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Last Saturday night in Hobbs, New Mexico, Isidro Castillo promoted the last fight card of the year. As things turned out, the fight card hit the trifecta: fight card of the year; fight of the year; and round of the year. If you were at the Lea County Event Center Saturday night, you witnessed one of the best fight cards in recent memory. There were six bouts and they were all good, with some being judged outstanding. In the main event, Gerardo Quintana squeaked by Robbie Sanders by the narrowest of decisions; in a thrill a second brawl.

In the four round main event, Gerardo Quintana (5-1-1, 3 KO’s) 166.0 lbs of Hobbs won by SD over Robbie Sanders (1-1-0, 1 KO) 164.6 lbs. of Lubbock, TX. I felt this bout would be good for two rounds with Sanders being stopped after a game effort. I based this on his last fight; a TKO win after his opponent ran out of gas. Was I ever wrong about Sanders! At the opening bell he met Quintana in center ring and traded bombs for three minutes. The more experienced Quintana kept his elbows in tight, firing short accurate punches. This was a very close round which could have gone either way; I gave the edge to Quintana.

Early in the second round Quintana dropped Sanders with a short right to the head. The Texas fighter looked hurt and I thought my prediction would come true. When the match continued, it was Sanders who started landing power shots. Two overhand rights to the head and a massive left hook to the body had Quintana hanging on when the bell sounded. The fans were going crazy, and I had just seen the round of the year. In the third stanza the fighters continued to trade bombs, but Sanders was getting the better of the exchanges. What a F-I-G-H-T.

Sanders clearly was in charge at the start of the fourth, when he carelessly walked into a right hand. Suddenly the Lubbock fighter was on his hands and knees, shaking his head. Coming in for the kill, Quintana was head hunting instead of working the body. Fighting out of desperation, Sanders started landing clean shots on Quintana’s head. One punch sent Quintana’s mouth guard airborne, something that would occur three more times. Each time Quintana lost his mouth guard, he got twenty seconds to recover while the gumshield was cleaned off. This resulted in referee Stan Saavedra correctly deducting one point from Quintana after the last infraction. When the final bell rang it was Quintana who appeared to be in need of some R and R. It also occurred to me that I had a new round of the year, with the fourth round replacing the second. The fans were all on their feet, and why not they had just seen the fight of the year.

You couldn’t hear a pin drop when the score cards were read, 38-37 Sanders, 37-36 twice for Quintana. The split decision verdict for Quintana was well received, but it would have been just as well received if Sanders was the winner or it had been called a draw. Everyone in attendance knew they had witnessed something special; two fighters who had left it all in the ring, in search of victory.

In the six round semi-final, Jesse Angel Hernandez (6-1-0, 4 KO’s) 122.8 lbs. of Ft. Worth, TX won by UD over Jose Osorio (4-3-1, 2 KO’s) 124 lbs of Albuquerque, NM. Driving to Hobbs I thought this would be the fight of the night and it came close. I have seen both boxers in action before, and knew they were skilled, well conditioned with excellent amateur pedigrees. The opening round belonged to Hernandez as Osorio got off to a slow start. The Ft. Worth boxer was firing left hooks and right crosses off a solid left jab. The “Duke City” boxer always seemed to be on the defensive. In the second round, Osorio started opening up, forcing his opponent to retreat at times. But Hernandez had added an uppercut to his arsenal and it was landing.

The third round proved to be Osorio’s best. He was throwing his jab and combinations that were putting Hernandez on the ropes. Hernandez appeared to be tired at times, which would be understandable as his output in the first two rounds consumed a lot of energy.

Rounds four through six, Osorio abandoned his jab and would voluntarily retreat to the center of the ring, seemingly every time he had the Texan trapped on the ropes. He seemed content to throw combinations with bad intentions, which sometimes worked. Hernandez was on fire, working behind a punishing left jab. This put his opponent on the defensive, allowing Hernandez to land brutal left hooks, crosses and overhand rights. In the final round Hernandez landed some nasty punishment to the head of Osorio. The fight was competitive, but clearly the fight belonged to Hernandez. Scores of 60-54 on all cards resulted in a unanimous decision for Hernandez.

In the fourth bout, Elijio Sena 258.8 lbs of Clovis, NM won by TKO over Manuel Eastman (2-4-1, 1 KO) 224.2 lbs., of Los Lunas, NM. I had seen Eastman fight many times and knew he was solid. I had never seen Sena, but was told he had a good amateur background. The taller Sena looked to be out of shape, not a good career move against Eastman.

At the opening bell, Sena surprised me with his hand speed. He was finding a home with his excellent left jab and followed it up with punishing rights to the face. Overwhelmed and bleeding badly from his nose, Eastman wisely took a knee to gather his thoughts. Referee Saavedra stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:28 seconds of the round. That wasn’t received well from Eastman, who thought he should have been given an eight-count.

After the bout referee Saavedra indicated that he should have responded differently. That was a class act on the part of Saavedra, as he didn’t have to say anything. Saavedra was the only referee in the building and worked all six fights that evening. I’ve seen Saavedra work many bouts in the past and consider him very conscientious regarding his responsibilities.

In the evening’s third bout scheduled for four rounds, between debuting Hobbs boxers, Oscar Epinoza 178 lbs. won by first round TKO over Kelly Westby 174.6 lbs. The fans were excited about this match up because both boxers were from Hobbs. At the opening bell both fighters were aggressive, but Westby made one critical error; leaning back when he threw his left jab. Epinoza was quick to capitalize, landing lefts and rights to the head of Westby. Taking a right hand to the head, Westby found himself on the canvas. The referee stepped in, halting the action at 1:42 of the first round. Although the boxers lacked experience, they were game and threw a lot of punches. The contest was well received by the audience.

In the second bout of the evening, Abel Navarete (2-0-0) 129.3 lbs. of Amarillo, TX won by UD over Gene Perez (1-4-1) of Belen, NM. Navarete had a solid amateur background and there was a lot of excitement about his presence on the card. I’d seen most of Perez’s fights and knew he was tough. The opening round had many excellent exchanges, but Navarete appeared to have the edge in a very close round. Neither boxer was interest in clinching, just throwing leather.

In round two Perez, a southpaw, was landing a nice right jab. Navarete was timing the shorter Perez when he moved inside, landing some hard straight rights to the head. Overhand punches will usually do more damage than jabs. The third proved to be Perez’s best three minutes of the contest. Working on the inside, he was scoring to the body and the head. Navarete was trying to overpower his rival but it wasn’t working, Perez was landed the cleaner punches.

In the final round Navarete created more distance and was able to land clean shots from the outside. When he was able to get inside Perez did well, but he was taking too much punishment to get there. This proved to be a fast paced fight, with little clinching. The scores were 39-37 twice and 40-36 all for Navarete, who proved to be as advertised; a solid prospect. If somebody teaches the well conditioned Perez how to bob-n-weave he could be a dangerous foe.

In the opening six rounder, Brian Mendoza 11-0-0, (7 KO’s) 146.2 lbs. of Albuquerque won by UD over Anthony Hill (1-15-1) 143.6 of Phoenix, AZ. Don’t be fooled by the record of Hill, he has a solid defense fighting out of an unorthodox style. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know Mendoza has signed a managerial contract with Cameron Dunkin and Empire Promotions.

A lot of boxers with a glossy record filled with KO’s might have become frustrated facing Hill. But Mendoza is not one of them, he’s a special boxer. He looked for openings to land solid shots, but never forced the action. It’s hard to describe Hill who fights from the left handed stance. He bends from the waist, looks away from you, sticks his chin out and anything else to make you look foolish. This is what you saw for six rounds, with Mendoza perusing Hill. Scores of 60-54 on all three cards, Brian Mendoza walked away with a unanimous decision.

This was an excellent card put on by Isidro Castillo in front of 1,700 fans. That’s amazing considering that ticket seller Edgar Zubia wasn’t on the card. When things are going your way, they’re going you way, how else can you explain Isidro finding his newest heavyweight Elijio Sena of Clovis, NM. I know his record is not the best, but I can’t get enough of Anthony Hill. If he ever gets an offense to go with his defense, he’ll surprise a few people. Although he didn’t show it Saturday night, Brian Mendoza is a real flame thrower, who is already planning bouts for January and February of 2016. If you’re putting on a fight card just call Casey Gutierrez, he’ll fill up one side of the fight poster with his boxers.