Holm Improvement!
Holly Holm rises to new heights, proves Hell’s angel for Martinez

Ringside report & photos by Chris Cozzone

It might not have been sweet dreams for Angel Martinez, but it was certainly a display of sweet science by Undisputed Welterweight Champion Holly Holm last night at Santa Ana Star Casino in Bernalillo, N.M.

While watching Holm outbox, outspeed and outduke her opponent for ten thrilling rounds, the near-capacity crowd of 2,540, at Holm’s new home of Santa Ana, were also witness to sugar of the highest order. There was enough saccharine slung around the ring to keep the fans—and Martinez’s head—buzzing, long after the clang of the final bell.

And enough sweetness at work to warrant an alteration to Holm’s nom de guerre.

“Sweet” Holly Holm’s (or Holly "Holm Sweet" Holm's) clinic over Martinez was her fourth fight against the gutsy, never-dull Dallas fighter—and her most dominating win in their series.

Holm wasted no time, coming out fast and hard in the first. While eating a big right hand by Martinez, early in the round, Holm popped away at her foe, setting the stage for the next six, seven rounds.

Knowing she had to let her hands go, but unable to find the right distance, space and time to do so, Martinez steadily came at Holm with steady, but unproductive pressure, while Holm popped away with jabs and sharp left hands, always controlling her ring. For the first seven stanzas, Martinez was at a loss—both, at employing her guns, and at winning any rounds.

An occasional right landed for Martinez—but the one punch was returned two- or three-fold by Holm, who not only won the boxing game, but indulged Martinez in occasional trades close quarters. In the fifth, Holm revved up the crowd by slugging it out with Martinez in the best action seen all night, to that point. Martinez landed her best shots yet—but Holm returned fire, with interest.

The clinic continued through the eighth, until, 15 seconds before the end of the round, Martinez landed the best shot seen all night—barring Frankie Archuleta’s knockdowns in the co-main—visibly rocking Holm back with a straight right hand. Holm reeled back, then leapt forward, willing to slug back, only to eat another right. The two punches were enough to give Martinez her first round win.

The last two rounds were thrillers—Martinez finally able to pound away in the pocket at Holm, who not only stood her ground and took punishment, but dished it out in greater quantity on Martinez.

At the end of ten, two judges (Ash & Martinez) were on the mark, scoring it 99-91, while the third (Mora), somehow had a close fight, at 96-94.

NewMexicoBoxing/Fightnews had it nine rounds to one, 99-91.

With the win, Holm racks up a successful defense of her IFBA welterweight belt, while moving her record to 19-1-2, 5 KOs.

“I’ve always said that Angel has been my toughest opponent,” said Holm, who gave herself at least eight of the ten rounds.

“She’s tough—her right hands are no joke. We’ve both gotten a lot better. I knew I had to come out strong and stay focused, every round, one to ten. I don’t take anything away from her.”

For Martinez, whose top ten ranking in the four ABCs should not be disturbed too much by the loss, the fight was a learning experience.

“She’s an awesome fighter—the best in the world at welter,” said Martinez, whose record falls to 6-4-1, 1 KO. “I have nothing but respect for Holly. She’s a very smart fighter, and has a style I just have trouble with.

“What can I say? I don’t have excuses—it just wasn’t my night. I beat myself tonight. I should have thrown more punches … It’s gonna haunt me, but it’s about getting better, and I think this fight will help me improve. It’s not about a record.

“But . . . If she wants to do it again, let’s get it on.”

After three wins and a draw—all hard-fought—Holm, however, says, “This is it with Angel. If she wants to train together, I’d love to do it, but no more fights.”

As for Holm’s next foe?

Promoter Lenny Fresquez says the hunt is on.

“Nobody wants to fight Holly,” says Fresquez, who has been targeting undefeated Mary Jo Sanders (24-0, 7 KOs) for over a year now.

“We’re willing to pay her more than she’s ever been paid to come here, or we’ll go to her home town if the price is right,” says Fresquez.

 “We’ll make one more offer. I don’t think it’ll happen, though. They’re afraid of Holly.”

Fresquez says that Holm’s next opponent will, most likely, come from Europe, where there are a handful of contenders, weights ranging from 140 to 154.

Archuleta makes statement with bold return

In the co-main event, former featherweight contender Frankie Archuleta, of Las Vegas, N.M., ended a long two-and-a-half-year layoff and a longer, still, period of five years since his last knockout win, by knocking off perennial Panama opponent Armando Cordoba.

Archuleta punctuated the fight with a strong opening and closing—but the in-between time was spent in a rusty cage that had the former contender spending at least half the time looking more like the opponent.

Halfway through the first round, Archuleta blasted Cordoba with a tremendous right hand that dropped the Panamanian to the canvas. Unable to finish the usually-iron-jawed foe, Archuleta commandeered the remainder of the round.

In the second—and through the seventh round—Archuleta fell into a shell, doing very little and missing frequently. Archuleta eked out the second with a jab but Cordoba took over in the third, easily evading wild swings while scoring with the jab and occasional right.

Cordoba was the aggressor from the fourth on, landing clean rights while Archuleta went turtle mode, also giving away the fifth. In the sixth, Archuleta was on his way to losing yet another round when, in the final seconds,  he opened up with left hooks and a big right.

Archuleta came out hungry in the seventh but quickly faded, making the round up for grabs due to lack of action and willingness.

But, in the last round, suddenly alive and showing the crowd the fighter who beat Johnny Tapia several years ago in his hometown of Las Vegas, Archuleta landed his best punch of the night—another big right. This time, Cordoba hit the canvas face down and, when trying to regain his feet, Referee Russell Mora rightfully halted the action at 1:18, awarding the win by TKO to Archuleta.

“Those middle rounds were close,” admitted Archuleta, who improves to 25-5-1, 14 KOs. “But I was pacing myself. I stuck to my game plan. I didn’t want to get too excited.

“But it feels good to be back.”

Cordova, losing for the 11th straight time (but the first in 11, by kayo), drops to 23-29-2, 17 KOs.

Martinez pitches shutout

In a six-round special, at 122, Albuquerque’s David “Finito” Martinez (18-3-1, 3 KOs) bounced back from his loss early this summer to former world champ Bones Adams, by pitching a shutout to Mexican Paulino Villalobos (26-38-2, 16 KOs).

Though Martinez controlled the fight, the lack of drama made it concession time for most of the fans, who chose to load up on beer and nachos, rather than watch what looked to be a sparring session between a skillful youngster and his abeula, the ever-durable, ever-game, 36-looking-like-63-but-going-on-23 Villalobos.

Villalobos had his best rounds in the second and third, but, for the most part, it was Martinez, tap-tapping away at the shorter southpaw, occasionally mixing it up.

In the sixth round, both fighters, no doubt feeling the need to rev themselves up, if not the crowd, amped up the crowd with a bit of short-lived showboating. In the seventh, it was back to sparring, though, in the final stanza, the two mixed freely for a decent slugging session in the last minute.

All three cards read 80-72 for Martinez.

NMB/FN gave Villalobos two rounds, scoring it 78-74.

Villanueva splits with Mendoza

In a six-round featherweight bout, Albuquerque’s Willie Villanueva (7-0, 1 KO) picked up another win, flooring Denver's Cuauhtemoc Mendoza (3-3-1, 1 KO) in the first, en route to a split decision win.

Villanueva came out fast and furious in the first minute, flooring Mendoza with a big right hand in the neutral corner. Mendoza got up, momentarily stunned, but weathered a finish-attack to finish the round.

Mendoza made a fight out of it in the second, winning the second stanza by smothering Villanueva and landing the cleaner shots up close.

Villanueva took back the fight in the third, timing his aggression and letting Mendoza chase him around the ring. When Mendoza faded in the fourth, Villanueva increased his wide hooks to the body and right hands, using much of the ring to operate.

Mendoza came to in the fifth, upping his aggression while Villanueva took a breather, but in the final round, the hometown kid finished the fight by fighting Mendoza close quarters.

The scorecards read 58-56 twice, for Villanueva, giving him the win by split verdict, and, in the worst score of the night, 57-56 for Mendoza.

NMB/FN had it 58-56 for Villanueva.

Velez outhustles Chavez

In a six-round female bout at 122, high-ranking Ada Velez (15-3-2, 6 KOs), of Hollywood, Fla., proved too much for former IFBA champion Jackie Chavez (9-4, 3 KOs), of Los Lunas, who dropped her fourth straight fight.

Velez picked up the first round with her jabs but Chavez closed the distance in the second, turning the boxing contest into a slugging match. Mauling and brawling, Chavez slipped in uppercuts and punctuated the round with head-ringing right hand just before the bell.

The big right earned Velez’s respect, for she was cautious halfway through the third—then she leapt in and fought Chavez anywhere she wanted to fight. Inside, outside, the two pushed and shoved, bumped heads and bombed away in what was a close round, probably won by the hometowner.

For the former champ, however, her best moments had passed and for the remaining three rounds, Velez took over. The fourth was a sloppy stanza, with Velez hitting and holding, mauling and brawling Chavez, who was either unable, or unwilling, to let her hands go. Big uppercuts and lefts from Velez won the fifth, and cleaner shots in a still-sloppy fight earned her the final round.

Two judges gave Velez the win, 58-56 while the third had it even, 57-57.

NMB/FN scored it 58-56 for Velez.

Galle gives “Hard Times” a hard time

In the curtain raiser, a four-rounder at 150 pounds, the physical advantages of Rio Rancho southpaw Lucas “The Ghost” Galle (1-1) beat out sheer aggression dealt by Cornelius “Hard Times” Shuler (1-1), of El Paso, Texas.

Too-tall Galle had to do little but jab at Shuler in the first, throwing in the occasional straight left. After giving away the first, Shuler started to let loose in the second, but the task of getting past Galle’s guard and reach proved tougher than expected. Except for a couple of clubbing overhand rights that found its mark, Galle kept his man at bay.

The third was Shuler’s best round, won by desperate pressuring and several big rights that crashed onto Galle’s all-American face. In the final frame, however, the two traded, Galle giving up his reach advantage, at times, to duke it out with Shuler, and coming out on top with a couple of clean lefts that edged the round and won him the fight.

This time around for Galle, he didn’t have to worry about bad judging (having lost his pro debut to judges, not his opponent, earlier this year), picking up his first win with scores of 39-37 across the board.

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