Sanchez III bags belt with body bomb!

Ringside report and photos by Chris Cozzone

Between five bouts and several performances by Fat Fish hip hop artists, G Dog Productions delivered a rousing night of “Latin Action” to an estimated 1,000 fans last night at the Kiva Auditorium.

As expected, it was a hometown sweep with all but one out-of-town opponent finishing the night on his knees or back.

In, both, the main event and co-main, ribs and liver were on the menu. Bernard Hopkins might’ve started a trend last week with his one-punch demolition of Oscar De La Hoya by way of a body shot, for both Ray Sanchez III and Shawn Gallegos took out their ill-fated foes with shots downstairs.

Sanchez was impressive.

He had the roaring crowd behind him; he had one-punch knockout power; and, now, he has two significant step-up belts.

The only thing that was not impressive was the opponent.

In a fight for the vacant WBC World Youth Welterweight championship, Sanchez was matched up against unlikely challenger “Iron” Mike Dobbs who, at 9-10 (7 KOs), had lost all his bouts by way of early knockout. Furthermore, Dobbs was a year over the age limit (at 24) and had weighed in the day before well under the welterweight limit of 147—actually, 143 with his clothes on.

Needless to say, the cards were stacked against the Oklahoma fighter who’d stepped in on eight days’ notice. The only chance Dobbs had was to jump on Sanchez early before he was hit with the first solid straight left.

After the first minute and a half, with Sanchez jabbing and moving and Dobbs plodding forward hesitantly, Sanchez zipped in and landed a solid straight left to the liver, then quickly zapped out as Dobbs crumpled to the canvas clutching his belly.

He was counted out by referee Rocky Burke at 1:43.

“It was a good clean shot but I didn’t expect to stop him,” said Sanchez. “I backed away after throwing it  because he was winging hard right hands. “

Dobbs remained on his knees for several minutes after being counted out.

“I thought he would be more aggressive, but he hits hard,” was all Dobbs had to say backstage.

With the win, Sanchez, now 12-1, 10 KOs, becomes the new WBC Youth Welterweight champion.

Dobbs earns his pay with another loss, and drops to 9-11, 7 KOs.

“I want high quality guys now,” Sanchez said after the fight. “We’ve been looking at guys who have records like 27-7 and 38-8 and 25-1,” said Sanchez. “Those are the kind of guys we want.

“But this time, they all backed out. We went through so many opponents before Dobbs.”

Sanchez looks to land one more fight this year, most likely a defense of his WBC Latino Welterweight title.

Gallegos’ body bombs Williams

Another opponent in over his head was Mikel Williams of Monroe, Louis., who, literally, could not stand up to New Mexico State Jr. Welter champ Shawn “the Educator” Gallegos.

Within three rounds, Williams was down four times, all from body shots.

Gallegos controlled the action from the start, peppering Williams from the outside with quick combinations and occasional harder-thrown body shots. Williams proved game, continuing to come forward and trying to land something.

Williams went down with a body shot in the 2nd and except for a sneaky counter left hook that snaked its way in, Gallegos was in charge.

Williams countered a hard right in the 3rd, momentarily stunning Gallegos. After a quick recovery, Gallegos looked to close the show, blasting Williams with hard body shots that had him taking a knee a total of three times before the stoppage at 2:34.

“The first time I dropped him, I knew I had him hurt,” Gallegos said after the fight.

“He does hit hard, though. He had me hurt for a split second in the third, but I’ve been down before and now know what to do. I tied up and recovered, then went back to work, outboxing him.”

After this tune-up, Gallegos improves to 13-1, 5 KOs, while Williams drops to 2-3-4, 1 KO.

With no time off after this fight, Gallegos will be back in the gym Monday to pick up preparation for an October 16th fight against Jacob Gomez (9-11-3, 0 KOs). Although campaigning now at 140, Gallegos will dry himself out to 135 to fight Gomez for the newly-formed Budweiser New Mexico Lightweight belt on the Southwest Fight Promotions’ card in Las Cruces.

‘The Animal’ bangs on Bailey

In a lively six-rounder, Elco “the Animal” Garcia of Durango, Colo. took on Robert “No Bail” Bailey of Flint, Mich.

Garcia, now training in Albuquerque under Luis Chavez, needed a few rounds to figure out Bailey’s slick southpaw style before closing the gap (and closing the show) with a crushing straight hand in the final round.

Both fighters took most of the first round to feel each other out, although late in the round, Bailey proved game by hammering Garcia with a straight left that had him momentarily staggered.

Round Two was uneventful, with Elco slightly busier but still not using his jab to work his way in.

Things started to heat up in the third stanza. Elco, jabbing now, started to close the gap while Bailey began to put his combinations together by counterpunching the much bigger Garcia.

Bailey might’ve won the fourth round with his counterpunching and sneaky left hand if it weren’t for Garcia stealing the round with a flurry, with a left hook that knocked Bailey’s mouthpiece out.

The mouthpiece became an issue in the fifth, with Bailey losing it two more times. Bailey started to tire, and Garcia was all over him, hitting him with right hands.

After a devastating right hand in the final round, Bailey, clearly hurt, backed up and, in what was probably a premature stoppage, ref Rocky Burke stepped in to call it quits at :21.

Garcia improves to 16-3, 6 KOs; and Bailey, who is going to go down to welter from middleweight, falls to 6-4, 4 KOs.

“El Picosito” Puts down Pitts

The single most impressive punch of the night came from Albuquerque’s Vicente “El Picosito” Garcia, who dealt Calvin Pitts the first knockdown of his career by way of a crushing left hook at the end of the first round.

Garcia stayed on the outside for much of the 1st, popping away at Pitts who tried to walk his man down. While not landing nearly as frequently as Garcia, Pitts was able, however, to find a home for his right hand. Three big shots landed on Garcia, making it a closer round than expected—until Garcia saw his opening and landed a monstrous left hook that plummeted Pitts to the canvas where he was counted out at 2:31.

Pitts got up on unsteady legs and had to be directed back to his corner where he shook his head and mumbled, “First time I’ve ever been knocked down . . . .”

“I felt good but a little rusty,” Garcia said after the fight. “He woke me up with his right hand. I knew, those are the kind of punches that win rounds so I knew I had to do something. I threw a lead right and followed with a hook, and it was over.”

Pitts evens out at 3-3, 1 KO.

Garcia, now 4-0, 3 KOs, is slated to fight October 22 in El Paso, Texas, on a Golden Boy Promotions card. If they like what they see in Garcia, a possible promotional contract may  be on the horizon.

Victoria Victorious

In the only distance fight of the night, Victoria Cisneros (2-1) of Albuquerque dominated Janae Archuleta (4-7-1, 2 KOs) of Denver with a shutout unanimous decision.

Looking nothing like the fighter who was stopped early by Crystal Hickerson in May, Cisneros came out hungry and mean, applying constant pressure on Archuleta, who could do little but back up.

Too strong and big, Cisneros continued to land short hooks and rights on Archuleta, who started to wake up in the third to trade with Cisneros. It made a good fight, but Archuleta could not turn the fight around.

At the end of four, all three judges were in agreement: 40-36.

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G-dog Promotions gets a taste of the game

Promoter Glen Lucero, who was involved with fight promotions in the ‘90s with the Romeros, was happy with the turnout.

“It was such a hard show to pull off,” he said. “There was a lot of last minute work, but, overall, I’m satisfied.”

Whether that means another fight card in the future?

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