Not even close!
Joe Gomez rises to new level with punishing, dominating win over Valdez in rematch

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

Is Four Corners hopeful Joe Gomez the best kept secret in the region?

A thousand feisty fans, last night at the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo., well familiar with their top local headliner, are declaring Gomez as the top welterweight in the surrounding states—and last night’s dominating win over El Paso’s Bobby Joe Valdez certainly adds weight to their claims.

No doubt about it: Bloomfield’s “Ironman” is forging himself the biggest rep to come out of the Four Corners area since Abie Chavez and Chuckers Hildebrand shook up the Southwest, back in the ‘30s.

In the main go of last night’s summer show, an eight-round, over-the-welter-limit rematch from a six-round draw last December in Albuquerque, Gomez hit a new peak while Valdez plunged into a new valley, in one of his consistently annual comebacks.

The first fight had mixed scoring, resulting in a draw.

This time around, it wasn’t even close.

Looking soft around the midsection, Valdez didn’t do much in the first round, while Gomez went right to work, shoving his left jab at Gomez’s face and quickly establishing his rhythm. Then, two minutes into the fight, a left to the body and a right to the chin floored Valdez near his corner. Looking surprised more than hurt, the El Pasoan got up and survived the round.

Valdez came out in the second much more aggressive, trying to bulldoze Gomez into the ropes in a maul-and-brawl effort to get into the fight. Gomez weathered the attacks with ease, then regained his ring generalship by jabbing and setting up rights.

A right hand lead in the third buckled Valdez’s knees in the third. With a bit of desperation, Valdez launched himself at Gomez again, swinging and winging punches, but the cagey border battler could not remove himself from the leather Gomez continued to throw. Backing his foe into the neutral corner, Gomez scored his second knockout with a another big right. Again, Valdez beat the count, but was in far worse shape this time around.

Refusing to give up, Valdez offered up more resistance in the fourth and fifth, but lead rights and a constant hard jab by Gomez took a taxing toll, blackening both eyes and adding that meat-grinding touch to the El Paso pug’s mug.

Hopelessly rangy against the range-finding Gomez, Valdez made a few more brave bum-rushes in the sixth, but barely blinking, the Bloomfield battler kept his composure and continued to punish, punish, punish, until, in the seventh, Referee Stephen Blea stepped in between the two and called it quits at 2:54.

“He’s a great fighter,” Valdez, now 9-4-2, 4 KOs, gave his props. “He has long arms and I couldn’t figure him out. His left really bothered me.

“My people in El Paso know I’m tough and don’t back down—that’s the Mexican in me.”

Gomez earns his twelfth win, rising to 12-1-1, 6 KOs.

“I expected him to be tough and come out fighting,” he said. “But I was very confident. I think I’m proving that I’ve regained my balance. I’m also showing my power now—it’s always been there but I’m finding ways to use it now.”

Gomez’s biggest battle, he says, is his fight for recognition.

“I’m trying to fight the best out there,” says Gomez. “I want to prove I’m the best welterweight in the state, but it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to fight me. It bothers me . . . .

“I’m willing to step up to anybody. I’d like to fight Joaquin Zamora and Ray [Sanchez III] … or even Hector Munoz, but none of those fights look like they’ll happen. The only one willing is Rudy Lovato, who called me out tonight, but fighting him is a bit of a step down.

“Sooner or later, they’ll be forced to deal with me.”

Barela continues comeback

The seven-round co-main event, between Farmington featherweight Victor Barela (9-0-1, 3 KOs) and Leshaun Blair (3-16), of Knoxville, Tenn., was more of a mismatch and continued comeback rust-shaker than it was a feature—but the game little Knoxville fighter, while getting knocked around and losing his tenth straight bout, put up a good, though hopeless.

Blair took the fight to Barela as soon as the bell rang, but a left hook from the taller, stronger Farmington favorite soon stopped him in his tracks. The two mixed freely, Blair landing more often than he should have been able to do, but Barela easily winning the round and landing cleaner, harder shots. Throwing off both fighters, a whistle at the ten-second mark—instead of the usual pounding on the table or canvas—had both walking back to their corners and the referee reminding them that the round was not yet over.

Barela boxed from the outside for part of the second, then threw caution to the wind and engaged toe-to-toe with the all-too-willing Blair, who was at the receiving end more often than not. Then, again, at the ten-second whistle, the two hesitated, with Barela reacting quicker with a last-minute flurry and dropping Blair in his corner. Blair made the count on shaky legs, and staggered to his corner where he put his gloves up, as if coming out for the next round, forgetting that the round had just ended.

Cobwebs cleared, Blair came out fighting again, but by the end of the round, he was reeling again from Barela’s barrages and down he went again. This time, it was ruled a slip, which it might have been, though it certainly appeared as if the accumulation of punches was breaking Blair down.

It lasted one more round. Barela continued to batter and break down Blair, who refused to lose—but at exactly the 3:00 mark, Ref Blea stepped in and waved off the beating.

“Wassup with that whistle thing?” asked Blair. “It really bothered me—whey didn’t they smack the table like they do everywhere else?

“Anyway, Barela’s a hell of a fighter. Let’s do it again! I give him his props but I didn’t come to lay down—oh no!”

In his win, Barela admitted mistakes but said he was ready to move on to the next level opposition when he headlines the next Sky Ute card late October.

“There are a lot of things I know I need to work on,” he said. “He was tough and I made a few mistakes. But I felt good and I think I’m ready for the next level.”

Easy win for Perez

A curious six-round match-up between WBC Continental Americas jr. lightweight belt-bearer Manny Perez (10-3, 2 KOs), of Denver, and two-bout opponent Pedro Davila (now 1-2), local Mexican transplant, and coming off a three-year layoff, ended predictably, and uneventfully—with an easy win for Perez.

The bout preceded the intermission. Perhaps they should’ve saved the bout for the 20-minute break, for the intermission had more action than this match.

Davila plodded forward, doing little.

Perez kept his composure, doing a little more than Davila’s doing, landing cleaner, and landing whenever he wanted—which wasn’t a whole lot.

Davila had a better third and sixth round. Though he came far from winning the rounds, he did land a right or two. Perez, though, had but to open up with a combination or two to steal the stanzas back.

At the end of six,  all three judges scored it for Perez: 60-55  and 59-55 twice.

“I stuck to my game plan but he caught me with rights,” said Perez. “I was the better fighter tonight.”

In response to a call-out made earlier in the night by Farmington’s Joe Barela, Perez, somewhat surprised, shrugged and said that after he defends his minor belt, he’d be glad to take on the local fighter.

Barela returns

In a six-round bout at 135, Farmington lightweight Joe Barela (5-1, 2 KOs) ended a year’s layoff with a stoppage over Albuquerque MMA fighter Ed Tomaselli (0-3).

In the first, jabs from Barela kept Tomaselli on the outside, until the last 30 seconds when a big left hook rocked the cagey cage fighter in the neutral corner. Tomaselli held on and lasted the round as the bell rang.

In the second, Barela pounded away at Tomaselli, until a left hook and right cross to the body dropped him. Clutching his side—and a busted rib—Tomaselli was forced to withdraw at 2:06, giving Barela the TKO win.

“It felt good to come back,” said Barela.

“I want Manny Perez next.”

Esquibel wins rubber match

In a significant strawweight rubber match between rated females, Albuquerque’s Jodi Esquibel (5-2, 2 KOs) closed the book on her series with Seattle’s Melissa Shaffer (10-6, 5 KOs), winning by split decision after five thrilling rounds.

Esquibel swept the first two rounds with ease, zipping in and out of range and bombarding Shaffer with speedy combinations that had the Seattle southpaw mystified.

But, in the third, Shaffer started to time counter shots while Esquibel began to remain in the pocket longer, trading Shaffer with fast and furious combinations. Shaffer perfected her attacks in the fourth, putting Esquibel on defense and forcing her back with harder, cleaner shots.

After two close rounds, Esquibel regained control in the final frame, outworking and outlanding Shaffer with blazing punches while eating less counters.

The judges, and writers, were mixed in their scores.

Judges had it 49-46 Esquibel (Berzozza); 48-47 Shaffer (Garcia); and 48-47 Esquibel (Martinez), making Esquibel winner by split verdict.

Cozzone and Trujillo ranged from 48-47 Esquibel (Cozzone) to 50-45 (Trujillo).

“It was a good fight,” said Esquibel, “But I was in control. I thought I definitely had it.

“I’m done with Shaffer now—unless a title comes along, sometime down the road.”

Morris too miniscule

Blanding, Utah “welterweight,” Silvanus Morris (0-2) dropped his second straight fight by giving up way too much size to Rubin Jacoby (1-3), of Colorado Springs.

It looked like bantamweight vs. welterweight for, poor Morris, a game fighter, has not one iota of a chance to ever score a win taking on guys so much bigger—even if they have awful records, like Jacoby had.

Morris won the first round by outworking Jacoby, who took his time looking like he was trying to figure out how, for once, he’d been matched in a winning situation. In the second, Jacoby came forward and, from sheer difference in size and power, started to break down Morris with left hook after left hook. Morris hit the floor in the second, but was able to survive, only to lose by unanimous decision.

Judges had it 38-37 and 39-36 twice.

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