HOLLYCAUST!
Holly Holm upsets Christy Martin with near-shutout performance!
* Trout makes debut
* Munoz, Vargas, Becerra, Madrid win bouts

Ringside report by Chris Cozzone and Abraham Gallegos
Photos by Chris Cozzone

In what is going to be called the upset of the year for women’s boxing, major underdog Holly Holm showed her hometown of Albuquerque that she’s one of the world’s top female fighters by soundly defeating icon Christy Martin before a sold-out crowd of 3,000 at Isleta Casino.

The card, promoted by Fresquez Productions, had been hyped for weeks by the media, but a win for Holm was still considered a long shot for New Mexico. (Except with promoter Lenny Fresquez, who was positive his fighter would win an easy decision.)

You would’ve thought the crowd was at an opera throughout the undercard, with the tombstone silence. But when the main event fighters made their way to the ring, around 10 PM, the place came alive, booing Martin, who’d bulldogged Holm all week, promising her plenty of punishment for her insolence; and cheering Holm, the top female draw in the Southwest.

Despite the cheers of ‘HOL-LY! HOL-LY!’ there was plenty of nervous energy in the crowd, for not long before, they had been informed that five-time world champion Johnny Tapia had been knocked out for the first time in his career in Chicago. Coupled with a series of losses, both in-state and out, for New Mexico’s top fighters, there was now a lot of riding on the shoulders of Holly Holm, who was up against a giant.

But it wasn’t a war.

It wasn’t even close.

“It was fun,” was how Holm would later describe the biggest win of her life.

Holm made it look easy; made the legendary Martin look amateurish.

In Round One, Holm came out circling Martin, who came in trying to shorten the distance. Holm landed the first shot--a left--while Martin got in a right and left to the body. Martin pressed the action while Holm controlled the ring.

The two started to exchange in Round Two, with Martin trying to get inside but Holm controlling her with her jab. Martin landed the harder, more telling shots but Holm retained ring generalship.

Holm started to open in Round Three, not only firing her jab but taking the fight to Martin on several occurrences. Holm’s straight left found her mark while Martin, appearing clumsy, sailed her big rights and left hooks through empty air.

In between rounds, Martin’s corner implored her to close the distance and keep her focus, but in Round Four, it only got worse for her. Holm put on a beautiful clinic, firing big hooks and straight rights and backing up Martin for the first time, then returning to her flawless stick-and-move game plan.

Early in Round Five, Holm staggered Martin with a rapid combination, whipping the crowd to a frenzy. Martin could not get off; could not close the gap; could not land a solid punch, and her face was starting to show, both, the frustration and the marks of Holm’s jabs and lefts.

Martin had a slightly better round in the Sixth, landing hooks to Holm and forcing her to stay on the defensive--at least for the first minute. Then, it was all Holm again, using her footwork and picking her moments to fight.

Holm and Martin exchanged rights as Round Seven began, but Holm outmuscled the veteran, forcing her to cover up and back away. By the end of the round, a mouse was swelling under Martin’s right eye--once again, another round for the hometown girl.

Despite the desperate insistence of her corner to get to work, Martin could not get on track. Holm’s rights and lefts connected with frequency in Round Eight, continuing to execute a perfect, dominating game plan.

Martin came out aggressive and desperate in Round Nine, and made an argument to actually win a round. Despite landing her hardest shots on Holm--a left to the body, a straight right to the chin--Holm calmly took the punches and answered back with straight lefts.

The final round saw the best exchange yet, but once again, it was Holm all the way, connecting with a left/right combination and winning the round on the outside, landing shot after shot.

As the final bell rang, there was no guessing who’d won this fight. Martin walked back to her corner with a look of shock on her face while Holm pranced around the ring with her arms raised in a sure victory.

The final scorecards read: 100-90 from Rocky Burke of Las Cruces, NM; 100-90 from Chuck Giampa of Las Vegas, Nevada; and 98-92 from Fred Flutey of Tampa, Florida.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing varied slightly: Abraham Gallegos had it 97-93 for Holm while Chris Cozzone had it a shutout for Holm, 100-90.

Before the winner was announced, Martin stormed out of the ring while husband/trainer, Jim Martin, tried to console her, “You just couldn’t couldn’t catch her . . . .”

Holm was declared winner.

“What can I say?” said Holm after the fight. “It was easier than I thought. All that hard work paid off.”

Holm rises to 11-1-2, 4 KOs while Martin falls out of the million-dollar-picture, to 46-4-2, 31 KOs.

“I wanted her to come in so I could counter her down the middle. That was my plan. I knew if I stayed on the outside and boxed, she was going to get frustrated. I wanted her to get frustrated.”

Frustrated, Martin did get, for as early as Round Three, her cornermen were trying to keep her on track. (“I can’t catch her,” Martin said, to which her cornerman replied, “Don’t give me that shit! You go get her!”

The ‘sweet victory’ Holm had alluded to from the first press conference; the ‘leaping over of Martin’ by trainer Mike Winkeljohn; and the easy win predicted by promoter Fresquez came to pass, despite heavy criticism of taking on a fighter like Martin too early.

“At first I had respect for Christy Martin,” said Holm. “But not anymore.

“I expected too much from her, from all the hype, and, gosh, she talked like she was sure confident. But maybe she wasn’t really that confident, after all.

“I don’t really respect her as much anymore. But you know what? She helped me get my name out there, so thanks, Christy!”

Holm also said she’d been “hit harder” by other fighters; and wasn’t surprised when she stormed out of the ring, and refused to come out to talk to the media.

“She didn’t have a very good sportsmanlike attitude from the beginning.”

What’s next for Holm?

“A vacation--that’s what. Then we’ll see . . . I just wish Stephanie Jaramillo was still fighting.”

Cross-town rival Stephanie Jaramillo, who retired after losing to Sumya Anani last year, was part of Martin’s entourage. She was heard shouting directions to Martin during the fight

Two years ago, Holm and Jaramillo fought twice, a win for Holm, and a draw in the rematch.

TROUT MAKES DEBUT

In the most anticipated pro debut in several years, Las Cruces’ Austin Trout, 152-pound 2004 National Amateur champ and Olympic alternate, impressed the crowd with a third round TKO of overmatched veteran Justo Almazon (14-45-5, 1 KO).

Trout’s speed and much bigger size had this a hopeless situation for Almazon from the opening bell. Trout opened up with a hard left to the body, then took his time picking his shots, doubling up with his right. Almazon was game--but outclassed.

It turned into a sparring session in Round Two, with Trout hurting Almazon with lefts and rights. By the Third, he was landing at will, with Almazon taking too much punishment for ref Russell Mora, who stopped it at 1:43.

 “I had a game plan coming in and I stuck to it,” Trout said after the fight. “I didn’t want to rush this guy. I wanted to take my time. That’s what I worked on in the gym. I had to stay with my plan. I couldn’t get overconfident.

“This was the moment in my career that I have been waiting for, it went like I had hoped. It feels good to get the first fight over, now I can keep working hard and try to work on improving some things.”

Louie Burkie, who trains Trout along with Sam DiPace and Rick Vasquez, was pleased with Trout’s first pro performance.

“Austin came in ready for this fight,” said Burke. “I couldn’t have asked for a better effort from Austin and he handled his first fight in a professional manner. He did exactly what we talked about and that was to take his time and box.”

'Hurricane' Hector downgrades fight level

Munoz came prepared for what was supposed to be the fight of his life. Weeks under James ‘Buddy’ McGirt in Florida and sparring with guys like Sharmba Mitchell and Stevie Johnston had the ‘Burque fighter cut up and chiseled at 141 pounds.

Unfortunately, Munoz’s opponent, Miguel "Conan" Torrecillas (16-5-1, 7 KOs) was not prepared. He came in a soft 147 and had to sweat out three pounds jumping rope in a sweat suit under the hot sun in the parking lot at Isleta. The sudden weight loss had him so dehydrated, he passed out and had to go to the hospital for an IV. Needless to say, he failed his medical exam. He’d promised to take out Munoz in five rounds, but ended up clobbering himself long before the first bell rang

Instead the fight was salvaged and Munoz was matched with the unlikely-to-win Yacob Abraham (now 2-7, 1 KOs) out of San Antonio.

Despite the late replacement, Abraham gave Munoz a good scrap before the fifth round stoppage.

Munoz landed to the body in the 1st, and fired the jab, while Abraham proved better than his record indicated by coming at Munoz and making it a fight.

Despite using his jab to win most rounds, Munoz mixed it up with Abraham for several rounds of in-fighting, despite the insistence of his corner to stay on the outside and measure his punches.

In the fourth frame, a cut opened up on both fighters’ eyebrows, caused by unintentional clashing of heads; but that didn’t stop them from staying in the pocket for more in-fighting.

Munoz took noticeable control in the 5th, pitting Abraham against the ropes and landing several big rights and lefts--until ref Rocky Burke stepped in at 1:32 to stop the fight.

“I wanted to get him tired, smother him, then start landing some punches,” said Munoz afterward. “I thought he was going to be a quick win, but he proved tougher than I thought.”

Munoz says he was less motivated because he’d planned on fighting Torrecillas.

“I was taken out of the fight, because of Torrecillas. I was so focused on training and beating him. I don’t think he wanted to fight. He wouldn’t even look at me when we were doing the staredowns. He wasn’t ready . . . he had no excuses.

“I was more upset about that than anything else.”

'El Diablo' returns with win!

El Paso’s Alex “El Diablo” Becerra (17-3, 7 KOs) came off the longest lay-off of his career—nine months—to score a unanimous decision over tough Paulino Villalobos (23-32-2, 15 KOs).

Villalobos’ awkward style made it interesting in Round One, while Becerra sought to shed his ring rust. By the end of the round, he’d accomplished just that, and was outlanding Villalobos, hitting him with jabs and uppercuts, while trying to fend off a low blow or two that would occur with frequency during the bout.

Becerra countered nicely in Round Two, while Villalobos tried to sucker him into brawling. He was also warned for another low blow. In the next round, Villalobos lost a point for another low blow--meanwhile Becerra kept his cool and outboxed the gritty veteran.

Round Six went to Villalobos, who pressed the action on Becerra who obliged him in the pocket, but the El Pasoan returned to controlling the bout in the 7th and 8th, mixing uppercuts up with rights and jabs.

At the end of eight, it was a lopsided unanimous win for Becerra, 79-72 twice and 78-73.

“I felt pretty good tonight, when I got in the groove,” Becerra said after the fight. “He’s a tough fighter. I knew I was going to go eight rounds, I knew I wasn’t going to knock him out so my plan was to outbox him.

“As for the low blows? It’s a good thing I have a baby already. He was trying to get me out of my game plan, but I stayed with it. But it’s all good, it’s part of the game . . .”

Becerra plans to stay at bantamweight, where feels he’s strongest.

“We have plans to fight tougher guys now,” he says.

Becerra’s camp is looking at a possible match-up against former champ Ivan “Choko” Hernandez.

Vargas cruises to win over Briseno

Unbeaten superbantamweight Cuauhtemoc “the Aztec Warrior” Vargas (14-0-1, 9 KOs) kept his record clean with a unanimous decision over Saul Briseno (17-24-2, 15 KOs).

Vargas was more active in Round One, landing the cleaner shots on Briseno, who warmed up in the second frame by taking the fight to his better-skilled opponent. Still, Vargas’ right hands and faster punches gave him the 2nd.

Round Three was a repeat of the 2nd, but Briseno stepped up the pace in the Fourth, sneaking in a right hand now and then. Again, though, Vargas retained control, outboxing Briseno and circling away from serious exchanges.

Round Five swung to Briseno, who followed Vargas around the ring, preventing the undefeated ‘Aztec Warrior’ from keeping to his plan. But Vargas was able to pick his shots in the 6th and 7th, while Briseno could not get off. The final round was more of the same.

All three judges had it for Vargas, 80-72 and 79-73 twice.

Madrid takes Marquez

El Paso’s Carlos Madrid (5-0, 1 KO) put down Stevie Marquez (5-6-1, 4 KOs) en route to a four-round unanimous decision in the opening bout.

Madrid established the jab in Round One while Marquez plodded forward. In the 2nd, Marquez stepped up on the aggression, staggering Madrid in the first minute, but the El Pasoan went into defense mode, then fired back with a body shot that put Marquez on his knees.

“That f---in’ hurt,” Marquez said, getting up after the knockdown, clutching his side.

Big left hands from Madrid put a stop to Marquez’s forward movement, but Marquez sucked it up and resumed his attack halfway through the fight, putting Madrid back on his jab-and-move plan.

The two exchanged heavily in Round Four, with Marquez trying to jump all over Madrid, who let the round get away from him by fighting a safer, defense-minded hit-and-move fight.

After four, all three judges had it for Madrid, 39-36 twice and 38-37.

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