By Austin Killeen     Ringside                              Photos by Brandon Pina

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On Saturday night, the Don Haskins Center located at the University of Texas in El Paso, played host to a four bout card. Lester Bedford served as the event facilitator and despite some last minute pullouts, put on a nice program. Bedford has been involved in boxing promotions for over thirty five years, but Saturday was the first time our paths have crossed. I hope that it won’t be the last time, as he seems to be a class act. Jennifer Han put on a display of boxing skills, footwork, distance, left jabs, etc. to successfully defend her featherweight title for the second time. The same could be said for her stable mate Augustine Banegas, who was also impressive. The two four round supporting bouts were evenly matched resulting in competitive bouts. The 2,314 in attendance meant that the card finished in the black. Bedford hopes to have another show in El Paso after the first of the year.

In the evening’s main event, Jennifer Han (15-3-1, 1 KO) 125 lbs of El Paso, TX, won by UD over Liliana Martinez (20-16-0, 12 KO’s) 124 lbs. of Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. The confident Martinez entered the ring with a reputation of having power in both hands. At the weigh-in she indicated that Han would be tasting leather like she never had felt before. If there is one thing lacking in Han’s arsenal, it would be punching power; she has one TKO in nineteen fights. If the bout turned into a toe-to-toe shootout, it figured to favor the puncher from the Dominican Republic. But Jennifer Han is nobody’s fool; she didn’t win a world title by being stupid. The opening round was your typical feeling out round with little separating the combatants. Martinez applied pressure early in the session looking to land some power shots, while Han was content to size her rival up. In the final minute Han started landing her jab. The girls appeared to split rounds two and three. In the second round Han found her distance, landing some nice jabs off good lateral movement. In the third round Martinez landed some nice body shots, leaving little doubt she had some power. In the fourth Han was successful with her hit and run style most of the round, but Martinez did land a nice overhand right to the head. In the fifth round Martinez was successful landing a nice right uppercut in windmill fashion. It was an unusual way to throw an uppercut, but would prove to be effective throughout the contest.

The second half of the match was all Han, as Martinez telegraphed her punches; a mistake against such a gifted defensive boxer. Han started mixing up her attack, at times abandoning her hit and run style, stepping inside with short over hand rights to the head. Martinez has a decent left jab of her own, but didn’t use it enough. She was looking for the homerun instead of setting up her attack behind a jab. In the later rounds the contest got a little rough, forcing referee Rafael Ramos to admonish both boxers; Martinez for butting and Han for rabbit punching. I’ve seen many of Han’s fights and had never seen her lost her temper before. It was obvious that both combatants felt that the other had started the rough stuff.

After ten hard fought rounds, in which both girls were in excellent shape, the verdict was rendered. Scores of 98-92, 100-90 and 99-91 resulted in a unanimous decision for the defending champion. The decision was well received by the partisan Han crowd, who were chanting her name. In victory Han was very modest giving credit to everybody who helped her get ready for the contest. “I have the best sparring partners in the world, Augustine Banegas, my brother (Abie Han), Austin (Austin Trout) and Tim (Tim Meek). All of us train together, they’re very intense and they give me their best. That’s why I feel like I’m improving.” Saturday’s fight was a mandatory defense, meaning that Jennifer is now free to pick her next opponent. She clearly hopes to be back in the ring as soon as possible.

In the evening’s semi-final bout, Augustine Banegas (9-0-0, 2 KO’s) 117.6 lbs. of Las Cruces, NM, won by UD over Alejandro Moreno (24-35-3, 11 KO’s) 117.4 lbs. of Juarez, Mexico. This was your classic matchup of youth vs age, with youth the victor. Banegas is undefeated for a reason; he’s talented. Using a relentless two handed attack behind a punishing left jab, there was little doubt regarding the outcome. Although Banegas has shown little punching power so far, he hits hard enough to keep opponents honest. If you think he was fed a punching bag, you’d be wrong. There are not too many fighters in today’s boxing landscape that have over 60 bouts on their resume, which puts Moreno on a short list of boxers with over sixty fights. Moreno comes to fight as indicated by the fact that he has only been stopped three times in his eighteen year career. Moreno made Banegas work all six rounds and fans weren’t asking for a refund. Scores of 60-54 on all three cards resulted in a unanimous decision for the undefeated Banegas. For the record Banegas is pretty good with a camera and was my camera man a few weeks ago at the Buffalo Thunder Resorts and Casino in Santa Fe.

In the second bout of the evening, Richard Villa (1-0-1) 176 lbs. of Roswell, NM fought to a draw with Tim Meek (5-3-2, 3 KO’s) 175 lbs. of Las Cruces, NM. For the record I’m friendly with both boxers outside the ring, but when the bell sounds it just the blue corner vs the red corner. In the first round Meek seemed to be controlling the action behind a left jab when he got careless and walked into a big right hand to the head. This resulted in Meek taking a trip to the canvas, but it was ruled a slip by referee Rafael Ramos. When Meek was hit he leaned against Villa who placed his hand on his rival’s shoulder. Depending on which side of the ring you were sitting, would cause one to think that Villa either pushed his rival to the floor or scored a clean knockdown. Referee Ramos didn’t have the luxury of viewing a replay, nor did I, and had to make a quick judgment. I’m not sure if it was a knockdown either. Fortunately for Meek, the bell sounded before Villa could capitalize on his advantage.

For the remaining three rounds it was Villa trying to take the fight to the ropes, while Meek was effective at mid ring. At the end of the final round there was an excellent exchange between the combatants. Villa landed a nice combination, but Meek responded with a nice three punch volley of his own. Both boxers were guilty of leaving it up to the judges by their actions in the ring. Villa would force his rival into the ropes and then voluntarily back away, giving up his advantage. Meek would score with a solid left jab, but fail to throw anything after it. Meek has nice footwork and would make Villa miss with wild punches, leaving him off balance. When Villa landed he had power, but seemed unable to sustain his advantage. Both corners must have been frustrated, as either fighter seemingly could have won. Scores of 39-37 for each boxer and 38-38 resulted in a draw.

In the evening’s opening bout, Ricky Vasquez (6-2-1, 2 KO’s) 130.8 lbs. of Las Cruces, NM won by UD over Saul Gomez (1-2-0) 131.7 lbs. of Juarez, Mexico. Both boxers have good reflexes and seemed to be playing a game of tag, but with power. All four rounds followed the same theme; Vasquez working from long range, Gomez throwing body shots from the inside. Both boxers displayed defensive skills, trying to block their opponent’s offense with their arms and gloves. Gomez threw nice hooks and crosses to the head and body, but only in spurts instead of applying constant pressure. Vasquez threw nice hooks and overhand rights off his jab on a consistent bases. Scores of 38-38 and 40-36 twice for Vasquez resulted in a majority verdict for the Las Cruces boxers. Vasquez’s next fight will take place on November 4^th at the Belasco Theater in Las Angeles. He will be facing undefeated Tenochtitlan Nava for promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

Meet the Ring Card Girl: Tasha Quezada has been a ring card girl at several boxing programs that I’ve covered the last few years and I couldn’t help but notice she was a favorite of the audience. With a friendly smile she mingles with fans, posing for photos, answering questions and obviously walking around the ring with round cards. Tasha works for Howl at the Moon modeling agency; works part time as a bar tender; and in her regular job as a nurse she specializes in working with older people in Geriatrics. This means that Tasha should be working with me in the not too distant future.