‘Cinco de Mayo’ card goes the distance
Gallegos, Camarena, Ortiz win decisions

Ringside report by Chris Cozzone
Photos - Sorry, too dark

There might’ve been a few snags and lags in last night’s debut promotion for Double-D Enterprises in Santa Fe, but the warring and outscoring of several local pugs more than satisfied the 1,000+ fans who showed up at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center.

All three co-features went the distance. Shawn Gallegos outhustled an aggressive and blood-soaked Carlos Madrid; Jayla Ortiz went to war on a battered and bruised Leanne Villareal; and Donald Camarena clowned and pounded on Franz Hantindi.

The card was billed as “Cinco de Mayo Trifecta,” but by the time it was all over it was nearly Sexto de Mayo. The first, and biggest delay, aggravated throughout the night by frequent, sometimes lengthy, intermissions, pushed the 7 PM start time to nearly 8:15 when the scheduled ringside physician pulled out at the last minute. Promoters and commission scrambled for a replacement and were lucky that the hour-plus holdup did not turn into a cancellation.

The crowd was not kept in the dark during the delay—well, not in one respect, anyway, but the total absence of ring lighting made spectators squinting to see what transpired beyond the ropes, and made photos far from worth the effort. We’ve all heard of HBO’s “Boxing After Dark,” well, last night, it “Boxing in the Dark.”

Two ‘gimmes’ open up show

After several attempts at a start, both corners awaiting the hasty arrival of the ringside doc, the show kicked off with the pro debut of top Denver amateur Lillian Camarena, wife of co-feature Donald, who was matched up against San Antonio’s Isabel Manyseng.

The fight went as expected for the 112-pound southpaw prospect.

Camerana took her time in the first and second rounds, letting Manyseng come at her, then popping her with one-two’s, and, later, with three- and four-punch combinations that had Manyseng looking slightly more battered than she did entering the ring.

After Camarena stepped up the aggression in the third round, Manyseng’s corner threw in the towel at :08—hopefully, for good, for the San Antonioan, now 1-9, has been a human punching bag in eight straight bouts now.

Speaking of punching bag . . . .

The New Mexico debut of former top amateur Matthew “Papitas” Esquibel brought a solid crowd from the Duke City, but the cheering—and the fighting—was short-lived.

It might’ve been a slightly more competitive fight if someone had tied Esquibel’s hands behind his back and shackled his ankles together, for Santa Fean Jared Tafoya had absolutely nothing to offer.

Showing zero defense and even less offense, Tafoya was pummeled to the head and body at a consistent rate until, at :27, referee Russell Mora had seen enough slaughter.

Hopefully, the New Mexico State Athletic Commission will see to it that Tafoya, and other fighters like him, of which there are several, are checked out before stepping into the ring of a professional prize fight.

With the win, Esquibel ups his record to 2-0 (1 KO) while Tafoya, 0-2, “earns” his second payday with his second overmatched loss.

The third bout on the undercard more than made up for the first two mismatches.

Valdez and Gomez draw in fast sixer

In a six-round flyweight bout, Espanola’s Tony  Valdez was matched up tough against solid 32-fight veteran Robert “Famosito” Gomez of Juarez.

Valdez was coming off an impressive kayo upset over Ernie Marquez in March, but, if successful with Gomez, would prove ready for the world-beyond-New-Mexico in the flyweight division, for the Juarez pug has faced everyone, from champ Ivan Calderon to Glenn Donaire, proving a worthy opponent.

But after last night’s fast-action scrap, whether Valdez is ready for a tougher class of foe, the jury is still out, for many at ringside were of the notion that he was lucky last night’s bout was only six, and that Gomez, who’d taken the fight on short notice, was less than 100%.

Gomez gave up the first round, coming forward at Valdez but doing little mitt-slinging while the Espanolan let loose with a lightning jab while picking his shots from the outside, a left hook there, a straight right there. Gomez finally opened up in the final moments and the two brought the crowd to its feet by brawling for the last five seconds, a few seconds after the bell.

Gomez closed the gap and landed big left hooks in the second round, engaging Valdez in a close-quarter brawl for much of the round. Valdez’s corner implored their fighter to box—“Move in and out!”—but, for much of the round, he gave in to Gomez and mixed it up. It was now a fight Valdez was not likely to win, against a superior, stronger brawler like Gomez.

Valdez got an earful from his corner in between rounds for he came out in the third boxing and moving, edging Gomez by staying away from the lure of the phone booth. Gomez’s big left scored a few times—which encouraged Valdez to box on his bike—but, again, the two brawled toe-to-toe in the final moments, and a few seconds afterward.

Valdez continued to outbox Gomez into the fourth, but halfway through, Gomez staggered him with a big right. Closing the gap, Gomez went to work, landing big lefts on Valdez’s body, slowing him down and forcing him to tie up. More big rights and lefts from Gomez sealed the round for the brawler, forcing Valdez to fall back on tying up more often than dancing away.

Gomez started to dominate in the fifth, blasting Valdez’s body with impacting punches that made the Espanola fighter’s punches appear pitty-pat. But halfway through the round, Gomez started to tire and Valdez had marginal success until the final moments when he was battered with more hard shots from Gomez.

In the final round, Valdez took back the fight while Gomez, tired, watched his lead disappear. Valdez outboxed in the first minute, then started to land big right hands from time to time. In the last minute, the two mixed it up and Valdez turned aggressor, pushing more than punching, but still taking the round.

The scores were mixed: 59-55 Gomez, 58-56 Valdez and 57-57 even, making this a draw. NewMexicoBoxing/Fightnews had it three rounds apiece, 57-57.

Valdez moves his record to 6-2-1 (6 KOs) and Gomez, now 14-16-3 (10 KOs) invited Valdez to rematch him on the May 26 show in El Paso.

Gallegos ‘edge-ucates’ Madrid

For the self-trained Las Vegas “Educator,” Shawn Gallegos, Carlos Madrid of El Paso was a big risk, and their eight-round jr. welter bout, a pick ‘em match for those in the know. But last night, Gallegos, coming off a loss to Dmitriy Salita, scored a tough-fought points win over the determined Madrid.

Gallegos kept the fight to the outside in the first round, while Madrid sought to close the distance—many times, successfully. Big left hooks to the body from Madrid kept Gallegos on the move, but the Las Vegan returned fire in the second round, jabbing and timing a big right hand that landed when the El Pasoan came within range. The round was edged by Madrid, however, in the final minute when he cornered and pummeled Gallegos against the ropes, landing hard shots to the body.

Those big left hooks were strong incentive for Gallegos to keep to his outside game plan. Jabbing on the move but stopping to hammer Madrid with straight rights and a left hook or two, gave him the round. However, the defining moment of the round—if not the fight—was an accidental clash of heads that opened up a big gash on Madrid’s scalp. For the remainder of the fight, blood trickled out, covering both fighters and splattering those of us unlucky enough to be close to the action.

Blood or no blood, Madrid kept coming at Gallegos, who made him pay with jabs and rights coming in, then routinely tied him up whenever possible. Gallegos’ punches had little effect on Madrid, whose attempts to turn the fight into a brawl, were equally as effective.

Gallegos showed a bit of wear and tear from Madrid’s body shots in the fourth stanza, but he continued to outpoint the stalking El Pasoan, who could not get close enough. The next round, however, went Madrid’s way and Gallegos moved without throwing until the final half-minute when both fighters brawled away in the best action seen yet.

Gallegos kept Madrid away in the sixth and seventh, tying up when close, frustrating the El Pasoan who was now bleeding double from a fresh gash on his left brow, also from a clash of heads.

With more rounds in the bank, Gallegos took no chances in the final round, but Madrid came out a wild slugger. While he was able to edge Gallegos with aggression, and win the round, he was not able to score a damaging blow to even out the points.

All three judges scored it the same, 79-73 for Gallegos, although each had a different round attributed to Madrid. NewMexicoBoxing/Fightnews had it much closer, 77-75, giving Madrid all three rounds individually scored by the judges.

“He was coming in with his head and headbutting me,” Gallegos said afterward. “I was trying to land the overhand right, box and tie-up. It was part of the plan to box him from the outside.

“On a scale of 1-0, I give myself a ‘7.’”

Madrid was not happy with the loss.

“Who was head-butting who?” he asked.

“I thought I won the fight,” he said. “I knew I had to knock him out to win here, but I hurt him a lot of times. I pressured him while all he did was tie me up and push my head down.

“Do I want a rematch? Hell, yeah.”

Gallegos, back in school working on his Master’s, says he’ll be back in the ring in the summer. His record improves to 16-2 (5 KOs) while Madrid loses two in a row now, falling to 6-2 (2 KOs).

‘Payoso’ Camarena 2 Slick 4 Franz

For Denver’s Donald Camarena, Franz Hantindi, of San Antonio, was an exercise in sparring. For Hantindi, Camarena was an exercise in futility.

Hantindi was as game as they come—and threw non-stop—but he was hopelessly outclassed by Camarena, who let him off the hook for most of the fight by clowning around and taking his time.

The difference in skill level was evident from the first round. Hantindi came forward, threw often, threw slow, threw wide, while Camarena made him look amateur in spots, pot-shotting him to the body and playing elusive.

Camerana was a tad bit more aggressive in the second, but he focused his attention on making Hantindi look bad, playing cat-and-mouse, rather than actually hurting his foe. Big uppercuts thrown in the center of the ring landed almost every time Camarena threw ‘em.

By the third, it appeared as if this fight had zero chance of going the distance, for Camerana, when desiring to, staggered Hantindi with uppers and right hooks while easily evading the San Antonian’s wide and ineffective aggression.

Still, Hantindi continued to come forward, round after round after round . . . while Camarena, toyed and ployed with his foe, playing against the ropes, then, at his leisure, turning it around and bombing Hantindi with punch or two or three, all the while, ignoring his corner who implored him to finish up, let’s go home.

Could be that Camarena, coming off a frustrating loss to the even-slicker-than-his-2-slick-self, Paulie Malignaggi, was just happy to have someone in front of him, someone to hit, for in the fifth he played with straight lefts. In the sixth, it was back to body shots; the seventh, a little of both; the eighth, he played on the ropes.

When Hantindi landed, Camarena stuck his tongue out—that kept the crowd’s attention for a while, but the sparring session started to lose any appeal by the mid to later rounds. For a while, the lightning storm, seen through the windows of the gymnasium, caught the spectators’ attention. Then, it was Camarena’s obnoxious sister, who yelled and yelled and yelled, drowning out the rest of the Denver crowd who’d come to cheer their fighter on.

In the ninth, two things happened. First, Camarena stepped up the aggression and tried to take out Hantindi, who was staggered on many occasions. The seriousness of the bout increased, especially when Camarena’s sister was asked by security to please, shut up. She did, to some degree, just as much as the Camarena in the ring tried, unsuccessfully, to finish off Hantindi, who fired back, hurt or not, until the final bell.

At the end of ten, long rounds, all three judges had a no-brainer victory for Camarena, with varying scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 97-93. NewMexicoBoxing/Fightnews had it 100-90, but this writer also admits Hantindi’s gameness might’ve won a round or two, for the ring was dark and this writer’s attention span started to waver in those middle rounds.

“I tried to get him at the end,” Camarena said. “I hit him with everything I had but the guy can take a shot.”

Hantindi falls to 10-7-2 (7 KOs), losing three in a row now, while Camarena, who plans a return to Santa Fe on the next show, bounces off his loss to Malignaggi with a win, upping his stats to 17-2 (9 KOs).

Ortiz unleashed

She certainly looked like Jayla Ortiz . . . but she fought like a she-demon instead of the slick, counter-punching, pitty-pat-lack-of-attack tactical boxer who’s lulled us to sleep on more than one occasion.

This “new and improved Jayla” (her words) not only fought to win from bell-to-bell, but fought to hurt her opponent, who was, on this occasion, alas, Albuquerque’s Leanne Villareal.

It was the third match between the two—with Ortiz now ahead 2-0-1—and, hopefully, it’ll be the last, for the Santa Fean dominated and punished Villareal for a shut-out unanimous decision.

Villareal, who came up alone from Albuquerque and had to borrow cornermen, was never in the fight, for Ortiz came out swinging in round one, stunning the crowd by going right at her foe and showing a refreshing aggression. Working her jab, Ortiz found an early home for her right hand and, while showing the slickness she’s noted for, let Villareal come at her, then, on several occurrences, drove her back with big combinations.

In the second stanza, while brawling in spots, Ortiz kept her jab in use and fought with ruthless-but-intelligent aggression, keeping Villareal plodding forward and covering up. In the closing moments, Ortiz poured it on, and had Villareal in trouble.

Ortiz bombed Villareal to the body in the third, mixing it up with big rights upstairs while Villareal, still plodding forward, threw only occasional haymakers, damaging only air molecules.

Ortiz counterpunched and moved in the fourth, but went on the aggressive in the second half, tattooing Villareal with jab after jab, right after right. Keeping her foe at the end of her range, she continued to pepper Villareal with more of the same in the fifth while easily evading any return fire. At the end of the fifth, Villareal was in trouble again, for she was clinging to Ortiz as the bell rang.

Uppercuts from Jayla hurt Villareal in the sixth. Again, near the end of the round, after a steady round and steady diet of leather, Villareal was in trouble. In the seventh, Villareal was backing up for the first time and it was apparent that, unable to get her game going, she was in survival mode.

Still fresh, Ortiz tried to finish Villareal in the last round, and a big uppercut snapped her head back. Landing punch after punch, like a workout on the heavy bag, Ortiz went to town on Villareal but had to settle for a points victory when the closing bell rang.

No one gave Villareal a single round, for judges were unanimous with Ortiz as winner, 80-72 x 3.

“I wanted to knock her out,” said Ortiz. “But she didn’t want to go down. She’s tough, but I felt great—due to my new team.

“I’ve always had it in me, but my new team has pulled it out of me. I finally got in shape.’

After three straight losses on the road, Ortiz, still a viable contender, hooked up with Dan Cushner in Santa Fe.

“This is just what she needs,” said Cushner. “She put it altogether tonight and you’ll be seeing her going places now.”

With the win, Ortiz, now 12-8-4 (3 KOs), adds something called the “NABC” junior lightweight trinket to her resume, while Villareal, digs herself deeper into the black hole of opponentry, losing five in a row now with a record of  1-7-1 (1 KO).

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Double-D Enterprises plans another Santa Fe show in June. In the meantime, action in New Mexico continues next weekend in Albuquerque on a May 13 Fresquez card at the Fairgrounds headlining Lee Montoya; and on May 20, when Monica Lovato, Joaquin Zamora and Beto Perez headline a show in Espanola.

Boxers in attendance: El Paso sensation Antonio Escalante, slated to fight the main event of a Telefutura-televised card in Chicago next week, came up with Roberto Gomez; Joaquin Zamora of Socorro, scheduled to fight May 20 in Espanola; Vicente Garcia of Albuquerque; Monica Lovato, who’ll do double-duty on fights pegged for May 12 in Vegas, and May 20 in Espanola; Albuquerque-newcomer, heavyweight Felix Abner; Tonia Cravens of Albuquerque; and Santa Fe’s Beto Perez

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