Results from 2018 Junior Robles & Byron Lindsay Boxing show
As advertised the 2018 Junior Robles & Byron Lindsay Boxing show was an event you couldn’t afford to miss. From the opening bell to the final bell, fans were treated to non-stop action.
In Bout #1, it was 16-year-old Moises Sanchez (144.4 lbs.) from Intensity MMA, South San Diego, Calif. going up against 15-year-old Rogelio Soto from Sparta Boxing Training Center, El Centro, Calif. (141.8 lbs.). From the outset, Sanchez became a headhunter and with each blow proved he possessed the heavier hands. By the second round, his edge in firepower became even more pronounced. This development forced the referee, Andrew Moreno, to issue one 8-count after another. After the third 8-count, the referee called for the early stoppage.
Bout #1, with its second-round stoppage, ended with referee Andrew Moreno raising the arm of the victorious Moises Sanchez who hails from Intensity MMA in South San Diego.
In Bout #2, it was 15-year-old Carlos Smith of the National City CYAC, National City, Calif. (126 lbs.) going up against 16-year-old Jacob Cuevas (126.4 pounds) from the Nevada Boxing Club, Las Vegas, Nevada. In this back and forth struggle it always seemed Mr. Smith held the upper hand by either countering well or pulling off a late rally which had his opponent backpedaling. That being said, Cuevas came back strong in round two, and not only gained the crowd’s respect, but it’s likely he made amends for Round #1 and the earlier 8-count. This made round three critical and as such Smith showed no sign of letting up. Right up until that final bell, Smith made certain to outbox the extremely competitive Cuevas.
At the conclusion of Bout #2, we see Carlos Smith (r) from the host gym, the National City CYAC and Jacob Cuevas (l) from the Nevada Boxing Club joined by referee Andrew Moreno and the presenter of the winning trophy, a young lady from the U. S. Border Patrol who opened the show by singing a laudable rendition of our National Anthem. Photos: J. Wyatt
After the announcement of his victory up went the arm of the victorious Carlos Smith of the host gym, the National City Community Youth Athletic Center.
In Bout #3, they had 10-year-old Isaac Contreras (94.4 pounds) from the well-respected Indio Boys & Girls Club, Indio, Calif. going up against 11- year-old Dason Trujillo (97.8 pounds) from the Bound Boxing Academy in Chula Vista, Calif. who was making his Amateur debut after just five months of training. With the opposing camps anxious to see both youngsters mix it up, it didn’t take long before you heard the chants of “Work, Work!!!” And that is just what the youngsters did right up until the final bell. They were more than willing to take a punch in order to deliver two of their own. Before long it became clear the more effective blows were being landed by extremely competent Mr. Trujillo.
Once again a member of the U. S. Border Patrol was there to assist the USA Amateur Boxing officials with the presentation of the winner’s trophy.
As mentioned, it came as no surprise that the winning trophy went to Dason Trujillo (l) from the Bound Boxing Academy. Meanwhile, the shorter Isaac Contreras (r) from the Indio Boys & Girls Club, Indio, Calif. demonstrated admirable sportsmanship by clapping for his opponent.
Having your immediate family present for your boxing debut – priceless. It was certainly that and more for the victorious Dason Trujillo from the Bound Boxing Academy.
In Bout #4, it was 15-year-old Alex Valdez (138.2 lbs.) from the Fernando Vargas Fighting Foundation, North Las Vegas, Nevada taking on 16-year-old Xavier Dozal (137.2 lbs.) from San Diego who is currently Unattached. Throughout this match, Valdez showed his toughness by taking one big punch in order to deliver two or three big punches of his own. The bombardier tactics of Valdez eventually had Dozal in trouble and his nose bleeding. As a result, we soon saw referee Hondo Fontane stepping in to stop this one-sided match.
After the stoppage in Bout #4, boxers Xavier Dozal (left), currently Unattached and Alex Valdez (r) from the Fernando Vargas Fighting Academy, along with the trophy presenters came to the center of the ring to await the announcement of the winner.
After being declared the winner, up went the arm of the victorious Alex Valdez from the Fernando Vargas Fighting Academy of North Las Vegas, Nevada. Photos: Jim Wyatt
In Bout #5, it was 18-year-old Emir Gutierrez (152.8 lbs., white trunks) from Lincoln Boxing Club, Riverside, Calif. facing 24-year-old Luis Garcia (157.4 lbs., blue trunks) from the House of Boxing, Paradise Hills, San Diego, Calif.
At the conclusion of Bout 5, the combatants Emir Gutierrez from the Lincoln Boxing Club (r) and his opponent Luis Garcia from the House of Boxing await the announcement of the judges’ scores with referee/local President of LBC 44 Hondo Fontane.
With Emir Gutierrez (r) landing the majority of the telling blows, the outcome of this match came as no surprise. Gutierrez, who benefits big time from his long reach, was able to score repeatedly and then simply pull back to maintain the proper distance so Garcia had little or no chance of responding. Also, whenever Gutierrez could not escape, he was clever enough to tie his opponent up. That being said, this was another classic battle for the true boxing fan and you can be certain no one would have balked if it had gone an additional nine rounds.
Bout #6 featured two more bangers, 10-year-olds Jose Ochoa, 69.8 lbs., (r) from the Indio Boys & Girls Club of Indio, Calif. and Angel Madrid (l) 69 lbs. from the Backyard Boxing Gym in Vista, Calif. Both gave it their all, which left the judges with a most difficult decision.
With his win, another confidence builder, Jose Ochoa (r) who landed more of the cleaner shots to the head, moves another step closer to his goal of becoming the undisputed champion.
Bout 7 featured Carlo Castro (r) from Sparta Boxing Gym, El Centro, Calif. going up against Jesus Castillo (l) from the ABC Youth Foundation in San Diego.
In the end, we saw veteran referee Rick Ley raising the arm of the victorious Carlos Castro who made great headway with his continual use of the well placed left hook.
Bout #8 featured 10-year-olds, Gracen Hoopii (70.4 lbs.) from the Bomber’s Squad Academy in El Cajon, Calif. taking on Kevin Santana (72.8 lbs.) from the Martillos Boxing Club in Phoenix, Arizona. With both boxers remaining busy, the judges had to weigh which of the two landed the more effective blows and in the end, that distinction went to Santana.
On hand to make the presentation of the winning trophy to Kevin Santana (r) were the Sanchez brothers, (l to r) Carlos and Nico, who between them have won countless Regional and National Titles, plus a Golden Gloves and a National PAL championship.
Bout #9 featured 12-year-old Alejandro Bastidas (l) from the Bound Boxing Academy of Chula Vista, Calif., who is classified as an Open boxer and currently nationally ranked, being challenged by 11-year-old Anthony Santana (81.2 lbs., 10 bouts) from the Martillo’s Boxing Gym of Glendale, Arizona.
After three tough rounds, all five judges had Bastidas ahead on their scorecard. Simply put, Bastidas was the busier boxer and no doubt landed a higher percentage of his punches.
Bout 10 featured two 14-year-olds, Oliver Alonzo (107.2 lbs., 15 bouts) from Garden Grove Boxing, Garden Grove, Calif. (right, red corner) taking on Jose Escarge (102 lbs., an Open boxer) from the Martillo’s Boxing Gym, Glendale, Arizona (left). While Escarge was effective in round one, that all changed in rounds two and three after Escarge started landing his more effective counters. Photos: Jim Wyatt
Winning two out of three rounds in Bout #10, the decision went to the more accurate and thus more effective Oliver Alonzo (r).
Bout #11 featured two young gladiators, 18-year-old Kevin Monroy (124.6 lbs., red trunks, a veteran of just two bouts) from the House of Boxing Training Center in Paradise Hills, going up against 17-year-old Hector Navarro from Home Team Boxing of San Ysidro, Calif. (123.8 lbs., who was making his Amateur debut). From the outset, both boxers were accurate, fearless, head-hunters with Navarro favoring his big overhand rights and paying little or no attention to his defense. After losing the first round to Navarro, back came Monroy in round two to make it more of a contest. Soon, both were taking turns with their onslaughts featuring powerful shots to the head and then their myriad of left hooks. With so many punches being thrown, it appeared every one of them had the green light to landed right smack on target.
At the conclusion of this thrilling bout, there was absolutely no need to discuss which bout would be chosen “Bout of the Day”.
Bout #11, a thriller, was won by the fearless Hector Navarro, shown here having his arm raised in victory by referee Andrew Moreno.
Immediately following their classic duel, everyone and their brother wanted a photo of these two gentlemen, Kevin Monroy (right) from the House of Boxing Training Center and Hector Navarro from the Home Team Boxing Program of San Ysidro, Calif.
It was tough to follow the Navarro vs. Monroy thriller, but the participants in Bout #12 gave it their best shot. (l to r) 9-year-old Leonardo Ramirez (60.4 lbs., blue trunks) from North County MMA and 8-year-old Hayden Hoopii (56.4 lbs., red trunks) from the Bombers Squad Academy in El Cajon, Calif.
After their nonstop fisticuffs in just their second Amateur bout, Leonardo Ramirez (left) was declared the winner in his battle with the equally tough Hayden Hoopii (right).
After his big win, Leonardo Ramirez (c) was joined by members of his North County MMA Gym – proud coach Cristian Mercado Armenta (l), Marvin Martinez (r) and an obvious fan of the push to have Batman run for President in 2020.
Bout #13: Tables have turned now that his confidence has grown. Early on, Danny Hernandez (red gloves) from the San Diego Athletic Academy was getting beaten quite regularly by the slick Javier Garcia from United Boxing & Fitness Gym (blue gloves) and now for the second straight time, it was Hernandez (red gloves) coming away with the victory.
At the close of Saturday’s show, Kevin Monroy (right) from the House of Boxing Training Center and Hector Navarro (left) from the Home Team Boxing Group of South San Diego reappeared after their bout was selected as “the Bout of the Day”.
USA Amateur Boxing’s LBC 44 Cal Border President Hondo Fontane salutes the day’s “Top Performers from Saturday’s show”, (l to r) Hector Navarro from Home Team Boxing, San Ysidro, Calif., Kevin Monroy from the House of Boxing Training Center, Paradise Hills, San Diego, Calif. and Carlos Smith from the host gym, the National City CYAC.
Posing for one last photo with the celebrated athletes were event organizers, Clemente Casillas, the Director of the National City CYAC plus two of his invaluable, indispensable coaches Frank Barajas (c) and Edgar Sandoval (r). All photos: Jim Wyatt
