Bound Boxing Academy’s Friday Night Fights on Broadway

During intermission, the newly elected LBC44 president, Hondo Fontane (l) was joined in the ring by the boxers advancing to the Junior Olympic Regionals in Reno, Nevada. Front: Juan Medina Jr. (Bound Boxing Academy), Julius Ballo (Unattached), Diego Luna (Bound Boxing), Alfred Vargas (Unattached), Rear: Jose and Jabin Chollet (National City CYAC), Jovany Contreras (CYAC), Jose Meza (Bound Boxing), Eric Puente (Max Impact), a coach from the National City CYAC represented Jasmine Hernandez), Andrea Medina (Bound Boxing) and Jessica Juarez (Unattached), missing Carlos Sanchez (Alliance Training Center). Photo: J. Wyatt

April 24, 2015 edition

The latest USA Amateur Boxing slugfest took place Friday evening at the Bound Boxing Academy in Chula Vista. The results are as follows:

Bout #1 featured the rematch of 16 year-old Brandon Cruz of the Pride of San Diego Gym, Bonita, Calif. (127 pounds) going up against 15 year-old Martin “Lover Boy” Ramirez of the host gym Bound Boxing Academy, Chula Vista, Calif. (126 pounds). Even though Cruz handily defeated Ramirez just six days before at the District Junior Olympic competition held at the Intensity MMA Gym in South San Diego, the Ramirez team vowed to get their revenge and in a close one, they did.

Round one was Ramirez’s “wow round” as he landed the majority of blows, forced an 8-count and chased the frustrated Cruz about the ring.

Back came Cruz in Round two and with the momentum change it was Ramirez’s turn to be issued an 8-count. That left the all or nothing third and final round, in which everyone, including the patrons, went all out to give it everything they had. After the scores were totaled, it was a dead heat. At that point, the head of officials, Willie Kuhn asked referee Will White to go one by one to each judge and ask for their preference. In the end the judges went 2-1 for Ramirez.

The revenge factor at work: In Bout #1 it was Martin “Lover Boy” Ramirez (r) of the Bound Boxing Academy, Chula Vista, getting the win over Brandon Cruz of the Pride of San Diego Gym, Bonita.

Proud coach and proud father pose for a photo at the conclusion of the bout.

In Bout #2, it was 15 year-old Jason Meza of The Arena (122 pounds) going up against 17 year-old Alexis Villareal of the National City CYAC (120 pounds).

Villareal came out of the chute the quickest and soon became the busier and more productive of the two – throwing harder blows and often in combination. Round two was more of the same as Villareal used this tactic of getting in close and smothering the taller Meza.

Meza did much better in the closing round, but as the saying goes, “it was too little, too late”.

(bottom, right) In Bout #2, it was Alexis Villareal (r) of the National City CYAC coming away with the decision victory over Jason Meza (l) of The Arena.

In Bout #3, there were two veterans, 14 year-old Jose Chollet of the National City CYAC (102 pounds) going up against 14 year-old Alfred Vargas Unattached (104 pounds).

Plain and simple, Chollet took round one by virtue of his stinging jab which kept the shorter Vargas at bay. In round two, Vargas did somewhat better by breaching that gap and even knocked the mouthpiece out of Chollet’s mouth.

By the end of the third round, Alfred had gotten close enough to get the better of their exchanges. Once again, it was too little, too late. 

(top) In Bout #3, it was Jose Chollet (l) of the National City CYAC defeating Alfred Vargas, currently unattached. Photos below show the proud parents having a Kodak moment with their son Jose Chollet.

Bout #4 featured another revenge match from Saturday’s Junior Olympic District finals. On Saturday, 16 year-old Randel Salazar (111 pounds) from the Pride of San Diego Gym defeated 15 year-old Jorge Chavez (116 pounds). Then, on Friday night, Chavez turned the tables and out-boxed Salazar. 

Round one was a repeat of Saturday’s slugfest with both boxers taking their turn to unload their overhand rights while their opponent readied himself to fire back with a counter left.

By round two, Chavez had gotten himself into a rhythm and it seemed everything he threw landed and most landed flush. Not to bring in fan involvement, but there was this one gent who kept yelling for Chavez to move forward, “MOVE FORWARD!!!” He was relentless, even though Chavez was doing exceptionally well by letting Salazar come forward into his wheelhouse – he’d slip the punch – then give him another sweetheart counter. Chavez was like that basketball player who couldn’t miss and every shot he took was from the 3-point range.

Our heady fan finished his discourse with “Leave it in the ring!!” which Chavez certainly did. All three judges had Chavez, the boxer, way ahead.

(bottom, right) Bout #4, another revenge match from Saturday’s Junior Olympic District Tournament, saw Jorge Sanchez (l) from the National City CYAC get the victory over Randel Salazar (r) from the Pride of San Diego Gym.

Bout #5 featured two debutants 20 year-old Anthony Rodriguez (157 pounds) of The Arena in Point Loma going up against 19 year-old David Gates (151 pounds) a Morse High School graduate who has been training for a little over seven months at the Alliance Training Center, Chula Vista.

Throughout this contest, Rodriguez looked more impressive in both his footwork and punching savvy. His punches came at you from all angles. In the first round, he did take one solid right to the chin from Gates and miraculously slipped another. In rounds two and three he did show more respect for Gates but he never went into a shell. He proved over and over he was more than willing to mix it up with the big banger.

When later asked about Rodriguez’s shortcomings – the minor things came to light: 1) at times he would exaggerate the bouncing up and down which left him vulnerable, 2) he was guilty of having his right hand down, way down, and 3) no coach likes to see an over-confident boxer switch from righty to lefty during a round. That too left Rodriguez vulnerable.

In Bout #5 it was Anthony Rodriguez (l) of The Arena, Point Loma defeating David Gates of the Alliance Training Center. Photos: Jim Wyatt

In the final bout, Bout #6, it was 17 year-old Ernesto Martinez Jr. of The Arena (130 pounds) getting bested by the more seasoned 25 year-old Contravis Strozier from the Gladiator School of Boxing, Spring Valley, Calif. (132 pounds).

Round one was quite competitive as both boxers threw some big punches. In round two and three, Strozier remained on the attack, wearing his opponent down and in each exchange, he made certain to land at least one to two more blows than Martinez. Strozier, who also fought last week in the District Junior Olympic qualifier, defeated Robert Lopez Jr. of Golden Hands.

In the final bout, Bout #6, it was Contravis Strozier (r) from the Gladiator School of Boxing, Spring Valley defeating Ernesto Martinez Jr. of The Arena.

When’s the next show? Bound Boxing Academy will once again open their doors on Friday evening, May 22 and then Saturday afternoon, June 6, 2015, they’ll be a show at the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. For any changes you can lease check in with our daily updated schedule.