Rodriguez batters Hernandez at Ballpark
High-action El Paso card opens up summer boxing season

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

Newly-crowned USBA welterweight champion Delvin Rodriguez might be the real thing.

Or Luis Hernandez could be that bad.

Fending off the rabbit punches, head butts and elbows thrown by the desperate Ecuadoran last night, Rodriguez stepped to the plate at Cohen Stadium and batted his foe down with three strikes before taking him out in round three.

The scheduled 12-round USBA welterweight title fight was the main event on a six-bout card opening up a summer of fights co-promoted by the Diablos at the El Paso ballpark. Last night’s show, co-hosted by Northeast Productions and televised by ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights,” drew a thousand-plus fans who were scattered throughout the stadium.

Despite coming off three straight wins, the 32-year-old Hernandez was an obvious underdog for the taller, lankier Rodriguez, who’s been working his way up the ladder fighting the usual gatekeepers. In this case, the gate Hernandez was safeguarding was as wide open as his defense.

Rodriguez opened up the action in the first round with a straight-as-an-arrow right hand that pierced through Hernandez’s absent guard, nearly dropping him. Hernandez tied up for most of the round—at least with his left hand, while the right found a home on the back of Rodriguez’s skull. Despite all the hitting-and-holding, the elbows and the forehead aimed at his chin, Rodriguez kept his poise.

In the second round, measuring his distance, Rodriguez slammed the disappointingly amateurish Hernandez with a left to the temple that dropped the sloppy Ecuadoran, who rose on unsteady legs. A right to the temple floored him again; once again, he made the count but the end was painfully near for the outclassed Hernandez.

Keeping the fight in the center of the ring and able to fend off Hernandez’s bag of dirty tactics, Rodriguez jabbed his way through half of the third round, then crashed another right hand that had Hernandez, in turn, crashing into canvas for the third and final time.

This time, ref Lawrence Cole stopped the fight with the official time of 1:47.

“I want to apologize to the fans,” Rodriguez’s manager, Stan Hoffman, said afterward. “I’m sorry it took so long for him to get knocked out.”

Rodriguez, now 19-1-1 with 11 KOs, said he was wary of Hernandez’s fouling.

“I was afraid of getting head-butted,” he said. “I saw him before, when he fought Chris Smith. I knew he leads with his head and has these wild swings. But I figured I would get him with my right hand. I’m not a one-punch knockout artist, but a lot of people underestimate my power.

“I believe I’m ready now for a world title fight. The welterweights are hot right now, but I’ll fight anyone they put in front of me.”

Hernandez falls to 15-3, 8 KOs.

‘GALLITO’ UNLOADS ON ‘APACHITO’ FOR THIRD WIN

Coming off two losses, losing his NABA honors and top ten placing, to contenders Gabriel Elizondo and Glenn Donaire—the latter earlier this month on ShoBox—El Paso’s Cesar “El Gallito” Lopez desperately needed a win.

And Juarez scrapper Alejandro “Apachito” Moreno desperately wanted a rematch.

But no one was all too desperate to see a third match between the two, for Lopez had already won two very lop-sided decisions over Moreno.

Unless Moreno came out with guns blazing, most expected a hum-drum three-peat performance. But instead of piling up points over eight, ‘Gallito’ poured it on, hammering Moreno with a newfound aggression that came close to seeing a stoppage.

Moreno had his best round—the only one close one, really—in the first when he timed precise left hooks on Lopez, who was busier but less effective. After a bit more counterpunching and utilizing a decent jab, Moreno went flat in the second when Lopez went to work, not only outhustling the Juarez pug, but pressuring him with hard, blazing combinations up and downstairs.

The two fought in the center of the ring in the third but Lopez’s aggression and double left-hooking started to outclass Moreno who, by the last minute, had forgotten about jabbing and was waiting too long.

Moreno went from game scrapper to punching bag through the middle rounds, as Lopez poured on the punishment.

By the end of the fourth, Moreno had a bloody nose from several uppercuts; in the fifth, it was Lopez’s short-but-big rights that had Moreno’s nose looking broken and his bald head looking like an up-ended, well-worn speed bag; and in the sixth, Lopez took out the frustration of back-to-back losses on the resigned-to-lose Moreno with hard punches.

In the last two rounds, however, just when Lopez looked like he was going to score a rare knockout, the El Pasoan fought on cruise control, downgrading his attack from angry hornet to annoying gnat. In the last minute, Moreno landed a lucky right when Lopez walked into it, but ‘Gallito’ flurried to the body in retaliation to close the show.

All three judges had it for Lopez in a near-shutout: 80-72 and 79-73 twice. Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it 79-73.

“I was patient tonight,” said Lopez, now 19-3, 4 KOs, “but I’m sitting on my punches now. I’m going to stay busy, get back in the ring in a month or two. I know I have the speed and tools to be a world champion.

“I beat myself against [Glenn] Donaire. But I’m more hungry now. I want those belts back.”

Moreno falls to 21-18-3, 10 KOs. His corner attributed his performance to drying out to 112—a weight the Juarez fighter can no longer make without weakening himself.

PONCE GETS BEAT UP BY LATE SUB

In Texas, the record for consecutive beatings is held by Laredo’s Natalio Ponce (11-25, 7 KOs) who, last night in a televised six-round junior lightweight bout, lost his 12th straight fight, this time to late sub Jose Hernandez (5-0).

Despite fighting in a higher weight division, for the first time in a year, and on two days’ notice, the longer-reaching, taller Hernandez became the 25th fighter to issue a beating on the too-game-for-his-own-good Ponce.

By jabbing, using his range, and mixing up big rights and left hooks, Hernandez kept Ponce at the end of his leather for the first four rounds. Showing poor defense, Ponce waded in—trying to get close—but only succeeded in kissing Hernandez’s gloves.

The game Laredo fighter had better luck in the last two rounds when he plowed the tiring Hernandez into the ropes and was able to land wild swings, although he still lost the rounds, and his mouthpiece—for the second time in the fight.

All three judges scored it for Hernandez: 60-54 twice and 59-55.

“I give Ponce credit,” Hernandez said. “He can really take a punch.”

OLVERA FLOORS MARTINEZ

San Antonio’s Jorge Martinez is nicknamed “Diablolito,” but, after last night, “Abuelito” (“Grandpa”) might be more appropriate, for it took El Paso lightweight Ignacio "Nacho" Olvera just a minute, twenty to take out the 38-year-old opponent.

Olvera, fighting out of the A&R stable who handles rising star Antonio Escalante, controlled the space with a jab and straight right, then said good night to Martinez with a left hook liver shot.

It was Olvera’s first fight since last summer.

Olvera remains undefeated at 3-0 (1 KO) while Martinez falls to 2-1.

JIMENEZ & SORIANO BUTT HEADS IN NO DECISION

In the handful of seconds and handful of punches they threw at one another, El Paso’s Albert Jimenez (1-0) and Julian Soriano (pro debuter) of Laredo took turns staggering each other in a wild-swinging brawl.

But then a butting of heads put an end to their free-for-all when the bout was stopped at :20 due to a gash on Soriano’s forehead, calling for a no-decision outcome.

Galarza-Gutierrez steals the show

In the best bout of the night, by far, El Pasoan Jo Jo Galarza (2-1, 1 KO), son of former legend Rocky Galarza, proved himself the border city’s top blood-and-guts thriller with a decision win over larger, game pro debuter Ira Gutierrez (0-1).

Planting his head on the taller fighter’s chest, Galarza went to work with the opening bell, boring right into Gutierrez and throwing, throwing, throwing, all close quarter. The two fought on equal terms until an overhand right, followed by another right, had Gutierrez colliding into the ropes for the only knockdown in the bout.

Bulling into Gutierrez earned Galarza a big mouse on his forehead in the second. By the end of the bout, he’d have a matching one on the other side, looking like budding devil horns.

Gutierrez got back into the fight in the second, trying to create a bit of distance with jabs and big rights. The two traded bombs in the third with Galarza smothering Gutierrez but the taller man landing better shots.

The furious, pitched battle continued through the last round, with Galarza taking back the fight with big left-rights thrown in the final minute.

The knockdown in the first gave Galarza the edge in an otherwise-close fight, giving him the unanimous win with scores of 39-36 and 38-37 twice.

“I had a good time tonight,” said Galarza. “It was fun. I just keep on going ‘til I hear the bell ring.”

What’s next for the high-action fighter?

“I’m gonna do a De La Hoya thing, and take a break right now. Concentrate on my kids right now.”

Bonus photos

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