Gomez destroys late sub
Cruz wins IFBA Bantam title

Ringside report by Abraham Gallegos
Photos by Nicole Manning

Local hopeful Joe Gomez returned to the ring in spectacular fashion last night at the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo., defending his WBC Intercontinental Mundo Hispano Welterweight title against a last-minute sub Julian Romero.

Gomez or originally scheduled to fight Rudy “Bad Boy” Lovato, who pulled out a week before. Then, it was Michael Soberanis of San Antonio, Tex., who could not make the bout.

At the last minute, Romero, 7-46-2, 2 KOs, was called in.

The first round started off with Romero throwing wild punches at Gomez, who stayed patient while picking his shots set up by his jab. Romero was sent to the canvas by a straight right but was up at eight.

Gomez rushed in for the kill, throwing shots to the body but the seasoned opponent survived.

In Round Two, Gomez attacked Romero’s body with lefts and rights, outclassing Romero who resorted to wild shots that went nowhere.

Then, with a perfect left hand, Gomez dropped Romero for the count with an official time of 3:07.

With the knockout, Gomez improves his record to 6-1, 2 KOs.

“I’ll fight anybody,” says Gomez. “Whoever they put in front of me.”

Cruz wins IFBA Bantamweight title

In the semi-main, Denver’s Terri Cruz and California’s Heather Percival met in the ring for the vacant IFBA World Bantamweight title.

The first round was a feeling-out round, until Cruz landed a big right hand to win it.

In the second round, Percival came out active, but things changed when Cruz started landing her right hand. Another round to Cruz.

Percival began the third with a right hand, then a left, and proceeded to box her way to winning her first round, but in the fourth, Cruz opened up with a nice right hand, then chased Percival to the ropes. The two traded shots before the bell sounded but once again, it was Cruz landing the better shots.

Percival came back in the fifth with more activity to win the round. The 6th could’ve gone either way but Percival’s aggression gave her the edge.

Cruz came back in the next frame, landing two big rights to open the round. She didn’t follow up but did enough to win the round.

Percival won the eighth by landing the harder and cleaner shots.

In the 9th, a nice exchange between the two started it off. It was more of the same, but Cruz rallied at the end of the round to take the round.

In the tenth, and final, round Cruz landed a big right hand before both fighters gave everything they had left.

The final scorecards read 96-94 (Stapleton), 98-92 (Mora) and 96-94 (Berzoza), all for Cruz.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it 96-94 for Cruz.

Cruz, now 12-4-2, 7 KOs, earns her first world title. She is looking to defend her belt on a future Sky Ute card.

Connolly TKO'd by Brashears

The opening bout of the night pitted Michael Connolly, of

Albuquerque, against Marcus Brashears, of Amarillo, Tex.

While both came to fight, Brashears’ blazing speed and power overwhelmed Connolly.

Connolly was down from a left hook in the first round, making it 10-8 for Brashears.

In the second round, the Amarillo fighter landed deadly left hands, immediately swelling Connolly’s right eye.

In the third, Brashears continued his domination, unleashing a flurry that had Connolly pinned against the ropes.

Finally, in the fourth, Brashears caught Connolly with a combination that dropped him for the second time. After the count of eight, Brashears pressed Connolly against the ropes and unleashed a flurry that dropped Connolly to his knees.

At this point, Referee Steve Blea jumped in to stop the fight.

Gallegos KO's Byrd

The second fight of the night had Durango’s Miguel Gallegos going up against Denver’s Ricky Byrd. 

It was a short one.

In the first round, Gallegos threw a huge right hand that put Byrd down for the count. Official time was 2:16.

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