Varela outguns ‘Shotgun’ Gomez
Lackluster main event forgotten after Smith-Castenada walkout bout

Ringside by Albert Jimenez Howell
Photos by Chris Cozzone
- FightWireImages.com

In a 12-round defense of his WBC Continental Americas light middleweight belt, Nicaraguan Jose Varela outgunned Manuel ‘Shotgun’ Gomez with a unanimous decision that, after ten dull rounds, livened up in the final two stanzas.

There were no knockdowns and the crowd grew restless for much of the fight that was last night’s main event of “Guilty Fight Night” card at the Orleans Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. But the soft-punching Varela and the slow-paced Gomez, slower, no doubt, by coming in six pounds heavy at the scales (making the “championship” fight an impossible win for him) turned the bout into a classic brawl in rounds eleven and twelve.

Gomez got off to an early start, dictating the pace the first two rounds of this contest. As the fight wore on, though, Varela found his rhythm, fighting effectively behind his jab.

An overhand right by Varela opened round three. The momentum of the fight swung in Varela’s—and it stayed there for the remainder of the bout.

In round four, Gomez was cut over the right eye. Feeling a new sense of urgency, Gomez emerged from his stool in the fifth, trying to press the action. But Varela continued to keep Gomez at bay with the left jab, targeting the cut over the right eye. An action-packed round six saw both men landing their fair share of power shots.

The combatants began round seven content to trade hooks in the center of the ring. Successive right hands landed for Varela to the head of Gomez, momentarily hurting the brawler. Gomez worked his way out of trouble, only to be pinned into the corner by Varela who unleashed a barrage of damaging power shots that went unanswered. But just when it looked like Varela was going to put down his foe, Gomez connected with two big body shots.

Rounds eight and nine were more of the same and, in the late rounds, Varela rocked Gomez several times with hard shots and flurries. But the game Gomez always found a way to work his way out of trouble. There were times, late in the contest, when it appeared Gomez was out on his feet, but his gritty determination kept him on his feet and fighting back.

In the end, Varela was too much for Gomez who put in a courageous effort. To the pleasure of the crowd, Valera and Gomez went toe-to-toe in the middle of the squared circle, exchanging brutal power blow after brutal power blow for the last 60 seconds of the twelfth and final round. The final seconds punctuated a hard-fought battle in which Valera emerged with the victory and title.

All three judges were in agreement, with scorecards reading 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112.

Varela moves to 16-2, 10 KOs while Gomez, coming off a loss to Antonio Margarito earlier in the year, drops to 28-12-2, 19 KOs.

Castenada edges Smith

In the walkout bout of the night—and show-stealer—local Vegas favorite Lonnie Smith (4-1-1, 4 KOs) was edged by San Antonian Juan Castenada (3-0, 2 KOs) in a thrilling four-round super featherweight brawl.

Castenada and Smith electrified the crowd by engaging in a classic battle that will be long remembered by those in attendance. The two young fighters gave their 100%, leaving nothing in the ring. It was non-stop action, with absolutely no lulls in the action.

In the opening round, Smith appeared to have slipped touching his gloves to the canvas in order to regain his balance. However, Referee Tony Gibson ruled it a knockdown and gave Smith a standing eight count—it would, ultimately, cause the loss.

Behind on the scorecards, Smith pressed the already action-packed battle to a new level of sweet savagery. The hard-slinging artists in the ring threw caution to the wind, for the most part, abandoning both defense and the jab, choosing instead to paint each other with ferocious power shots.

In round two, the lightening-fast Smith landed three crushing hooks in a row. Not to be outdone, Castenada hurt Smith with a big right. Smith escaped trouble but Castenada, then, unleashed a flurry of blows stinging Smith, who at this point was bleeding from the nose, with an uppercut to the jaw.

Smith answered back with a straight right that landed flush on the jaw of Castenada to begin round three. Like a scene out of a movie, both fighters continued to come forward throughout the bout, neither brawler willing to retreat one iota.

In round four, both combatants emerged from their respective stools looking to land the knockout blow. Smith hurt his adversary with a strong uppercut. Castenada returned, digging a two-hook combination to the body of his foe. The last round, like the previous three, was non-stop action with the two combatants content to exchange power shot after power shot.

In the end, both young men proved to be relentless in their attack, winning the adoration of the crowd. In a beautiful bout that could have gone either way, Castenada emerged with the majority decision win with scores of 38-38, 38-37 and 38-37.

The hometown Smith dropped his first fight as a professional.

Martinez TKO's Torres

Anthony Martinez (2-0, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas kept his record perfect by defeating San Diego’s Anibal Torres (1-2, 1 KO) in a four-round super lightweight bout by technical knockout.

Martinez emerged from his corner in round one swinging for the fences, looking to land the knockout punch. Early in the round Martinez connected with a left hook to the body of Torres. A jab landed followed by a flurry of punches for which Torres had no answer.

In round two, Martinez forced Torres to the corner where he unleashed a devastating barrage of unanswered power punches, seriously hurting his foe and prompting Referee Tony Gibson to wave off the bout at 1:05.

Camacho earns one-sided victory

Alexis Camacho (12-0, 10 KOs) of LA remained undefeated after earning a TKO victory over Anthony Charnell (6-4-1, 5 KOs) of Sacramento, Calif. in their six round welterweight battle.

In round one, a straight right by Camacho stunned Charnell and a follow-up left jab bloodied his nose. Camacho targeted the damaged nose with left jabs and straight rights for the remainder of the opening stanza.

In round two, Camacho mixed up his shots, landing stinging uppercuts to the chin of his opponent with hooks to the head and body. Nevertheless, Camacho relied mostly on his bread-and-butter, the one-two combination, to break down his adversary.

Charnell displayed very little in the way of offense and his porous defense was exploited by the heavy-hitting Camacho. At the end of round two Camacho nailed his opponent with a left uppercut, followed by a flurry of punches that was punctuated by a straight left that sent Charnell sailing into the ropes. Charnell grabbed onto the ropes to keep from falling to the canvas.

At the end of round two, under the advice of the ring physician, Referee Jay Nady halted the bout declaring Camacho the winner by TKO victory.

Harris wins unpopular majority decision

Hometowner Brandon Harris (5-0, 3 KOs) won a majority decision, with scores of 38-38, 38-37 and 39-36, over game Texan Adam Conley (2-4, 1 KO) in their four round cruiserweight bout. It was an unpopular decision.

In round one, it appeared as though Conley was severely outclassed and would be the victim of an early knockout. Harris unloaded power shot after power shot, connecting on many of his potent punches. It was a testament to Conley’s determination that he finished the round on his feet.

After having his opponent seriously hurt in the first, Harris, shockingly, decided to take round two off, appearing very cautious of Conley’s left hand.

In round three, Conley tagged Harris with two straight lefts in a row. With his opponent stunned, Conley landed another straight left. The momentum clearly shifted to Conley who appeared to be in the driver’s seat the remainder of the bout.

In the fourth and final round, Conley landed three more big straight lefts, once again damaging his opponent. Despite Conley’s strong finish, Harris walked away with the win, remaining undefeated.

Bonus photos