Bobby D Presents boxing show at the Sheraton
Just another day at the office for The Fight Club from Undisputed Downtown. Thursday evening, members of The Fight Club were at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego for the pro debut of Ulises Sierra (far right). Photo: J. Wyatt
Thursday evening Bobby D Presents in association with Jorge Marron Productions entertained the local boxing fans with five pro bouts at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego. They had six bouts scheduled but at the last minute, Granson Clark of Los Angeles bowed out. Reports say he took one look at his opponent, the 6’7½” giant, Razvan Cojanu from Las Vegas by way of Rumania, and simply said, “No way!”
In Bout #1, Jason Gonzalez of Long Beach, CA (L) prepares to inflict even more punishment on the battered Greg Baca of San Bernardino, CA (R). Photo: J. Wyatt
In this photo, we have a frontal shot of Jason Gonzalez. The blood on his boxing trunks came from his opponent Greg Baca. Photo: Jim Wyatt
After the referee’s stoppage, Jason Gonzalez improves his record to 1-1 after defeating Greg Baca (in the rear, leaning on the ring ropes). Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #1 featured a righty/lefty matchup between Greg Baca (0-1) of San Bernardino, CA going up against southpaw Jason Gonzalez (0-1) of Long Beach, CA in a four rounder.
Last July, in his debut, Baca lost an unanimous decision to southpaw Dushane Crooks at the Morongo Resort & Spa in Cabazon, CA. He was knocked down in Round one and later had a point deducted for spitting out his mouthpiece. The reason the mouthpiece came out? His nose was broken and he had difficulty breathing.
On Thursday night, we had almost the same scenario with the same face and nose being busted up, albeit for investing in a new mouthpiece.
Gonzalez, a head taller than Baca, had his way in this one. At the 1:52 point of round four, referee Jose Cobian stepped in to call a halt to the beating.
If you believe in Déjà vu, mark your calendar. Greg Baca should be back next year around this same time.
In Bout #2, it was all about who got there first, as we see Adolfo Landero (L) landing the big overhand right to the head of Cesar Garcia. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Feeling glum, Cesar Garcia heads back to his corner after hearing the announcement that his opponent Adolfo Landeros was awarded the victory, Thursday night at the Bobby D Presents Boxing Show at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Photo: J. Wyatt
Bout #2 winner Adolfo Landeros has his arms raised by the Bobby D Presents show hostesses. Photo: Jim Wyatt
In Bout #2, two veterans went toe to toe to entertain the crowd. Featherweight Adolfo “El Terror” Landeros of Hidalgo, Hidalgo, Mexico secured win #22, only his second win in his last 18 bouts, over lightweight Pablo Cesar “Mayu” Garcia from Mexicali, B. C., Mexico. With the loss, the durable Garcia drops to 4-11-1, 1 KO.
Whereas Landeros has fought the cream of the crop over a 13 year career, the majority of the people Garcia has faced have mostly been lightweights (literally).
From the outset, Garcia dug in, started strong and appeared to be on his way to winning round one until he got caught with a left hook that knocked him off his feet. The rest of the way, it was all Landeros who gave Garcia a boxing lesson to secure an unanimous decision shutout win, 40-35 on all three scorecards.
In full regalia, Larry “Psycho” Ward of Sacramento, CA poses for a photo just prior to his bout with Mark Ward of Los Angeles, CA. Photo: Jim Wyatt
As they begin Round #1, Larry “Psycho” Ward (R) isn’t sure what he wants to do against the much taller and awesomely built Mark Ward (L). Photo: Jim Wyatt
Larry Ward (Center) with his cowboy hat, Ostrich feathered Boa and dark shades, was the center of attraction after defeating Mark Ward in Bout #3. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #3 featured a mind-numbing heavyweight match between Mark Ward of Los Angeles by way of Cleveland, Ohio making his debut against Larry “Psycho” Ward (0-2), a slightly shorter, charismatic southpaw from Sacramento, CA.
Since boas are only available through novelty, costume, or lingerie shops, I had to ask Larry Ward where he gets his. Ward makes his own. Confined to Psycho Ward’s backyard, “Olivia” a female ostrich gets her feathers plucked twice a month.
The use of charismatic might be a stretch but he did enter the Sheraton ballroom wearing a cowboy hat, an Ostrich feathered boa, extremely large sunglasses (ala Sly and the Family Stone) and dancing to the tune of “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.” The dancing continued even during his warm up.
Since boas are only available through novelty, costume, or lingerie shops, I had to ask where he bought his. Larry makes his own. Confined to Ward’s backyard, “Ollie” the ostrich gets plucked twice a month.
As far as boxing techniques and strategy, Larry Ward has his own. He waits on your jab, then lunges at you. His punches come from right and left field. If per chance a punch lands somewhere, he’ll immediately tie you up.
Mark Ward (no relation), trains at the Maywood Boxing Club in Maywood, CA, home of Manny and Charles Huerta, the Wests, Juan and Kaliesha. He came into Thursday’s contest highly touted. The former Cleveland, Ohio Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champ was making his highly anticipated debut. He had all the credentials: stature, muscular physique, head snapping jab, ex cetera, etc. But like any competitor, if you don’t use those tools, you fail. And he did miserably. Even though the bout was his for the taking, he hardly threw any punches.
Inference: boxers in Cleveland must be pretty sad.
I’d like to say something positive about Larry Ward but he was in a word, dreadful. In his first fight, he was knocked out in the first round. In his next fight, he made it half way threw the second round. Anyone with a punch, from welterweight on up, should be able to put Larry on his back. This year’s Battle of the Badges heavyweights could have beaten both.
The “Psycho” became the beneficiary of this easy win. After the bout, he received two congratulatory messages, one from Dancing with the Stars, the other from Vogue Magazine.
After delivering a sharp left hook, Ulises Sierra (L) looks into the eyes of the durable Omar Barefield (R). Photo: Jim Wyatt
Ulises Sierra (L) gets set to unload a hard right to the side of Omar Barefield’s head. Referee Pat Russell looks on. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Ulises Sierra has his arm raised in victory by referee Pat Russell after defeating Omar Barefield. Photo: Jim Wyatt
An official from the California Athletic Commission has Ulises Sierra sign on the dotted line for his first check as a professional boxer. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Work done, The Fight Club from Undisputed Downtown finishes their day with one last photo. Photo: Jim Wyatt
In Bout #4, they had two super middleweights making their Pro-debut, Ulises Sierra from the Undisputed Fitness and Training Center in San Diego’s Downtown and Omar Barefield who hails from San Jose, CA.
In Round #1, Barefield used a lot of energy circling about the ring while Sierra waited patiently in the center of the ring to counter off each Barefield miss. Barefield ended the round with a flurry but it wasn’t enough to win the round.
In Round #2, Sierra started pounding the midsection to bring Barefield’s hands down. Nearing the end of Round #2, the strategy paid dividends and several sharp combinations landed to the head.
By Round #3, the straight shots to the head were landing in multiples and Sierra’s trainer, Joe Vargas, complimented his fighter, “You see what happens when you box!”
With the crowd pulling for their hometown hero, the fans were up and out of their seats for round #4. You could feel the transference of their energy vibes. Then, in the closing seconds, Sierra had Barefield in trouble. He was scoring with direct hits, the type that turn an opponent’s head. Despite the pummeling, Barefield showed how tough he is and finished out the round.
Aside from the multiple resting periods against the ropes, Sierra remained the more poised, more accurate and busier boxer throughout; so much so that the judges rewarded his efforts with an unanimous decision, 40-36 on all three scorecards.
Gerardo Espinoza (R) is shown unloading a right cross on the chin of his opponent Jose Cota, Thursday evening, June 28, 2012 at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Jose Cota (L) is shown doing what he does best, bullying Gerardo Espinoza backwards so he can pound his midsection while he has him pinned against the ropes. Photo: Jim Wyatt
After the announcement of a draw in Bout #5, the Ring Card girls raised the arms of boxers Gerardo Espinoza (L) and Jose Cota (R). Photo: Jim Wyatt
In the Main Event, Bout #5, they featured featherweights Gerardo “Locomotora” Espinoza (28-13-1, 26 KOs) from Tijuana, B. C., Mexico in a scheduled six rounder against Jose Angel “Bocho” Cota (8-7-1, 6 KOs), from Mexicali, B. C., Mexico.
Their nicknames of “Locomotora” meaning locomotive and “Bocho” meaning clever, should be transposed. At this point in their careers, Espinoza, who is 31, has become a crafty journeyman who hasn’t won a bout in over eight years. Cota, the full steam ahead brawler, winless in five years, tends to be the more aggressive of the two.
As you might expect, Cota was relentless and didn’t hesitate when he had an opportunity to roughhouse. Espinoza, the more polished boxer, landed the majority of his shots to the head off counters. Both went nonstop and took full advantage of the momentum swings. In the end the judges were flustered by the equality and decided on a majority draw. Judges Tony Crebs and Alejandro Rochin scored the bout 57-57 while Fritz Werner had it 60-54 for Espinoza to make it a majority draw.
For many, many years, the quality of these Bobby D Presents Boxing Shows has been topnotch. In my estimation, this was the first show to slip off the AAA rating scale. Like in the bond market, it’s important to keep that rating high. The grades AAA, AA, and A are considered “investment grade” or of high quality. Bs and Cs indicate a poor grade, while anything lower than that is considered very risky and referred to as “junk” bonds.
