|
 Disaster
Strikes in Juarez!
Eric Holland goes AWOL in fight with Kirino Garcia but Cesar
Soto & Ranchero Ramirez save the show with 10-round scrap
Ringside
report by Chris Cozzone and Ricardo Trujillo
photos by cozzone
It rained
broken glass and beer, an enormous, drunk lady tried to steal
the show, and a main event fighter went AWOL two hours before he
was scheduled to step into the ring against Juarez’s most
beloved fighter.
All in all,
a typical Juarez card.
Promoter
Oswaldo Kuchle’s Promociones del Pueblo went all-out in their
opening card of the year, setting up three title fights with a
long-anticipated main event between hometown hero Kirino Garcia
and Eric Holland, from Alamogordo, New Mexico, who were slated
to fight for the vacant WBC Fecarbox middleweight belt.
Then, the
opponents started bailing.
First Raul
“Baby” Juarez pulled out against Gerson “Nene” Guerrero in their
fight for the vacant NABF super flyweight title. Former champ
Victor Rabanales was the next to go, deciding he’d like to fight
for more money rather than face Jhonny Gonzalez in a WBC
Continental Americas defense.
Eric
Holland decided to wait until the night of the fight before
bailing, first partaking in a pre-fight media blitz held the
week of the fight.
Except for
Garcia’s fight, the card was patched together and before a
near-capacity crowd at the Poliforo Juan Gabriel, seven bouts,
topped off with a close war between former champ Cesar “Cobrita”
Soto and NABF champ Juan Carlos “Ranchero” Ramirez, somewhat
gratified the hard-to-please fight fans of Juarez.
“I’ll be
down there and ready to go . . . .”
That’s what
Eric Holland told his manager/trainer Joe Hidalgo when he was
called from the lobby at the hotel where he was staying. It was
9:30 PM and the hotel van wanted to deliver Holland at the
Poliforo where he would enter the ring around 1:30 in the
morning for the main event.
But “ready
to go” meant ready to split town.
Hidalgo
waited, then received a call from the irate promoter, Oswaldo
Kuchle.
Again,
Hidalgo called Holland in his room, and was told he’d “be right
down.”
After more
waiting, Hidalgo thought maybe Holland was waiting in his room
but when he called again there was no answer. Finally, he asked
the desk clerk for a key to Holland’s room—only to find that the
room had been cleaned out.
Holland’s
car was also gone from the parking lot.
Hidalgo
hurried back to the Poliforo to give the promoter the bad news.
“Where is
he? Your guess is as good as mine. He’s been with me all week
and was ready to fight. I’m hurt and I’m worried and I don’t
know what’s going on. This is not like him.”
On
Saturday, the 59-fight veteran was tracked down by Las Cruces
reporter Felix Chavez, who was told by Holland that he’d left
town to avoid a “racial incident.”
Holland
said that the local press had generated quotes that he “hated
Mexicans” and the African-American fighter worried that the
all-Mexican crowd would get ugly in his fight against Garcia.
The title
bout against Garcia was to be a rematch from their close fight
in 1996 when Holland lost a razor-thin split decision.
Meanwhile,
back at the Poliforo, the bad news was delivered at midnight
when Cesar Soto and Juan Carlos Ramirez were introduced as the
final bout of the evening; and that Garcia vs. Holland had been
nixed.
 The
crowd reacted in typical fashion, pelting everyone in the ring,
including Soto and Ramirez, with boos, dozens of cups of beer,
bottlecaps, scraps of paper and pistachio nut shells. A good
third of the crowd up and left, but after the canvas was swept,
Soto and Ramirez did their best to placate the remaining fans
with an entertaining scrap.
Ranchero & Cobrita save the show
Since
losing his WBC featherweight title to Prince Naseem Hamed in
1999, Soto has not won a single fight.
He’s come
close, though, fighting a draw with Edgar Barcenas in 2000;
losing a split decision to unheard-of Jose Quintana in 2002; and
then, losing by majority decision to Juan Carlos “Ranchero”
Ramirez, also in 2002.
Trainer
Jorge Mendoza called those losses robberies, and earlier in the
night, said that Soto would be looking to knock Ramirez out by
the 4th or 5th round rather than risk
losing another controversial decision.
It was not
to be. The fighter who cannot get a break would be edged yet
again in what would turn out to be a great fight.
Round One
was nondescript, with both fighters feeling each other out.
In the
second round, Soto’s aggression gave him the round while Ramirez
sought to set up a counter-punching plan.
In the
third stanza, Soto continued his attack, pinning Ramirez on the
ropes. The best punch so far was a left hook from Soto that
rocked Ramirez back, lifting his foot of the canvas. Soto was
seemingly taking control of the fight, dictating the pace
through the first four rounds.
Ramirez
started to find his distance in the fifth round, turning the
fight around and doing damage in the pocket to a less-active
Soto. Round Six was close, with Soto holding his own against a
more aggressive Ramirez.
Ramirez
picked up the pace and in the next several rounds, was not only
outboxing Soto, but chipping away from the outside with the
cleaner, harder shots. In spots, Soto was holding his own, but
was clinching more than brawling. Ramirez now had the edge, and
he outhustled Soto through the remaining rounds.
At the end
of ten, Fightnews had it 96-94 for Ramirez.
The judges
were split: one had it 96-94 for Soto, while the other two had
it 97-93 and 96-94 for Ramirez.
The crowd,
still irate from losing their main event, no doubt, reacted with
boos, hurling their $3 missiles of Carte Blanca into the ring
while Ranchero held up his arms to soothe the festive and feisty
fans.
The NABF
champion moves to 33-5 (13 KOs) while the former champ Soto
falls further into oblivion, now 54-13-3 (40 KOs).
Jhonny gets a live one, before and during . . . .
WBC
Continental Americas champion Jhonny Gonzalez was scheduled to
fight Victor Rabanales had to settle for a last-minute defense
against the unknown Moises Zamudio—and that, after surviving a
rather large, rather drunk fight fan who barged into the ring
and refused to leave.
It took
half a dozen security guards to roll her out of the ring, and
she fell onto the lap of the timekeeper before getting up to
resume her dancing, strutting and grabbing celebration.
Meanwhile,
in the ring, the unheralded Zamudio was being announced as
something like 40-15, while Boxrec has him (with an incomplete
record) at 1-7.
While
Zamudio did not show the skills a 50-fight veteran would have,
he was light years beyond 1-7—if he is 1-7, he’s the
baddest 1-7 fighter on the planet.
 Zamudio
was one tough hombre.
Unfortunately for him, Jhonny Gonzalez is a top ten
contender—and the difference in skill showed.
Zamudio had
no answer for Gonzalez’ left hook and long reach. In the first
round, Gonzalez took his time, moving Zamudio all over the ring
with solid body shots.
In the
second, three consecutive left hooks had Zamudio taking a knee,
but he got back up and came at Gonzalez.
Zamudio was
like a rabid dog—the more Gonzalez hurt him, the madder he got.
In the
third round, he woke Gonzalez up with a counter right. Pinning
Zamudio in the neutral corner and wailing at him, Zamudio, sadly
outclassed, fought like a cornered rat and kept upright.
In the
fourth, Gonzalez kept Zamudio at the end of his punches, but
Zamudio was doing a good job of smothering Gonzalez’s punches.
In the
fifth, a right to the body dropped Zamudio. Zamudio got up,
hurt but determined and was dropped with a barrage of body
shots. Again, Zamudio got up, wincing but angry. A left to the
body from Gonzalez put him down yet again and this time, the ref
called it off.
“I hadn’t
been in the ring for six months and thank God my arm was raised
in victory,” Gonzalez said after the fight.
“He was a
valiant opponent . . . I’m glad I got the rounds. He did give me
trouble at first but once I picked up the activity level, I knew
he wouldn’t last.”
Gonzalez,
now 21-4 (19 KOs), will fight again next month in Chihuahua.
His
promoter, Oswaldo Kuchle, is trying to get him a fight against
undefeated Mexican Olympian Daniel Ponce De Leon.
Guerrero Outclasses Primero
 In
a title fight for the vacant superflyweight NABF title, Gerson
“Nene” Guerrero outsized, outclassed and overpowered a
game-but-ineffective Evaristo Primero.
Guerrero
was originally scheduled to fight Raul “Baby” Juarez (32-9, 15
KOs) in what would’ve been a rubber match, but had to settle for
Primero after Juarez pulled out on short notice.
Guerrero
had beaten Primero in 2001 for the Mexican belt with a unanimous
decision. This time, it would only go eight.
Primero was
game, but had no answer for the bigger, faster Guerrero.
In the
first, Guerrero dropped him with a left hook to the body and
soon after, put him down yet again, this time with a left hook
to the jaw. Primero survived and in the second, was beaten
pillar to post by a dominant Guerrero.
More left
hooks to the body had Primero visibly wincing in the third frame
and in the fourth, a right cross to the jaw dropped him for the
third time.
Primero had
his moments in the fifth, frustrating “Nene” with effective
fouling and counterpunching. He had an even better round in the
sixth when Guerrero took a breather, allowing Primero to land a
few.
In the
seventh round, a flurry puts Primero on the ropes where Guerrero
put in work, bloodying Primero’s nose and mouth.
Finally, in
the eighth, a vicious left hook to the liver takes the wind out
of Primero’s sails and he crumbles to the canvas, leaving the
ref no choice but wave it off at :15.
Guerrero,
now a two-time NABF champion, rises to 27-5, with 21 KOs.
“I have yet
another belt and I look forward to a world title,” says
Guerrero, who says he hurt his left hand early on in the fight.
“I wasn’t
throwing my left much because I hurt it in the third. But I knew
I had to pressure him after that.”
 Valdez
Crushes Geronimo
Former
Mexican super bantamweight champion Adrian “Gallero” Valdez made
the jump to featherweight to take on Geronimo Hernandez in a
contest of southpaws.
Round One
had Hernandez leaping in with his right jab while Valdez sought
to counterpunch with harder, cleaner shots.
In the
second round, a quick lead right jab and straight left dropped
Hernandez. He came back and pressuring Valdez, had his moments
until a right hook from Valdez dropped him for the count at
2:40.
“Hernandez
hits hard, but I was prepared,” said Valdez after the fight.
Valdez, now
14-2-3 (7 KOs), will now campaign at feather.
“The
Mexican commission took my super bantamweight belt from me for
not defending it,” he said. “That was an injustice because no
one would sign a contract to fight me. But there are better
things for me at featherweight.”
Cuban prospect stops ‘Ciclone’
With just
one pro fight under his belt, Cuban prospect now living in
Chihuahua Escambray Izquierdo took the wind out of 9-0 “Ciclon”
Jorge Reyna in just 33 seconds.
Izquierdo
came out aggressive and immediately went to work on Reyna,
pinning him against the ropes and stepping back, pounding him
with devastating lefts and rights, dropping him against the
ropes.
Reyna could
not recuperate in time and was counted out.
Mickey Mania
Miguel
“Mickey Mouse” Roman (5-0, 4 KOs) could be the next big thing
out of Juarez.
Not only
has he shown a huge increase in skills in his five pro fights,
but he’s quickly becoming one of Juarez’s most entertaining
fighters since David “Tacubayo” Murillo fell off the map.
In a
stop-and-go war against Oscar Olivas (now 2-4), interrupted
several times by showers of broken glass that came raining down
from overheated lights above the ring, Roman showed his grit.
Both
fighters went headhunting in a close first round. In a show of
bravado, Roman dropped his hands, prompting Olivas to unleash a
left-right to the body and head—the clean punches only got a
smile out of Roman.
In the 2nd,
after broken glass rained down, Roman started to pull ahead by
taking the fight to Olivas. In the 3rd, he was
dominant, keeping Olivas against the ropes while he pounded
away. Again, more glass fell into the ring causing yet another
timeout for the clean-up crew.
In the
fourth, Roman fought with fury, keeping Olivas on the defense
and after a the fifth round bell, had Olivas quitting on his
stool at :10, claiming a broken right hand.
Roman said
the glass was a distraction but that he was determined to take
care of business.
“He started
with a lot of fire, but I was never hurt,” said Roman. “I’m
getting better with each fight and feel so much better at 122.”
Keep your
eyes on Roman.
Bonus pics!
# # #
Results:
For the WBC Fecarbox middleweight title:
Eric Holland (22-33-3, 4 KOs) vs. Kirino Garcia (35-23-2, 26
KOs)
FIGHT CANCELLED WHEN HOLLAND DISAPPEARS
Juan Carlos "Ranchero" Ramirez (33-5, 13 KOs) UD 10 Cesar "Cobrita"
Soto (54-13-3, 40 KOs)
For the WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title
Jhonny Gonzalez (21-4, 19 KOs) TKO 2 Moises Zamudio (1-8)
For the vacant NABF superflyweight title:
Gerson "Nene" Guerrero (27-5, 21 KOs) TKO 8 Evaristo Primero
(14-7, 7 KOs)
10 rounds featherweight:
Adrian "Gallero" Valdez (14-2-3, 7 KOs) TKO 2 Geronimo Hernandez
(6-11-1, 2 KOs)
8 rounds jr. lightweight:
Escambray Izquierdo (2-0, 2 KOs) TKO 1 Jorge Reyna (9-1, 7 KOs)
8 rounds superbantam:
Miguel Roman (5-0, 4 KOs) TKO 5 Oscar Olivas (2-4)
|
