Pojoaque show packs punch

Ringside report by Gerardo Martinez
Photos by Raymond A. Mares

After weathering through a couple of date switches, Francisco "Pancho" Flores and his Campeon Boxing Club were able to put together a great night of amateur boxing in front of an announced audience of 450 at the Cities of Gold Casino Hotel in Pojoaque, NM. The USA Boxing card billed as "Noche de Campeones" not only included 26 bouts showcasing New Mexico's boxing talent, but also a dancing contest, yelling contest and a weight-guessing contest, all conducted by Dennis "DC" Chavez.

Among those in attendance supporting amateur boxing and signing autographs were professional boxers Vincent "Lil Man" Mirabal and Fidel "Atrisco Kid" Maldonado. Amanda Crespin, Arturo "Tudy" Crespin and Clara De La Torre.

In the main event of the evening Matthew Baca of DMB Boxing won by points against equally skilled Marcus Ewing of TNT. Both of these 139-pound 15-year-olds gave the crowd a good show.

It was the two co-main events, however, that brought the audience to its feet. In a battle of 135 pounders, Joel Gonzalez of Atrisco Boxing gave Enrique Palomino of DD Boxing all he could handle. Gonzalez showed great skill and poise in ou pointing a determined Palomino. Gonzalez looks to make a splash in the amateur boxing ranks.

The second co-main was the fight of the night. The open division bout at 180 pounds pitted Zsolt Szilagyi representing Los Tigres Boxing of Taos against Charles Alderete representing Alderete Boxing of Albuquerque.

Szilagyi not only looked to be the stronger fighter with a physique that mirrored that of Rocky Balboa, but he was also the older and taller fighter. Alderete, although fighting in the open division looked like a young boy compared with Szilagyi. It seemed like both fighters brought their entire hometown crowd along with them because as soon as the bell rang it was pandemonium inside the Cities of Gold Casino Hotel.

In the first round Szilagyi dominated the much younger Alderete with his reach and constant punching. But in the second round, Alderete seemed to gain confidence and was able to land punches to the face and body of Szilagyi. In the final round, Alderete continued to land clear shots to the torso of his opponent and an occasional overhand right. Szilagyi answered back, tired towards the end, allowing Alderete to continue landing and causing the boisterous crowd to one-up the noise level.

In the end the judges saw Alderete outpointing his opponent after three rounds. Alderete showed patience and poise in defeating his rock solid opponent.

In other results:

Female Boxer of the night: Christina Mirabal
Male Boxer of the night: Charles Alderete

Coach of the night: Danny Martinez

14 year-olds at 102 lbs Omar Hernandez (Alderete) decisioned Tyrone Serna (Campeon).

12 year-olds at 90 lbs, David Chavez (TUFF) decisioned Jonathon Gonzalez (Maverick).

16 year-olds at 126 lbs, Ronny Perez (Martinez Boxing) decisioned Brandon Martinez (Campeon).

13 year-olds at 110 lbs, Juan Andrade (Atrisco) decisioned Terry Jimenez (Maverick).

12 year-olds at 110 lbs, Francisco Pacheco (Vecinos) outpointed Bryan Noriega (Atrisco).

15 year-olds at 120 lbs, Gabriel Gabaldon (DMB) outpointed Federico Ambriz (Pampa, TX).

14 year-olds at 112 lbs, Leroy Chavez (Henrys Golden Gloves) wins by RSC over Jovanni Ramirez (Campeon) in the 2nd round.

10 year-olds at 69 lbs, Francisco Tewaheftewa (Isleta Boxing Club) outpointed Juan Texcahua (Los Tigres Boxing).

15 year-olds at 135 lbs, Jonathon Bush (TNT) outpointed Brian Mojica (Maverick).

Novice at 144 lbs, Edgar Castro (Martinez Boxing) outpointed Jose Gonzalez (DD Boxing).

14 year-olds at 104 lbs, Christina Mirabal (Mirabal Boxing) wins by retirement against Guadalupe Arevalo (Campeon).

8 year-olds at 55 lbs, Julian Castellano (Atrisco) outpointed Jammie Perez (Isleta Boxing Club).

11 year-olds at 83 lbs, Ilan Serrano (Bloomfield) outpointed Sergio Madrid (Campeon).

9 year-olds at 84 lbs, Fabian Baraja (11th Street Gym) outpointed Francisco Gomez (Team Mirabal).

8 year-olds at 58 lbs, Gary Gomez (Campeon) outpointed Isaiah Perez (MVP).

9 year-olds at 65 lbs, Christopher Sanchez (Campeon) outpointed Santiago Cordova (DMB)

9 year-olds at 53 lbs, Santiago Tewaheftewa (Isleta Boxing Club) outpointed Santiago Giron (TUFF).

Novice at 140 lbs, Eric Saenz (DD Boxing) outpointed Daniel Salinas (Perez Boxing)

10 year-olds at 68 lbs, Martin Aragon (Alderete Boxing) outpointed Erik Cordova (Campeon).

Novice at 154 lbs, Zachary Rice (PAL Boxing) won by RSC at 1:36 of 2nd round over Daniel Valdez (Crespion Boxing).

11 year-olds at 75 lbs, Jose Luis Frias (Martinez Boxing) outpointed Luis Maldonado (TNT Boxing)

12 year-olds at 94 lbs, Pablo Lopez (TUFF) outpointed Walker Jimenez (Maverick).

11 year-olds at 96 lbs, Jose Alcorta (Vecinos) outpointed Celestino Martinez (Campeon).