Quinones Promociones Boxing Show, a marathon of sorts
According to our boxing critic who has been to a great many venues: Friday’s show at La Oficina Nite Club in Tijuana could benefit big time if the owners were to consider adding an air conditioner or two, increase the available seating, plus improve the lighting and acoustics.
Your average boxing show consists of seven, eight, 10 bouts tops. At this July 27, 2018 show at La Oficina Niteclub in Downtown Tijuana, the promoter was asking his patrons to sit through what could end up being an all-nighter on one of the hottest days on record. How hot? Earlier that day your’s truly saw a dog chasing after a cat and both were walking.
After Bout #1 got started (well after the announced start time of 8 p.m.), it appeared the more composed, experienced boxer, the 23-year-old, super lightweight Mike “Misak” Melikyan (4-2-1, 2 KOs) from Hollywood, Calif. only had to bide his time while the wild swinging novice Ivan Pinto would eventually punch himself out. Then came this nasty gash alongside Pinto’s right eye and the blood came pouring out. Between rounds, Pinto’s cutman performed miracles on closing that cut but what can you do to slow down the wild, exhausting, missing roundhouse swings was the issue. With all the power and momentum behind these off-target punches, the wild one fell to the canvas (twice). The first slip cost Pinto a standing 8-count. Throughout this chaos, the heavy breathing Pinto exhibited amazing stamina, and never, ever let-up. By the final round, it had become clear that it was Pinto, and not the more accomplished Melikyan, who had landed the majority of scoring blows and he had won over the capacity crowd. What Pinto lacked in boxing skills, he made up for in true grit. The spectators had truly witnessed an amazing performance to open the show.
Before the start of Bout #1, Ivan Pinto (l) of Tijuana and his opponent Mike Melikyan of Hollywood, Calif, received their final instructions from referee Juan Morales Lee.
You could see Ivan Pinto’s amazing reflexes on this night. At the very instant the referee began to lift his left arm in victory, Pinto had already raised his right arm skyward.
As the patrons can attest, this was a memorable, Gladiatorial bout to start Friday’s show. After four extremely tough rounds, Ivan Pinto had a nasty gash alongside his right eye and an opponent Mike Melikyan with his own ominous welts under both eyes. Both had given the fans everything they had.
Bout #2 featured lightweights Jose Zamora Soto (9-0, 6 KOs) from Hawthorne, Calif. and Jose Iniquez (7-30-1) from Tijuana.
After receiving their final instructions from veteran referee Juan Morales Lee, Jose Iniguez (7-30-1) (left) and Jose Zamora Soto (9-0, 6 KOs) (right) from Hawthorne, Calif. the competitors took a final moment for a photo.
This bout was over in a flash after Jose Zamora Soto landed this well placed punch to Jose Iniguez’s midsection.
In conclusion, we see lightweight Jose Zamora Soto (r) having his arm raised in victory by veteran referee Juan Morales Lee. With the win, Soto improves to (10-0, 7 KOs) while Jose Iniguez drops another notch to (7-31-1).
Pre-fight boxers in Bout #3 receive their final instructions: (l to r) 31-year-old Javier Rivera Meza (2-24-2) of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico and 23-year-old, 6-foot-tall Devon “the Great” Jamar Lee (4-0, 4 KOs) from Sacramento, Calif.
In movie terms, this was an example of the projectionist running the same reel. In other words, Bout #3 ended almost the same exact way as Bout #2. The shorter opponent, Javier Rivera, was stopped at the 2:11 mark of Round one by way of a body shot and Meza quit 48 seconds sooner than Jose Iniguez and was counted out in the opposite corner.
At the conclusion of Bout #3, Devon Jamar Lee had his arm raised in victory by referee Juan Morales Lee after stopping Javier Rivera at the 2:11 mark of round one.
Contestants in Bout #4, Maurice “Ambitious” Lamar Lee (r) from Van Nuys, Calif. (8-1, 4 KOs) and Odilon “Odi” Rivera Meza (l) from San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico (5-34-4, 3 KOs) pose for a photo before the start of their four rounder.
Believing Odi Rivera had already taken far too many unanswered blows to the head, the compassionate referee Juan Manuel Morales Lee stepped in to stop the bout.
Up goes the arm of the winner by TKO, Maurice Lamar Lee, who had absolutely no problem putting a hurt on Odilon Rivera Meza.
Bout #5 featured two very tall cruiserweights, 22-year-old Frankie Lopez (10-1, 8 KOs) from North Hollywood, Calif. and Jesus Beltran (1-2) from Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.
Unlike the preceding three matches, Bout #5 was competitive and it took a solid well-delivered punch from“Frankie” Lopez to stop the game Jesus Beltran.
After the stoppage, up went the arm of the victorious Frankie Lopez who now improves to 11-1, 9 KOs. With the loss, Jesus Beltran dropped to 1-3.
In Bout #6 they featured 21-year-old super featherweight Brandon Mendoza (3-0) from Panorama City, Calif. (r) facing 24-year-old, winless Isaac Galindo (0-9) from Tijuana (l).
In almost total obscurity, Isaac Galindo went down from a combination of blows and failed to get up before referee Alberto “Cookie” Ramos had reached the count of 10.
After the early stoppage, up goes the arm of the victorious Brandon Mendoza (r) who now improves to 4-0, with 4 KOs while Isaac Galindo continues along on his winless path.
At this point, there was a brief intermission and a time to reflect.
Initially, the promoter had 19 bouts scheduled but you now learn he ended up canceling two. With the oppressive heat and just one fan to cool the panting crowd of 300 plus, that was certainly a blessing. Plus, the majority of the bouts had been ending early. Otherwise, a few of these patrons who have been ordering more than their fair share of brown bottles might need an assist to get home. This was one of those brutally hot and humid nights when you were lucky that you didn’t invite your spouse or lady friend to come along. You know they would have worked you over during this intermission, “This is ridiculous! Enough is enough! We’re leaving, right now!”
But a true boxing fan doesn’t budge. It’s like that first night when you started to watch The Walking Dead and then binged on it, episode after episode until you heard the rooster crow. Intoxication is when you love something to excess. After midnight, the remaining boxing fans at La Oficina must have felt intoxicated. Not exactly howling at the moon intoxicated but some felt as though they had suddenly become experts on the sport and knew everything there was to know. As a result, they started passing along their new found knowledge to anyone who would listen.
After that rambling assessment, it was time for us to get back to showtime and Bout #7.
(left to right) The combatants in Bout #7, included 26-year-old, welterweight Terry Stevenson (1-0, 1 KO) from Los Angeles, California by way of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia taking on Armando Gonzalez (0-1) from Tijuana, B. C., Mexico.
At the conclusion of their hard-fought battle, up went the arm of the victorious Terry Stevenson who no doubt outworked the game but less accurate Armando Gonzalez to win himself a unanimous decision victory and improve his record to (2-0, 1 KO).
Before the start of Bout #8, welterweights 25-year-old Mylik “King Malik” Birdsong (r) from Los Angeles, Calif. (5-0, 4 KOs) and 21-year-old Antonio “Moho” Zamorano (0-3) met at center ring for a photo and some last minute instructions.
It didn’t take that long before Mr. Moho Zamorano had gone down on all fours.
After Antonio Zamorano (l) was counted out, up went the arm of the victorious Mylik “King Malik” Birdsong who had improved his record to 6-0 with 5 KOs.
Prior to the start of Bout #9, we see (l to r) 29-year-old welterweight Carlos Bacasegua (l) from Bacobampo, Sonora, Mexico (7-59-1, 1 KO), a victim of 32 knockouts) and Stan “The Man” Martyniouk (17-2, 3 KOs) from San Carlos, Calif. come to the center of the ring to receive final instructions from referee Alberto Ramos.
The game Carlos Bacasegua and his corner were simply overwhelmed by the well-leveraged and powerful punching being executed by the veteran Stan “The Man” Martyniouk.
The fight ended with Carlos Bacasegua trying to protect his sore ribs and his corner people refusing to allow their fighter to come out for another one-sided beatdown.
Bout #10 featured the two grizzled veterans, 36-year-old Keon “Special K” Johnson (23-10-1, 14 KOs) from Indianapolis, Indiana and 39-year-old Joel “Dinamita” Juarez (32-30-2, 28 KOs) from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
Whether it was the extreme heat, high humidity or the constant pummeling by the taller Keon Johnson, tough guy Joel Juarez soon took a knee at the 10-second mark of Round 4.
After Juarez was unable to continue, we see referee Juan Morales Lee raising the arm of the victorious Keon “Special K” Johnson who now improves to 24-10-1, with 15 KOs.
Bout #11 featured 20-year-old Steven Rodriguez (1-0, 1 KO) (right) taking on 18-year-old Raul “Roly” Torres of Tijuana who was making his Pro Debut.
Before long, the ferocious, big league punching of Steven Rodriguez had Raul Torres pinned in a corner and bent over grimacing from the extremely hard body shots.
This onesided bout ended early to ensure that Raul Torres wouldn’t be hurt seriously.
Having a support group like this is the key to a boxer’s success, so says Steven Rodriguez.
There was a bit of a popularity contest going on as these two gents made their way to the ring for Bout #12. Both Elias Contreras (l) and Julio Robles (r) are from Tijuana.
Things only got worse after Elias Contreras got caught with this right uppercut that had his head spin in the opposite direction. In the end, Contreras’ coach threw in the towel.
In the end, it was Julio “Sexy Boy” Robles (r) improving to (12-9-2, 4 KOs) while earning the stoppage victory over the mighty mite Elias Contreras (l) who drops to (1-11).
At the conclusion of his bout, Robles was joined for a photo by the lovely ring card gals, his manager Gabriel Quinones and his long-time coach/step-dad Victor Manuel Godoy.
It was all business prior to the start of Bout #13 as 19-year-old Edgardo Velazquez of Tijuana (7-0 with 7 KOs) looked over at his opponent Hector Corral (0-4) visiting from Etchojba, Sonora, Mexico.
Referee Juan Manuel Morales Lee raises the arm of the victorious Edgardo “Zurdo” Velazquez (right) after his quick, first round stoppage of Hector Corral (left).
Pride works both ways. Boxer being proud of his coach and coach being oh-so-proud of his over-achieving athlete.
Once again it takes a strong support group to be a success in the boxing world.
Prior to the start of Bout #14, 20-year-old Bryan Christopher Garcia 0-5 (left) and 17-year-old Manuel Tapia 3-0, 1 KO (right) pose for a photo with the ring card gal, their trainers, and referee Alberto Ramos. From this point on, Tapia worked his magic on the inside, while Garcia, with his longer reach, tried to score from the outside.
At the conclusion of Bout #14, Manuel Tapia had himself a unanimous decision victory and moved up to 4-0, while his opponent Bryan Christopher Garcia dropped to 0-6.
Before the start of Bout #15, boxers Samuel Armenta (l) and Marcos Muniz (r) plus their coaches met at center-ring for a photo and final instructions.
After the quick stoppage in Bout #15, it was a case of the unhappy, Samuel Armenta (0-2) losing his second straight while the oh-so-happy Marcos Muniz had won his 11th straight.
At the conclusion of Bout #15, it was the sweet smell of success for Marcos Muniz.
Bout #16 featured the big boys, 37-year-old, super heavyweight Esteban “King Kong” Sosa (2-12) and heavyweight Luis David Rodriguez (4-18-2) from Tijuana.
Over the course of four rounds, Luis David Rodriguez (r) made certain to leave no doubt that he had been the busier of the two to ensure his unanimous decision victory and improve his record to (5-18-2) while his opponent super heavyweight Esteban “King Kong” Sosa dropped a notch going to (2-13).
Prior to the start of Bout #17, the final bout of the evening, the 33-year-old Christian Louis Thomas (blue trunks) from California and 20-year-old Pedro Avalos (black trunks) from Tijuana pose for a photo with their coaches and referee Alberto Ramos.
By the time the final bout of the night rolled around, Bout #17, the patrons were likely comatose and their eyelids were being held up by toothpicks. Still, they had time for one last admirable performance. This is when Christian Louis Thomas (Global ID# 825839) entered center-stage and unexpectedly caught his younger opponent Pedro Avalos (who was making his Pro Debut) with a devastating overhand right and it was nite-nite. With this eye-opening KO victory, the 33-year-old Thomas improved his record to (5-0, 5 KOs). After Avalos went down, the passionate Thomas got super excited and you could see he was in another world. “I don’t understand it. I turned out the lights and where was my cheering section?”
Before leaving Friday’s show, the patrons did get to see Pedro Avalos return to his feet after being on the receiving end of that powerful knockout punch and the 33-year-old Christian “Liger” Thomas did receive the proper recognition. So ends the Quinones Promociones’ marathon, a show with 34 combatants and 17 bouts that went well into the night.
