Ponce Hounds, Pounds and Grounds Seeger
Seeger races, Ponce De Leon chases, in WBO title defense
Lazcano wins by miracle split decision
Escalante, Penalosa score kayos

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

A short-notice main event pull-out, replaced by a chase cut short, which was preceded by a shortchanging decision, was the long and short of last night’s Golden Boy Promotions’ “Mexican Glory” HBO-PPV card at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

Over 6,000 rowdy people showed up to watch 52 rounds of—more-often-than not—action-packed boxing that, despite the four-day notice cancellation of main-eventer Juan Manuel Marquez, the flight-not-fight of Daniel Ponce De Leon’s challenger, Al Seeger, and blatant hometown decision of Juan Lazcano, was, otherwise, well worth the bucks or pesos of border fight fans.

In the main event, unorthodox slugger Daniel Ponce De Leon had to lace up his track shoes to score his 30th pro win in a WBO junior featherweight title defense.

Savanna, Georgia’s Al Seeger was hoping to pull a rabbit out of his hat, and score an upset win against De Leon. Instead, he was hit with rabbit fever, forcing rabbit-punching, flouncing, pouncing Ponce De Leon into the role of fox and hound.

Seeger hugged and Ponce mugged; Seeger raced while Ponce chased—until in the eighth, the champion spared Seeger the laps, finishing his unweathered, unwilling foe by TKO.

De Leon was quick off the mark to take the fight to Seeger, whose composure in the first couple of rounds quicklytransformed into something closer to fright as the Chihuahuan champ bombed away at him with barroom tactics. Not allowing Seeger’s octopus arms to tie him up, Ponce reddened the lanky Georgian’s body and back of head with shots out of a textbook for drunken sailors.

Seeger landed two of maybe three good shots in the second and third—a straight right hand—making Ponce pay for recklessly coming in. Success was momentary, for De Leon kept on coming, forcing Seeger to tie up and back away, tie up and back away, and, just for variation, tie up and back away.

By the end of the third, the fight became a broken record, with De Leon rushing in with wide (what else is new?) and choppy punches, breaking down Seeger while getting away with (for the most part) chops to the back of the head. Meanwhile, Seeger, stricken with either stage fright or Ponce-fright, became a scared rabbit runner—especially after a straight left dropped him in a De Leon-dominated fourth round.

Seeger’s gas tank started to drain in the fifth, and De Leon, fist cocked like a gun, stalked and stalked while Seeger spent his energy tying up and trying to avoid a collision between his All-American, boyish mug and the top of Ponce’s head.

There was little opposition from Seeger from the sixth on, and nothing but opposition from De Leon, who, despite his less-than-wholesome maneuvers, was landing clean, harder and often.

Unable to turn the fight around, Seeger scurried back, losing a point in the eighth for holding until a rough-and-tumble barrage and straight left from the champion downed Seeger again.

This time, Seeger’s corner, knowing resistance was futile, threw in the towel at 1:43.

“I don’t have any excuses,” said Seeger, who loses his IBA belt to De Leon while falling to 27-2 (21 KOs). “I knew it was going to be rough fight. I just couldn’t find my rhythm to get out of the way of those big shots—you can’t take anything away from him. It was not my night.

“I wanted to finish the fight, but I’ll be back because my heart is too big.”

Now 30-1, with 28 KOs, De Leon makes his third successful title defense since beating Sod Looknongyangtoy a year ago.

“I knew he would run, grab and hold,” said De Leon. “He was hard to fight because of all the fouling. Seeger only wanted to survive. I couldn’t fight my fight. I learned though, like to stay more tranquil when you’re tied up like that. And when he didn’t tie up he ran. I could have been more patient.”

While he talked to the media, the only man to beat De Leon, Celestino Caballero, now the WBA super bantamweight champion, paraded around the ring, calling out Ponce and challenging him to a WBA/WBO unification bout.

“I want Marquez, Vasquez only the best,” De Leon ignored his victor. “Caballero, I’m not so much interested in . . . I’m not interested in fighting him again, at least not now. If I do fight him I will prepare much longer and I will win this time.”

Christmas in October:
Lazcano gets split decision over Garnica

The one ‘gimme’ fight on the card—between El Paso’s Juan Lazcano and Guadalajara, Mexico’s Manuel Garnica—actually turned into an upset . . . well, should’ve turned into an upset instead of what was, perhaps, the worst decision seen in El Paso in this century, thus far.

On paper, Garnica was the typical opponent for Lazcano, hand-picked for a win in front of his hometown. But Garnica came to win—as he’d done against Carlos Maussa in August—while Lazcano, we’ll he just showed up expecting to win.

Which is exactly what happened, for on two of the judges’ scorecards, Lazcano was given the red carpet treatment in his hometown with a gratuitous, early Christmas gift win.

Although clearly outsized, looking like a jr. lightweight against a jr. welter, Garnica went right to work, rocking Lazcano back with a big left hand. The El Pasoan took his time, measuring up his shorter foe before going to work.

Lazcano started to throw in the second, but Garnica stood his ground, tying up and frustrating Lazcano, while landing cleaner, harder shots inside. In the third, Lazcano continued to press forward, but appeared as though sleepwalking, throwing uninspired left hooks while Garnica hustled and picked his shots.

Garnica was hit clean in the fourth, but took it without blinking. The fight fell into a pattern, with Lazcano failing to fall into any semblance of rhythm while Garnica slipped in big right hands that, while not hurting Lazcano, certainly should have made an impression on the judges.

Lazcano was off to a good start in the sixth, after trainer Freddie Roach chewed him out between rounds. But after a round of success, Lazcano was bulldogged back when Garnica made an argument for stealing the round with clean shots to the El Pasoan’s head and body.

By the seventh, it was clear to all but two judges that an upset was in the works here. With too many rounds in the bank, and landing seven or eight clean shots in the round, Garnica had Lazcano looking slow and clumsy—and unwilling to throw a hook for getting nailed by one of Garnica’s piercing overhand rights.

It was more of the same through the eighth but in the ninth, Lazcano stepped on the gas, though it was too little, too late—something he should’ve done six rounds before.

In the tenth and final round, Garnica pulled a last-round De La Hoya vs. Trinidad, backpedaling for much of the round while Lazcano came out crazed and desperate—and still, largely, ineffective.  After the bell rang, he continued to fight, earning a chorus of boos from his hometown crowd.

The boos would only get worse, however, when the first scorecard was revealed by ring announcer Lupe Contreras.

“Judge Jerry Wright scores it 98-92 . . . Lazcano . . .”

The crowd erupted with “Fuera! Fuera!” (Get out! Get out!)

“Judge Levi Martinez has it 96-94—Garnica.”

With everyone’s breath held in, the final tally was announced:

“And Judge Mark Ortega scores it 97-93 . . . Lazcano.”

With those ringside in disbelief and the crowd booing and chanting “Bull***! Bull***!”, Lazcano shrugged and took his win while Garnica shook his head in disgust.

Even Lazcano’s classy trainer, Freddy Roach, had it right:

“Did Juan win this fight?

“No. I told him he needed a knock out to win. He couldn’t get untracked and he (Garnica) out hustled us.”

Lazcano, the former lightweight title challenger now campaigning at jr. welter, moves his record to 37-3-1 (27 KOs) while Garnica drops to 20-6 (11 KOs).

“I took the fight to him,” said Lazcano. “He just wanted to tie up. He would hit once, then come in and tie up . . . I landed the harder punches. I knew it was going to be a close—he has a difficult style. But I took him on. No one else would take him on, and it was either him or Augustus. He didn’t want to mix it up and I had more to gain from fighting him than some guy with 25 losses.

“He was tough though, I didn’t want to fight this guy after seven months away from the ring, but I had no choice. I’ll give him another shot though.”

Escalante too much for Adorno

Racking up more crowd decibels than Lazcano, it looks like El Paso has a star in the making with Antonio Escalante, who, last night, defended his NABO junior featherweight belt with a round-and-a-half destruction of Puerto Rican Omar Adorno, who was stopped for the first time in two years.

Escalante came out for round one, pounding Adorno to the body with left hooks and punctuating the stanza with a right hand over the top. Adorno, however, did not come all the way from Puerto Rico to lose, and he caught Escalante with more than one left hook.

But in the second round, two chopping rights to Adorno’s head put the game foe on all fours while referee Lawrence Cole counted him out at 1:22.

“Escalante will be champion of the world,” said Adorno, now 16-8-1 (10 KOs).

“I had no balance tonight. After the knockdown, I was very weak and unable to continue.”

Still the NABO junior featherweight champ, the Golden Boy-signed Escalante makes it ten in a row.

“I expected more from Adorno,” he said. “I thought it would go at least to six, but it only took me two and here I am with the victory. I knew he would come forward because I watched a tape of him, and I knew he could not take my power.”

Escalante said he does not know what’s next for him, but that, “I think I’m about a year away from a world title bout—it doesn’t matter who I fight.”

Penalosa floors Martinez . . . again and again

In a battle of former champions, Gerry Penalosa of Manila, Philippines, former WBC Super Flyweight champ, took on former WBO bantamweight champ Mauricio Martinez, of Panama, in a must-win, ten-rounder at 118.

The southpaw Martinez used his jab to win the first two minutes but Penalosa, turning leftie at the 2:00 mark, bombed the Panamanian with an overhand left that deposited him in the neutral corner for what would be the first of three knockdowns.

Martinez recovered, and came out strong again for the second, but Penalosa, confusing his foe with a southpaw stance, pressed ever forward, showing patience.

Cut over his right eye by a left, Martinez fell into survival mode in the third, when a solid left thumped him on the temple, dropping him to the canvas yet again. This time, he was up on wobbly legs, but lasted the round.

The fight fell into a pattern: Penalosa stalking and landing the meaningful punches, while Martinez sought to edge his way back into the fight with a flimsy, yet frequent jab. While the Panamanian held his own in the sixth and seventh, landing more power shots than in any other rounds, it was only because Penalosa showed signs of tiring.

Penalosa perked up in the eighth, making it a closer round, then, in the ninth, outpunched Martinez to reclaim a dominance.

In the tenth, it was all over when an overhand left dropped Martinez flat to the canvas, prompting the ref to immediately call it off at 1:06.

“When I saw a tape of him, I knew I was going to knock him out,” said Penalosa, who, now 51-5-2 (34 KOs), still proves he has another title run in him. “I promised it to my team.

“My father turned me around and made me a southpaw. He said it’s an advantage.”

Penalosa said he injured his left hand after the first knockdown but that it was just swollen.

“Next, I want the champion,” he said. “It’s too bad (Rafael) Marquez moved up.”

Martinez, perhaps at the end of his run, dropping to 31-7-1, 21 KOs, was gracious in defeat:

“He hits very hard. He has all the tools to go a long way.”

Off-TV results:
Roman stops Ledesma

Finally finding the opportunity to cross the border for a fight in El Paso, Ciudad Juarez’s No. 1 draw, Miguel “Mickey Mouse” Roman (18-0, 13 KOs) brought a big cheer from the crowd and picked up more fans from the U.S., by remaining undefeated with an impressive TKO over Andres Ledesma (13-5-1, 8 KOs)

If ever there was a wrong, or difficult style for Roman, it’s someone like Ledesma—but the aggressive figured out the crafty Colombian, before finishing him.

In the first, Roman stalked the taller Ledesma, running into his fair share of jabs as the Colombian circled to stay away from the aggressive Juarez fighter. Roman strove to get close and edged the round.

The second was closer. Ledesma was more active, though not set to punch while Roman applied pressure, nailing Ledesma to the body, sometimes on the beltline or below. Ledesma, while snapping snapless punches, fought on the run.

In between the second and third, Ledesma’s corner egged him on to fight Roman and in the third, he did just that—though it proved his downfall.

Thrilled not having to chase Ledesma, Roman backed him up with a flurry of body shots. Then, stepping into the pocket, he nailed him with a full-force left hook to the liver that put Ledesma down until, assessing the situation as hopeless, referee Rocky Burke called off the contest at 2:59.

“I’m very content with my performance,” said Roman. “It was my hard work and discipline that made the difference in this fight. I landed a variety of punches and we’ll see what happens with my career. I want to stay busy.”

Between De Leon, Escalante and Roman—all 122-pounders from the area, between Chihuahua, El Paso and Juarez—Golden Boy could have a gold mine on their hands in El Paso.

Tackie tackles Herrera

In the opening bout of the night, ten rounds at welterweight, former title challenger Ben Tackie (29-6-1, 17 KOs) of Ghana, now trained by Jack Mosley, picked up a win over a game and bloodied Esau Herrera (12-3, 6 KOs) of Mexico City.

The first round was a tentative won, with Tackie taking the edge with his aggression and lead rights that Herrera could not stop. In the second, Herrera asserted himself more, whacking Tackie with left hooks in the last minute and getting the better of the exchanges.

The longer-armed Herrera stood his ground in the third, but Tackie bloodied his nose, jabbing and experience appearing to wear down the Mexican. The blood continued to pour in the fourth and Tackie upped the pressure.

In the fifth, a long lead right by the pressuring Tackie, and left hooks to the ribs, had Herrera wincing. After a lead right dropped Herera on the seat of his pants in the neutral corner, Herrera started to look like a defeated fighter.

Yet, he continued to fight back. In sixth, the Mexican came alive in the first minute but Tackie’s counter-punches slowed him down in the second half of what was a toss-up round.

In the seventh, Herrera’s eye began to swell around the orbit, but there was no quit in the tough Mexican. He jabbed his way back into the fight in the eighth, trying to keep in the center of the ring and off the ropes. It was a wise move, and better round, but he was showing more and more damage from Tackie’s right hands.

Tackie took the fight out of Herrera in the ninth, by pouring on barrage after barrage. A brief time-out for the ringside doc to okay Herrera’s halfway-shut eye broke the action, but when the fight resumed, Tackie, showing a bit of fatigue, still finished strong.

All three judges scored it for Tackie, 95-94 twice and 97-92. Fightnews had it for Tackie 97-92.

“Jack (Mosley) is a great trainer,” said Tackie. “He’s taking my style and making it better—he got me to stop bouncing so much.

“I’m hoping for a title fight in February. Golden Boy is going to take care of me.”

Crayton no test for Berto

Veteran James Crayton (34-23-2, 21 KOs) of Dallas, Tex. was supposed to be a solid test for 2004 Haitian Olympian Andre Berto (15-0, 13 KOs), who fights out of Miami, Fla.

Instead, Berto dominated the 58-fight veteran from the opening bell.

Berto came out with a purpose, banging with both hands proving much too powerful and fast for Crayton. Hard punches to the head and body turned Crayton into a human punching bag in the second, for the Dallas veteran was unable to mount an offense or counter punch during the entire round.

In the third, Crayton had a couple brief moments, landing rights that Berto merely shook off. It quickly resumed pace as a one-sided fight.

In the fourth, Crayton, too slow to sustain an attack, started to cover up, more than anything. Jab afer jab from Berto, followed by a hard right over the top in the fifth, floored Crayton in the fifth, prompting referee Rocky Burke to call it off at :34.

Palacios outbrawls Chavez

What was originally the curtain raiser, a four-round featherweight bout between pro debuters Saul Palacios (1-0) of El Paso and Juarez’s Alejandro Chavez (0-1), was bumped up to final undercard bout when the Mexican fighter arrived late.

It turned out to be a crowd-pleasing, toe-to-toe brawl that ended with a ‘W’ for Palacios, who fights out of the A & R Boxing banner, alongside Antonio Escalante.

Palacios showed promise, snapping Chavez’s head back in the first, but Chavez was tougher than expected, hanging in there while Palacios poured it on.

The second stanza was closer, with lots of ebb and flow. Chavez, having shaken off the jitters, took the fight to Palacios who might’ve stolen the round in the last ten seconds.

With the edge tipping towards Palacios, the fight heated up in the last two rounds, Palacios landing the harder, cleaner punches but his defense an invitation for plenty of big left hooks from Chavez.

At end of four, all three judges were for Palacios, 40-36 twice and 39-37. Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing was in agreement, at 40-36.

Bonus photos

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