Maldonado victorious
Correa upsets Shabazz on amateur portion of 'Black Friday Fights' card Ringside
report by Chris Cozzone & Trevor Trujillo CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS & TO PURCHASE A seven-bout amateur card with some of New Mexico’s top talent opened up the action at the Santa Ana Star Center in the afternoon, in front of a crowd of 500-600. Starting late, almost all of the bouts scheduled for four rounds, were reduced to three-rounders. In the main event, a battle of southpaws, highly-rated 132-pounder Fidel “The Atrisco Kid” Maldonado, of Atrisco/TUFF, outclassed Robert Rodriguez, of Greeley Boxing, over three rounds. Rodriguez sought to establish his jab in the first, but Maldonado was too quick for him, zipping in and out of range and landing big overhand straight left hands. The two went toe-to-toe in the second, but Maldonado landed harder, and landed more often. Though taking those big lefts and right hooks of Maldonado’s, Rodriguez continued to come at his opponent through the third. Maldonado landed harder shots as the round progressed, easily earning the decision of the judges over the game Rodriguez. Shabazz upset by Correa Giving up weight, size, height and reach to take on 2007 Golden Gloves and 2008 Olympic alternate Siju Shabazz, of Las Cruces PAL, Jesus Correa, of Albuquerque PAL, pulled off the upset in a three-rounder at 175. Shabazz, with the height and reach advantage was the heavy favorite to win this fight, but Correa had a game plan early and he stuck to it throughout the entire fight. Shabazz began the fight attempting to use his reach to keep Correa at bay, but Correa had other plans in mind. Using his speed, Correa took Shabazz’ power away by immediately working inside. Without his long range power punches Shabazz was rendered quite ineffective. Correa, on the other hand, worked hard the entire fight, never got sloppy, and never deviated from what he needed to do. He used crisp one-two combinations to drive Shabazz back in the final round and Correa came away with the upset. Castillo edges Arrellin In a razor-thin bout at 125 pounds, Santa Fe’s Paul Castillo—great-grandson to local favorite of the late 1930s, Chato “Bulldog” Gonzales, of Trementina—won a decision over Randy Arrellin, of Atrisco/TUFF. Arrellin edged the first round with his aggressive right hands, but the speedy, shifty Castillo made it close, counter-punching hooks while he warmed up for the second. Arrellin continued to come at Castillo, who, maybe outhustled somewhat, landed the telling shots. In the third, though, Castillo was busier, and rather than counter every attack, began to take the fight to Arrellin. Holmes defeats Rodriguez In the 125-pound division, Brandon Holmes of Santa Fe Boxing took on Joshua Rodriguez of Albuquerque PAL. The opening round featured Rodriguez as the aggressor, throwing combinations at Holmes, but to little or no effect. Holmes found his mark half-way through round one when a stinging body shot found its way into Rodriguez’ rib cage. The rest of the round was all Holmes as he sent Rodriguez back to his corner bloodied. Round two was more of the same, with Rodriguez aggressive early, but Holmes responding with stiff shots to the body, again, sending Rodriguez to his corner bloodied. In the third and final round, Rodriguez had a new urgency about his technique and Holmes was more than happy to go toe-to-toe with him in the middle of the ring. The result was a standing 8-count for Rodriguez and the win for Holmes. Gonzalez beats Gonzalez In a four-round battle of 125-pound Gonzales’, Joel Gonzales, of Atrisco/TUFF won a decision over Eric Gonzales, of Albuquerque PAL. Round one was close, Eric G. finding success in a fight at range while Joel G. worked off his crisper counter punches inside. Joel continued to catch Eric coming in through round two. Though more aggressive, Eric decreased sharpness as Joel increased his. Finding a regular home for his can’t-miss left hook, Joel duked it out with Eric through the third and fourth. Martinez stops Montano In the second and final female bout of the evening, Rita Martinez, of Las Cruces PAL, faced off with Hannah Montano of Rio Rancho Boxing. The two fighters squared off to decide who would take home the 125-pound trophy. Rita displayed superior boxing skills through her head movement, stiff jab, and one-two combinations. Montano never quit working, and never stopped coming forward to her opponent, but four standing 8-counts were the deciding factor in the bout, as Martinez won by TKO in round four. Vasquez outclasses game Garcia In the opening bout, between 106-pound females, Ayanna Vasquez of Las Cruces PAL outpointed Ariana Garcia, of Van Buren Warriors. Garcia applied the pressure but Vasquez was able to time her coming in, landing big right hands, then moving out of harm’s way. In the second, Garcia received an eight-count. Despite being outboxed, Garcia continued to pressure her tiring opponent in the third, but lost another round, and the fight. © 2000-2008 by NewMexicoBoxing.com |
