'Mickey Mouse' squeaks by 'Coreanito' Mateos
Bloody brawls, close calls and upset falls at the Poliforo

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

Bloody brawls, close calls and upset falls is the only way to describe last night’s—rather, this morning’s—action at the Poliforo Juan Gabriel in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

In the most competitive fights seen in some time, Promociones del Pueblo was lucky to have just one house fighter face eviction after losing, for two more of the four featured ten-rounders were sorely tested.

In the main event, Miguel “Mickey Mouse” Roman proved he was still leader of the pack in Juarez by eking a split decision win over tough hombre and former NABF champ Francisco “Coreanito” Mateos.

Their ten-round distance fight was a real cat and mouse game, only Mateos wasn’t playing—he’d come to catch a mouse and squash it, like a rat in a trap.

In Round One, Mateos came out strong, taking the fight to Roman who was sidestepping him along the ropes. Mateos continued trying to make a fight out of it in Round Two but Roman was intent to stay out of brawling and was looking for his openings.

After losing the first two, Roman gave the fans what they wanted by trading shots with Mateos in the center of the ring. It was a close round but Roman might’ve stolen it with his hooks to the body.

More digging to the body by Roman in the 4th, but Mateos, unfazed, stayed close and tried to rough Roman up in what turned out to be a toe-to-toe hookfest. Lead rights upstairs by Roman were also starting to land.

With Roman the slightly busier fighter, Round Five went to the hometown. Mateos looked to brawl inside again but Roman was having better luck picking his shots with lead lefts and rights.

The two brawled and mauled again in the sixth and seventh, with Roman coming out on top, outbrawling the brawler Mateos.

A left-right by Roman stunned Mateos briefly in Round Eight, and Mateos did not back down but came back at Roman, mauling him into a war.

A short left hook by Mateos put Roman on his bike in the 9th. He spent the reaminder of the round languishing on the ropes letting Mateos take back the lead.

In the final round, Roman punished Mateos with big right hands and sealed the win on the cards, at least with two of the judges: 97-94 and 96-94. The third judge had it 96-94 for Mateos.

Fightnews saw it a couple rounds apart, but both for Roman: 98-92 (Trujillo) and 96-94 (Cozzone.)

Mateos slips to 20-9-4,11 KOs while Roman remains undefeated at 12-0, 9 KOs.

“He was a very durable opponent who hits hard,” Roman said in the ring after being declared winner, at nearly 3 in the morning.

“This was my toughest test, but I’m young and I will not be satisfied with nothing less than a world title.”

Gutierrez sneaks up on 'La Parka!'

In the semi-main, the scheduled ten-rounder between Gustavo “La Parka” Enriquez, former Mexican champion, and Eduardo Gutierrez was cut short.

Last time, it was Enriquez doing the cutting, when he shocked local fans by knocking out local legend Kirino Garcia.

This time around, he shocked fans again—only he was on the receiving end of a stoppage.

Gutierrez was on a five-fight losing streak, but was determined to end it when the bell sounded Round One. He went right at Enriquez, bouncing a right off his nose and taking him to task.

In Round Two, Enriquez still looked mechanical and stiff, and unable to figure out what to do with the too-aggressive Gutierrez, who was having his way throwing lead rights, one of which opened up a gushing cut over Enriquez’s eye.

In the 3rd round, Gutierrez backed up Enriquez against the ropes and bombed him to the body, putting him on his knees in the second minute.

‘La Parka’ was able to beat the count  but the ref called it off and Gutierrez got his TKO win at 1:50.

Enriquez now 14-5, 11 KOs while Gutierrez rises to 32-16-2, 24 KOs.

“I froze up, I don’t know what the f** happened,” Enriquez said later that night. “I’m so disappointed in my performance and with myself.

“I should have been moving more. He came on a lot stronger than I thought he would. I didn’t that many punches, but I did catch him with my right uppercuts, but he took those punches.

“That left hook to the body paralyzed me. I thought I beat the count . . . .”

Trainer Louie Burke added:

“Gustavo was cut bad but the main factor in the fight was, the guy was very strong. Stronger than we anticipated.”

Soto loses fight to Castro, but regains fans

On paper, it was a ridiculous fight: a 4-0 fighter taking on a veteran fighter with 71 fights—and a former world champ, at that.

But then again, after taking into account that Cesar “Cobrita” Soto is 0-7-1 in his last eight . . . that, in his last outing, Adrian Valdez, not exactly a knockout artist, put him down with a body shot in Round One, for the count . . . and that he has not actually won a fight since he won the WBC World Featherweight belt from Luisito Espinosa in 1999, it’s a bit clearer.

Behind the record, Soto looks the part of a washed-up fighter—from the washed-out colors of his robe to his soft, ab-less midsection.

That’s what Juarez hot prospect Terry “El Terrible” Castro was banking on, anyway.

Only Soto hasn’t fallen far enough for a 4-0 prospect to beat him—although that’s what ended up happening after a split decision win was announced for house fighter Castro.

Castro went right to work in Round One, showing no fear and no respect for the former champion. Pressuring Soto, Castro bombed away with body shots and rights, then looked a bit surprised when Soto didn’t go down. Instead, the former champ took his time to figure out Castro, then jarred him with an uppercut at the bell.

While his aggression might’ve won him the 2nd, Castro was living up to his nickname, ‘El Terrible’—though not in the complimentary way—by pushing his jabs, fighting off-balance and throwing punches while square. Soto continued to bide his time.

Experience showed in Round Three, for ‘Cobrita’ struck while Castro was swinging wide for the fences. Outlanding Castro with left hooks and catching him with sneaky uppers and snakelike overhand rights, he was able to etch a bit of doubt into Castro’s expression.

Castro, the bigger fighter of the two, and much more solid at lightweight than Soto (who should stay at feather), used his size to bully the former champ in Round Four. But in the 5th, Soto put the kid through school, catching him with rights and more hooks while Castro’s punches bounced off elbows or gloves.

By now, the crowd was beginning to warm up to the former hero, Soto.

More hooking to the body from Soto and a right lead that rocked his foe secured Round Six. Pressure had Castro backing up for the first time in Round Seven with Soto winning another round that had this fight close to even.

Castro took the fight to Soto in Round Eight, but got tagged every time he moved back. Outbrawling—not necessarily landing clean—and a higher output earned ‘El Terrible’ the round.

In the 9th, Castro, bleeding from his nose, again, took the fight to Soto, but in the 10th and final round, Soto opened up and bombed away at Castro against the ropes. Now bleeding from a bad cut and with a look of shellshock on his face, Castro sought to tie up—and he made it to the end of the round.

After a long period used to tally up the points, a split decision was announced: 96-94 Castro, 98-95 Soto and 96-95 Castro. (Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing was in favor of Soto: Trujillo had it 98-92 for Soto, Cozzone had it 96-94.)

The crowd responded immediately, hurling dozens of cups of beer, handfuls of bottle caps, crusts of Domino pizza, chunks of ice, and garbage galore into the ring, pelting everyone within a 10-foot radius.

The former champ loses yet again, falling to 54-15-3, 40 KOs, while Castro hits 5-0, 4 KOs.

Castro was unavailable for comment but Soto had no problem talking:

“Just ask the people if they thought it was a robbery,” he said afterward. “I’m very saddened by this loss. It was the commission who was influenced by the promoter—I saw it with my own eyes. You as the press saw what happened, but I leave it in God’s hands.”

Ranchero returns with TKO victory

The first ten-rounder of the night saw the return of much-loved Juan Carlos “Ranchero” Ramirez, who had to work for a TKO win over gutsy Mario “Zurdo” Ramirez.

Sneaky left leads by ‘Zurdo’ and Ranchero fighting with his gloves held low gave the round to the out-of-towner. But by Round Two, Ranchero was in the swing of things. After figuring out Zurdo’s southpaw stance, he started to pressure him and find a home for his right.

Ranchero was cut over his right eye in the 3rd, which had him blinking due to clear out the blood, but he continued left hooking his opponent through the 4th, trapping him on the ropes and bombing him to the body. Zurdo also lost his mouthpiece in the 3rd—something that would reoccur during the match.

Zurdo was game, but by the 5th, it didn’t look like he had much of a chance in upsetting Ranchero, short of a knockout punch, for the hometowner was busier.

Out came the mouthpiece again, in Round Six—this time Zurdo lost a point. More left hooks by Ranchero had Zurdo on his bike in the 6th and 7th, looking like a knockout was in the making.

It came in Round Eight. Ranchero landed a clean left hook to the chin that put Zurdo down, although this time the ref gave him the benefit, calling it a slip. The punishment from Ranchero was severe enough, however, for Zurdo’s corner to throw in the white towel (which was ignored by the ref until Zurdo’s people climbed atop the apron to yell the fight to closure.)

Official time was 2:40 of Round Eight.

With the TKO win, Ranchero ups his record, after two losses (to Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez, then Rocky Juarez), to 35-8, 15 KOs. Mario Ramirez falls to 8-3.

“He was a tough difficult guy to fight, but I’m used to fighting guys like that,” Ranchero said. “But I did what I had to do to win.”

“This fight was at lightweight, much too heavy for me, but it was good preparation for me. I lost my last fight so I needed this time to reevaluate and decide what I will do.”

Ranchero plans to cut back down to featherweight to take on name fighters.

Undercard action

In the opening bout of the marathon evening, Luis “Apachito” Moreno (2-2) won a unanimous decision over Carlos Alvarado (3-5-1, 1 KO) in a four-round super featherweight bout.

Southpaw Moreno controlled the ring in Round One, outhustling Alvarado who tried to load up on right heads. In the 2nd, Alvarado took control, counterpunching Moreno and using his jab. Despite a warning for head-butting in Round Three, Alvarado put the pressure on Moreno, pinning him against the ropes and trying to sucker him into a brawl—‘Apachito’ was able to slip away most of the time although he ended the card bleeding from his left brow. In the final round, Moreno, now bleeding from his nose, was on the receiving end of punches poured on by Alvarado.

At the end of four, two judges had it 39-37, the other, 39-38. Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it a draw, 38-38.

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In Bout No. 2, Juarez’s Martin “Azteca” Avila (3-0, 1 KO) got the unanimous nod over Chihuahua’s Ruben “Cholo” Zamora (0-3).

Avila worked off the ropes in Round One while Zamora pressed the action to take the round. Zamora lost a point in the 2nd for pulling Avila’s head down; otherwise it was more of the same.

‘Azteca’ came to life in Round Three, taking the fight to the center of the ring and brawling with Zamora. A left/right to the head and body in the closing moments sealed the round for Avila, whose fists carried a heavier load. More of the same in the 4th, though Avila wasn’t having luck with his wild right uppercuts.

Zamora resorted to pushing and shoving in Round Five—it threw Avila off a bit but he still took the round with his heavier hands. Avila closed the show in the 6th, outworking Zamora who was looking for new ways to foul. At the bell, Avila let Zamora know what he thought of his tactics by spitting at him.

All three judges had it 58-53 for Avila. Fightnews had it 59-54.

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In Bout. No. 3, heavyweight Ramon “Monstruo” Perez (1-23) racked up his 23rd straight loss, losing by DQ to amateur star Miguel “El Juarito” Zamarripa in Round Four.

Perez tried to hit and hold in Round One, which only ticked off Zamarripa, who rocked the grizzled vet with a stunning right.

Hitting and holding didn’t work, so the pudgy Perez, his fat shaking and rolling when exchanging on the inside, resorted to kicking at Zamarripa’s groin at the sound of the bell.

‘Monstruo’ was warned in the third for more fouls, and booed by the crowd, but unable to meet Zamarripa on fair terms, he was either looking for a way out by DQ or a way to hurt the better fighter.

The Mexican Butterbean finally lost a point for fouling in the 4th—so incensed was he that he immediately ran out of the ring, up the stairs of the Poliforo, and out the front doors, most likely, heading for a handful of tacos.

Zamarripa picked up the win by DQ at 1:43.

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In the final bout on the undercard, eight rounds at jr. lightweight, Oscar “Zurdo de Oro” Olivas (6-2, 1 KO) won a majority decision over Marcelino “Garras” Lechuga (7-5-1, 4 KOs).

Olivas got the better of Lechuga in Round One, and in the 2nd and 3rd, the southpaw loaded up on lefts crosses and right jabs in, otherwise, close rounds.

Lechuga stepped up the pressure while Olivas fought off the ropes in Round Four. In the 5th, Olivas frustrated Lechuga by hitting and dancing away, or countering with uppercuts.

In the 6th, however, Olivas reversed the pressure and took the play away from Lechuga. Lechuga had better luck in the 7th, charging ahead, but slowed down in the final round.

One judge had it even, 76-76, but the other two had it for Olivas, 78-74 twice.

Bonus Pics

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