Mickey's Mouse of Payne
Mexicans staunch sole negro invasion (of one) in ‘Choque de Raza!’ (Clash of the Races) or How Mickey overcame body aches with the help of hometown referee by extracting the Payne in his side

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

High action. High controversy. High intensity.

Welcome to “Throwback City,”—Ciudad Juarez, Mexico—home of what might be the wildest fight scene on the planet.

But, last night at the Poliforo Juan Gabriel, the fights weren’t the only throwback on the Promociones del Pueblo card billed as “Choque de Raza!”—roughly, “Clash of the Races!”

Last night, the border between El Paso and Juarez was a time machine. Cross it and you could return to the (sometimes, less than) golden era of boxing—an era that deemed it necessary to describe our darker-skinned brothers as “dusky,” “dinge,” or, simply, as last night, “negro” fighters. Political correction went out the ventana when No. 1 hometown fighter Miguel “Mickey Mouse” Roman was pitted against “the negro,” Phillip “Bring on the” Payne, of St. Louis, Miss., in front of an estimated 4,000 fight fans at the Coliseum-like Poliforo.

Payne would live up to his nickname.

His ring entrance was dutifully booed by the local crowd. Roman’s ten-minute extravaganza of an entrance came after, a combination of the theme from Conan the Barbarian and his typical Who’s-the-leader-of-the-pack?-M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E routine.

Finally, the fight was on.

Roman swept the first two rounds, showing good defense while exhibiting a compact-but-effective aggressive attack against Payne, who had better luck connecting in the latter half of round two, with left hooks.

The left would become Payne’s best friend, and in the third, he held his own against the determined Roman, edging him with hooks.

In the fourth frame, Payne proved a pain in the butt by keeping away from Roman, fighting slick while the house fighter sought to cut off the ring and trap him along the ropes. When close, Roman let loose with body shots, earning him another round.

A borderline low blow from Payne had Roman wincing in the fifth, but a right to the head when the action resumed wobbled the St. Louis opponent to the ropes.

By the sixth round, this was looking like a distance fight—a surprise to many ringside who’d figured Roman to take out Payne in the early to mid rounds, like two out of the last three guys have been able to do with Payne. Instead, this was shaping up to be a real test. Refusing to back down, Payne gave the 20-year-old Roman all he could handle, having his best rounds in the seventh and eighth round. Taking the fight to Roman, Payne battered him with left hooks to the body, once a straight right to the bread basket. More than once, however, the referee, Javier Caballero, seemingly intent on protecting the house fighter—who was more than willing (and capable) of fighting his own battles—ruled these shots as low blows and gave a wincing, hurting Roman time to catch his breath.

Could be, Roman saw the way the fight was going and, coming out his most aggressive, he decided to take matters in his own hands. Driving Payne back, he flurried at his foe—until, at 1:25, the mettlesome referee decided it was time to help out the hometown favorite (who, absolutely, needed no help at the time) by stopping the fight in his favor.

Payne protested, portions of the crowd booed indifferently—those who hadn’t been shouting racial slurs at Payne, that is.

Payne couldn’t believe the stoppage.

“He didn’t earn that win!” he shouted.

“That was an early Christmas gift!”

Payne said he’d merely been weathering Roman’s flurries.

“I wasn’t hurt at all. I knew I had him—I was going to take him out with those body shots later in the round or the tenth. He was ready to quit—I was digging into his body. He was in trouble and the referee knew it. He faked the ref out to make it look like a low blow—he needed that break or I would’ve taken him out.

“He must be humiliated to be helped like that by the referee.”

Going into the ninth round, all three judges had Roman winning, 79-71. Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it much closer, 77-75, and thought the stoppage was unwarranted. The win, however, was looking like it had Roman’s name on it—unless Payne would’ve been able to dramatically turn things around in what would’ve been the second half of the ninth.

Payne suffers his fourth loss in a row, three by stoppage, dropping to 16-17-1, 8 KOs, while Roman remains undefeated at 14-0, 10 KOs.

“He’s a strong fighter,” Roman gave his props to Payne following the fight. “He was my toughest fight.”

To his credit, Roman was truthful about the stoppage:

“At the end, I knew he wasn’t really hurt that bad, but the ref was doing his job and stopped the fight. He also hit me low twice, but I don’t think it was deliberate.”

Felipe de la Torre, Roman’s trainer, told us before the card began that Roman was looking at a world title shot against WBO Super Bantam champ Daniel Ponce de Leon, in April at the Bullring.

“I’ve been ready for Ponce,” said Roman. “I hope we can do it.”

After the fight with Payne, however, his promoter and trainer might want to delay that showdown.

"if he's going to fight for a world title, he needs more fights," says Payne, who's been up against both Roman and Ponce de Leon.

Earlier this year, de Leon TKO'd Payne in the seventh round.

"He couldn't beat me without the referee's help--how's he going to do against a champion? Right now, he's not ready."

Another draw, another thriller for Rivera-Zamarripa

In October, former Mexican light-heavyweight champ Arturo “Licenciado” Rivera returned to the ring after seven months to campaign as a dwindled-down middleweight.

In a curious comeback fight, the 30-bout former national champ was matched up against Miguel “Comelonches” Zamarripa, now Juarez’s premier vato loco, who was only 1-0. On paper, it was a gross mismatch, but their six-rounds in the ring proved not only a war but ended in a draw.

Last night, they rematched—this time for eight rounds.

Once again, it was a war—once again, it was a draw.

Zamarripa let rip from the opening bell, hooking with lead lefts and wobbling Rivera at least twice. Rivera was warned for holding; Zamarripa, for low blows.

Rivera turned the fight around in the second, playing the aggressor and consistently forcing his cholo foe to the ropes. Rivera had continued success in the third and fourth stanzas while retaliations from Zamarripa earned him but warnings by the ref to “keep it up.”

In the fifth, however, the pendulum swung the other way, and the round ended with Zamarripa outpounding Rivera.

Zamarripa received another warning in the sixth set, this time for using his shoulder. Rivera poured it on, hitting his foe with big rights and blowing up a growing mouse on Zamarripa’s left eye.

Hard counter-punching by Zamarripa vs. Rivera’s aggression made the seventh tough to score. For the second time in the fight, Zamarripa lost his mouthpiece, and, when the bell rang, he continued to fight—Rivera retaliated.

In the best round yet, the eighth and final, the two went toe-to-toe, despite Zamarripa fighting half-blind with a nearly-closed left eye. But it was Zamarripa’s hard bombs—lefts, especially lefts—that gave him the round and had Rivera on the defense.

The scorecards were varied: 76-76, 76-75 Zamarripa and 77-76 Rivera, making it a split draw.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing were also split: Cozzone had it 77-75 Zamarrippa while Trujillo had it 77-76 Rivera.

“I’m angered by this decision,” said Rivera, who alters his record to 21-7-3, 16 KOs.

“I did the work—just look at his eye. What do I have to do to win? I strained my shoulder in the fourth yet still beat him with one arm. I swept the floor with him. This was a total injustice.”

Zamarripa, now 1-0-2, was just as peeved.

“He thumbed me in the eye and head-butted me. Just look at my eye.

‘Will I fight him again? We’ve fought two times. Fight again? What for? He’s a pinche cabron.”

Castro loses first bout by DQ

There wasn’t much to Javier “El Terrible” Castro’s fight to lesser-skilled, smaller-statured Jorge “Ciclon” Reyna.

In the 2:43 of their scheduled eight-round lightweight bout, Castro dominated, pure and simple.

In the last portion of the first round, Castro threw a left hook that put Reyna on one knee near the ropes.

Instead of backing off for the ref to issue count, Castro threw another right at the down fighter, missing by an inch but throwing a second one a split second later that landed flush on Reyna’s chin.

Reyna flopped to the canvas face down, his head hanging off the edge, apparently unconscious, while the ref ordered Castro to the other side of the ring.

Reyna was apparently unconscious for a few minutes, all the while the ringside physician was busy taking a stroll in the park, perhaps gazing longingly at the sheer size and shape of the ring chicas’ mammaries, or, simply, picking his nose. Finally, he took the hint—‘Ciclone’ still face down might require a look-see—and he finally administered a bit of assistance.

Reyna was taken out on a stretcher after being declared the winner by DQ. Commission members said the ruling may change after a tape is reviewed.

For now, Castro suffers loss No. 1, dropping to 6-1, 5 KOs while Reyna grabs a win, the fouled and felled fighter rising to 4-2, 1 KO.

the DQ sequence

'Baby' Duran not as helpless as he looks

Former TV fighter and lightweight contender Saul “Baby” Duran looked soft, mushy and ancient—20 pounds and three years past his prime.

In other words, he was perfect prey for someone like Martin “Azteca” Avila. Assisting declining fighters on their way to the glue farm is a specialty in Mexico for quickly-rising, hungry, would-be stars like Avila.

Unfortunately, for Avila, however, Duran had more than enough octane left in his rust-eaten gas tank to leave his foe in the dust in their eight-round jr. middleweight bout.

Avila was brave at first, drilling the seemingly helpless “Baby” with a big left early in the first. But, fighting in clinches, a sneaky inside right dropped Avila to his knees.

Avila learned quickly not to stay in the pocket and, thus, won the second round by circling and jabbing Duran who bumbled forward trying to mix it up—he was able to do so in the third, corning Avila in the corner or on the ropes and ripping lefts and rights.

Looking more like the Duran of Olde, he dictated the fight in the fourth and fifth, blooding Avila’s nose and cracking lefts.

In the sixth, Avila, screamed at by his corner, stepped on the gas and had his best round, pressuring Duran for the first time and socking the grizzled man’s soft midsection.

A hard liver shot momentarily halted Avila’s advances in the seventh, but Duran was driven back to the ropes when the youngster caught his breath. While Duran faded in the final round, Avila kept up the attack, but, by then, it was too late to change the fate of the scorecards.

All three judges had it for Duran: 77-76, 78-75 and 78-74.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it 77-76 Duran, who is now 36-13-2, 30 KOs.

'Ranchero' stops 'Bellavista'

Also fighting well above his old optimal weight, former NABF featherweight champ and world title challenger Juan Carlos “Ranchero” Ramirez (37-8, 16 KOs) won a fourth round TKO over Armando "Bellavista" Bosquez (14-16-2, 12 KOs) in a scheduled eight-rounder at lightweight.

Ramirez was not the busiest fighter in the first round, but whatever he did, it was enough to open up a cut over Bosquez’s left eye—most likely, due to a head butt.

Another butt in the second sliced Bosquez over the other eye. Still, he tried to pressure ‘Ranchero,’ who easily countered.

Reyes defenseless . . . again

The biggest crime of the night were not racial slurs by the fans. Nor was it the premature stoppage of the main event, or the DQ loss of Castro—all of the above were misdemeanors to the felonious charge of the Juarez Commission allowing Jorge Reyes on a fight card.

Reyes, now 21-23-2, 17 KOs, has not won a fight since 2000.

Reyes has lost 13 in a row, the last six by knockout.

In 2001, Reyes fought Andres Fernandez in New Mexico—a punishing fight that, later, had Fernandez collapsing on his way to the hospital after suffering a subdural hemotoma. Surgery to relieve pressure on the brain and an induced coma nearly killed Fernandez but he’s been able to survive, albeit requiring 24 hour care for past few four years.

But, yesterday, at 2 PM, the day of Reyes’ fight, Fernandez died in his sleep—eventually killed from injuries sustained in his bout with Reyes.

Last night, Reyes was hit at will in his close-to-two rounds with Oscar Olivas. Defenseless, shopworn and punished, Reyes endured much by Olivas, who, after what seemed an eternity, received the TKO victory at 2:50 of the second when the referee finally heard the pleas of those ringside to stop the fight.

Olivas ups his record to 8-2, 2 KOs.

Lopez too big for game Mendez

In a six-round lightweight bout, Arturo Lopez (2-3, 1 KO), dwarfing over the diminutive blown-up bantamweight Jose Juan “Maromerito” Mendez (11-12-3, 4 KOs), pounded his way to a no-brainer lop-sided decision with scores of 59-55 twice and 60-54.

Mendez could accomplish little against the bigger Lopez, and oftentimes, seemingly punched straight up over his head in order to land. When it did, there was little effect—Lopez kept to the outside, and popped away.

Moreno has to work for win

In the curtain raiser, a six-round flyweight bout, Alejandro “Apachito” Moreno (21-17-3, 10 KOs) won a majority decision over Rigoberto Casillas (6-1).

Moreno was coming off his best performance ever—a draw with Francisco Arce in El Paso despite being 0-6-1 in his previous seven—but little known Casillas came close to spoiling things for the hometown veteran.

When Moreno boxed from the outside, and picked his shots, Casillas was defenseless-especially against left hooks. But, all too often, he stood and traded with Casillas, who pressed the action throughout most of the rounds.

Bonus photos

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