By: Austin Killeen – Ringside       Photos by Lorrie Garcia     (click on picture to enlarge)

Ray Zamora played host to a solid amateur boxing card at Salon Del Alba in Albuquerque on Saturday night. There were fifteen bouts with boxers from ages eight to twenty five participating. Although I have no idea what the capacity of Salon Del Alba is, it was clearly a sellout. The spectators were pumped up, in part to some pulsating music in the background. Its shows like this that provides much needed experience to our young amateurs. The unidentified fighter in the featured image couldn’t find an opponent in his weight division. I couldn’t possibly mention all the unpaid volunteers who give their time to make shows like this possible. I’ll cover those contests that caught my eye first, with      no disrespect to other contestants.

 

 

Bout #13 Gerardo Vasquez, 15 yrs., 139 lbs., Sigala Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over Brian Mendoza, 15 yrs., 144.8 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM. This is the second time I’ve seen Vasquez in action and I like what I see. Usually when I see someone score a blowout in an amateur fight, it’s the result of a mismatch. But Mendoza answered the opening bell with bad intentions of his own, behind volume punching. Unfortunately for Mendoza, Vasquez has power in either hand and displayed it early. Vasquez scored two standing-eight-counts, causing the referee to halt proceedings in round two. If Vasquez continues to develop he could be a special fighter. Mendoza is a dangerous opponent for anyone, but faced a special fighter on Saturday.

 

Bout #12 Sergio Aragon, 20 yrs., 133.8 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Logan Henry, 21 yrs., 133.2 lbs., Bama Boxing, Roswell, NM. Henry appeared to be on his way to an easy first round, but Aragon had a big finish, including scoring a standing-eight-count. The second round was a repeat of the first, including another standing-eight-count by Aragon. The final round featured some heavy exchanges, causing the audience to go crazy in appreciation of a great fight.

 

 

Bout #8 Francisco Lucero, 13 yrs., 122 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Isaiah Sanchez, 13 yrs., 123 lbs., Lights Out Boxing, Santa Fe, NM. Sanchez always seemed to give up his height, a mistake many boxers on the card made. Lucero didn’t have any height to gave away and used infighting to gain a clear advantage. He was credited with a standing-eight-count in the opening round. While Lucero made it look easy, the mistakes that Sanchez made are easily correctable. This bout had many ebbs and flows, keeping fans on the edge of their sets all three rounds.

 

 

Bout #9 Andres Rey, 22 yrs., 147.4 lbs., Perez Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by SD over Brandon Perez, 22 yrs., 149 lbs., Lights Out Boxing, Santa Fe, NM. Whoever matched Rey and Perez up did a great job, because they were equal in ability. Although both boxers have little experience, they both showed lots of potential. Throughout the entire fight they keep making adjustments to gain an advantage. This resulted in frustration on the part of both fighters, as neither Rey nor Perez could hold an advantage for very long. Perez dropped Rey with a nice overhand right in the third round, but Rey got off the canvas to score with some nice jabs to the head and right hands to the body.

 

Bout #15 Richard Rojas, 25 yrs., 184.6 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Breneck Richards, 22 yrs., 175 lbs., Archuleta Elite, Las Vegas, NM. This was an interesting contest and would make for a nice rematch in the golden gloves. Rojas utilized beautiful footwork to create openings that he took advantage of. This resulted in the referee giving Breneck a standing-eight-count in the opening round. The second round was much closer as Breneck started to close the distance and score, but Rojas was still in control. I gave the final round to Breneck as he appeared to land the cleaner punches. Unfortunately, because this was the last contest of the night much of the audience had already left and missed a good fight.

Bout #14 Isaiah Delao, 16 yrs., 126 lbs., Lubbock Boxing, Lubbock, TX won by TKO over Nick Cox, 17 yrs., 118.2 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM. There were heavy winds coming out of Texas last Saturday; they were called hurricane Delao. Unfortunately Cox didn’t hear the weather forecast and found himself in a hailstorm of leather. Delao threw nice combinations with power. Cox was too brave for his own good, and he didn’t appreciate it when the referee halted the contest.

 

 

 

Bout #1 Roman Lorenzo, 9 yrs., 76 lbs., Lubbock Boxing, Lubbock, TX, won by SD over Matthew Flores, 10 yrs., 65 lbs., Bama Boxing, Roswell, NM. This was an exciting fight between aggressive scrapers that the audience loved. Unfortunately I misplaced my notes from this contest and apologize to Lorenzo and Flores as they deserve a detail report of their bout.

 

 

 

 

Bout #2 Alex Ortiz, 12 yrs., 71.8 lbs., Martinez Boxing, Farmington, NM won by UD over Isiah Payne 12 yrs., 73.8 lbs., Bama Boxing, Roswell, NM. Ortiz used his height and reach advantage effectively to score with some nice 1-2’s the entire fight.  Payne a southpaw had difficulty getting inside and needs to improve his bob-n-weave. In the final round Ortiz dropped Payne with a hard left jab to insure the final verdict. Payne showed determination and with a few adjustments should see much improvement going forward.

 

 

Bout #3 Christian Castro, 8 yrs., 55.2 lbs., Martinez Boxing, Farmington, NM won by UD over Joaquin Medel, 8 yrs., 60.4 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM. Castro might only be eight, but he has a nice left jab which kept Medel off balance the entire bout. The referee gave Medel a standing eight count,  but the youngster from Warriors Boxing never stopped trying.

 

 

 

Bout #4 Issac Sanchez, 13 yrs., 111.8 lbs., Archuleta Elite, Las Vegas, NM won by UD over Cooper Phillips, 13 yrs., 103 lbs., Lubbock Boxing, Lubbock, TX. Sanchez had too many tools for his game rival which proved to be the story of the fight. Sanchez’s aggressive free swinging style carried all three rounds and he switched the attack from the head to the body often. Adding to Phillips problems was his ill-fitting head gear. If Phillips’ works on his fundamentals, he should see a big improvement in future fights.

 

 

Bout #5 Elian Olguin, 10 yrs., 84 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over Angelo Pacheco, 10 yrs., 74.8 lbs., Archuleta Elite, Las Vegas, NM. Olguin overwhelmed his rival, behind an offense that didn’t allow Pacheco to get set. This resulted in two standing eight counts, prompting the referee to halt the contest in round 2. Pacheco deserves credit for trying to figure things out, but just couldn’t find the answers.

 

 

 

Bout #6 Christopher Mendoza, 11 yrs., 88.2 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Joshua Herrera, 13 yrs., 92.2 lbs., Lights Out Boxing, Santa Fe, NM. Herrera captured the opening round by utilizing his height and reach advantage to score with clean punches. Mendoza came roaring back behind an effective effective bob-n-weave to score on the inside for the remainder of the fight. Mendoza has some skills, but has a bad habit of smothering his own attack when he gets inside.

 

 

 

Bout #7 Codi Chavez, 23 yrs., 142 lbs., Power Plant Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Matthew Plakio, 19 yrs. Unattached. Chavez won a close fight on volume punching. Plakio appeared to be doing too much thinking before firing back and it cost him. Chavez always seemed to be in a position to punch which allowed him to always score first. Much of the time Plakio kept backing up, making it much more difficult to score.

 

 

Bout #10 Marcus Sanchez won by walkover as his opponent failed to appear.

Bout #11 Jesus Picon, 14 yrs., 117 lbs., Warriors Boxing, Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Rex Glenn, 14 yrs., 109.8 lbs., Bama Boxing, Roswell, NM. The opening two rounds were close, but Picon was the better judge of distance, scoring with a hard left jab and sneaky overhand rights. Glenn had his best round in the third, drawing blood from the nose of his rival. Glenn looked good, but waited too long to get started. Amateur bouts are only three rounds and you have to be ready at the opening bell.