘til now.
He’s also
gone unnoticed as a puncher—‘til now.
In his
first title fight, for the Mexican SuperBantamweight belt,
Valdez came close to losing it all, then won it all—in just one
round.
Sammy
“Tabasco” Ventura came out boldly at Valdez, who, as usual,
stayed on the outside and boxed. It was pretty typical stuff for
the first minute or so, until Ventura ventured a murderous right
hand that put Gallero down.
Clearly
stunned, Valdez got up, made the count and did his best to
survive the rest of the round—by backtracking, holding and
staying out of Ventura’s way. Looking for the quick finish,
Ventura rushed forward, pinning Gallero against the ropes and
forcing him to slug things out.
Valdez,
with panic in his eyes, did what fans would like to see him do
more often—slug a little bit. It was do or die for Valdez, who
let loose a left-right that caught Ventura on the magic
button—he folded like a cheap lawn chair, right at the sound of
the bell.
Unlike
Valdez, Ventura could not make the count and was counted out,
giving Gallero his first title.
Undercard
Action
Bantamweight pro debuter Micky “Mouse” Roman opened the show
with a fierce four-rounder against 2-2 Miguel Caddie. Proving
he’s someone to keep an eye on in Juarez, Roman outhustled
Caddie.
Letting
Caddie chase him round a la Tacubayo vs. Chocolate, Roman would
counter-blast Caddie’s loopy punches with precision
combinations. By the 3rd, Caddie was bloody and after
Roman started to go down
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