By Austin Killeen       Photos by Lori Garcia

Before a sellout crowd at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Fidel Maldonado continued his successful comeback stopping his opponent in the first round. Los Angeles import Lorraine Villalobas proved to be a live body and then some in stopping the local favorite Leanna Martinez. Donald Sanchez fighting full time in the ring now showed some serious power in both hands. The much-hyped amateur star Santiago Giron lived up to his advanced billing. While Daniel Chavez Flores turned in a career-best performance to pump much-needed oxygen into his stagnant career. The five-bout card only had nine rounds of boxing, but fans leaving the venue seemed very happy with what they had witnessed.

In the main event of the evening scheduled for eight rounds, Fidel “Atrisco” Kid” Maldonado (27-4-1, 20 KO’s) 134.6 lbs., of Albuquerque won by TKO over Juan Santiago (16-17-2, 9 KO’s) 134.2 lbs., of Denver, CO. The bell sounded to start the first round and southpaw Maldonado dropped Santiago with an overhand left to the head. This is a bad way to start a fight against the hard-punching Maldonado and things only got worse. After beating the count Santiago found himself in a rainstorm of leather without a raincoat. It wasn’t long before Referee Rocky Burke saved the Denver fighter from further punishment at 1:08 of the round.  Maldonado’s three bout rehab program was a success, now it’s time to test the deeper waters where the bad boys swim.

The remainder of the bouts were all scheduled for four rounds

Lorraine Villalobas, (4-2-0, 2 KO’) 108.4 lbs., of Los Angeles, CA. won by TKO over Leanna Martinez (4-2-0, 2 KO’s) 108.2 lbs. of Espanola, NM. By the one-minute mark of the opening round, it was clear that Martinez was facing a live opponent. Villalobas was landing with a hard-left jab and overhand rights. Martinez had no head movement, and this was adding to her problems. In the second round, Martinez picked up her offense but was paying a terrible price on defense. She now had bad swelling over her left eye. In the third round, Villalobas added an accurate left hook to her arsenal and now Martinez had swelling over her right eye. Referee David Rios called the doctor over to check out Martinez before starting the fourth. Villalobas continued her all-out assault in the final round against the courageous fighter from Espanola causing Rios to halt the contest. Martinez was in excellent shape but never found the proper distance, had no head movement and was void of lateral movement. Villalobas would make an excellent opponent for undefeated Amy Salinas of Las Cruces, NM. Without question, this was the fight of the night.

Donald Sanchez (4-2-0, 3 KO’s) 159.2 lbs., of Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over Isaac Sifuentez (0-4-0) 161.6 lbs., of Dimmitt, Texas. This proved to be a one-sided contest as Sifuentez did not belong in the same ring with Sanchez. The only question was if there was any chance that Sifuentez’s southpaw style could confuse Sanchez. The answer was none. Sanchez wasted little time throwing jabs, instead scoring with overhand rights to the head of his overwhelmed opponent. This resulted in two knockdowns, which the game Sifuentez somehow managed to beat the ten-count. Referee Rocky Burke rescued the Texas fighter from further punishment at 1:17 of the opening round. Clearly, Sanchez needs a bigger test his next time in the ring.

In a battle of debuting fighters, Santiago Giron 113.8 lbs., won by TKO over Jose Villapando 116.8 lbs. Both fighters are from Albuquerque, so bragging rights to the “Duke City went to the winner. Within ten seconds of the opening round, Giron scored with a punishing left jab to his opponent’s face. Villapando was game but had no answer for his fleet-footed opponent’s lateral movement and excellent judge of distance. Giron seemed to be scoring from all angles, dropping Villapando with what appeared to be a five-punch combination. Referee David Rios stopped the at 2:31 seconds of the round.  Giron doesn’t need any more tune-ups and appears to be ready to face a tough challenge now. Villapando was in excellent shape but lacked the amateur background of Giron. Realistically, he needs to be matched up with a fellow novice, which would allow him to gain needed experience.

Daniel Chavez Flores (2-4-0, 1 KO) 180.6 lbs., Albuquerque, NM won by TKO over debuting Joel Terrazas 179.6 lbs., of Alamogordo, NM. The hard-working Chavez Flores finally seemed to put it all together to score his first stoppage win. Using a simple 1-2 combination Chavez Flores scored with overhand rights off a left jab. When the game Terrazas would retaliate, his opponent would go into an effective defensive shell. I’ve seen most of Chavez Flores’ fights and he never looked better. Showing patience, he was able to find a home for his right hand to Terrazas head resulting in two first-round knockdowns. Chavez Flores continued his dominance in the second round, causing referee Sid Ware to halt the contest at thirty-five seconds of the round. Chavez Flores has worked hard in his first six fights and maybe it’s starting to pay off. Terrazas could learn a lot just by looking at how his opponent never got discouraged when his career got off to a rocky start and turned things around.

Voices from the Corner: Promoter, manager and trainer Isidro Castillo of Hobbs, NM sent me a video of an amateur who made his debut this weekend. His name is Dangerous Rezzaq and he now has a record of 1-0-0. I can see why Castillo is so excited as Rezzaq looks like he was taking part in his twenty-first bout. He throws beautiful combinations and has a solid defense. I hope to see the young Mr. Rezzaq in a future amateur card this year.