Blemishes on the border!
Beltran upset by Dianzo, Arce settles for draw, opponents prove dangerous at inaugural Azteca America series

Ringside report by Ricardo Trujillo and Chris Cozzone
Photos by Chris Cozzone

On paper, the promised “Border Wars” at the Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso, Texas was about as likely as Julio Cesar Chavez showing up for a card that had his name all over it.

Well, Chavez was a no show—no surprise there—but no one cared, for Golden Road Promotions gave the crowd of 800 a five-bout card that will not soon be forgotten—thanks to the opponents who refused to lose.

Dianzo delivers upset to Beltran

Since losing to WBO Super Bantamweight champ Joan Guzman earlier this year, once-lost Fernando “Wary” Beltran, Jr. has been on a two-win comeback trail in search of either a rematch or another title fight with a different champion.

A win over Hugo Dianzo, the sometimes-contender, sometimes-opponent, seemed like a good choice for Beltran to break back into the Top Ten.

As it turned out, Dianzo was a good choice—but for a crowd-pleasing brawl, not the anticipated win Beltran had hoped for.

Round One was the way most expected the entire fight to go. The southpaw Beltran came out jabbing, moving and controlling the ring while Dianzo stood in one place and let him have his way.

But in the 2nd, a big right hand from Dianzo caught Beltran rushing in—a message that he hadn’t come to lose. With Beltran the busier fighter, Dianzo, finding his range now, made it a difficult round to score by counterpunching the southpaw, and landing a big belly shot at the bell.

Left cross leads gave Beltran a slight edge in Round Three, although Dianzo’s body punching would be a worthwhile investment for the later rounds.

Dianzo pushed the action in Round Four, forcing Beltran to counter—something he did not look used to doing. But one round later, Beltran’s furiously took back the initiative, jabbing and setting up hooks and lefts while Dianzo took his turn going backward.

A head-butt in the 6th momentarily halted the action when Dianzo was checked for a cut over his left eye. Despite the blood, Dianzo was able to sucker Beltran into fighting his fight in the pocket. Finally, after a slow start, Dianzo began to let his hands fly, and even scored a few with his jab.

After six rounds, we had the fight at three rounds apiece, the two alternating rounds, but in Round Seven, a big left hook rocked Beltran early on. Dianzo retained his impetus by driving Beltran back without respite though the 7th and 8th, perhaps driven by the fear that the fight could be stopped due to his cut. Beltran targeted the cut, trading with Dianzo but getting the worst of it, especially at the end of the round when he ate a big right hand.

It was back to Beltran in the first part of Round Nine. Lefts landed on Dianzo, who flurried back with big rights in a close round.

In the final round, Dianzo, his cut bleeding worse than ever, landed big left hooks while Beltran stood his ground and flurried with jabs and lefts. Dianzo finished strong down the home stretch to win another round and, most likely, the fight.

The judges were split, with one seeing the fight even, 95-95; the other two scoring it for Dianzo, 96-94 and 97-93, giving him the majority win.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing.com had it for Dianzo, 96-94.

“This win was a birthday present to myself,” Dianzo, 30, said leaving the ring.

“It was a rough fight, but I was very potent out there. I outworked him and was just more powerful than him. I dominated him with my experience. I won clearly.”

Dianzo, 2-3 in his last fights, 31-11-1 (15 KOs) overall, said he’d like to fight one more time before challenging one of the 122-pound world champions.

“I’m a contender again.”

Backstage, Beltran was steaming.

“I won this clearly,” he growled. “He knows I beat him.

“He better give me a rematch-but not in Texas. This is the second time I’ve been robbed here.”

Last year, Beltran had suffered his first loss to world champ Guzman in Hidalgo, Texas with scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.

“what do I have to do to get a decision in Texas?” he demanded. “they robbed me.”

'Apachito' gives Arce a taste of Juarez

It hasn’t been the greatest year for Los Mochis, Mexico’s Francisco “Panchito” Arce, brother of WBC Interim Flyweight champ, Jorge. First, he loses a six-round to majority decision to 8-5-3 Benjie Garcia in July, then, in another fight he’s expected to easily dominate, he’s forced to settle for a draw.

The opponent was local Juarez pug Alejandro “Apachito” Moreno, whose career had been sliding downhill at an alarming rate. In his last seven bouts, Moreno had not been able to do better than 0-6-1.

But last night, to Arce’s bad luck, Moreno fought better than he’s had in years.

Arce came out like a madman, fighting much like brother Jorge—but Moreno was able to dodge Arce’s bullets, then answer back with hard, accurate counterpunches that easily gave him the round.

The two stayed in the center of the ring in the 2nd, bombing away at each other—advantage Arce, whose extreme aggression and whirlwind punches evened the score at one apiece.

Refusing to back down, Moreno stayed in the pocket to trade with Arce in the 3rd, as well, but fought smarter after a low blow gave him a quick time-out, befuddling Arce with movement to, perhaps, eke out another round.

Toe-to-toe action in the center of the ring whipped the crowd to a frenzy for much of the round. Big rights from Moreno and a variety of hooks, uppers and short rights from Arce took their toll on both fighters.

Moreno came out strong in Round Five, slamming Arce with a left to the body and a right over the top. There was no stopping Arce, however; he refused to back down and stayed on top of Moreno—especially after a hit on the break surprised Arce, who fell to one knee. Moreno was warned and no knockdown was scored.

In Round Six, Moreno continued to look his sharpest—and most aggressive—in years, but pressure, pressure, pressure from Arce outdid Moreno’s big rights.

Moreno started to tire from the seventh round on, while Arce continued to elevate his attack plan. Big lefts landed on Moreno through the 7th, both up and downstairs.

In the 8th and 9th, Moreno started to look like the perennial opponent he’d become in recent years, by letting Arce dictate the pace and action. Content to counter punch in spots, Moreno fell into a purely defensive fight while Arce never let up his relentless aggression.

In the final round, Moreno gave what he had left—but it was far from adequate to match Arce who was adamantly going for the kill. While Moreno had better luck with distance, Arce’s lefts and straight rights gave him the round and, thus, the fight—at least on our scorecard.

To everyone’s surprise, the judges were split: 97-93 Arce, 96-94 Moreno and 95-95—resulting in a draw.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had a clear win for Arce, 97-93.

“I won this fight easily!” Arce growled backstage. “I pressured him, I hit him with the harder shots! This is the second fight this year I should’ve won!

“How did that judge have it for Moreno? I think he was watching the ring card girls and not the fight.”

Despite the draw, Arce said he is hoping for a title shot at the end of next year.

As for a rematch against Moreno?

“Rematch? I don’t have anything to demonstrate to anybody! I felt I won this fight.”

Arce is now 15-2-1, 6 KOs while Moreno, now 20-17-3, 10 KOs, picks up encouragement to resurrect his career.

“I’m okay with the rematch, but I actually deserved the win,” Moreno said. “I was more aggressive and he never hurt me.

Soto more than an opponent for Zavaleta

At a weight of 137, short and chubby Juarez featherweight Orlando Soto (7-12-2, 2 KOs) is the perfect opponent for lightweights to welterweights—unless he really wants to fight, like he did tonight against Mexico’s Zaid Zavaleta (2-0-2, 2 KOs), who found himself struggling to get a draw rather than the win he most likely expected.

Soto came out banging in Round One, surprising the taller Zavaleta with big right hands. Zavaleta started to measure his big rights in the 2nd and 3rd, but then fell to Soto’s crafty aggression in the 4th.

Rounds Five and Six belonged to Soto, who continued to pressure a Zavaleta on the run.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had Soto winning 58-56.

Cobb floors cab driver

In the second walkout bout, Josh Cobb (2-1, 2 KOs), son of former contender Tex Cobb, took out Mexican taxi driver Jose Luis Garcia (0-10) in the only first round stoppage of the night.

The ‘stout’ Garcia came out swinging, but after Cobb connected with a right, the Mexican found himself horizontal. The opponent beat the count, only to be beaten back down at the end of the first minute with another right.

End of the road for Losoya

The final bout of the night featured a war of opponents. Although favored to win, Las Cruces’ Colbert “the Pittbull” Losoya (4-8) hit the canvas three times while Juarez’s Edgar Pedraza (3-14-2) weathered one knockdown to win by TKO in Round Two.

In the first round, Losoya came out fast and focused, fighting well in the pocket—until a right on the inside dropped Losoya to the floor. Losoya shook it off and when the fight resumed, returned the favor, downing Pedraza with a right hand to win back the momentum.

It was clear that this fight was about whose right was stronger—or whose chin was weaker.

Losoya’s success in the latter part of Round One was short-lived, for in the second round, a left-right by the Mexican floored Losoya a second time. This time, he was dazed when the fight resumed.

Fighting on instinct, he attempted to come back but driven to the ropes, caught a right to the chin that put him down for the count—or what would’ve been the count had not ref Rocky Burke called it off at the 8-second mark.

The win will enable Pedraza to earn another ten or so paydays as an opponent; but Losoya's future is questionable.

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Azteca America and Golden Road Promotion will hold their second card on October 29. Stay tuned for details.
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SPECIAL THANKS to El Paso's Oscar Castillo for his ringside assistance & translation services.

Bonus Photos

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