Saul “Bebe” Hernandez defeats Jose Toribio in a thriller

Municipal Auditorium, Tijuana, B. C., Mexico: At the conclusion of their bout on Saturday night the victorious Saul “Bebe” Hernandez of Tijuana (l) walks over to Jose Toribio’s corner to shake his hand and say a few kind words. Photo: J. Wyatt

Municipal Auditorium (Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutiérrez Moreno)

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Once again, V&B Promotions along with the good people of the hallowed Municipal Auditorium in Tijuana teamed up to showcase another exciting evening of boxing.

The most dramatic contest of the night

As a lead up to this bout of the night, Bout #4, here’s a little background information. Super flyweight Jose Toribio (2-0-0, 1 KO) of San Diego, a standout Amateur, was given the following option. Paraphrasing the talk he had with his trainer Joe Vargas. ‘Do you want to flirt with danger and go up a weight class to face this guy Saul “Bebe” Hernandez (2-4, 2 KOs)? He’s a big puncher and he hits hard.’

Toribio took the challenge without giving it a second thought. Saul Hernandez could have been Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and the answer would have been the same. Toribio is fearless.

(left) Jose Toribio of the Downtown Undisputed Fitness & Training Center in San Diego, (right) Saul “Bebe” Hernandez of the Maykito Boxing Gym in Tijuana, B. C., Mexico. Photos: Jim Wyatt

Well, like many youngsters at Saul Hernandez’s tender age of 17, he’s been growing like a weed, some say overnight. After Friday’s weigh-in and with his height advantage, he could have possibly put on an additional 10-12 pounds and having that kind of a weight advantage behind his punches could make a dramatic difference.

The Toribio versus Hernandez bout: From the outset you could feel the tension in the air. A crisp jab from Hernandez was followed by a sneaky right uppercut. They were so close there was no need to measure arm distance. These are the type of fighters who come ready to do battle as soon as that first bell rings. They’re the type that scoff at the idea of a “feeling out round.” Then again, one slip up and your opponent is ending your night early.

At the outset, Toribio, with his closed-up stance, landed the more accurate and quicker shots. He appeared to be winning the punch stat battle. When Hernandez delivered, they were the harder, power punches. He seemed to be patiently waiting for that one opening. Then it came. At 2:07 of the first round, Hernandez caught Toribio with a fierce, well timed, well placed left uppercut, an uppercut that landed on the sweet spot, Toribio’s chin. When caught, the more compact boxer went flying backwards, landing on his back.

Completely stretched out on the canvas, the expressionless Toribio slowly lifted his head. Then turning to his left, he tried but failed to gain the momentum that would get him back on his feet. Referee Christian Curiel, knelt alongside, standing guard, determined to prevent any further injury. After Toribio failed to get back up, Curiel immediately waved his hands for the stoppage. Just like that, Toribio was removed from the unbeaten ranks and the tongues started wagging about his future.

Saul Hernandez unloads a solid right cross to the head of Jose Toribio, Saturday evening at Tijuana’s Municipal Auditorium. Photo: Renzo Novara/Boxeo Tijuana.com

Desperate to get back to his feet, the still groggy Jose Toribio is over in his opponent’s corner trying his best to beat the referee’s 10 count. All photos; J. Wyatt

(top) Unable to beat the count, referee Christian Curiel signals that Jose Toribio is unable to continue. (bottom) Moments later, the fight doctor plus Toribio’s entire support group gather around their fallen comrade. Photo: Jim Wyatt

In Bout #1, a four round bantamweight contest, the taller Javier Miranda of Tijuana started off strong, used his leverage well and appeared to be in the driver’s seat. Then came the well placed left hook to surprise Torres and have him on his knees waiting out a ten count.

After that wake-up call, the momentum swung in Christian “Cazador” Torres’ favor. Simply put, his relentless pummeling close-in wore Miranda down.

With the win, Torres from the Marron Boxing Camp in Lakeside, CA by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico moves up to (2-1) while Miranda drops to (0-2).

In Bout #1, it was Christian “Cazador” Torres (red trunks) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, getting up off the canvas to defeat Javier Miranda (black trunks) of Tijuana. Photos: J. Wyatt

In Bout #2, welterweight Israel Arellano (6-1-0, 5 KOs) of San Diego made quick work of Adrian “El Guapo” Gonzalez (0-6) of Tijuana. Referee Cristian Curiel justifiably stopped the bout at 1:08 of the first round after seeing the overmatched El Guapo taking far too many unanswered blows to the head.

Behind every exceptional boxer you’ll usually find a rock solid support team. Israel Arellano and his brother Antonio have (left to right) both Carlos Barragan Sr. and Jr., Saul Carrasco and Lou Messina (not shown). Photo: J. Wyatt

To the victor goes the spoils. Israel Arellano had the ring cards gather around for a photo after his victory over in Bout #2.

In Bout #3, light welterweight Ramiro Rosales of Tijuana, who has yet to finish a fight, went 4 minutes and 14 seconds with his chum Victor “Cina” Fonseca who essentially took it easy on him mostly working the midsection. With the eventual stoppage, Fonseca, a power puncher, moves to (5-1-1, 3 KOs) while Rosales (0-4) gets stopped for the four straight time.

Pre-fight, Victor Fonseca (r) had his hand wrapped by his coach/manager Luis Lorenzo.

Muhammad Ali would have been yelling, “Get up you bum!” On Saturday night, light welterweight Ramiro Rosales went down more than a few times, lasting all of four minutes, 14 seconds against his chum Victor “Cina” Fonseca. Photos: J. Wyatt

At the conclusion of Bout #3, Victor Fonseca (r) of Tijuana, B. C., Mexico has his arm raised in victory by referee Christian Curiel. Photo: Jim Wyatt

Bout #5 featured Christian “El Coralillo” Nieto taking on Benjamin Perez. Since both men were making their pro-debuts and Tijuana is home for both, you could see they were sky high for this fight. Even with the hard punches landing, both fighters were like Spartan warriors, taking and giving without taking a step back. 

Come the second round, Nieto got off to an amazing start and soon had Perez pinned in a neutral corner with his head snapping back. After about five unanswered blows, a white towel came flying over the ropes in clear sight of referee Christian Curiel who immediately stopped the bout. While some felt it was a premature stoppage, it was the manager’s intent to save Perez for another day.

The collage above shows some of the battering that Christian “El Coralillo” Nieto inflicted on his opponent Benjamin Perez. Photo below shows the winner, Christian Nieto posing for a photo with his coach Emilio Bojorquez Sr. (r).

Bout #6, featured super bantamweight Jorge “Tito” Ruiz (2-0-0, 1 KO) of the Alliance Training Center, Chula Vista, CA taking on Ricardo “Richie” Solis (0-1) of Tijuana by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

This was another mismatch. The only surprise here was watching it last until 2:08 of the first round.

At the conclusion of Bout #6, Jorge Ruiz (3-0-0, 2 KOs) of Chula Vista, CA had his arm raised in victory by referee Juan Morales Lee. Above collage shows a dejected Ricardo “Richie” Solis who had a difficult time getting off any offense against the elusive Ruiz.

As far as influence goes, to be announced, “And still undefeated” remains a mighty important distinction for anyone in the fight game. Just ask Jorge “Tito” Ruiz (3-0-0, with 2 KOs).

Bout #7 featured featherweights, Julio “Nino” Castillo (0-1), a righty, going up against Felipe Reyes, a southpaw, who was making his pro-debut. 

From the outset this was a crowd pleaser, an all out slugfest with the more aggressive Reyes crowding his opponent and landing the straight lefts while Castillo countered with the left jab and straight right.

Halfway through the third round, Castillo discovered Reyes’ kryptonite, the uppercut. After landing that first uppercut, he returned to it and kept thinking, surely Reyes has an answer for this. But he didn’t. Reyes was powerless to stop this one punch. So, over and over, the uppercut became the focus of Castillo’s offense to secure victory. If Castillo were paid a $100 bonus for each uppercut landed, he’d now be a rich man.

it was your classic righty versus lefty matchup in Bout #7 featuring Julio “Nino” Castillo (blue trunks, the eventual winner), going up against Felipe Reyes (red trunks).

Bout #8, a four round light flyweight match, had high-school senior Abraham “Choko” Rodriguez, with his mentor, the former welterweight champion, Antonio Margarito in his corner, taking on 22 year-old Carlos Lopez who trains at the San Luis Boxing Gym in Tijuana.

With Lopez almost always pressing forward, Rodriquez remained more elusive. He’d shoot in and out to score with the quicker one-two combinations. Round after round, Lopez showed spurts of taking control, but then to his detriment the younger Rodriquez would finish stronger to secure each round.

With all three judges scoring the bout 40-36 in favor of Rodriguez, Choko moves up to 2-0, while Lopez drops to a surprising 0-4.

In Bout #8, it was Abraham “Choko” Rodriguez (bottom center), with his mentor, the former welterweight champ, Antonio Margarito in his corner, taking on Carlos Lopez. Lopez (top left) was photographed getting his hands wrapped. (Center right) Rodriguez, the eventual winner, has his arm raised by referee Juan Morales Lee. Photos: J. Wyatt

Bout #9, the Main Event, featured Christian “Huevo” Bojorquez against the much shorter Enrique “El Cholito” Flores. In the first two rounds, Flores, the victim of three punch combinations, rallied at times but was never in a position to take a round. 

After Bojorquez scored a flash knockdown with a hard left hook early in Round #3, Flores’ persona suddenly changed. The knockdown triggered this Rockyesque, I’m unconquerable fervor, “Hit me with your best shot, but I ain’t going down again.”

Then came an oddity. Bojorquez began to look over in the direction of his corner with a puzzled look on his face. He did this three times.

In conclusion, Bojorquez got his unanimous decision victory and moved to 11-0. Flores drops to 0-16-1.

In Bout #9, it was Christian “Huevo” Bojorquez getting the best of the much shorter Enrique “El Cholito” Flores. (Top left) Flores, a victim of a third round flash knockdown listens intently as the referee proceeds with his 10 count. Photos: J. Wyatt

Postscript: It was discovered later that Bojorquez had seriously hurt his left hand in the second round. This is the reason he stayed away from using it against Flores. This is also the reason why Flores kept leaning to his right; it was like he had a sanctuary, a place where no punches would land.

In conclusion, the dynamic duo of Joe Vargas and Emilio Bojorquez, (the V&B in V&B Promotions) showcased another fun night of pugilism for the boxing fans from both sides of the border.

When asked about his magic formula for success, Vargas replied, “No magic formula. We do try to have the same amount of boxers from San Diego as we have from Tijuana. Their different styles, different coaching philosophies, regardless of their records, make for great fights. Just as you saw tonight with Jose Toribio being upset by Saul “Baby” Hernandez. That was an unbelievable fight. These are some of the gutsiest performances you’re ever going to see. And, we certainly love the layout of this facility (Municipal Auditorium). It’s comfortable and there’s not a bad seat in the house. We’ve even started offering shuttle service to the border.”

Success breeding more success – Wednesday night, it’s Lions Night at Salon Las Pulgas presented by Mayen Promotions with Kenia Enriques in the Main Event taking on Gloria Salas and Diablito Escarcega facing Cesar De La Mora with added attractions: Prince Tiger Smalls making his Pro-Debut, Tremendo DelGado, Jose Galvez, Sexy Boy Robles and Erick Martinez on the undercard.