Josh “Pitbull” Torres has never lost two fights in a row and didn’t want to start on Saturday. Montana’s Daniel Gonzales felt last night would be a nice time for “Pitbull” to break with tradition.   Mother Nature appeared to have different plans, dumping blinding, wet snow before the fight started. Not only did the storm fail to interfere with Chavez Promotions’ card, but a near sellout crowd filled the arena. A crowd filled with local boxers and trainers, checking out the competition.

In the eight round main event, Josh “Pitbull” Torres (15-4-1, 7 KO’s) 150.8 lbs of Albuquerque won by TKO over Daniel Gonzales (12-38-2, 4 KO’s) 146.6 lbs. of Billings, MT. There was no feeling out process, as both boxers came out throwing punches with bad intentions.   Torres was landing with straight rights to the head and body, while Gonzales responded with overhand rights to the head. At the one minute mark Torres took over, looking sharp working the head and body of his rival. I’ve seen most of “Pitbull’s” fights and never seen him enjoy a height advantage; an advantage he was exploiting.

In the second round, Torres showed good defensive skills when the powerful Gonzales pinned him on the ropes. Offensively Torres was moving beautifully while landing hard body shots off his accurate left jab. In the third round Torres continued working at a fast pace when he trapped Gonzales on the ropes.

Torres started landing combinations to the head and body of his defensive minded rival. Although he wasn’t throwing back, Gonzales appeared to have his hands up trying to block punches. At this point referee Rocky Burke had seen enough and stopped the contest. The jubilant Torres jumped for joy while a disgruntled Gonzales couldn’t believe the fight was over. Burke felt his actions were dictated by his responsibility to protect the safety of Gonzales who he felt was not responding to Torres’ assault. Time of the stoppage was 1:25 of the third round.

After the fight I spoke with Torres in his dressing room: “We sparred with Fidel Maldonado Jr. one of the best left hander’s in the state. So we knew where the shots were going to come from on the ropes. We blocked them and we countered and we took care of business.” In using the expression “We”, Josh was referring to his trainer Danny Perez and the rest of his team.

The following morning I interviewed Gonzales at his motel. In response to the stoppage Gonzales said “It was uncalled for, it never should have happened. In the sport of boxing the object is to punch each other and the ref’s job is to make sure I’m protecting myself. Nowhere was I not covered up, nor was I not punching back. Regardless if the guy’s out punching me or out boxing me, that’s the sport. Let’s go to the score cards, let it go on. Don’t stop the fight, that’s ridiculous!” Just then my phone rang and it was Rocky Burke. Realizing it was Rocky on the phone, Gonzales wanted to speak to him. This had the potential to get ugly but Rocky agreed to speak with him. Both gentlemen showed a lot of class in agreeing that each other was wrong. Neither Burke nor Gonzales tried to interrupt the other, listening to each other’s view point. I found this tasteful interchange refreshing and speaks volumes about the character of the two.

In the six round semi-final, Alex Holguin (6-1-0, 3 KO’s) 132 lbs. won by TKO over debuting Serrano Farley 131.6 lbs of Farmington, NM. On paper this looked like a mismatch, but apparently Farley never saw the paper. At the opening bell the southpaw from upstate started landing right hooks and straight lefts on Holguin. The Albuquerque boxer is considered a live prospect for a reason, and responded with some powerful shots to his rival’s body. In the second round Serrano scored with a left hook, but Holguin had settled down and dropped Farley with an overhand right.

Holguin scored a second knockdown with another right hand in the third. Serrano didn’t run, instead he came off the canvas firing, scoring with a right to the head at the end of the round. Holguin was in control but the debuting Farley was proving dangerous, which explains why the referee allowed the contest to continue. Serrano must have been told the way to beat an orthodox boxer was to throw right hands from his southpaw stance. He was still having some success in spite of Holguin coming into his own. But Holguin was now at his best, dropping the Farmington boxer for the fourth time in the fifth round; referee Ray Chavez stopped the contest to save Farley from himself. Time of the stoppage was 2:20 of the round.

Later Holguin spoke to me and said; “I could have done a little better, I give myself a C or a C-.” I felt he was being too hard on himself. Any boxer, if he has enough fights will eventually have an off night. Alex took a bad start and turned it around, turning it into a solid performance. I asked about the 800 pound elephant in the room, Pat Holmes Junior who was sitting ringside. Alex responded, “Honestly if it happens it happens. Personally I think we should build New Mexico fighters up, when it gets to a point where it makes sense then we should fight each other.”

In a four rounder, debuting Ronnie Baca 146.2 lbs of Albuquerque won by KO over Antonio Solarzano (1-7-0) 143.6 lbs., of Garden City, KS. Baca displayed some heavy hands in keeping the shorter Solarzano from getting inside. Solarzano had an ok defense, but with a lack of firepower was on the receiving end of too many left hooks and right upper cuts. Referee Chavez stopped the one sided contest at 2:24 of round two. Baca is trained by Fidel Maldonado Sr. who is very capable of maximizing the skills of the young Baca.

In the opening four rounder, Alfonso Olvera (4-2-0, 2 KO’s) 148 lbs. of Tucson, AZ won by UD over Michael Coca Gallegos (1-14-1, 1 KO) 150.2 of Albuquerque, NM. The taller Olvera fought behind an excellent left jab and solid footwork to always keep the dangerous Coca Gallegos on the outside. Coca Gallegos was in excellent shape but a long layoff left him with a lot of ring rust. Scores of 40-36 on all three cards resulted in a unanimous decision for Olvera.

This was an interesting fight card as Joe Chavez and match maker Martin Narro put together an entertaining evening of boxing. The possible matchup of Holguin vs Holmes continues to gain momentum, with both boxers feeling the bout has more value if they both keep winning. Not only do they have similar builds, but both have a lot of class. Neither Holguin nor Holmes believe in trash talking and speak respectfully of each other. I’m sure of one thing, the winner of the bout will be the fighter whose last name starts with the letter H. I also failed to give Alex credit for scoring a knockdown in his fight with John Herrera last summer. Referee Rocky Burke informs me that under the rules of the sports, Holguin should be credited with a knockdown over the granite chin Herrera.

I hope Serrano Farley continues to box and does not become discouraged as a result of his bout with Holguin. In fact one of his biggest boosters is Holguin himself. Alex stated that he found Farley dangerous and hard punching. Watch out for Fidel Maldonado Sr., as he is quietly building a powerful stable of fighters. The newest additions of the Maldonado squad are welterweight Ronnie Baca and amateur flyweight sensation Matthew “Diamond Boy” Griego.