October 15, 2004 @ the Rio Rancho Mid High School in Rio Rancho
photos and report by Chris Cozzone With a crowd that made a bust out of most local pro shows and, at the same time, should’ve had the firemen in attendance break a sweat for stretching the local fire code for maximum capacity, ‘Rumble in Rio!’ could not be labeled anything but a blazing success. Twelve high-action fights—eleven of which pitted local police officers against local firemen—comprised the charity-driven card with proceeds benefiting the Rio Rancho Department of Public Safety Association’s ‘Bikes for Tykes’ program and the Rio Rancho Boxing Club. All fights were three one-minute rounds and the scoring was done, thank God, pro-style. Simply put, organizer Pete Camacho, a sergeant with the Rio Rancho Police Department (RRPD), put on a knockout show. He also provided the crowd with the only knockout of the night: his own. In the eighth bout of the night, Camacho was pitted against Andrew Garcia of the Rio Rancho Fire Department (RRFD). “Macho” Camacho was living up to his borrowed moniker, nearly blowing through Garcia for most of the first round with his aggression. In the second, Garcia started to retaliate, but Camacho’s jab and cleaner punches had this fight in his pocket. The turnaround was swift, for early in the final round, Garcia threw a beauty of a right that dropped Camacho to the canvas. Camacho struggled to get up but was in no condition to continue and the fight was stopped. After recovering, Camacho took his loss in style, congratulating Garcia while he continued to help run the show’s final bouts. Garcia’s knockout win helped turn the tide from the police to the firemen, who’d won four in a row up to that point. The first three fights, however, had firemen smoking out policemen. In the first bout, Dominic Archebeque of the Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) decisioned Pat Rael of the RRPD. While Rael was more composed, landing cleaner shots, Archebeque’s less-styled and stronger brawling techniques won out. In the second and third, Rael went down from flurries, giving the clear decision to Archebeque. Bout #2 pitted Mike Palmer of the AFD against Art Sanchez of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). Fireman Palmer was a crazed aggressor in the opening stanza, following Sanchez around the ring and holding his right hand out like a loaded gun while he pistol whip his foe. After weathering the storm, however, Sanchez surprised Palmer with a counter left hook that, both, staggered the fireman and taught him a bit of respect. Palmer came out strong in the second, oftentime reaching with his shots, while Sanchez took his time waiting for opportunities—which are few in limiting one-minute rounds. Sensing the need for something dramatic, Sanchez went toe-to-toe with Palmer in the final round but the firemen’s heavier hands won out, giving him the decision, three rounds to one. The third bout between APD’s Jude Lujan and AFD’s Greg Roybal stole the show—especially the first round in which both fighters threw non-stop punches from bell to bell. Throwing style out the window, Lujan and Roybal’s slugfest had the crowd on its feet. Roybal’s punches carried more weight but Lujan fought back relentlessly. In between rounds, Lujan made an adjustment for he came out boxing, circling Roybal and scoring on the outside with potshots while the firemen sought to engage him close quarters, to no avail. Roybal closed the distance in the third, catching Lujan with a straight right that staggered him for a referee-induced eight-count. Lujan returned to boxing but the eight-count made it a 10-8 round for the firemen, giving him the decision at the end. Bout #4 was the female match of the night, pitting Lisa Gowen of the RRPD against “honorary firewoman” Lori Schwartz. Both women, on the heavier side and tipping the scales at 500 between the two, fought hard, but it was Gowen’s superior conditioning and work rate that had her winning all three rounds for what was the Policemen’s first victory of the night. Looking to turn things around for the firemen, Derek Pino of the AFD came out like a fireplug in the fifth bout, against Benito Martinez of the APD. After weathering Pino’s initial eruption, however, Martinez, a much more composed fighter, waited for an opening, then landed a straight right hand that put out Pino’s fire, knocking him to the canvas. Pino shook it off, resumed his attack, but Martinez continued to catch him rushing in. But for a brief turnaround in which Martinez came entangled on the ropes, a poor defense and a sagging wind had Pino on the outs in the second. Martinez turned up the heat in the third for a time, but went back to counterpunching, letting Pino recover enough to stagger the police officer late in the round. After three, the decision went to the more composed Martinez for another police win. In the sixth bout, APD heavyweight Tim Espinoza evened the score, three wins apiece, with a decision over AFD’s Mike Gutierrez. Firemen Gutierrez, an aggressive southpaw, stole the first from Espinoza, outbanging him. Espinoza spent the time trying to figure Gutierrez out, and was too shy with his effective-but-infrequent straight rights. Espinoza turned it up in the second, throwing cleaner shots over a still-more-aggressive Gutierrez, who took the second, as well. In the third, Espinoza came out strong, fighting on the aggressive for the first time and flooring the fireman with a straight right. It might not have been a true knockdown, however, for Gutierrez appeared to be on his way down from a trip when the punch landed. Angry at the knockdown, Gutierrez came back strong and nearly turned the fight around but, by then, the one-minute round was over. I had it even, 28-28, as had one judge; the other two scored it for Espinoza. In Bout #7, police officers scored their fourth win in a row when the APD’s Steve Martinez decisioned Justin Staley of the AFD. Staley took the first easily, winning on aggression and a big right hand that appeared to hurt Martinez. By the round’s end, Martinez was beginning to land his own punches, though. In the second, after a 20-second shoving contest, Martinez landed the best punch of the night: a picture-perfect right hand right on Staley’s chin. The knockdown had a delayed reaction. In Round Three, the two brawled. Staley took down Martinez in a WWF-type takedown that was not ruled a knockdown, and won the round in my eyes by overwhelming aggression. Near the round’s end, he also dished a bit of payback on Martinez when he staggered him. I had it 28 even but the judges ruled it for Martinez. The eighth bout was the aforementioned knockout for Camacho. Bout #9 had Santa Fe Police Department’s Paul Castillo winning a decision over Ricardo Perea of the RRFD. Round One was a slugfest, with very little clean punching but Castillo’s bull-rush aggression winning out. The second round was more of the same but more even between the two combatants. In the third, Perea staggered Castillo with a right hand but the policemen returned fire, landing his own right hand and flooring the firemen. Sealing his win, Castillo landed an uppercut to Perea’s upper ribs when the fight resumed, sending him down again for a 10-7 round. In the tenth bout, heavyweight K.C. Martin of the RRPD showed himself as the most impressive fighter of the night in his victory over overmatched firemen Elliott Salgado of the RRFD. Martin, with trainer Greg Jackson and world champ cage fighter Joey Villasenor in his corner, threw every punch with conviction. He also showed a tight defense by keeping his gloves up, and was the first fighter to actually attack his opponent’s body. Hurling punches downstairs, then upstairs, Martin kept Salgado at bay. In the second, Salgado was staggered but a fading wind kept Martin from finishing his foe. Salgado has his moments in the third but Martin’s occasional flurries secured an easy win. In the final bout of the night between policemen and firemen, Derek Arana of the RRFD scored a decision win over RRPD’s Brian Thacker. Round One was a pleasing slugfest, with Arana whacking Thacker through a leaky defense. Thacker thwacked back in the second in a fairly even round, but, once again, Arana took the lead when, in the third, he trapped Thacker in the ropes and landed heavily. In the main event of the night, former Golden Gloves champ Ray Zamora of the APD was pitted against William Hamilton of the New York City Police Department. Extra weight, 15 years of ring rust and a height disadvantage did not help Zamora, who could not launch an effective attack against the slicker, taller Hamilton, supposedly a six-fight amateur veteran. Hamilton was cleaner and faster while he controlled the action through three rounds, fighting from the outside while Zamora sought to get his game going. In the final round, Hamilton started to land more frequently, with an occasional uppercut while evading close quarter action. At the end of three, it was an easy win for the NYPD. # # # © 2004 by New Mexico Boxing.com. |
