A six bout professional boxing program will take place tomorrow night at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Exhibit Complex. Josh “Pitbull” Torres will be in the main event, with Local heroes Joe Gomez, Matthew “Papitas” Esquibel, Jose Luis “El Guero” Sanchez and Lorenzo Benavidez also on display. This should be good tests for the local boxers, as promoter Jordan Perez has matched them against competition capable of causing problems. Fans are not going to attend fights that end in first and second round knockouts. There is too much competition for the entertainment dollar to expect fans to shell out money to witness mismatches.

In the evening’s main event scheduled for 8 rounds, welterweight Josh “Pitbull” Torres 18-6-2 (10 KO’s) will face Jesus Alvarez Rodriguez (15-5-0, 11 KO’s) of Los Mochis, Mexico. Torres has resurrected his career on the basis of scoring stoppages in his last three fights; against live opposition.  Although Torres has a concrete chin, Rodriguez has scored eleven knockouts in his fifteen victories. This figures to be a shootout and Torres needs to keep his winning streak alive if he hopes to get a chance to capture the brass ring. Torres lost a majority decision to Mike Alvarado two years ago in a close bout and feels he has put himself into a position where opportunities should present themselves if he continues to perform well.

 

In the evening’s co-main event scheduled for 6 rounds, welterweight Joe Gomez 21-7-1 (10 KO’s) will face Moris Rodriguez 7-11-1, (5 KO’s), of Sacramento, CA. Both these boxers gave Josh Torres tough fights; Gomez losing by split decision and Rodriguez by 6^th round TKO in action packed fights. This should be a war and could easily be the fight of the night. Gomez is the better boxer and has a decent punch. Rodriguez can punch as he demonstrated in his first fight with “Pitbull” until a nasty cut forced the referee to stop their fight. When the bell rings to start this fight, you don’t want to be standing in a long line at the concession stand.

 

In the evening’s fourth bout scheduled for 6 rounds, welterweight Matthew “Papitas” Esquibel 10-0-1, (5 KO’s) of Albuquerque will face Ricardo Fernandez 3-10-4 of Juarez, MX. In his last fight Esquibel was held to a surprise draw by Tavorus Teague, a journeyman from California. In Fernandez’s last ring appearance he made a respectable showing against another “Duke City” favorite Willie Villanueva. So don’t expect Fernandez to faint at the site of Esquibel, he’ll be looking for his own win on Saturday night. Don’t be surprised if the aforementioned Villanueva is sitting in the audience, as there has been a lot of talk about a Esquibel/Villanueva bout in the near future.

 

In the evening’s third bout scheduled for 6 rounds, middleweight Jose Luis “El Guero” Sanchez 7-1-0, (3 KO’s) of Albuquerque will face Anthony Hill 1-25-1, (8 KO’s) of Oklahoma City, OK. They were scheduled to fight in June, but the NM boxing commission would not sanction the bout due to a weight discrepancy. The heavy handed Sanchez is the favorite but he’ll need to more than just show up tomorrow if he expects to win. Hill has more moves than a revolving door and has gone the distance with some murderous hitters. Sanchez will need to cut off the ring and be patient because Hill will not fold from one punch. I’ve seen Hill fight on many occasions and he has the uncanny ability to win fans over despite being the visiting opponent. Sanchez’s other problem; he’s coming off a year layoff and might be carrying some ring rust.

 

In the evening’s second bout scheduled for 4 rounds, cruiserweight Lorenzo Benavidez will face Michael Sanchez 2-2 (2 KO’s) of Midland, TX.  Benavidez lost an exciting four round decision to Jesus Sanchez at the Buffalo Thunder Casino this past September. Benavidez reminds me of a large pillow, but don’t sleep on him; he can fight. I’ve never seen Sanchez fight, but he better be able to deal with an opponent who has excellent head movement. Trying to hit Benavidez with jabs will drive any boxer crazy. This should be an entertaining bout.

 

 

The opening bout of the card scheduled for 4 rounds, debuting welterweight Jaime Aguilera of Las Cruces, NM will face Jimmy Archuleta 0-1-0 (1 KO) Albuquerque, NM. Archuleta a cage fighter lost by KO to Ronald Baca, in his pro debut. Although Archuleta got tagged in his pro debut, he appeared to be very comfortable in a boxing ring. If Aguilera is part of the Salinas’ camp I would expect to see a fighter who is well trained in the basics.