The five-inning stretch
Plagued by fallouts and M.I.A. fighters, the final ‘Ballpark Boxing’ card is an abbreviated one—but one bout makes up for it

Ringside report and photos by Chris Cozzone

From the first two installments of Oscar De La Hoya’s ‘Ballpark Series,’ the fans knew by now they weren’t really going to get a glimpse of the Golden Boy . . . but in the last of the three cards, we didn’t even get Juan Lazcano or site coordinator Lester Bedford.

What we got were but five four-rounders, making it a 20-round, below-the-minimum mandated by the Texas Athletic Commission. They looked the other way, however, for this show had enough problems—four of the five bouts had been put together in the last two or three days.

El Paso’s Alex Becerra was supposed to headline the show, but his opponent, Alejandro Moreno, was knifed in Juarez a few weeks before—a suitable replacement could not be had.

Moreno’s little brother, Luis, was also scheduled to fight but did not show up for the weigh-in; he, too, disappeared in Juarez (well, not really, since he was fighting on a card there that same night.)

Heavy-hitting Carlos Tapia was also a no-show at the weigh-in; his opponent, Donald Jenkins, who is not exactly dangerous, being 1-9 in his last ten, was hastily matched with Abdias Castillo of Austin, who upset Bobby Joe Valdez in the main event of the last Ballpark card.

In addition, the three El Pasoans on the card all had late subs and Marcus Johnson, the 5-0 Olympic alternate from Kileen, Texas, who was supposed to fight the main event in the new line-up, was unable to fight because he did not complete his pre-fight medicals.

With nuthin’ but four-rounders, the show went on . . . .

The opener wasn’t a bout at all but an exhibition by Odessa female light heavyweight Krystal Davis, 1-1, who was one of the unlucky ones unable to get a late sub. With no one to hit, she had to settle for a few minutes on the mitts.

In the first bout—the only one on the original line-up earlier that week, Odessa’s Martin Minajares, in his pro debut, outpointed Austin’s Manny Morales.

From Minajares awkward southpaw style, he had the look of a green fighter—but he wasn’t green enough for Morales, for in the first minute, a straight left put Morales on the seat of his pants.

In Round Two, Minajares controlled the action, popping away at Morales with his stiff jab and occasional straight left.

It was all Morales in Round Three. All it took to disrupt Minajares out of his game plan was an unintentional low blow. After a brief rest, Minajraes came back but was on the defense for the remainder of the round; Morales was able to close the distance and land big left hooks that had Minajares in trouble in the closing moments.

In the final round, Minajares returned to game plan and outjabbed Morales, throwing in an occasional straight left that landed flush.

Scorecards were in favor of Minajares, 38-37, 39-36 and 38-37, who won his pro debut, while Moralas fell to 2-2.

In Bout No. 2, local fighter Ignacio Olvera (2-0, 1 KO) made very short work of Austin’s Raymond Trejo (2-3), knocking him out at :34 of Round One.

Trejo (a late sub for Juarez’s Luis Moreno), never had a chance, for Olvera went at him from the opening bell, hammering him with an uppercut and a straight left, then flooring him with a right hook. On the canvas, Trejo waved off a ‘no mas’ to the referee at the count of six.

In the third scrap, Carlos Madrid took care of pro debuter Armando Nunez, of Sunland Park, in less than one round. Nunez, too, was a sub pug.

Nunez kept Madrid off with his jab until the El Pasoan was able to close the gap, then close the fight, with a straight right at 1:19.

“I beat him to the punch and came at him with power,” said Madrid, now 4-0, 1 KO.

Although he weighed in a chunky 154, Madrid is on his way down in weight: “Watch out 135, ‘cause I’m coming.”

Bout No. 4 was the bout that made the card.

El Paso’s Jo Jo Galarza, son of local legendary trainer Rocky Galarza who passed away several years ago, was up against replacement fighter from Kileen, Texas, Reynaldo Esquivel.

Their opening round saw the best action yet: Esquivel surprised the pro-Galarza crowd in the first half, beating Galarza to the punch with his quicker hands. Midway through the round, though, Galarza, already with a mouse growing under his right eye, evened the score by counterpunching big right hands at a retreating Esquivel.

Round Two was close—but Esquivel’s speed and can’t-miss left hooks made the difference. Neither fighter was running, and they traded hard shots in the middle of the ring.

Esquivel continued what worked: jab-and-hook, and get in close. A minute or so into Round Three, Esquivel had followed up a hook with a powerful overhand right that tore into Galarza’s left eyebrow. Immediately, blood poured out of the wound as the El Pasoan opened up out of desperation.

Blood streaked down Galarza’s face, down Esquivel’s back, and speckled those ringside as the two fighters sought to close the show. But after referee Ronnie Ralston called a time out for the ringside doc to check things out, the action stopped right there at 2:19 and Esquivel was awarded the upset TKO win.

“I thought I won every round,” said Esquivel, who gets his first pro win at 1-0-2, 1 KO. “My corner said to use the jab and hook, then follow with a right, and it worked.”

Now, 1-1, 1 KO, Galarza suffers his first pro loss.

“At least it was stopped on a cut and not by a real stoppage,” he said afterward. “I had it pretty even before the stoppage but he caught me with a lot of good rights, though I wasn’t hurt.

“Things will be better in the rematch.”

In the final night of the night, late sub Abdias Castillo of Austin, Texas, filled in for Carlos Tapia against Donald Jenkins, picking up his third win in a row.

Castillo looked for an early finish in Round One, maneuvering Jenkins on the ropes and unloading on him for over a minute straight. When it was evident that Jenkins was too durable, Castillo backed off, started to box, and pick his shots.

Round Two was easy pickings for Castillo, who jabbed and jabbed at Jenkins, loading up on a big right when open. He had only to look out for the occasional counter right from Jenkins.

Jenkins gave as good as he got in Round Three, becoming the aggressor for most of the round. But Castillo’s cleaner shots and the bang-up job he did on Jenkins in the final 20 seconds no doubt put another round in the bank.

In the final round, it was more of the same. Jenkins proved to be a pretty durable cat for someone now 1-10 in his last 11 bouts and Castillo had to resort to putting in work rather than appease the fans with a showy knockout.

All three judges had it for Castillo, 40-36, improving his record to 9-10-1, 7 KOs.

Jenkins falls again, now to 4-23-3, 1 KO.

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