March 5, 2004 – Wilson Complex, Las Vegas, NM – Fresquez Productions/Chargin/Guy Riorday Boxing

Upset in Vegas!
Archuleta defeats Tapia for New Mexico supremacy!

Ringside report by Chris Cozzone and Ricardo Trujillo
photos by cozzone

Frankie Archuleta wanted to reclaim his hometown, but last night in Las Vegas, New Mexico, he did much more than that—he took the entire state from living legend Johnny Tapia.

Scoring one of the biggest upsets in New Mexican history, Archuleta gave the five-time world champion the worst loss of his life, outpunching,  outboxing and outsmarting the elder Tapia through ten rounds for a split decision win.

The house was packed—4,500 frenzied fight fans had squeezed into the cozy Wilson’s Complex at the Highlands University to watch the Telefutura-televised event representing the biggest sporting event to hit the small town since the World Heavyweight Championship between Jack Johnson and “Fireman” Jim Flynn in 1912.

Tension was high. 

Archuleta was not expected to win, but he was the hometown favorite.

Or was he?

For the past several weeks, Archuleta had split town to train in Mexico City under revered trainer Rudy Perez. While away, Tapia, whose grandparents originate from Vegas, had occupied the town, setting up camp and winning over the people.

It showed.

Both fighters entered the ring to a solidly-split chorus of cheers and boos. The mixed allegiance would reveal itself through the fight as an eerie cacophony of “FRANK-IE! FRANK-IE!” and “JOHN-NY! JOHN-NY!”

Archuleta entered the ring first, and after disrobing, revealed a solid physique and a six-pack of abs he’d not shown before. Tapia, on the other hand, while not as puffy as his previous fight against Carlos Contreras last September, has not looked solid in the last couple years.

The opening round was a shocker.

For the first time  in several fights and seemingly already in rhythm, Archuleta went right to work. Letting Tapia move in, he counterpunched his way to a solid first round. Two hard rights landed early for Tapia, but in the second minute , Archuleta caught Tapia along the ropes and let loose with a right hand that nearly floored the former champion. It  might’ve  been a knockdown, as Tapia’s glove brushed the canvas, but the veteran grabbed the top rope and kept upright. Archuleta went in for a vicious finish but Tapia had quickly recovered.

Round Two was a closer round, with Tapia setting the pace by taking the offensive and scoring occasional single straight rights while a calm, collective Archuleta countered in combinations. The round ended in a close quarter exchange.

In the 3^rd, Archuleta made his mark by establishing a piston-like jab, keeping Tapia at bay. While Archuleta was having his way, Tapia had his moments with savvy counterpunches. But, for the most part, the former champ was reaching, and Archuleta was winning the exchanges, fighting furiously and making Tapia pay.

Whatever training Archuleta had received in Mexico, it was working. Barely breathing and keeping an uncanny composure, it was clearly his fight unless Tapia could do something drastic. Tapia, though, was not going to win this one punch at a time—once again, Archuleta’s round.

In the 4^th and 5^th, Frankie outpunched Tapia yet again, hitting and moving, throwing bunches-o-punches while Tapia was reaching and loading up on too few single right hands against Archuleta’s high volume. While landing squarely, Tapia’s solid rights had little effect on Archuleta, who showed a granite chin

Tapia had no answer for the rangy, busier Archuleta.

In between the 5^th and 6^th round, Tapia’s trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, implored his fighter:

“You got to work! You have to go to work! Show me! Show me, you got to work!”

Tapia waited too long in the sixth while Archuleta showed supersharp precision in their exchanges.

In the 7^th, it was Archuleta initiating the action now, making Tapia look older with each round. Bruised and lumping up already, Tapia was able to land his best punch—a solid righ—in a furious exchange, but the shot only spurred Archuleta to fire back with more ferocity.

It was more of the same in the 8^th, with Archuleta fighting intelligently, keeping to game plan while Tapia, no fear in his heart, kept on coming forward.

Later in the round, though, Archuleta was the one coming forward while Tapia backtracked.

In the 9^th, Tapia picked off most of the punches; it was a better round, but a vicious right hand from Archuleta had him moving backward.

It was clear that Tapia needed a miracle to pull off a win when the 10^th round bell rang.

Staying in the pocket, Archuleta continued to trade shots while Tapia landed sneaky shots. In the last minute, Archuleta stole the round by finishing the frame with furious shots, sealing his victory.

With tension thick enough to choke, the cards were read: Judge Gant had it 98-92 for Archuleta; Judge Bagshaw had it 96-95 for Tapia; and Martinez had it 96-94 for Archuleta, making him winner by split decision.

This was no hometown victory for Archuleta: Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it a no-brainer: 7 rounds to 3 for Archuleta (97-93).

Always classy, Tapia took his loss and lifted up Archuleta who raised his arms in victory.

“I came out the winner,” an exuberant Archuleta said, leaving the ring. “Everything came out perfect . . .

“I tried not to get into a brawl with him—he’s too intelligent a fighter—so I worked behind my jab. I thought I’d figure him out and catch him with my right.”

Archuleta said the possible knockdown in the first might or might not have been sound:

“Maybe it should’ve been an 8-count, but he took it pretty good and recuperated quickly.”

At the post-fight press conference, Tapia’s doctor revealed that the 37-year-old former champ ‘s loss was not so much age as it was illness. For days leading up to the fight, Tapia had been, unbeknownst to any, suffering from the flu. In fact, during the press conference, Tapia coughed frequently and, at one point, had everyone grimacing when he vomited.

“I wasn’t going to stop the fight,” said Tapia. “I did what I had to.”

Others close to the camp had no knowledge of Tapia’s illness.

Needless to say, Tapia asked Archuleta for a rematch.

“I came to your hometown, now you come to mine,” said Tapia.

Archuleta said he would “probably take it.”

Tapia’s big money fight against former champ Wayne McCullough is less likely now, as does a sixth world title before retirement—it may all hinge on the outcome of a rematch.

Promoter Lenny Fresquez said later that he would try and do the rematch in Albuquerque later this year.

In the meantime, Archuleta, finally showing his true potential and fighting at 100%, is looking at bigger things. Fresquez says he’s already been called with possible title fights for Archuleta.

While the remainder of Tapia's career is in question, one other thing is not:  

Frankie Archuleta finally has it together.

Vargas on the rise, Tejedor falls again

In the co co-main event had undefeated Mexican Cuauhtemoc “the Aztec Warrior” Vargas won a lop-sided decision over former champion  Francisco Tejedor.

Vargas may be one of the best prospects out of Mexican City, and while Tejedor was a leap up in opposition, the former champ has fallen quite a bit since his glory days, losing his last nine fights now. Against Vargas, though, Tejedor showed enough ring savvy to not only survive, but make the youngster work for his win.

Round One was fairly even, with Tejedor fighting on the run while Vargas sought to cut the ring off to land his best punch, the left hook. In the second frame, Vargas caught up with Tejedor, banging away to his body while the former champ sought to tie up or spin out against the ropes.

It was looking like an early night in the second but after the third, it appeared as if Tejedor had weathered the storm, and the fight became  somewhat mechanical, with Vargas chasing down the elusive Tejedor.

Vargas had a hard time cutting off the ring and in the fourth frame, Tejedor endured more rope burns sliding away from Vargas, than actual landed punches.

In the 5^th and 6^th, Vargas started to utilize his jab more effectively, landing more straight rights but stalking more than fighting. Tejedor, meanwhile, took advantages of openings to pepper Vargas with light shots.

A straight right lead snapped Tejedor’s head back in the 7^th, and in the 8^th and final round, it was the clean, effective punches from Vargas sealing yet another uneventful round.

Scorecards were unanimous for Vargas, 79-73 x 3.

Tejedor, reduced to a trial horse for young bucks like Vargas, plummets yet  another notch to 46-20-1 (31 KOs) while Vargas, with his biggest win, becomes 11-0 (8 KOs).

Diablo destroys unbeaten Flores

Following the main event, Alex “El Diablo” Becerra showed why he is slated to fight for the WBC World Youth belt on May 15^th with a 6^th round knockout over formerly undefeated Columbian Felix Flores.

It was a clash of styles and physiques for much of the fight. The taller Becerra played boxer while the shorter, brawny Flores went in there southpaw to brawl.

Becerra outworked Flores in the first with his jab while the Columbian sought to land haymakers. Roughhousing from Flores earned him a warning in the 2^nd and another in the 3^rd for pulling on Becerra, who tried to keep to plan, jabbing, moving and setting up hooks and straight rights.

In the 4^th, head-butting had Flores losing a point, but he made it up with a sneaky right later in the round that put Becerra on the canvas. Becerra claimed it was a trip—at worst, it was a flash knockdown—and the fight resumed.

Becerra resorted to counterpunching the bullrushing Flores in the 5^th, but midway through the round, the fight turned around and it was the El Pasoan taking the lead and dictating the fight.

After the first minute, won by Becerra outboxing a tiring and less-reluctant Flores, the El Pasoan landed a crisp, hard right between the Columbian’s neck and jawbone—the single best punch of the night—that dropped Flores goofy onto the canvas. He took his time getting up and was counted out by Referee Tony Rosales at 1:03.

Becerra moves to 15-2 (7 KOs) while Flores gets his first loss and is now 9-1-1 (7 KOs).

Conan sleepwalks in dreary match against Almazon

What should’ve been an easy, look-good victory for Miguel “Conan” Torrecilllas against common foe Justo Almazon ended up a dreary draw—the only consolation was that the scheduled six-rounder was slashed to a four.

Torrecillas took the first round, left-hooking the pudgy-but-durable Almazon. But in the 2^nd, Torrecillas slowed down, letting Almazon back in the fight.

In the 3^rd and 4^th, Torrecillas faded quickly while Almazon, no doubt amazed at his luck, started to load up on body shots, hitting the clinching Torrecillas at every opportunity.

Scorecards read 39-37 for Torrecillas, and 38-38 x 2, making it a majority draw.

After the fight, Torrecillas revealed to his team that he was having gallbladder problems and should’ve pulled out of the fight. Regardless, Torrecillas moves his record to 13-4-1 (6 KOs) while Almazon gets a break from losing with a draw and is now 13-35-5 (no KOs).

Educator outclasses Montes

The final walkout bout of the night was hometown prospect Shawn “the Educator” Gallegos. The state champion in both the jr. welter and lightweight divisions was matched  up against Jose Luis Montes, who endured his 15^th straight defeat.

Gallegos went to work on Montes’ soft bread basket in the first, picking up the round with left hooks up and downstairs. In the second, Montes, who’d been switching leftie/rightie, stayed orthodox, having a better round (but still losing) to the younger, quicker Gallegos.

Montes showed the fans why he’s a favorite opponent to rising prospects—he can take a punch and  he doesn’t back down. Gallegos spent the round taking target practice, loading up on right crosses and hooks.

In the 4^th, it looked like a gym workout on the heavy bag for Gallegos, but Montes was able to take it.

Judges had the 6-reduced-to-4-round bout scored 40-36 x 3 for Gallegos.

Montes falls to 11-57-1 (8 KOs) while Gallegos starts the year out at 11-1 (5 KOs).

Hernandez breezes through Delgado

In the opening bout of the night, undefeated Mexican Freddy Hernandez (16-0, 14 KOs) cruised to a shutout six-round unanimous decision over rugged Oscar Delgado (22-22, 10 KOs).

Delgado was game, but Hernandez’s superior skills and long reach earned him the shut-out win.

Scorecards read 60-54 x 3.

Torrecillas vs. Almazon

  # # #

Results:
Frankie Archuleta (23-4-1, 14 KOs) SD 10 Johnny Tapia (53-4-2, 29 KOs)
Cuauhtemoc "the Aztec Warrior" Vargas (11-0, 7 KOs) SD 8 Francisco Tejedor (46-20-2, 31 KOs)
Alex "El Diablo" Becerra (15-2, 7 KOs) KO 6 Felix Flores (9-1-1, 7 KOs)
Shawn “The Educator” Gallegos (11-1, 5 KOs) UD 4 Jose Luis Montes (11-57-1, 8 KOs)
Freddy “Riel” Hernandez (16-0, 14 KOs) UD 6 Oscar “Negro” Delgado (22-22, 10 KOs)
Miguel "Conan" Torrecillas (13-4-1, 6 KOs) Maj. Draw Justo Almazon (13-36-4, 0 KOs)