Holmes Boxing History: Six Generations in the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico

By: Austin Killeen – August 21, 2015

The English are noted for their sailing skills, using the stars to guide them over the ocean blue. When Englishman John Holmes left port in the 1890’s, his voyage ended in the city of Santa Fe with a population of a little over 6,000. Laying eyes on a beautiful Spanish girl named Paulina Rivera; he knew he had reached his destination. John and Paulina married and started a family in the “City Different.” The young couple probably had no idea that one day the name Holmes would become synonymous with boxing in the State Capital?

As Santa Fe grew and prospered so did the Holmes family. One of John’s sons, Oliver Holmes, would become Chief of Police in Santa Fe. Gilbert Holmes, who provided me with much of the history of the Holmes family, was the youngest son of Oliver. “I don’t have any memory of my father as he died of kidney failure when I was only two years old. My older brother, Oliver Junior, would also become Chief of Police in Santa Fe.” By 1940 the population had grown to about 20,000 and Gilbert talked about his early childhood. “There was nothing to do, so we would go down to the river and build a dam and go swimming. A couple of my friends had boxing gloves so we started to box. There was no actual amateur boxing program, but us kids would just box each other’s ears off.”

The conversation then switched to Gilbert’s son Patrick, who drew his first breath in 1972. Gilbert continued, “Boxing was more organized now and Patrick did a lot of sparring at the Boy’s Club. He had a trainer and participated in some amateur fights. In addition to his boxing, Patrick was very helpful around the gym. This resulted in his trainer asking if Patrick would like to assist him. So this is how my son started getting evolved in all aspects of the sport.”

When I asked Patrick for more details he stated, “Chris Linson was my trainer and asked if I would be willing to help him train some of the boxers in the gym. I was in my early twenties around 1995 and I started working with the fighters on the mitts. Linson had fought Bobby Czyz in New Jersey and had a solid background in the sport. This was fortunate for me and I was able to gain a great deal of experience in all aspects of the sport.”

I was curious how his pugilistic education continued. “I got a lucky break when Teresa Tapia asked me if I would fly out to the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas and meet with English promoter Frank Warren.  She wanted to close a deal on a co-main event involving her husband Johnny and Danny Romero in separate bouts. The event was to take place in Las Cruces, NM at the Pan American Center. Frank Warren had no idea where Las Cruces was. Teresa wanted me to fill him in on the venue and the whole location regarding the bout.”

Pat continued his story. “I met Frank in the lobby of the Mandalay and he asked me where my Suite was. I told him it was upstairs. I had just gotten off the plane minutes before meeting him; I didn’t have any suite of rooms. I told him I usually do better remembering everything when I’m walking. I was able to pull it off and got back on the next plane to Albuquerque. I had previous experience putting on fights on a small scale and in reality this was the same thing but at a much larger stage. It was a great learning experience. I was dealing with Show Time and TV crews, putting on public workouts and getting advertising.”

It was obvious that Pat Holmes learning curve was based on life experiences. I asked him how he expanded his knowledge as a trainer. “When I was involved with Johnny Tapia and Danny Romero I noticed Sergio Chavez who was training Romero. As a result of my job, I had to opportunity to observe Sergio frequently.  This allowed me to compare my approach with the more experienced Chavez.  I thought he was solid and brought something to the corner. I could see he knew his way around the ring. I think he’s one of the better ones here in New Mexico. He’s also an excellent cut man.” Pat also mentioned Freddie Esquibel who trained his nephew Matthew Esquibel.  Additionally he brought up the name Fidel Maldonado Sr. “I think he’s overlooked, look at the excellent job he’s done with his son.”  Maldonado Jr. has appeared on television several times, scoring some impressive wins.

This was an interview covering many aspects of the sports. Suddenly we were talking about rivalries and Ray Zamora’s name took center stage. Pat said, “Ray has to be one of the guys in the state who I have the most respect for. When its business, whether its tickets or purses, he’s made his mark. He comes to play. He’ll tell me right to my face; my fighters going to kick you fighter’s _ _ _. He doesn’t talk behind your back. Ray is the type of guy, if he’s playing you checkers he wants to win.” I’m also friendly with Ray; it’s obvious that Pat and Ray get great enjoyment putting one over on each other. On September 5th at the Buffalo Thunder Casino, one of Ray’s fighters will be fighting on Pat’s card.

I asked Pat what makes a great promoter. Pat never hesitated; he immediately said the name Lenny Fresquez. Pat went on; “When you’re talking about Lenny, you’re talking about a self made guy. You’re talking about a guy who looks at something and says, ‘how can I make it better.’ If he can’t he moves onto something else. He saw something special in Holly Holm. He trusted in her, that she would be responsible in training and he would do his part. He wasn’t at the gym all the time checking up on her. It wasn’t about getting her the biggest purse, it was about building value.  Which opponent would make her a bigger name down the road?

No discussion about Lenny Fresquez would be complete without mentioning his right hand girl Doris Robinson. She’s this sweet gentle woman with this lovely smile. Pat talked about negotiating with Doris regarding the purse for one of his fighters. “She so nice, but don’t take that niceness as a weakness because she’s solid when it comes to negotiations. She’s as tough as any man when it comes to making a deal.” Whenever Lenny Fresquez has a press conference, he always takes a moment to mention how much Doris means to his organization.

The fifth generation of Holmes’ boxing in Santa Fe revolves around Pat Jr. and his brother Brandon.  Younger brother Brandon turned pro on the undercard of ESPN Friday Night Fights. As luck would have it, early knockouts resulted in Brandon’s pro debut being on national television. Entering the ring he was remarkably poised and scored an impressive fourth round TKO. Older brother Pat’s debut was a nightmare. Scoring a first round knockdown Pat Jr. let his rival off the hook and was stopped in the third round.

Brandon has not let success go to his head. He has built his record to 6-0-0 with 4 KO’s. Pat Jr. bounced back from his early setback, and has a record of 4-1-0 with 3 KO’s. In addition to their success in the ring, both brothers are a promoter’s dream; they sell tickets faster than plywood sales in a hurricane. They have one problem, they suffer from Rodney Dangerfield syndrome; they get no respect. Their critics say the first time they face an opponent with a heartbeat, they’ll be exposed. The only reason they have pretty records; Daddy gets them opponents with no arms.

The sixth generation of Holmes is Brandon’s two year old son Koa . He certainly doesn’t need the burden of keeping some tradition alive. Regardless of what he decides to do as an adult, the name Holmes will retain its solid history in Santa Fe, New Mexico.