New Mexico goes to war!
Sanchez clinics Wilson with distance win!
Martinez edges Contreras! Garcia stops Zamora!

Ringside report by Richie Masciotti and Chris Cozzone
photos by Chris Cozzone

Three title fights, several upsets and a marathon card that ended well after midnight kept a full house of 2,700 screaming fight fans up past their bedtime last night at the Santa Ana Star Casino in Bernalillo.

A pack of determined fight fans who hightailed it from Las Vegas after the Archuleta card ended joined the standing room only crowd to watch the last two title bouts.

In the final headlined fight, Ray Sanchez III won back his fans by putting on a clinic in a WBC World Youth Welterweight title defense, looking strong and sharp in his first ten-round distance fight and winning a lop-sided unanimous decision over Guyana/Atlanta fighter Troy Wilson.

Sanchez set the pace in the first, jabbing at Wilson and attacking the body in the 1st.

In the 2nd, he picked up another round, maneuvering Wilson against the ropes with jabs and straight lefts.

A gun-shy Wilson opened up a bit in the 3rd, clubbing Sanchez with two good rights but Sanchez was unfazed, answering back with overhand lefts and keeping out of pocket by staying out of Wilson’s range.

Rounds Four and Five, too, belonged to Sanchez, who forced Wilson to follow him around the ring while getting peppered with lefts and irritating double and triple jabs.

By the sixth round, Wilson, implored upon by his cornermen James Plenty and former title challenger Johnny  Gant to let his hands go, started to step up the pace. It might’ve been enough to give him the round, but Sanchez’s jab might’ve swayed most.

Wilson came out quick in the 7th, but faded quickly, despite being able to land a straight right down the middle on Sanchez, who took the shots without problem. Lack of punches gave yet another round to the controlling Sanchez.

Wilson finally won a convincing round in the 8th, backing Sanchez up through most of the round with aggressive right hands. But in the 9th, he slowed back down again while Sanchez resumed control with jabs and left hands. In the last ten seconds, however, Wilson flurried, landing his best right hand of the night at the sound of the bell, appearing to hurt Sanchez who tied up. Sanchez, though, walked back to his corner uninjured.

Sanchez went to war in the final round, looking to close the show in an impressive fashion. With Wilson on the defense, Sanchez flurried, landing a straight left in the final 30 seconds that put Wilson on the seat of his trunks. Wilson got up, stumbled, and made the count, weathering a furious Sanchez who could not down his man a second, final time before the bell signaled the end of the fight.

All three judges scored it for Sanchez, 100-89, 99-92 and 97-92.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it 99-92 for Sanchez.

“He was very awkward but I’m satisfied with my performance,” Sanchez said after the fight.

“I felt good the whole way. I proved I can go ten rounds and stay on my toes. It was just a matter of time before I could land a clean left hand. Once anybody in this welterweight division gets hit by my straight left, they’re gonna get hurt.”

After a much-needed vacation, Sanchez will meet with his team and figure out his next move.

With the win, Sanchez retains both his #17 world rating and WBC Youth belt. His record climbs to 13-1, 10 KOs while Wilson suffers his first defeat, pro or amateur, falling to 5-0-1, 1 KO.

Martinez squeaks by Contreras for WBC Intercontinental Mundo Hispano Bantam belt!

“Box! . . . Move! Don’t fight his game!”

Those were the desperate pleas of David Martinez’s corner in five of the ten rounds he fought against big puncher Ruben Contreras.

No coincidence either, that those five rounds were the ones most thought Martinez lost.

The fight was quite simple: When Martinez boxed, he won easily.

But when he stood in the pocket to duke it out, he could not match Contreras’ body shots or power.

Martinez took the first two rounds, jabbing and boxing but for a portion of the 2nd in which Contreras banged him to the body.

Contreras won the next rounds when Martinez abandoned his winning game plan to bang. Contreras pulled ahead on body shots, hooks upstairs and, in the 4th, three consecutive  inside uppercuts.

Once again taking control of the ring, Martinez swept up the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds by staying, for the most part, on the outside, jabbing and peppering Contreras with right hands.

The next three rounds were Contreras, who was happy enough to have his opponent in front of him where he could outland him with hard body shots and left hands. Martinez, who usually has a sound defense, was getting hit too easy in the final round.

After ten, it was a no-brainer for Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing. We had it five rounds apiece, 95-95.

Only one judge had it that way. The other two scored it for Martinez, 97-96 and 96-94, Martinez, giving the hometown fighter both, the win and vacant WBC Intercontinental Mundo Hispano Bantamweight belt, despite the boos of the crowd.

Martinez was baffled at the crowd’s reaction:

“They boo you if you’re boxing. Now, I see, they boo you if you fight.

“I admit, I should’ve stayed boxing, but I react to the crowd. If they’re cheering, it makes me want to bang. But it’s all good. My goal is not to win titles—my goal is to see how good I really am.”

Martinez adds the Mundo Hispano belt to the WBC World Youth Super Flyweight belt he won last summer. He will, most likely, relinquish the Youth belt to campaign at bantamweight. His record climbs to 12-0 (2 KOs) while Contreras falls to 11-15 (4 KOs).

Garcia stops a big-hearted Zamora

In a war of a fight for the vacant WBC Intercontinental Mundo Hispano Junior Middleweight belt, there was only one thing bigger than Elco “the Animal” Garcia’s punches—Joaquin  Zamora’s huge heart.

From the get-go, it looked as if Garcia’s pressure and big right hands that were going to make the difference in this fight.

Round One was fairly close, with both fighters feeling each other out. A flurry for Zamora at the end might’ve given him the round.

In the 2nd, Garcia started to land his overhand right. Zamora, usually moving around the ring, made it easy for the “Animal,” staying in one place without much head movement.

Garcia’s first bomb exploded on Zamora in the 3rd hurting Zamora who moved away. Body shots rocked Zamora midway through the round, but the Socorro prospect tried to flurry back. By the end of the round, Zamora’s right eye was swelling fast.

Looking at opportunity, Garcia jabbed at Zamora’s eye, nearly closing it by the end of the round. More right hands started to hammer down on Zamora, who was, no doubt, having trouble seeing it coming.

Despite fighting half-blind, Zamora dug in deep and took the fight to Garcia in the 5th. The two traded punches for most of the round with Zamora having the edge.

That was nearly it for Zamora.

In the 6th, Garcia came out and pounded on Zamora, whose eye was completely shut now. After a brief timeout, during which the doctor inspected the injury, then let the fight continue, Garcia closed the show, pinning Zamora against the ropes and letting loose. Zamora showed his mettle but was on the verge of going down when Ref Al Martinez stepped in to stop the bout at 2:57.

With the win, Garcia, now 17-3 (7 KOs) earns his first real title.

“I have a lot of respect for Zamora,” Garcia said later. “He took a big risk fighting me. I have nothing bad to say about him. He is a tough fighter.”

Garcia, who lives in Durango and trains in Albuquerque, hopes to fight again here.

MMA bouts: Condit returns!

In mixed martial arts action, Albuquerque’s Carlos Condit (13-1) bounced back from his first pro loss with a first round TKO win over Will Bradford (5-5) of Dallas, Texas.

Bradford came out aggressive, landing a right hand to Condit’s neck—but that would be about the strike landed for him. Immediately afterward, Condit tied him up from behind and, straddling him from above, rained blow after blow to Bradford’s unprotected head.

The fight was stopped at 1:30.

Knaub outmuscles Davis

Ortiz destroys Bates in upset!

In one of the most brutal beatings witnessed yet in MMA action, Juarez’s Jorge Ortiz (8-0) utterly destroyed Chee Bates (5-4) of Albuquerque in 40 seconds, taking him down with a knee to the chin, then a straight right.

Once upon the ground, and long before the ref noticed, or could  take action, Ortiz landed more than a dozen punches to Bates’ head before the bout was stopped.

Miraculously, Bates kept conscious and, after recovering, was able to walk out of the ring.

Boxing undercard:
Lovato shows her stuff

In a four-round bantamweight bout, Espanola’s Monica Lovato (2-1) put on a show,  knocking down San Antonio’s Valeria Flores (5-2) on her way to a unanimous four-round decision.

Round One was a waiting game for Lovato, who let things slip by while Flores bulled forward throwing rights and lefts. Lovato finished strong, landing a solid left but Flores’ output gave her the round.

Lovato snapped to in the second,  letting Flores push her to the ropes but countering with accurate left hands while fending off her opponent’s careless flurries.

Fighting on the move, Lovato picked her shots, landing crisp left hands but never moving forward to continue her attack, even when hurting Flores.

In the 4th, Lovato landed her best shot, a stunning straight hand that put Flores on the floor. Unfortunately, the ref did not rule it a knockdown for some reason. When the fight resumed, Lovato did not go for the finish but let Flores recover.

De Los Santos upset by veteran Valdez!

For Roswell’s Jeremy De Los Santos, his Albuquerque debut was a hard-learned lesson at the hands of capable veteran Steve Valdez of Denver.

De Los Santos started out strong, picking up the first two rounds with his trademark left hooks while using his jab to set up big rights. Valdez, always a slow starter, weathered the storm, initiating his own offensive in the 2nd by going to the body.

From there, it went downhill for De Los Santos.

Round Three was close, with both fighters fighting on the ropes and going to the  body. But De Los Santos appeared to be fading while Valdez grew stronger and started to throw more.

De Los Santos opened up the 4th with big right hands but lost his steam thereafter. Now in control, Valdez backed up his opponent and opened up, landing more often, and, continually, harder shots down and upstairs.

With his stamina fading quickly, De Los Santos fought in spurts, landing right hands—one that stunned  Valdez—but in between, it was all Valdez, aggressive and all over the Roswell fighter.

De Los Santos fell apart in the final round. His right eye, which had been  a bit red and swollen to begin with from getting thumbed while sparring six weeks ago, was now beginning to close. But what was worse was the wear and tear from Valdez’s body attack.

By the final minute, he was wincing from Valdez’s punches and, then, with 30 seconds left on the clock, he was forced to take a knee.

De Los Santos made the count but had left the fight on the canvas. After a vicious finishing, Valdez landed more body blows, forcing De Los Santos to sink back down to the canvas and the ref waving off just as the bell rang at 3:00.

Now  4-1 (2 KOs), De Los Santos suffers his first pro loss while Valdez rises to 20-33-4 (12 KOs).

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