By Austin Killeen July 9, 2016

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Yesterday at the MCM Elegante Hotel, Victory Boxing Promotions with promoter Chris Middendorf had the weigh-ins for Saturday’s eight bout fight card at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. This show will feature some of the rising talent from the “Land of Enchantment” and features hard punching Fidel Maldonado, Jr. in the main event. The undercard will have undefeated boxers Brian “La Bala” Mendoza, Matthew “Diamond Boy” Griego and Elijo Sena putting their unblemished records on the line. Additionally, skilled technicians Alex Holguin and Ronald Baca will showcase their talents before the hometown crowd. Two undefeated boxers Jaron “Boots” Ennis of Philadelphia and Carlos “El Tiburon” Sanchez of San Felipe, Mexico will also grace the card. Chris Middendorf indicated that if the show was a success this weekend, Victory Boxing Promotions would like to promote on a regular basis here.

In the main event scheduled for 8 rounds, Albuquerque’s Fidel Maldonado, Jr. (21-3-1, 18 KO’s) 142.4 lbs. will face Gerardo “Pipino” Cuevas (17-17-1, 15 KO’s) 143.8 lbs. of Mexico City, Mexico. In his last fight Maldonado was involved in a foul plagued brawl with highly regarded Art Hovhannisyan that ended in a controversial draw. Referee Edward Hernandez, Sr. allowed anything to pass as part of the Marquess of Queensbury Rules until the ninth round when he suddenly stopped the action and deducted a point from Maldonado for a low blow. That point deduction cost “The Atrisco Kid” a split decision victory. A victory by the local hero on Saturday night would probably put him on television against a big name opponent. Cuevas is the son of former welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas and like his father he carries a big punch. Unfortunately for the Mexican import, those who live by the sword die by the sword and his chin has gotten him in a lot of trouble. With two certified bomb throwers in the ring, this fight doesn’t figure to last long. Maldonado is a hot commodity at the moment, but he better keep his chin in a safe place if he hopes to cash in on his rising value in the square circle.

In the 6 round semi-final, Brian “La Bala” Mendoza (13-0-0, 9 KO’s) 148.2 lbs of Rio Rancho faces Daniel Calzada

(12-15-3, 2 KO’s) 149.6 lbs. of Dona Ana, NM. Mendoza has power in both hands and knows how to use it. What impresses me about “La Bala” is his patience when facing opponents with solid defensive skills. He doesn’t go crazy trying to land lucky hay makers, but boxes while looking for an opening. Adding to his growth in the ring is his sparring sessions with Fidel Maldonado, Jr. and Josh “Pitbull” Torres. His work with Maldonado and Torres is much more difficult than most of his pro fights so far. In facing Calzada he’ll be up against a fighter with a solid defense, who has proven he possesses a solid chin. This should be a test of Mendoza’s hitting power. When he’s not boxing, Mendoza attends the University of New Mexico, majoring in nutrition.

The remaining bouts on the card are scheduled for 4 rounds. Mathew Griego (5-0-0, 5 KO’s) 118.2 lbs. of Albuquerque will face Marco Alcaraz 120.8 lbs. of Greenville, TX. To say that Griego is becoming a rock star in the local boxing community would be an understatement. I don’t know what you call it, but this young man has it in spades. When he enters the ring the building will be reverberating with the noise from his boisterous legion of fans. He can hurt you with either hand as his record will attest. But he can get caught up in the excitement his fans generate; carelessly getting hit by unnecessary blows. Put a microphone in front of him and he’s pure gold. In the dictionary next to the term “self promotion” you’ll find his picture. The Hebrew word for this is chutzpa and in Griego’s case it’s meant as a term of endearment. I know little about Alcaraz except for the time I spent talking to him yesterday. He’s a nice young man and I enjoyed our conversation. I sincerely hope he brings his ‘A’ game into the ring this evening.

In another exciting matchup, Alex Holguin (8-1- 0, 5 KO’s) 131.2 lbs of Albuquerque faces debuting George Roybal Ramiro 130.6 lbs. Holguin a former GG’s champion and his trainer Sergio Chavez seem to be a perfect fit for each other, making the sum greater than its parts. Holguin throws sweet combinations with accuracy but can box and has a solid defense. When he arrives at the gym, he doesn’t need anyone to tell him what to do as he is self motivated. Nobody appreciates this more than Chavez who has a charge who wants to work hard to maximum his skills. Holguin is tall and lean with rope like muscles and can throw five punch combinations in his sleep. I know nothing about Roybal, but he better have some defensive skills if he hopes to go rounds with Holguin.

Jaron “Boots” Ennis (3-0-0, 3 KO’s) 145 lbs. of Philadelphia, PA will face Tavorus Teague (3-12-2, 2 KO’s) 145

lbs. of Bakersfield, CA. I know nothing about either fighter except what my eyes told me at the weight-in; they are specimens of physical fitness. Yoruba Moreu who is very active in amateur boxing is very high on the abilities of Ennis, who he saw fight on the east coast. Based on what Moreu told me, Ennis is the real deal. In a second contest of which I have little knowledge Carlos “El Tiburon” Sanchez (6-0-0, 6 KO’s) 144.4 lbs. of San Felipe, Mexico will face Christopher Russell (3-16-1, 2 KO’s) Shattuck, Oklahoma. Clearly both Ennis and Sanchez are live prospects who have attracted the attention of Victory Boxing Promotions.

In a heavyweight contest Elijo Sena (2-0-0, 1 KO) 271.6 lbs. of Clovis, NM will face debuting Brandon Farron 214.8 lbs. of Abilene, TX. Farron is a cage fighter having had 24 bouts in the cage, so he should be relaxed unlike a typical debuting boxer. There is a lot of excitement regarding Sena and there should be as this boy has serious power in the form of a left jab. Typically you don’t think of a jab as a knockout punch, but a jab from Sena is like getting hit by the end of a telephone pole. He follows the jab up with a nice overhand right, throwing this simple 1-2 with accuracy. I spent some time with Farron after the weight-ins were over and he was very confident about his chances. If he can deal with Sena’s jab than this could be the fight of the night, but if he can’t than this could be a short night for the cage fighter from Texas.

The opening bout of the evening has Ronald Baca (5-3-1, 2 KO’s) 251.6 lbs. of Gallup, NM facing Randy McCarty (1-1-1) 212.6 lbs. of Las Cruces, NM. Like Elijo Sena, Baca has an excellent left jab but not with knockout power. He likes to double up with it and create angles. Combine this with Baca’s excellent footwork and you have a difficult boxer in front of you. Don’t be fooled by Baca’s record as most of his fights have been on the road where decisions are hard to come by in close fights. He’s good at creating openings and knows how to take advantage of them. The Promoter would like to put Baca in the ring with Sena after each of them has a few more fights, preferably on the same fight cards. I saw McCarty’s pro debut and like the poise he showed. He showed a good judge of distance, knowing how to score cleanly and then getting out of range. If Baca’s looking ahead to Sena, McCarty will have his hand raised. Like Farron above, McCarty has had many cage fights and doesn’t figure to be intimidated by Mr. Baca.

Chris Middendorf of Victory Boxing Promotions is very excited about tonight’s fight card. Emily Pandelakis, who worked behind behinds the scene did an excellent job furnishing information about the entire card. If things go well this evening, we should be seeing a lot more of promoter Chris Middendorf in the coming months.