Salas, the pretty dangerous opponent, gets pummeled by Enriquez
While Gloria Salas’ (r) punches were coming up short or off the mark, the Kenia Enriquez’s (l) punches were straight, on target and doing a lot more damage. All photos: Jim Wyatt
Las Pulgas, Tijuana, B. C., Mex., Wednesday, June 19, 2013
In a six round flyweight match on the latest Mayen Promotions Boxing card at Salon Las Pulgas in Tijuana, it was Kenia Enriquez (7-0-0, 4 KOs) of Tijuana having her way with the visiting Gloria “ La Bombita Sexy” Salas (3-8-1, 1 KO) who journeyed from Palm Springs, CA to become Kenia’s seventh straight victim.
The 19 year-old, former amateur stand out, continues to impress on her climb up the world rankings to #15. With her ranking, skill set, courage and power, it’s inevitable we’ll soon be seeing her challenge the likes of Dorely Valente from Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Rosilete Dos Santos from Sao Jose dos Pinhais, Parana, Brazil, and the two hotshots from Mexico City, Zulina Munoz and Mariana Juarez.
The end of Wednesday’s contest came in the fourth round when Enriquez pinned Salas against the ropes and began to work her over. After an accumulation of blows, approximately five, referee Juan Morales Lee stepped in to stop the bout. Official time was 1:36 of the fourth.
In preparation for their fight, (l) Kenia Enriquez has her hair braided by her sister, the hair stylist. (bottom right) Salas poses for a photo with her friend and coach.
Prior to their clash on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, the formidable Kenia Enriquez of Tijuana looks across the ring at her opponent Gloria Salas from Palm Springs, CA. Photo: J. Wyatt
(top) Prior to their bout at Salon Las Pulgas, Kenia Enriquez (r) and Gloria Salas (l) pose for photos with referee Juan Morales Lee. (below) Gloria Salas (green trunks) appears frustrated after continually missing her target, the elusive Kenia Enriquez. Photos: Jim Wyatt
With his back to the camera, referee Juan Morales Lee steps in front of Kenia Enriquez to stop the fight.
San Diego’s Prince Tiger Smalls makes his debut
It was a long time coming but there he was, “Prince Tiger” Smalls, son of the former featherweight title holder, Priest “Tiger” Smalls, making his pro debut. As Smalls looked across at the much shorter opponent, you had to figure this finely tuned, statuesque fighter coming from such a fine pedigree had no chance of losing.
Now for an explanation of the train wreck that should have never taken place. Point of fact, the talented, super featherweight, got by without giving 100%. At this point in his career, based on a check list of the attributes to become a world champion, Smalls has it all, amazing hand speed, stamina, footwork, accuracy, more than enough to defeat his opponent, Erick “Monkey” Aguirre.
Some haters went so far as to claim he didn’t even deserve the unpopular majority draw. They feel Aguirre’s heart was bigger on this night and even though he lacked the proper technique, he scored enough shots to the head by attacking from every conceivable angle.
Smalls’ strategy involved circling to the left, landing the big right hand after softening Aguirre up with a series of crisp left jabs. Normally, that would be enough to get the win. However, this Muhammad Ali-like strategy has never been popular in Mexico. Aguirre, who lives in Tijuana, knows this. What he did was show more grit and kept walking Smalls down, even while getting punched in the face.
After Smalls did well in round one, he became complacent, less daring in Round #2 which allowed the judges along with the chanting patrons to look favorably on Aguirre’s efforts.
In the third round, it looked as if Smalls was going to put Aguirre out of his misery. He came close several times but never finished. If you’re scoring the fight, that gives Smalls two rounds, Aguirre one.
In the fourth round of this four rounder, both fighters came out swinging. Then Smalls suddenly fizzled as if he were so far ahead on the scorecards that all he had to do was coast for the final two minutes. With the energetic chants of “Aguirre, Aguirre, Aguirre,” the patrons encouraged their local hero to give it everything he had. If Smalls were to lie on the canvas, you’d swear he was lying in the fetal position. For most of the final round, he had his hands up to block the back and forth arm punches from Aguirre.
In the end, the judges scored the bout a majority draw with Benjamin Rendon and Leo Ibarra scoring it 38-38 while Sergio Lechuga scored it 39-37 for Aguirre.
SportofBoxing.com, admittedly biased, leaned towards Smalls but realizes how the Mexican judges score these types of bouts. In hindsight, it becomes clear Smalls walked a thin line between the draw and a loss.
First of all, when you fight in someone’s backyard, you need to understand their rules. The busier boxer, not necessarily the more powerful and accurate boxer, gets the nod in Mexico. Every time Aguirre landed a punch, even the softest jab, the hometown crowd reacted. With the judges, all countrymen, if there was ever going to be a slight lean, it would be in Aquirre’s favor. Aquirre knows to throw more punches, even if they are without consequence, even when they fail to land. That’s what his backers come to see. If you show more heart in Mexico, your chances of winning go up exponentially.
On several occasions, Smalls put this bout in cruise control and made his most egregious error when he started to cover up. Since the fans come to see nonstop action, it’s like you’re giving them the middle finger. If you have plenty of gas left and all his talent, why on earth would he coast. It’s like Madonna in the middle of a million dollar concert and suddenly she stops singing and hums the words to her pop hit, “La, la, la.” Her fans would not be pleased.
It’s been announced that Smalls is featured on the next Bobby D Presents show in San Diego at the Four Points By Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, July 25th. Hopefully, there won’t be a repeat.
Prince Tiger Smalls along with his father, Priest Tiger Smalls, make their way to the ring.
(bottom photo) Prince Tiger Smalls (r) and his opponent Erick Aguirre have their arms raised by referee Christian Curiel after their draw.
Tremendo continues his winning ways
Tijuana super bantamweight Heriberto “Tremendo” Delgado (7-0, 4 KOs) had no trouble in keeping his perfect record intact by stopping first timer Martin Morones (0-1), also of Tijuana.
After dropping Morones in the first round, a barrage of punches in the second forced referee Christian Curiel to call a halt to the contest at 1:06 of the second. The punchless Morones was never in this one.
Herberto Delgado, (bottom right) remains undefeated after getting the TKO victory over Martin Morones who was making his pro-debut. All photos: Jim Wyatt
In a classic back and forth struggle, Jose Galvez was able to take over and stop the advancing Leobardo “Taliban” Laguna at the 1.32 mark of the third round.
Who in their right mind nicknames their fighter, “Taliban”?
Sorry, we digress. In this scheduled four round super featherweight bout, Galvez dropped Laguna in the first round, buckled his knees in round two, then in the third forced the early stoppage by clobbering him twice in the face.
With the win Galvez (4-0-1, 4 KOs) remains unbeaten, while the Taliban representative, thank God, remains winless at 0-2.
From one end of the ring to the other, Jose Galvez had his way with Leobardo Laguna. (bottom right) Galvez’s fan club cheers wildly after their hero finishes Laguna off. All photos: Jim Wyatt
Jose Galvez has his arms raised by the lovely ring card girl and referee Juan Morales Lee after he defeated Leobardo “Taliban” Laguna at Salon Las Pulgas on Wednesday night.
Wasn’t easy but Erick Martinez remains undefeated
Next, we have a strong candidate for “Bout of the Night.” The hometown favorite Erick “Estrella” Martinez (5-0-1, 3 KOs) of Tijuana seemed to be cruising right along and then suddenly he got caught flush by Tecate, Mexico’s David “Guerrero” Vega (0-4).
Petrified, that he might lose his first fight, Martinez went after Vega with utter abandonment. His mindset told him, “There’s no way this 10-8 round is going to haunt me for the rest of his life.”
Martinez went nonstop until :28 of the fourth round. That’s when he had Vega backed up against the ropes. At that time he unloaded his full arsenal until referee Juan Morales Lee called for the stoppage.
(top left) Referee Juan Morales Lee issues Erick Martinez a standing eight count. (bottom left) After being the victim of that early knockdown, Martinez knew he had to pull out all the stops to defeat the formidable Mr. David Vega. It was like the bottom of ninth inning, two outs, Martinez, the pinch hitter is up to bat. There’s two outs. His team is down two runs but they have two men on base. They needed Martinez to hit one out of the ball park and he did.
The rest of the Undercard
In the opener, it was Luis Ambrosio of Fresno, CA, making his successful pro debut against Jonathan Varela (0-4) of Mexicali, Mexico. This one didn’t last long after Ambrosio landed four hard shots to the head. Referee Christian Curiel, who felt Varela could no longer defend himself, wedged himself in between the combatants to stop the bout at 2:09 of the first.
Prior to his fight versus Luis Ambrosia, Jonathan Varela and his coach had high hopes. This was to be Varela’s night. Then before he knew it, Ambrosia had pinned him in the corner and the referee was calling for the early stoppage. Photo at the bottom has referee Christian Curiel and a ring card girl holding up Luis Ambrosia’s arms. All photos: Jim Wyatt
Jonathan Coronado of Tecate, B. C., Mexico, gets his first victory
There would be no early stoppages on this night. In Jonathan “Cobra” Coronado’s debut, most observers will tell you, he was the victim of an early stoppage. A spokes person for Coronado stated, “There will be no repeat of that fiasco. He’s going to win or be carried out on a stretcher.”
What he ended up doing was fighting toe to toe with the always troublesome, southpaw Julio “Sexy Boy” Robles (1-0) for four solid rounds.
While Robles’ offense involved using the left with an occasional uppercut, Coronado countered using leverage to shoot down at Robles with the hard right.
Even though Robles had success early, Coronado kept answering each of Robles’ flurries and on this night, the judges felt the straight right delivered by Coronado had more power behind it than the shorter, arm punches by Robles.
All three judges scored the bout the same, 39-37 for Coronado.
(top left) Southpaw Julio “Sexy Boy” Robles poses for a photo in the dressing room before his bout with Jonathan Coronado. (top right) After losing in his debut, there was no way Coronado would allow himself to lose to Robles on Wednesday night.
The final bout of the night featured two more gents from Tijuana, Angel Lopez going up against the much taller Fidel Reyes.
It didn’t take long for the five-foot tall Lopez to win the crowd over with his in-your-face, pugnacious style. The fact he registered a flash knockdown also helped win this very close, split decision. Both judges Esteban Franco and Jesus Gonzalez saw it 38-37 for Lopez while Sergio Lechuga went the other way with a 38-37 for Reyes.
