‘Cruces Crucible for Santa-Cruz
Santa-Cruz back on track after testing bout vs. Arceo; Trout packs the “Barn” in first significant card in Las Cruces in years

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

In the first significant fight card to hit Las Cruces in six years, the near-border town proved it has a shot at bigger boxing shows when Austin Trout, 2004 Olympic alternate and U.S. National amateur champ, packed a capacity crowd of 800 in his first hometown showing.

The Telefutura-televised card, promoted by Top Rank, headlined WBC No. 1 lightweight contender Jose Armando Luis Santa-Cruz, who retained his chances of another title fight in a barnburner ten-rounder against Luis “El Vampiro” Arceo at Dickerson’s Event Center.

The venue, once upon a time called “Dickerson’s Auction Barn Building” in the ‘80s, then upgraded to “Dickerson’s Barn” in the 90s, has now been re-christened “Dickerson’s Event Center.” While the new name does not bring to mind the corrugated tin walls and ceiling of the Quonset building, and its near-secret location, the “Barn” proved a more-than-adequate home to an action-packed fight card of barn-burning bouts.

The crowd-pleasing Santa-Cruz, known locally for his 12-round thriller last year against Edner Cherry in El Paso, was coming off an tenth round kayo loss to David Diaz in a WBC interim lightweight title fight in the summer, despite a safe lead on all card.

Last night, he was nearly derailed again.

Santa-Cruz weathered an early attack in the first by the aggressive Arceo, and, while trying to figure his foe out, was dropped in the last 15 seconds with a straight right over a lazy left jab. Santa-Cruz, clearly stunned, was up at the count of nine, and saved from a finishing kill by “Vampiro” when the bell rang.

In between rounds, Santa-Cruz recovered enough to duke it out with Arceo in the second—not an entirely safe strategy, but one that got the crowd on its feet. Again, it was Arceo’s punch output and aggression that had the bout looking like an upset in the making.

Santa-Cruz turned it around in the third and fourth, though, winging careless punches on Arceo, who stepped back for the first time in the bout. Despite a screaming corner imploring him to box, Santa-Cruz continued to slug it out while leaving gaping holes in his defense by dropping his left.

Santa-Cruz started to box more in the fifth, pot-shotting cleaner punches while Arceo poured on the aggression, trying to pin his man in the corners and against the ropes.

In the sixth, Santa-Cruz obliged Arceo once again in an inside slugfest but, later in the round, started to pull straight back and measure straighter punches.

Down the stretch, rounds seven through ten, Santa-Cruz pulled ahead, setting the pace and outboxing Arceo, while engaging his opponent in risky-yet-thrilling phone booth encounters throughout each stanza.

Santa-Cruz survived a stunning uppercut in the seventh but took the round back by fighting his way off the ropes and driving Arceo back. In the eighth, Santa-Cruz employed more angles and continued to pressure Arceo. A toe-to-toe ninth round went Santa-Cruz’s way in the ninth, and, in the tenth, kept the fight on the outside.

After ten, scorecards read 97-92, 98-91 and 96-93, all for Santa-Cruz.

Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing (FN/NMB) scored it 96-93 for Santa-Cruz.

“I did pretty good I think,” said Santa-Cruz, who ups his record to 24-2 (13 KOs) while retaining his No. 1 contender status with the WBC.

“I was stunned . . . hurt a little bit in the first, but I got it back and came back fighting. He’s a really good fighter.”

Santa-Cruz’s trainer, Rudy Sanchez, gave his fighter seven or eight of the ten rounds.

“My fighter was connecting the better punches and moving,” said Sanchez. “He was doing a lot better with each round.”

Sanchez says his team will wait and see whether WBC lightweight champion Joel Casamayor relinquishes his title to fight Acelino Freitas. If not, they’ll target him. If the belt is vacated, a rematch with interim champ David Diaz could happen.

“Who knows? The winner could fight Erik Morales,” says Sanchez.

As for “Vampiro” Arceo, while proving he’s still TV material, the Mexican drops his record to 19-5-2 (13 KOs) while losing his fourth fight in a row.

Rodriguez survives Frankel

In the co-main event, an eight-round welterweight bout thrown together on a few days notice (after Benjamin Flores vs. Ilidio Julio fell through), McKinney, Texas’ Noel Rodriguez, having to drop  a quick 16 pounds, lost a close decision to gutsy Denverite Rob “Too Hot” Frankel.

Frankel turned out to be Rodriguez’s toughest opponent to date—and a test he nearly failed when, after outboxing Frankel through half of the fight, ran out of steam in the fifth.

Rodriguez, a southpaw and, by far, the better boxer, took the fight to Frankel through the fourth. Jabbing and setting up the left, he kept Frankel where he wanted—at the end of his range—while switching over to big right hooks to the body in the fourth. Frankel, on the cautious side, waited too long.

In the fifth, Frankel started to apply the pressure he’s known for—and right about the time, Rodriguez registered ‘E’ on his gas tank. Breathing hard and clutching Frankel like a drowning man, Rodriguez had the appearance of a finished fighter but Frankel, starting to unload his rights, did not capitalize.

Nor did he, in the sixth, seventh and eighth—to his trainer’s dismay to jump on the fading Rodriguez. Big rights from Frankel won him the mid-to-later rounds, but he failed to take advantage of the open-mouthed Rodriguez.

In the eighth, the closest round of the bout, and only round that could’ve gone either way, it was Frankel’s pressure vs. the short-but-effective spurts of Rodriguez that had him stealing the round on some cards.

At the end of eight, scores registered 77-75 (Lopez), 79-73 (Garcia) and 78-74 (Martinez). FN/NMB was split, 76-76 (Trujillo) and 77-75 (Cozzone).

“This loss doesn’t hurt him,” said Frankel’s trainer, Steve Maestas. “He should’ve applied more pressure . . . he would’ve finished Rodriguez.

“But it’s not bad for a guy who made a pro debut with just two weeks of hitting the heavy bag in the gym.”

Frankel, continuing his on-the-job training, drops to 18-6 (3 KOs), while Rodriguez improves to (11-1, 5 KOs).

Trout comes home

Fighting for the first time in his hometown, 2004 U.S. National amateur champion and Olympic alternate Austin “No Doubt” Trout took a step-up in opposition by taking on Missouri Mexican Raul “El Toro” Munoz for his eighth win and first fight out of the third round.

Trout came out sweating—a miraculous achievement considering the icebox of a room that both corners shared at the Barn. Showing superior footwork, hand speed and angles, Trout went to work on the crafty Munoz, landing left hands throughout the round.

Munoz showed his experience in the next few rounds, moving away from Trout’s straight left, but the Las Crucen showed patience despite his seven straight early kayos, pawing his jab, finding his range and moving in on the battle-tested veteran.

By the fourth, Trout had figured out how to cut the ring off from Munoz, who, starting to tire, was taking risks by, finally, launching counter offenses at Trout, who clearly outmatched him.

In the fifth, Munoz, puffy and ready to go, launched a last-ditch effort, but Trout’s speed and power proved too much. A crushing shot to the body, followed by an uppercut, had Munoz taking a knee for the count at 2:21.

“The crowd kept me in it,” said Trout, now 8-0 (8 KOs). “They made me make sure I put on a good performance . . . Fighting in front of my hometown was everything I dreamed it would be.”

Trout’s opponent, Munoz drops his record to 19-10-1 (15 KOs).

“He’s a very durable guy,” said Trout. “

Munoz, a veteran since 1995, actually went the ten-round distance with Hector “Macho” Camacho—the same fighter, who in 1985, defeated Trout’s trainer, Louie “Sweet Lou” Burke. Burke, incidentally, was the last big fighter produced by Las Cruces, while Trout marks the first of many nationally-ranked amateurs from the Las Cruces PAL gym.

“Austin broke the guy down methodically,” said Burke. “He was hurting the guy to the body.”

“I think it was the body shot that put him down,” said Trout. “But I hit him with an uppercut after that and he took a knee.

“It was all preparation. Training. I don’t look for the knockout, but if you see it, you take it.”

What’s next for Trout?

“I just want to stay busy,” said Trout. “Boxing is my structure. If I don’t train, I’m not worth anything.

“Top Rank said they’d be back, because of the beautiful crowd that we got here tonight. So, expect more boxing for Las Cruces."

Alderete bangs out win

In a four-round light-heavyweight bout, Albuquerque’s "Mad" Mike Alderete (5-0, 3 KOs), fighting at a career-low 175 in a plan to get to super-middle, banged out a crowd-pleasing unanimous decision over the much-taller Larry "the Hitman" Pryor (2-2, 1 KO), of Dallas.

Pryor was trouble for Alderete in the first, jabbing at the free-swinging Alderete and measuring rights while moving away. But, in the second, and in the rounds that followed, Alderete pressured, pressured and pressured, not allowing Pryor to set up his right or use his jab.

In the third, Pryor started to wilt while Alderete continued to pour it on, slamming the taller man with overhand rights and, at one point, a left uppercut that raised Pryor’s foot off the canvas. Pryor, however, did not make it easy for Alderete, and moved well against the ropes.

In the final round, though, Pryor, left hooking with Alderete with some success, nearly turned the fight around when he leveled a straight right at Alderete, who was off-balance from overswinging a big right that missed. Alderete went down but the knockdown was ruled a slip.

The knockdown, that might or might not have been a true knockdown, would’ve changed the scores, but as a slip, Alderete picked up the win with scores of 39-37 everyone’s cards.

“He was good, he was hard to hit,” Alderete said. “It was hard to get his head though, so I went to the body. I couldn’t find him on the outside, so my game plan was to get on the inside.”

The Albuquerque banger, who debuted at heavyweight, four years ago but skipped years 2004-2005, plans to slim his way down to 168.

“I’ll be back in the gym Tuesday morning.”

Acosta wins pro debut

On a four-round super bantamweight bout, Albuquerque pro debuter Marcos Acosta (1-0) entered the ring for the first time as a pro, and the first time in over three years, to win a unanimous decision over tough and awkward Harvey Phillips (0-2), of Houston, Tex.

Acosta moved well in the first, nearly dropping the much-smaller Phillips with a left hook to the body. A bit of ring rust, perhaps, and bad habits from his amateur days had him pulling straight back, leaving him open to the unpredictable Phillips, who was able to tag Acosta with single and sneaky overhand rights.

While Philips picked his shots, Acosta applied the pressure, doing enough to win the round with aggression and overhand rights in the second and third.

In the fourth, however, the closest round, Acosta waited too long, looking to counter, while Phillips kept him guessing where the next punch was coming from, overhands from the outside or quick body shots inside. Acosta, however, continued to look for a knockout but had to settle for a unanimous win with scores of 39-37 and 40-36 twice.

FN/NMB had it 39-37 Acosta.

“I love the pros,” Acosta said afterward. “I felt pretty good but he was awkward, a little bit, and it took some time figuring him out.

“I need to work on some things so it’s back in the gym for me next week to work on the next one.”

Hernandez forces draw on young Santa-Cruz

In the card’s curtain-raiser, Jose Armando Santa-Cruz’s super flyweight kid brother, Leo (1-0-1, 1 KO), had to settle for a draw with upset-minded Rodrigo Hernandez (1-1-2) of Ft. Worth, Tex.

Although landing cleaner shots, Santa-Cruz was outhustled by the busy Hernandez in the first two stanzas. Exchanges were, both, furious and frequent but it was Hernandez’s aggression and work rate putting rounds in the bank for a possible upset.

In the third and fourth, however, Santa-Cruz turned the fight around and started landing clean left hooks to the body that echoed off the corrugated tin walls of the barn.

Collins picks up win

In the walkout bout of the night-a sleepwalk bout that the card would’ve been better off without, Houston heavyweight Steve Collins (13-1, 11 KOs) floored jiggly-wiggly Vernon Woodward (8-17, 7 KOs) of Shawnee, Okla., in the first and second rounds, but had to settle for a shutout decision with scores of 40-34 x 3.

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