By Austin Killeen Ringside       Photos by Octavio Vera

Last Saturday night’s fight card at the Manuel Lujan Center looked outstanding on paper. When the final bell sounded; reality lived up to expectations. Starting with the second bout of the evening each fight was exciting, with the participants in each succeeding contest trying to top it in drama and thrills.  Josh Torres scored his fifth straight KO in the main event and looked dominating in the process. The friendly showdown between Willie Villanueva and Matthew Esquibel had lots of action.  Jose Luis Sanchez had a career defining performance in stopping veteran Joe Gomez. Aaron Perez destroyed Isaias Martin Cardona to remain undefeated. Amy Salinas looked very good in topping a talented Danielle Saldanha. Cristian Castillo continued to improve against a gutsy but inexperienced Albert Jones. And the evening’s second bout between Lorenzo Benavidez and Rico Urquizo had the fans standing in the aisles.

In the main event of the evening, scheduled for 10 rounds, welterweight Josh “Pitbull” Torres (20-6-1, 12 KO) 144.8 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by KO over Francisco “El Zorro” Castro (28-10-0, 23 KO’s) 149.6 lbs., of Cd Juarez, Mexico. In the first three rounds Torres put on a clinic, both on offense and defense. Working behind a punishing left jab “Pitbull” found openings for his arsenal of punches, scoring to the head and body. Things got a little dicey in the fourth when Castro opened a cut over the right eye of Torres. Unable to land a meaningful punch with either hand, the Mexican import used his head to inflect the damage. But Torres answered with thirty seconds remaining in the round with some bombs.

In rounds five and six Castro found a home for his overhand right, but each time Torres would fire back with his own shots to the head and body. I really liked the left hooks Torres was able to sneak into Castro’s body. In the seventh Castro was able to land a right to the head, only to have Torres answer with a big finish just before the bell. In the eighth Castro accidentally landed another head butt (wink, wink) but a murderous left hook, right cross by Torres resulted in a KO at 1:07 of the round. I have never seen Torres look better; he was built like a statue but with more flexibility. There are rumors about Torres finally getting his big opportunity, with the fight hopefully taking place in Albuquerque.

The following bouts were scheduled for 6 rounds.

In the semi-final, welterweight Matthew “Papitas” Esquibel (12-0-1, 5 KO’s) 145.2 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Willie Villanueva (11-6-1, 2 KO’s) 145.2 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM. The first two rounds saw Esquibel get off to a fast start, dropping his rival with body shots in the second. Villanueva felt the punches were low, but his complaint fell on deaf ears. As the fight wore on Villanueva never seemed to figure out the proper distance for his punches. That was definitely not a problem for Esquibel, whose punches found their target often. Rounds three and four were a continuation of the first two minus the knockdown. In the fifth round Villanueva rocked his rival with a right to the jaw. Unfortunately, it was a couple of seconds before he realized what he had accomplished. Esquibel ended the round scoring with a flurry of punches. Villanueva had his best round in the sixth, but it was too little, too late. Judge Levi Martinez scored the contest 60-53, while Chris Tellez and Joel Perez had scores of 59-54 making Esquibel the winner by UD. I’ve never seen Esquibel look better and I was impressed by his hand speed.

In the sixth bout, junior middleweight Jose Luis “El Guero” Sanchez (9-1-0, 4 KO’s) 151.8 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over Joe Gomez Martinez (22-8-0, 10 KO’s) 151.2 lbs., of Aztec, NM. I gave Sanchez little chance of winning, figuring Gomez would win by UD or KO. I guess I’ll eat some crow for supper. From the opening bell Sanchez had a confidence about himself that said this is my night. Usually when a boxer has to fight backing up they are not effective. Apparently Sanchez never heard of that expression, because he was going about his business with no difficulty. In the opening three rounds it appeared both fighters were throwing about the same number of punches, but it appeared that Sanchez had the heavier hands. Sanchez had a very strong fourth round hurting the Aztec fighter on several occasions. In the fifth round a right to the head dropped Gomez, who was clearly hurt. Amazingly after beating the count, Gomez was the aggressor behind his jab. But it no longer was effective and he walked into a right to the head. When he hit the canvas for a second time referee Richard Valez halted the contest. This has to be the biggest win in the career of Sanchez and his performance was very impressive.  With the victory Sanchez hopes to get a rematch with Josh Torres for his state welterweight title.

In the fifth bout, featherweight Aaron “Angel Baby” Perez (7-0-0, 5 KO’s) 128.2 lbs., won by TKO over Isaias Martin Cardona (25-18-0, 17 KO’s) 123.8 lbs., of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. After scoring four KO’s in his first four bouts, Perez stepped up in class and had to work hard to win a pair of decisions.  Prior to this fight I was wondering if Perez was a good fighter, but a fighter with only ordinary punching power. If your still wondering just ask Cardona, who’s looking for a bottle of aspirin. Perez came out of his corner at the opening bell throwing bombs with mean intentions and dropped the Mexico import with a left hook. Rising on unsteady legs, Cardona soon had blood leaking down the side of his face. Returning to  his corner he looked more like the survivor of a helicopter crash than a boxer. His corner had the common sense to do what Perez would do early in  the next round; stop                                             the fight.

The remaining bouts were scheduled for 4 rounds

In the fourth bout, flyweight Amy “La Picosita” Salinas (2-0-0) 114.2 lbs., of Las Cruces, NM won by UD over Danielle Saldanha (2-2-0, 1 KO) 108.4 lbs., of Fort Collins, CO. Salinas has a excellent amateur background, with over one hundred fights, and it shows. Saldanha has above average talent and throws two and three punches at a time, while employing excellent lateral movement. Her problem is the same as all humans, she has to stop and catch her breath from time to time. Whenever she did, Salinas would trap her on the ropes and throw multiple combinations with accuracy. After four hard rounds of fighting, judges Levi Martinez, Chris Tellez and Joel Perez all had identical scores of 40-36 for Amy Salinas.

In the third bout, welterweight Cristian Castillo (2-0-0, 2 KO’s) 148 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over debuting Albert Jones, 143.4 lbs., of Midland, TX. I’ve seen both of Castillo’s pro bouts and he looks to have some potential. That was bad information for the game but very green Jones. As soon as the bell rang Castillo was searching for some ribs to bust. Unfortunately for Jones he was the only other fighter in the ring. A southpaw, Jones had no idea he was suppose to keep his lead foot outside that of his opponent or which way he should move. Jones took some brutal body shots but did not splash to the canvas. If he had nothing else he had pride and tried to survive. At the end of the second round his corner halted the contest. For Castillo, it’s time to step up in class.

In the second bout, cruiserweight Lorenzo Benavidez (2-1-0) 175.4 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by UD over Rico Urquizo (5-7-2, 3 KO’s) 181.2 lbs., of Clovis, NM. This was a very entertaining fight and the fans loved the 5’ 2” Benavidez.  I call it the Bambi effect, Benavidez is cute and cuddly and obviously the crowd favorite. I gave the opening two rounds to Benavidez who has amazing head movement, allowing him to slip punches while counter punching. The second round was much more competitive than the first. Urquizo won the third round using angles which created openings for his uppercuts and body punches. The final round was hotly contested, with neither boxer seemingly putting his stamp on it. Judge Chris Tellez scored the contest 40-36 while Levi Martinez and Joel Perez both had scores of 39-37 all Benavidez. This would make for a great rematch.

In the opening bout of the evening, debuting Adam Ramirez, 159.6 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over Larry Sanchez (0-3-0) 154.4 lbs., of Midland, TX. At the opening bell Sanchez took control of the action, while Ramirez appeared to be tight. Sanchez has an ok jab and was throwing a few right hands. In the final thirty seconds of the round Ramirez connected with a hard right that hurt Sanchez. The Midland fighter turned his back on Ramirez, who threw a roundhouse left over Sanchez’s shoulder that hit him in the face.  As referee Sid Ware separated the boxers Sanchez fell to the canvas. The bell rang before Ramirez could do any additional damage. The second round it appeared that Sanchez had lost all interest in a boxing career after falling to the canvas from a left hook. Time of the TKO was 1:13. Sanchez did what he had to do and I would expect will improve with more time in the gym.