Results from Saturday’s USA Boxing Show at LA Boxing in Carlsbad

USA Amateur Boxing goes north to Carlsbad, CA. for their Saturday, October 23rd show. The host gym, LA Boxing Carlsbad, matched up twenty-four hard nosed boxers to entertain the substantial crowd. On hand to either watch or coach were standouts in the sport: Manuel Mantecas Medina, who held five different versions of the world featherweight title, was there to assist the boxers from Chula Vista Boxing, Danny “Dynamite” Perez, the former NABA & NABF middleweight champ and a Carlsbad native stopped by, and Priest “Tiger” Smalls, himself a featherweight title holder, was there coaching his son and two additional boxers from the Point Loma Undisputed Fitness and Training Center.

Bout #1 featured middleweights 21 year old Giovanni Rivera, a Marine stationed at nearby Camp Pendleton going up against 25 year old Peter Egan of the Justin Fortune Gym.

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From the outset Rivera was the busier boxer and landed nice combinations to overwhelm his opponent. It wasn’t until the third round that Egan showed any sustained offense. In that final round, he landed two uppercuts and had a good flurry going on just shy of the final bell. Too little, too late as Rivera won the unanimous decision.

Bout #2 featured 18 year old Idris “Prince Tiger” Smalls of the Point Loma Undisputed Training Center at 131 pounds, going up against 17 year old Gerardo Lopez, 126 pounds of the Rhino Boxing Club in Vista, CA.

Lopez tried his best to get inside Small’s wingspan but he couldn’t. In round two he got clocked several times and was issued a standing eight count. Smalls’ reach advantage is awesome. Even when Lopez thought he was out of range, there came the stinging jab or overhand right.

Bout #3 featured heavyweights 218 pound, 26 year old Ivan Pineda of the Undisputed Fitness & Training Center in Point Loma going up against 25 year old year old, 216 pound Joe Nelson, another Marine stationed on Camp Pendleton. Like a bull, Pineda charged after Nelson and was relentless throwing only hard body shots. In round two, Pineda did mix it up more but he never slowed down. After Nelson received a standing eight count in the final round, his coach warned him, “Do you want me to throw in the towel?” Nelson heard the wake call and finished the round well.

Bout #4 had everyone’s attention since it featured Tiger Smalls latest discovery, middleweight Jeremy Willis who had just arrived from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The 25 year old with the super quick hands is Oklahoma’s Golden Gloves Champion. When you have a highfaluting reputation, people in the know take notice and the bullseye was certainly on Willis’ chest.

Willis’ opponent, 24 year-old Brady Rein, took notice and trained hard. After being a perennial bleeder and having his nose broken twice by David Barragan of the National City CYAC, Rein had surgery to prevent any such reoccurrence. “After getting that operation,” said Rein, flattening his nose with his right index finger, “I no longer have to worry about it.”

Rein, a quick study, saw where Willis was dropping his guard and surprised him with more than a few overhand rights to defeat the Oklahoma southpaw.

Bout #5 was a see-saw battle between 23 year old Jesus Lopez and 22 year old Kevin Lau, another Marine stationed on Camp Pendleton. In the first round, it was all about who got off first. Lopez did just that. He landed the bigger shots and had Lau backing up. In round two, the boxers reversed places and Lau had Lopez on his heals. Round three decided the close match which the judges saw going Lau’s way.

Bout #6 featured 21 year old Lucas Shackelford, another Marine from Camp Pendleton, going up against 17 year-old Russell Rivera of Rhino Boxing.

Simply said, Russell “the Muscle” Rivera has a boxing style that’s all his own. Incessantly, unceasingly, tirelessly, and most times unabated, Rivera was all over his opponent and hardly ever gave him any breathing room. Rivera doesn’t have the hand speed but he sure has the accuracy and despite what the judges ruled, I believe he won this bout going away. His punch stats alone went off the chart.

Bout #7 featured 11 year olds, Christian Leon of Barrio Station and Molano Diego of Rhino Boxing. With the judges ruling in Bout #6, I decided to watch Bout #7 with even keener interest. Round #1 was clearly won by the taller boy, Leon, who landed more punches. Diego appeared to be backing up and kept dropping his hands. In round two, Leon caught Diego several times with some big overhand rights. In round three, it ended up being a pretty even exchange. When the referee raised Diego’s arm, I had my second difference of opinion for the day.

The match that could have been decided by one punch

Bout #8 featured two 130 pound, 20 year old bangers, Jose Vigil of North County and Tony Burnett of the host gym, LA Boxing Carlsbad.  From the opening bell you just knew the bout wasn’t going to last long. After an even exchange, Vigil got lucky and caught Burnett flush on the chin. As a result, Burnett was issued an eight count. Vigil wins round one. In round two, it was Burnett, back for revenge, catching Vigil flush with two overhand rights. Then it was Vigil’s turn again and he had Burnett backed up against the ropes. After Vigil landed four straight unanswered blows to Burnett’s head, the referee stepped in and called for the stoppage.

Bout #9 was a rematch of last week’s bout at the National City Championships at the CYAC between 16 year-olds Brian Soloman of the USMC contingent and Nicholas Cortez of Rhino Boxing. Even though the match started out differently, the result was the same. Cortez used his height and reach advantage plus experience to land more blows and gain the win.

Bout #10 featured super-middleweights, 18 year old Manuel Vazquez of the Chula Vista Boxing Club going up against 17 year old Sharyan Etezadi of Encinitas Boxing.

Etezadi, a southpaw, took control in round one and landed the majority of the cleaner, harder shots, especially with his power packing left hand. Round two had more even exchanges and you could have given the round to either boxer until seconds before the bell, Vazquez caught Etezadi with a powerful left that knocked him off his feet. After the 10 count was issue to the stunned but unhurt Etezadi, the boxers went immediately to their corners.

That knockdown signaled a golden opportunity for Vazquez. At that point, his corner concurred, “You can still win this match, if you win the final round.”

When the bell sounded, Vazquez came out firing and landed most every punch in his arsenal to make the judges’ decision easy.

Bout #11 featured 13 year olds Elias Garcia of Chula Vista Boxing and Enrique Lopez of Rhino Boxing. Since Garcia is shorter than most of his foes, his tactic has been to rush them and get in their grill. The tactic didn’t work against Lopez who because of his height advantage and accuracy didn’t allow Garcia to get close. He kept pounding Garcia’s head each time he approached. Eventually, the bout was stopped and Lopez was declared the winner.

Bout #12 featured 19 year old Emmanuel Diaz of Barrio Station going up against 21 year old Grant Heathcock, yet another Marine that’s stationed at Camp Pendleton. For Heathcock, who won his match last week at the National City Championships, this was his biggest challenge to date. How did he fair? He was able to hang in there and give a good account of himself. But in the end, Diaz’s hand speed was too much to handle for Heathcock who only started training this year.