by: Austin Killeen – Ringside – February 25, 2017  – (click on picture to enlarge)

Saturday afternoon the Mountain View Community Center in Albuquerque’s South Valley held a seventeen bout amateur card.  For my taste this was plenty, thirty bout programs strain the brain, eyes and derriere.  Regardless of the number of contests, it was an entertaining afternoon before an enthusiastic audience.  The program included a few boxers from the open class, but mostly novice. Due to the number of bouts; I’ll cover those contests that caught my eye first, with no disrespect to other contestants.

 

In bout #11 Damien La Riva (Unattached) won by decision over Antonio Valdez (Santiago Boxing Academy) Age 17/155 lbs. Valdez opened the contest with nice footwork and a solid jab to take the round. In the second Valdez started scoring with right hands to the body off his jab. La Riva closed strong with some heavy shots to the body. This was a difficult round to score. La Riva had a big final round with a blistering attack to the body. I felt this contest could have gone either way.

 

 

In bout #2 Andrew Perez (Perez Boxing) won by TKO over Alan Esparza (Fitness for 10 Boxing) Age 9/81 lbs. Perez does not fight like your typical nine year old, this young man has talent. I’ve seen him box before, but never with such hitting power. He was able to score to the head and body with both hands. Esparza would win a lot of matches, but had the bad luck to go up against Perez. Perez scored two knockdowns in the second, a right hand to the head dropped Esparza the first time and a left hook to the head for the second knockdown. Referee David Rios administered a standing 8-count before ending the contest. Perez has two older brothers, Aaron and Abraham who are outstanding boxers. It looks like they better make room for baby bro Andrew.

In bout #8 Nicholas Gonzales (Fitness for 10 Boxing) won by decision over Santiago Culin (Unattached) Age 13/114 lbs. Culin used his right hand effectively to capture the opening round against his taller opponent. In the second and third rounds, Gonzales used his height and reach successfully to take command of the contest. Both boxers showed some cleverness, this was a high quality bout.

 

 

In bout #4 Ramon Guzman (South Valley Boxing) won by decision over Troy Nash (Santiago Boxing Academy) Age 11/89 lbs. Nash looked smooth in taking the opening round with lateral movement and clean punching. Guzman was game but failed to mount an attack. I loved the way Guzman responded in rounds two and three, a sign of a good prospect. He smothered Nash’s attack, robbing him of room to work in the process. This allowed Guzman work on the inside with some impressive body punching. Once again this was a good fight.

 

In bout #3 Victory Ordonez (Perez Boxing) won by decision over Jorge Villanueva (Power & Glory) Age 10/68lbs. This was an action contest with both boys bringing it. In the opening round they went toe-to-toe with little clinching. The difference was Ordonez worked the head and body while Villanueva like to head hunt. In the second round Ordonez added a jab to his arsenal which was effective. In the final round Ordonez landed the cleaner punches, but Villanueva has a solid chin. This was a very competitive bout.

 

In bout #14 Dangelo Sanchez (Cross Town Boxing) won by decision over Maximus Moya (Power & Glory) Age 14/114 lbs. This was a close competitive match which I felt the taller Moya won because he landed the cleaner punches. I liked Moya’s style and thought he was a solid boxer. I didn’t think it was a bad call, as Sanchez knew his way around the ring and wasn’t intimidated by his rival’s size.

 

 

In bout #15 Josue Reyes (Torito Boxing) won by decision over David Garcia (House of Pain) Age 15/140 lbs. This was a competitive match, with the fighters taking turns winning rounds. Reyes won the first round by smothering his opponent with solid body shots. Garcia took the second round in the same fashion, as he was busier and scored with his own body attack. In the final round both boxers continued to attack the body, with the judges favoring Reyes.

 

 

In bout #16 Jorge Madrid (Unattached) won by TKO over KC Diaz (ID’s Gym) Age 15/132 lbs. The taller Madrid used his reach and power to dominate the first round. Diaz tried, but couldn’t seem to get untracked. In the second round Madrid’s power paid dividends, when the referee issued Diaz a standing 8-count. Referee Reyes appraised the situation and stopped the contest.

 

 

In bout #17 Anthony Bustillo (Power and Glory) won by TKO over Cuanhtumoc Vega (Santiago’s Boxing Academy) Age 16/108 lbs. This was a lot like the previous contest with the taller Bustillo using hard clean punches to dominate the opening round. In the second round referee Reyes issued a standing 8-count and then halted the match.

 

 

In bout #5, Kaleb Medina (Archuleta Elite) won by decision over Marcos Sanchez (Cross Town Boxing) Age 12/88 lbs. Medina showed why good footwork can win fights. All three rounds he was able to maintain distance, controlling the action with clean punching. When Sanchez was able to close the gap between them he was effective, but he needed to cut off the ring more.

 

 

In bout #6 Ezekiel Martinez (505 Fight Factory) won by decision over Jaime Sanchez (Unattached) Age 11/89 lbs. In the opening round, Martinez displayed excellent skills with both hands. The taller Sanchez was unable to take advantage of his height. In rounds two and three Sanchez created space and scored well from the outside. I had Sanchez winning a close decision but was on the wrong side of the judges’ scorecards.

 

 

In bout #7 Alejandro Cigarroa (Power & Glory) won by decision over Angel Sotelo (South Valley Boxing) Age 12/90 lbs. Sotelo took the first round by staying inside and landing clean punches. Cigarroa appeared to even things up by taking advantage of his longer reach in the second round. Both fighters had a difficult time in establishing an offense in the final round, which left it up to the judges to pick a winner.

 

 

In bout #9 Ivan Barragan (South San Jose) won by TKO over Alejandro Sanchez (Unattached) Age 13/103 lbs. Barragan was just too much for the game Sanchez to deal with causing referee David Rios to stop the contest. It should be noted that in pairing the boxers for these amateur bouts, great care is taken to insure that all bouts are competitive. Sanchez displayed a positive attitude, he’ll be back.

 

 

In bout #10 Elijah Martinez (505 Fight Factory) won by TKO over Jamie Gomez (House of Pain) Age 14/140 lbs. Martinez, a southpaw, scored two standing 8-counts causing Referee Rios to halt the contest. Martinez looks to have some talent and Gomez was stubborn while it lasted.

 

 

In bout #12 Justin Molina (Unattached) won by TKO over Jason Peralta (King of Kings) Age 19/130 lbs. The taller Molina scored two knockdowns with right hands to the head. Peralta couldn’t get out of the starting blocks, sometimes fighters get caught cold. Referee Rios wisely stopped the contest.

 

 

In bout #13 Nayriga Yellowman (505 Fight Factory) won by decision over Jasmine Reyes (Torito Boxing) Age 16/155 lbs. The two girls have some defensive skills, but Yellowman also has an offense. This allowed Yellowman to build up a solid lead after two rounds behind a nice left jab. In the final round Reyes came to life, making this a competitive match. Unfortunately for Reyes it was a case of too little, too late. Although both girls were slow of foot, they both had good balance and the ability to cut off the ring.

 

In bout # 1, Jocelyn Olayo-Munoz (Dona Anna Boxing) won by decision over Taylor Henry (Santiago’s Boxing Academy) Age 8/54 lbs. Olayo-Munoz used speed of hand and foot to dominate the contest. Olayo-Munoz scored a first round knockdown with a right hand to the head. Because of her speed she was able to land clean punches on her rival. When Henry learns how to block a left jab and counter, she’ll see a big improvement in her performance. She was game and never stopped trying to change the outcome.

 

Elijah Martinez (505 Fight Factory) and Nayriga Yellowman (505 Fight Factory) were selected the outstanding male and female fighter’s of the night. Their beautiful trophies were donated by Art Aragon, Jr., son of the late lightweight/welterweight contender of the 40’s and 50’s. Aragon also sang the National Anthem at the start of the program.

Referee David Rios deserves a big hand as he had to referee all seventeen bouts. I first met Reyes last year and can say without reservation, he’s an excellent referee who’s always looking out for the safety of the fighters.

I also want to give a shout out to Bunny Martinez who runs the Mountain View Community Center. She produced a bout sheet that was excellent, making the job of all the officials much easier to accomplish.