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"Rumble in Roswell"
Resuscitates Boxing Scene
Ringside
report by Ricardo Trujillo
Last night, before a crowd of 1,000 at the Roswell High
School Gym, Part II of the of the "Rumble in
Roswell"
series promoted by North Star Productions played itself out, with a spectacular card featuring both
young and old talent.
Local hero
Jeremy De Los Santos had to work a little more than he expected
to earn a split decision victory over game opponent Robert
Manore in the main event.
In the first round, it was
clear that De Los Santos had a live one on his hands. By being
the effective aggressor, De Los Santos took the first round,
unleashing two solid shots on Manore.
In the 2nd, De Los Santos had
his stiff jab going. While the harder puncher, Manore was
starting to land his lead rights when closing the gap.
In the 3rd, De Los Santos
turned counter puncher, letting Manore lead. It was a closer
round that would turn to the Manore's favor in the last round.
In the first minute, Manore
was beating De Los Santos to the punch. Then double left hooks
from De Los Santos slowed Manore down, but not enough to win the
round.
At the end of 4, I had it
39-37 for De Los Santos, who got more of a test than he
bargained for.
Scorecards
read 38-37
and 40-36 for De Los Santos, and one dissenting judge for Manore
39-37.
De Los
Santos' trainer, the legendary Tony Ayala, Sr., put it this way:
"My
guy is learning on the job. With only seven amateur fights, he
needed a distance fight like this.
"He learns
more from
this than knocking someone out in the first round.”
De Los Santos was also
satisfied with the fight.
"I
proved I can hang with a higher caliber opponent," he said after
the decision was announced. "This was a tougher fight than my
last. At first, I was attacking him from the wrong angle. But I
got it going and gave a solid performance.”
De Los Santos moves to 2-0 (1
KO) while professional opponent Robert Manore falls further to
2-11-2 (2 KO's).
In the most significant fight
of the night, the only six-rounder on a card of four-round
bouts, Alamogordo’s
Eric Holland attempted to make a comeback against Albuquerque's
hot supermiddle prospect, Jason Bray, of the R & R Boxing team.
Earlier in the week, Holland
had promised to take the young Bray to "deep waters." In his
first six rounder and only his 4th pro fight, Bray was taking on
a 57-fight veteran.
Before the fight, one of
Bray's trainers, Richie Masciotti, had this to say:
"When Holland takes Jason to
'deep waters,' he's gonna find himself facing a shark."
That pretty much sums up the
fight.
The
plan was for
Holland
to get under the long right jab of Bray and punish him to the
body. Unfortunately, for him, it did not happen. Holland was
never able to get close enough to do any damage.
Bray controlled the fight
with his jab and solid left hand shots. His superior reach and
height made it impossible to for Holland to do anything but
survive during the six rounds.
Occasionally,
when Holland was able to catch Bray along the ropes he did pound
the body, but Bray took them well.
In the fifth,
Holland barely missed a haymaker right that could have changed
things, but alas, father time at age 39 may have finally caught
up with Eric Holland.
All three judges had it a
shutout win for Jason Bray:
60-52 and
60-54 times two.
Bray ups his record to 4-0 (1
KO) while Eric Holland slips to
22-33-3 (4 KO's).
Undercard
First out of
the blocks in the six-fight card was a four-rounder with pro
debuter Marc Lopez vs. 0-2 Tyler Pogline.
The lanky
Pogline fought small in the 1st, much to the advantage of the
more aggressive Lopez. First round to the rookie.
In the 2nd,
Pogline was finally able to use his distance, and his right hand
leads rocked Lopez back. The youngster, though, showed a huge
heart and fought back with a mean-intentioned left hook. Still,
Pogline won that round on my card.
In the 3rd,
great exchanges by both fighters made this a close round that
could've gone either way.
In the final
stanza, it came down to who was going to land the harder,
cleaner shots. The more assertive was Lopez, but Pogline was
undaunted. Uncorking lefts and rights to both the body and head
had Pogline outworking Lopez on my card to win 39-38.
Except for one judge, Levi
Martinez, who saw it even at 38-38, the other two judges saw a
much different fight:
40-36 and
40-37.
Next up was
the best fight of the night.
Female pro
debuting fighters Yvonne Chavez of M&A Boxing versus Liz
Mathiason from R&R Boxing duked it out in a four rounder.
Mathiason
started out like a ball of fire, whipping the crowd into a
frenzy. Toe to toe, Mathiason won the exchanges on the inside,
but once the pocket moved outside, Chavez pressed her advantage.
Round One to Mathiason.
In Round Two,
former kickboxer Chavez created more space between her and
Mathiason and was more effective with her aggression. Round to
Chavez.
By the third,
Chavez, bloodied, was able to steal the round with her jab and
footwork. Also in the round, a fatigued Mathiason tackled Chavez
down unintentionally.
The end came
in the 4th. A tired Mathiason stopped punching, forcing Ref
Rocky Burke to call a halt to the proceedings at
1:02.
Mathiason displayed incredible heart while Chavez is a
superbantam to be reckoned with.
How about a rematch? I’d even pay.
The third
bout was a scheduled four rounder between 1-0 El Pasoan Oscar
“Xicanito” Castillo against rugged 1-2 Las Cruces native Colbert
"the Pittbull" Losoya.
Castillo
started well, popping his jab and keeping Losoya at bay, but you
got the sense that Losoya was getting incrementally closer.
Castillo outboxed Losoya to win the 1st.
By
the second stanza, Losaya’s plan was in place. He stayed inside,
slowing down Castillo with sheer aggression. The third and
fourth was more of the same as the bullish Losoya bloodied
Castillo’s nose and nullified his reach by simply outworking
him.
If Castillo
had a little more pop maybe he could have fended off Losoya, but
no go. Scores were 40-36 times two and 40-35, I had it 39-37,
Losoya.
Next, another
four rounder, two southpaws squared off in a boring fight that
resembled a sparring match. Human punching bag Ruben Aguayo lost
a lopsided decision to Joaquin Zamora with scores of 40-36 times
two and 39-36.
Moving and
popping his right jab,
Zamora
did what he had to do given the absence of offense or defense
offered up by Aguayo.
North Star
Productions' Rumble in Roswell fight cards may produce as many
sequels as Freddy Kruger. It is hoped so much anyway--there is
not much going on elsewhere in the state for boxing in New
Mexico.
Look for
another card in two months.
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Cozzone's
Notes
Note:
Chris Cozzone was the matchmaker for this card.
Bray vs.
Holland: On paper, it was a 50/50 fight. Bray had all the
physical advantages--height, reach, age--while Holland had a
zillion years of experience, having been in the ring with some
of the best champs in boxing. Bray did exactly what he needed to
do--keep Holland at the end of his jab, then hammer him with
occasional straight lefts. Despite experience, Holland could not
get in. Still no comparison to the faster, craftier Holland of
old, the "Rock" showed his usual big heart. Bray, in his first
southpaw fight, and trained by Stapleton & Masciotti, showed us
that he can stick to a solid game plan.
De Los Santos
vs. Manore: Robert Manore proved a difficult match for the
still-learning Jeremy De Los Santos. Guys like Manore usually
get called 1-2 weeks before a fight. In this case, he had 6-7
weeks to prepare for for De Los Santos, and trainer George
Manzanares (who also trains Elco Garcia) prepared Manore well.
Unable to whack Manore out with his hooks, De Los Santos showed
us that he was able to make adjustments, take a punch, and still
do what he has to do to win when in there with a difficult foe.
Zamora vs.
Aguayo: Juarez opponent Ruben Aguayo came to fight and Zamora,
unable to score a knockdown or stoppage, showed patience with
his first win by decision. Looks like Zamora's ready for a
six-rounder against a tougher foe: El Paso's Bobby Joe Valdez is
a good possibility.
Losoya vs.
Castillo: Another 50/50 fight on paper: Oscar Castillo's slick
style vs. a classic brawler in Colbert Losoya. Castillo outboxed
in the 1st but Losoya worked his way in and wore down Castillo
with hammering body shots. Losoya is not a four-round fighter,
though; if given six or eight rounders, it's gonna be hard for
this guy to lose. Next up for the Pittbull: possibly Jeremiah
Torres in a rematch should Torres' camp accept.
Chavez vs.
Mathiason: Best fight of the night! These two went at each other
non-stop until the 4th when Chavez outlasted a tiring Mathiason.
If Mathiason can keep her composure and energy up, she'll be a
monster in the ring against anyone ill-prepared to deal with her
mauling, brawling style. Chavez has more skill but proved she
can take a thousand punches and answer back with a thousand and
one -- look out 118-122 pounders!
Lopez vs.
Pogline: Marc Lopez had a brutal pro debut with Tyler Pogline,
and while I thought it was a draw, if not a win for Pogline,
this fight answered a lot of questions any of us might have
about Lopez. Now a pro, we will NOT have to worry about Lopez's
heart and chin--this kid has it all. In this instance, Pogline
was not the better skilled, he was just the bigger guy. Lopez
should be at 130-132, and stay away from lean, mean jr. welters
like Pogline.
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