Zubia survives 'hard knocks' on Hard Knocks debut
Hobbs' hopefuls - promoter & fighter - debut

Ringside report by Gerardo "Silent G" Martinez
Photos by Chris Cozzone

On a knockout card, the School of Hard Knocks, under Isidro Castillo, and star pupil, Edgar Zubia, all from Hobbs, debuted at the Club La Sierra in their hometown.

In six well-matched bouts, just one ending early, the crowd got increasingly boisterous until it nearly boiled over during the main event, when the 600 or so in attendance started to sound like 2,000. An easy win for their hometown favorite, Edgar "Z" Zubia, however, wasn't in the books as the Hobbs hometowner from the School of Hard Knocks was forced to endure, well, a hard lesson in hard knocks brought upon him by underestimated Roswell foe John "Smiley" Herrera.

Zubia came out trying to score punches and please the hometown crowd in the first round, but Roswell's Herrera, grinning like a comic villain, denied him with a solid defense.

In the second, Herrera was able to land a few hard shots to the face of Zubia, causing his left eye to begin swelling. Not wanting to let down his supporters, Zubia came out more aggressive in the third and outlanded the always-smiling Herrera.

The fourth and final round saw both fighters trading shots, Zubia landing the higher number and Herrera, the far harder shots. In fact, Herrera stunned Zubia- twice, actually - with a right hand, but was unable to finish off his opponent and allowed Zubia to clear his head and continue scoring points.

At the end of four the judges scored the bout 39-37 twice and 40-36 for the Hobbs native.

At the end of the fight Zubia declared that Herrera had been underestimated. "He came out aggressive and was tougher than I thought," Zubia admitted, his left eye nearly closed. "I'm glad - it gave the fans a pleasing fight. But I felt I won - I had more in my gas tank and my punches were crisper than his. I was never hurt."

Though admitting he might've lost, Herrera said, "I showed a pro style and almost knocked him out in the last round, but didn't follow up. All he had was his bullshit amateur style.

"But it was my fault I lost - completely. I didn't follow up when I had him hurt. I'll get him next time."

The Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing team was split in their scoring, one having it even, 38-38 while the other agreed with two of the judges, scoring it 39-37.

Vasquez outclasses Salazar

In the co-main at 135 lbs, Snyder, Texas, prospect and former amateur standout Johnny Vasquez, Jr. outlanded and outclassed durable foe Joseph Salazar of Los Lunas, N.M.

Dominating all four rounds, Vasquez showed skill and patience against his less-skilled-but-extremely gutsy and durable opponent. Vasquez Jr was able to stun his opponent in the second round and, again, in the fourth with quick combinations.

Scorecards read 40-36 twice and 39-37.

Vasquez moved to 3-0 and Salazar evened out his record to 5-5.

Dixon stops Padilla

Delivering the only knockout of the night was middleweight Al Dixon of Abilene, Tex. His opponent, Severo Padilla, of Amarillo, was no chump, though.

Both fighters spent the first round studying each other and throwing little. In the second, the exchanging of punches began and Padilla landed the cleaner punches. Dixon tried to steal the round with a flurry of punches at the end.

The end would come at 1:38 of the third round when Dixon landed a stiff right hook to the body. Padilla fell to the canvas in pain and was unable to beat the count of ten.

Dixon improves his record to 2-1, 1 KO and Padilla to 0-1.

More hard luck for Coca-Gallegos

Trying to his first win, against Lupe Guzman of Lubbock, Tex., was Las Vegas/Albuquerque welterweight Michael "The Hard Luck Kid" Coca-Gallegos.

But luck was not on Gallegos' side, and neither were the judges. Guzman came out strong in the first and Gallegos sat back and blocked punches. At one point, Gallegos put himself against the ropes and Guzman let go a flurry of punches, stunning Gallegos. Referee Saavadra stepped in and began giving Gallegos a ten count before any part of his body touched the canvas - though more than one ringsider argued that the ropes had helped hold him up.

Gallegos remained standing and was surprised to be receiving the count. It was declared a knockdown and the fight continued.

The next two rounds would see Gallegos taking the initiative and trying to make up for his controversial knockdown. Guzman's face showed the wear and tear being delivered by Gallegos.

In the fourth and final round, both fighters exchanged blows and connected. Time expired and Gallegos, once again, left it up to the judges to decide his fate.

The judges were split, scoring it 38-37 twice and 37-38, giving the split decision win to Guzman.

Gallegos falls to 0-6 and Guzman to 4-5.

Valenzuela wins debut

In another battle of pro-debuters at 140 lbs, El Paso's Oscar Valenzuela (1-0) took on Roswell's Andres Quintana (0-1).

After studying his opponent for a couple of minutes in the first round, Valenzuela knocked down Quintana with a straight left. Quintana got up and survived.

Valenzuela ou connected his opponent in the second. Without no prior warning, in the third round, referree Stan Saavedra took a point away from Valenzuela for a low blow. Quintana was able to land some of his own punches at the end of the same round.

Quintana was floored once again by Valenzuela to begin the fourth round, but got up. Looking a bit beat and tired, Quintana began throwing his mouthpiece out to catch his breath. After three or four times of doing this the referee rightfully took a point away from Quintana. The Roswell fighter survived the round and the judges saw the fight 39-37 twice and 38-35, giving the win to the El Paso pugilist.

Salazar, Armendariz draw in opener

Opening the fight of the card was son-of-Tapia conquerer Matthew Salazar (1-1-1) of Los Lunas, matched up with unwon Socorro fighter Miguel Armendariz (0-3-1).

Both fighters exchanged punches in the first two rounds without either one taking control. In the third, an accidental head butt opened up a cut above the left eye lid of Armendariz. Salazar, seeing his bloodied opponent, began throwing more and the cut seemed to wake up Armendariz.

In the final round both boxers came out swinging. Salazar landed the harder punches, while Armendariz scored points and seemed unfazed by the blood coming out of his wound. After four rounds the judges saw it 38-38, 39-37 and 36-40, making it a draw.