By Austin Killeen Ringside      Photos by Sid Ware      

Newly elected New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Pat Holmes Sr. had another sellout at Buffalo Thunder on Saturday night. That’s comparable to saying that the sun rises in the east. Homes imported a live opponent for his main event, who proved to be just that. In the co-main event Fidel Maldonado’s prospect proved to be all that and then some, despite a ten month layoff. Holmes’ undefeated female star was put to the test against an undefeated fighter from Colorado, in addition four more bouts added to the evening’s entertainment. When the audience exited the venue at the end of the evening they had seen another entertaining night of boxing.

The co-feature bouts were scheduled for six rounds.

In the main event of the evening, Luis Gerardo Avila (7-12-3, 4 KO’s) 134.4 lbs., of Nogales, Mexico won a split decision over Antonio Martinez (9-5-4, 6 KO’s) 139.1 lbs., of Espanola, NM. This was the fight of the night, featuring non-stop action for six rounds. Avila dominated the opening round with some vicious body punching, but Martinez wasn’t just standing around, he landed some hard blows of his own. The second round was a repeat of the first with Avila scoring with more firepower. Martinez turned things around in the third stanza hurting the Mexican import with a hard left hook to the body. Avila’s punch volume dropped off sharply and the hometown boy was back in the fight. Martinez carried the fourth round behind hard punching and improved defense, while Avila looked tired.

The final two rounds were very close but Avila looked sharper switching his attack back and forth between body and head. Martinez was relentless in his attack making this a very difficult fight to judge. Teresa Ortega score the bout 58-56 Martinez but was overruled by Steve Sandoval and Ester Lopes who had it 58-56 for Avila. After the fight both boxers praised their opponent, acknowledging the other’s power. Talking through a translator; Avila complained that his record was not accurate. He said he has never been knocked out and his record should read (8-4-2, 4 KO’s). He added that the reason for the error is confusion with another fighter by the name of Avila. Come Sunday morning Avila, and Martinez will probably experience some difficulty getting out of bed. For Martinez, it was his third loss in four fights; with the losses all coming by split decision.

In the co-feature, Matthew Griego (9-0-0, 8 KO’s) 111.8 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over Rondarius Hunter (2-4-1, 2 KO’s) 109.5 lbs., of Atlanta, GA. In the opening round Hunter made things difficult for Griego behind a long left jab. He clearly wanted to keep the fight at distance, but what Griego was looking for was to work on the inside. Both boxers had speed and tried to exploit it to their advantage. In the second round Griego landed a hard right hand to the head of Hunter, dropping him to the canvas. He was able to beat the count but was in no condition to continue. Time of the TKO was 1:17 to the round. Griego appeared to have suffered no ill effects for the long layoff and looks ready to step up in class. It appears trainer Fidel Maldonado has a live prospect in flyweight Matthew “Diamond Boy” Griego.

The five remaining bouts were scheduled for four rounds.

In a battle of the unbeaten, Leanna Martinez (4-0-0, 2 KO’s) 111.4 lbs., won by UD over Danielle Saldanha (2-1-0, 1 KO) 110.1 lbs., of Fort Collins, CO. This was clearly a step up in class for Martinez and she handled the assignment successfully. The opening round belonged to the aggressive Saldanha who scored with a sharp left jab. Martinez was backing up much of the time and couldn’t seem to get untracked. Round two Martinez attacked behind a nice jab of her own and rights to the body. In a close third round Saldanha tried to reestablish her jab and if you agreed you would have given her the round. Martinez carried the fourth behind heaver punches and superior strength. All three judges had identical scores of 39-37 for Martinez, but make no mistake about it, this was a close contest. 

In a battle of debuting fighters in the heavyweight division, Jesus Sanchez (1-0-0) 238.9 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Lorenzo Benavidez (0-1-0) 211.0 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM. Fellow boxing writer Mika Frankl pointed out before the opening bell that Sanchez and Benavidez had met twice in the amateurs, with Benavidez winning both decisions. Sanchez had a tremendous height advantage and used it to his advantage to keep the fight at long range all four rounds. The much shorter Benavidez had excellent head movement, slipping many of Sanchez’s punches. Unfortunately he was too far from his rival and couldn’t score with counter punches. If he could have, this might have had a different outcome. All three judges had identical scores of 39-37 for Sanchez.

 

In a contest of undefeated boxers Loreto Olivas (2-0-0, 1 KO) 151.6 lbs., from Santa Fe won by UD over Ernesto Salvidrez (1-1-0, 1 KO) 150.3 lbs of Santa Fe. The opening round belonged to Olivas behind right hands to the head. Salvidrez carried his hands low, making him an easy target. This would be the theme to the fight, continuing all four rounds. Olivas had a big final round trying to score a knockout. The game Salvidrez refused to fold, but did suffer a bloody nose in the final round. If Salvidrez works on his defensive skills, he will become a more difficult opponent in future bouts. Scores of 40-36 twice and 39-37 resulted in a unanimous decision for Olivas.

 

Hot prospect Ronnie Baca (4-0-1, 3 KO’s) 145.9 lbs., of Albuquerque won by TKO over Jimmy Archuleta (0-1-0) 143.1 lb., of Santa Fe, NM. Baca is called “The Mongoose” but “The Anesthesiologist” might be a better moniker for the “Duke City” bomber. A left hook to the face dropped Archuleta on his back, resulting in a TKO win for Baca at 36 seconds of the first round. I don’t understand why it was not ruled a KO as Archuleta was on the canvas for over a minute. Baca is managed by Jacob Maes and trained by Sergio Chavez, with that kind of backing, doors should be opening for the promising Baca.

 

In the opening bout of the card, Daniel Flores (1-3-0) 157.7 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by SD over Mark Jimenez (0-2-0) 157.9 lbs., of Santa Fe, NM. This was a very entertaining bout between two boxers looking for their first win. Flores was the aggressor in the opening round throwing punches in bunches, but Jimenez had a nice defense. Jimenez landed a nice left hook to the head but failed to follow it up. All four rounds were close due to one mistake on the part of Flores. He would voluntarily retreat to the ropes allowing Jimenez to attack. He did this so he might counter attack. A good strategy except he spent too much time on the ropes before counter attacking. Jimenez was throwing punches while Flores setting his trap and judges were crediting him for his offense. Judge Ester Lopez had it 39-37 for Flores, Judge Steve Sandoval had it 39-37 for Jimenez and Teresa Ortega it 40-36 for the winner by split decision Flores. This would make for a good rematch.