Mathis stages Holm invasion, usurps crown
New P4P queen in women's boxing

Ringside report and photos by Chris Cozzone

There was an ominous feel to the desert mesa all week at Route 66 Casino, west of Albuquerque, during the events leading up to Holly Holm-Anne Sophie Mathis. But it had less to do with the scrapper from France and everything about the weather.

“Holly? She’ll outbox that girl like she always does,” was the general consensus. “As for that winter storm that’s supposed to hit Friday night? Eeee, that’s supposed to be a big one.”

The storm hit, alright. Only it wasn’t the howling wind and a blanket of ice and snow that razed the Albuquerque area – it was Anne Sophie Mathis.

Scoring the biggest win of her career and the biggest upset of the year in women’s boxing, Mathis not only tore the tiara off of the pound-for-pound champion Holm’s brow, but left the former queen on the canvas, battered, bloody and beaten and the near-capacity crowd, stunned, saddened and strangely silent.

The main event, promoted by Fresquez Productions, capped off a card that just might be the single best show in a decade. Time will tell, but last night’s headliner just might signal the end of Holm’s decade-long local reign, as well.

That history was in the making, and a throne in the usurping, wasn’t evident in the opening rounds. It was a typical Holm fight, the fast-paced queen of the ring pouncing around and through a confused, frustrated opponent.

Twenty-one knockouts in 25 wins? Does little good when you can’t catch or pin down an opponent like Holm. Or when your shots are smothered, which is what Holm’s plan was, at least early on. The hitting and holding worked for two rounds, and Mathis had no answer, other than to try and rough her way past the clinch and land a rabbit punch or two, which only had referee Rocky Burke waving his finger at the hometown invader.

But in the third, Mathis had made a fight out of the chase – and Holm, to the delight of a roaring crowd, obliged. Winning her third straight round, Holm not only answered back, but, at one point, landed a liver shot that had Mathis momentarily turning her back and wincing.

Mathis came out for the fourth a different fighter. And so did Holm.

Instead of a kangaroo style hit and move, Holm traded. And Mathis landed. Big rights tore through Holm’s guard and bloodied her nose – Mathis had not come to lose.

Round five was a series of exchanges, somewhat close at that, until a right from Mathis clearly stunned Holm. Warned for rabbit shots, Mathis nodded to the referee but mauled her way back to the champ, winning her second straight round.

Holm boxed a little in the sixth, but mainly brawled with the brawler – a mistake that was all too clear when Mathis landed a bomb of a right that dropped Holm to the canvas and onto her back. Shocking the crowd even more than the knockdown was ref Burke, who did not issue the count, waving off the tremendous flooring, even though Holm was barely able to stand up.

The fight was on and, somehow, Holm weathered the storm of Mathis, waiting for the bell, which soon clanged an end to the impending end.

Holm was clearly finished. She stumbled back to her corner where her cornermen desperately tried to revive her, then sent her back out to her doom. Holm tried to bounce on her feet but her legs nearly caved, yet she resumed the fight with Mathis, who was on the warpath for the finish.

It was not long in coming. Mathis tore into Holm, staggering her to the middle of the ropes near her corner. There, Holm became entangled in the top rope – just as Mathis ripped into her with a right, tearing open an old cut – ironically, the same gash that, many, many years ago, had Holm’s corner throwing in the towel for her one and only loss. Ref Burke was slow in stopping the action, but he made his way between the two fighters, finally, saving Holm from what could’ve been a career-ending punch. Burke held Holm up by the glove that had been entwined with the rope, the fallen fighter barely able to keep upright.

The fight was over.

At least that’s what everyone thought.

Instead, the ref signaled conqueror and fallen to resume.

Mathis did, one good right dropping Holm over backward against the bottom rope and nearly out of the ring onto Judge Dave Moretti’s lap. She was assisted to a kneeling position while her cornermen and physician rushed in and surrounded her. Kneeling in a dazed position, Holm, her eyes glazed, her cut and nose oozing blood, was just clear enough to do one thing; she lifted her left arm up and around one of the ropes to keep from heading back down to the canvas.

Mathis held off parading around the ring like the champion she had proven herself to be while she waited for the official announcement that the fight was, indeed, over, which was slow in coming.

Official time of stoppage was 1:38 of the seventh round.

Aided by her corner and fiancé, Holm stumbled her way back to her dressing room to recover and regain composure. Forty minutes later, she joined Mathis to face the press.

“The biggest thing that hurts is my pride and ego,” said a teary-eyed Holm, now 30-2-3, 9 KOs, losing for the first time in seven years. “She was the better fighter. She definitely lived up to her hype.

“I didn’t fight smart. I have no excuse. I had a great camp and my corner was telling me to do the right things … but I didn’t. No – training in MMA had nothing to do with the loss. I just didn’t fight my best.”

Trainer Mike Winkeljohn gave Mathis her due, saying, “What can I say? She imposed her will on Holly.”

Neither Holm nor Winkeljohn thought the fight should’ve been stopped earlier than it was.

“These are big fights,” says Holm. “I was glad the referee gave me the chance to come back.”

Winkeljohn said it was a tough fight to watch, and had thought about throwing in the towel earlier than Ref Burke had stopped it. “But this is what she does,” he said. “You have to give her the opportunity.”

Mathis, now 26-1, 22 KOs, with the win, thought the fight could’ve been stopped a bit earlier than it was. But she was more surprised that Holm chose to brawl with her.

“I didn’t think she would come out and trade,” said Mathis. “She is a great fighter and she hurt me a bit, too, but I knew as the fight went on, she would slow down. I knew I was losing early, but deep inside, I knew the fight was far from over. It was just a matter of time.”

With the win, Mathis also becomes the new WBAN and IBA welterweight champion.

“The belts don’t mean anything,” said Mathis. “Holly Holm was the best fighter in the world and I was glad to fight and beat her. Belts are just icing on the cake.”

Mathis is contractually obligated to fight a rematch in 90 days – and cannot fight anyone else until facing Holm again. Furthermore, the rematch will also land on Holm’s turf.

Neither fighter has a problem with that.

“I do want the rematch,” said Holm. “Next time, I’ll know going in what I’m up against.”

Mathis will take a vacation, spend time with her daughter, and wait for arrangements to be made to fight Holm again. Before that time comes, she does not want to consider fighting the only other challenger out there at welterweight – undefeated Cecilia Braekhus.

“We will fight again and the contract will be fulfilled,” said Mathis. “Then I will consider Braekhus.”

Torres tears into Vargas

In the co-main event, greatly improved Albuquerque welterweight Josh “Pitbull” Torres (6-1-1, 3 KOs) put on a clinic with Joel Vargas (3-5-1, 3 KOs) of Kansas City, winning a shutout decision with scores x 3 of 60-53.

First time the two met, the best Torres could do was a draw. Since that time, he's upped his training training at Johnny Tapia's Gym - and the results were evident. Using angles and counterpunching his slower, wide-swinging opponent, Torres landed everything but a knockout blow.

Ever coming forward, taking shot after shot after, Vargas didn't take a backward step until the final round, when Torres came close to putting the tough Kansas City kid on the canvas. Making Vargas miss his shots, or blocking his telegraphed blows, Torres stepped around and battered the body, soaking his sponge-O-punishment foe with rib roasters and chin checkers. In the third, Vargas lost a point for a low blow, but he came back and appeared to stun Torres, at least momentarily.

All three judges scored the bout 60-53.

"He wouldn't go down," said Torres. "If this had been an eight-rounder, I would've gotten to him. But he's a tough, tough guy and a warrior."

Zubia tones down 'Tone'

In a four-round lightweight war, Hobbs' Edgar Zubia (2-0-1, 1 KO) showed his stuff with a stunning two-round dismantling of Espanola warrior Antonio “Tone” Martinez (1-1-1, 1 KO).

Martinez sought to work his way inside and batter Zubia to the body in the first. Using his superior boxing skills and greater amateur experience (and finally conditioned), Zubia kept him at range and battered him with jabs and right hands, then mixed it up with big lefts to the body. In the final 15 seconds, Zubia had Martinez hurt.

The second round was all action - as long as it lasted, anyway. Martinez landed a left that got Zubia's attention, but the Hobbs cowboy turned it around with a big right that took the floor out from under the Espanolan. Martinez beat the count but Zubia went in for the kill, prompting ref Burke to call it off at 2:37.

Baca blasts Gonzalez

In a battle of debuting lightweights, Albuquerque’s Matthew Baca (1-0, 1 KO) scored the best KO of the night at 2:59 of the first over El Paso’s Daniel Gonzalez (0-1) of El Paso.

It took Baca about two minutes to shake off the nervousness and find his stride against the slow-moving Gonzalez. Once he did, it was over.

A huge overhand right had Gonzalez glued to the canvas long past the count.

"It was amazing, turning pro," said Baca afterward. "I can't wait to fight again."

Cabral outpoints Henson

In a four-round welterweight bout between Duke City fighters, Cristian Cabral (1-0) edged Shaun “The Warrior” Henson (0-1) with scores of 39-37 twice and 38-38.

Cabral was too polished for the slower, flat-footed Henson, and he was outboxed and staggered in the first.

In the second and third, however, Henson's ruggedness and determination made close rounds for Cabral, who might've had the edge in the second, but not in the third. Slugging his way back into the fight, Henson's shots had thudding power while Cabral tired.

Cabral came out aggressive in the final round, outboxing Henson for the round and win.

'Baby Doll' diffuses 'TNT' Cravens

At flyweight, anew and improved Brandi “Baby Doll” Montoya (1-2) won a unanimous decision over Tonia “TNT” Cravens (2-7-2, 2 KOs), scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice.

Formerly a sloppy brawler with no defense, Montoya showed tremendous improvement, fighting at range, jabbing and using her straight lefts to advantage. In the first, Cravens' aggression edged the round. Montoya appeared uncomfortable with her new style, going backward and not quite reaching her stride.

In the second through fourth, it was a different story. If 'How many straight lefts can Montoya land?' was the question, the answer was, 'As many as she throws.' Showing absolutely no defense, Cravens took 'em all. When she wasn't outbrawling Cravens, Montoya was cleanly outboxing, fighting intelligently and picking her spots to exchange.

The exchanges went into overdrive in the third, but Montoya retained control of the ring. Every time Cravens landed one of her bombs, Montoya always had the last word. In the final frame, Montoya had Cravens battered, bloody, bruised and beaten - one more round it would've been a stoppage.

Sanchez preaches Sermons

In a feisty four-round bantamweight bout, Albuquerque's Leonardo Sanchez (2-0) pitched a shutout to debuting Devon Sermons (0-1).

Sermons came out with an attitude, ready to destroy Sanchez - but after a couple well-placed left hooks, realization set in that he was up against a better fighter.

Fighting a bit more cautious, he tried to get back into the fight, even hurt Sanchez in the second, but it wasn't his night.

Bloodying Sermons' schnozz, Sanchez landed the cleaner, harder shots through four rounds, battering Sermons to the ribs and clobbering him with big rights in the third and fourth.

Gonzales edges Garcia

In the curtain raiser, Albuquerque debuter Yoel Gonzales (1-0) edged Santa Fe’s Antonio Garcia (1-1) with scores of 38-36 x 3.

Gonzales was on his way to outboxing Garcia in the first, when he was floored by a right hand. Gonzales evened the score in the second, punishing Garcia and scoring his own knockdown.

In the third and fourth, it was all Gonzales, outboxing the aggressive Garcia and counterpunching his way to a smooth finish.