Should’ve had Kool & the Gang sing, “It was ladies night, oh what a night!”

To honor Joan Rivers who passed away on Thursday, we added a photo of the comedian alongside the young ladies who were victorious on Thursday night. (l to r) Kenia Enriquez, Rivers, Haley Pasion and Jolene Blackshear, all champions. With her arms outstretched indicating indecision, it’s likely Rivers would have had a difficult time picking the Diva of the Night from this boxing card dubbed, “San Diego Fights: Dangerous Divas.” It’s possible she would have been speechless for the very first time. The former dress designer, standup comic, who concluded her career as the leader of that snidely, often venomous group known as TV’s Fashion Police, was a favorite of many. How ironic, she herself wore a slight variation of the same all-black outfit every day and never went out the door without those huge sunglasses.

On Thursday evening, September 4, 2014, local fight fans had two choices: go see the fights at the Crowne Plaza San Diego Hotel in Mission Valley featuring three female contests or stay at home and watch the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks fight it out with the always exciting Green Bay Packers in the first game of the NFL season.

No brainer right? In the U. S. of A., football, especially NFL football, will always trump any and all sporting events.

Anyway, as they say, the show must go on and as it turns out, the fight card at the Crowne Plaza ended up being just as exciting as any NFL game. As mentioned, the show featured six ladies in three bouts. With top pros like Amaris Quintana and Jolene Blackshear from San Diego and Kenia Enriquez, Brenda Flores and Sandra Robles just across the border in Tijuana, plus all sorts of amateur standouts like Danyelle Wolf and Andrea “The Boss” Medina on the horizon, is it any wonder that more and more of our local boxing shows are featuring the ladies.

In Thursday’s Main Event it was the former two-time world champion Jolene “Classy Assassin” Blackshear (9-5, 4 KOs) taking just 50 seconds into the first round to demolish Susan Reno (1-3-1) of New York. After making just one pass around the ring, a big overhand right followed by a four punch combination had Reno flying backwards against the ropes, then down on the mat. Despite a valiant effort to get back on her feet, referee Pat Russell felt she was in trouble and called an end to the bout without issuing a 10 count.

Susan Reno (l) makes her way to the ring to face Jolene Blackshear. Photo: J. Wyatt

Leading the way – a youngster holds up the championship belts won by Jolene Blackshear as Blackshear and her support group follows. Photo: J. Wyatt

Focused, Jolene Blackshear makes her way to the ring to face Susan Reno.

The entire beat down took all of 50 seconds, the time it took for the young ladies to circle once around the ring. Top photos: Paul Gallegos Bottom: J. Wyatt

(photos left, Paul Gallegos) In order to protect Susan Reno, referee Pat Russell rushes forward to stop the fight. (photos, right, J. Wyatt) Susan Reno is supported by Russell and then sat down on the stool for an opportunity to clear her head.

Jolene Blackshear gets a hug from her friend & nutritionist Brandy Aguilar.

In the co-main event, an eight rounder, the current NABF light flyweight champion Kenia Enriquez (12-0, 6 KOs) of Tijuana did her thing against the more experienced Mayela “La Cobrita” Perez (11-16-4, 7 KOs) of Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico.

The much shorter Perez never let up as she kept pressing the fight against the younger, stronger Enriquez who used her reach advantage to score almost at will with a stiff jab that Perez had trouble breaching.

From the outset, Kenia Enriquez had this bout in cruise control by using her stiff jab to keep the persistent Mayela Perez at a distance. Photos: Paul Gallegos

In the all or nothing final round, Mayela Perez went all out and swung for the fences in an attempt to land that one knockout blow. Photos: Paul Gallegos

After having her arm raised in victory by referee Tony Crebs, Kenia Enriquez celebrates her victory with her manager Bobby DePhilippis. Photos: J. Wyatt

Throughout the contest, Perez tried in earnest to go to the midsection, land the club-like left hooks and occasionally she’d reach all the way back to deliver the “Hail Mary” overhand right. All told, this reporter felt Perez had the upper hand in just two of the eight rounds, the fourth and the eighth.

When ring announcer Benny Ricardo read off the scores of 80-72 three times for Enriquez, it made me wonder if anyone has a legitimate shot of defeating Enriquez in her home court of San Diego or Tijuana.

Pasion delivers a masterpiece in her Pro Debut

In the third female bout of the night, Haley Pasion (1-0) of Honolulu, Hawaii had to overcome more than a few obstacles to eek out her win, a majority decision win over fellow first timer Jillian Lybarger (0-1) in their super featherweight contest.

Prior to her bout against Haley Pasion, Jillian Lybarger warms up by shadow-boxing. Photos: Jim Wyatt

(top, left) Haley Pasion of Honolulu, Hawaii makes her way to the ring to face Jillian Lybarger of Goodyear, Arizona.

(bottom, left) At the conclusion of her bout against Jillian Lybarger, Haley Pasion has her arm raised in victory by referee Tony Crebs. Photos: J. Wyatt

Pasion, who came to town weighing 121.5 pounds, was led to believe she would be fighting someone in her same weight division, that being a super bantamweight (118-122 pounds).

Lybarger, an MMA fighter, was said to weigh between 134.5 to 135 pounds when she arrived. That made her 13 pounds heavier than Pasion. In order to satisfy the California State Athletic Commission, Pasion was asked to put weight on while Lybarger was asked to lose weight. How crazy was this? The last time we heard of such shenanigans was when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. did a similar stunt when facing Sebastian Zbik. By fight time, Chavez ended up weighing 15 pounds more than Zbik and as a result had so much more power behind the punches he threw. 

With Lybarger’s awkward style and her constant attempts to pin Pasion either in a corner or against the ropes for some pitter patter punches, the technically trained Pasion had her hands full dealing with Lybarger’s elbows and grappling tactics.

In the end, Pasion had done more than enough to get the win by landing the hard straight rights and the more accurate uppercuts and left hooks to convince any judge with eyeballs that she deserved every round. And yet, the scores did not reflect her dominance. Pasion ended up receiving scores of 40-36, 39-37 and a ridiculous 38-38 to win her majority decision. 

During intermission, many of the local celebrities were introduced to the crowd. (top, left) With it being judge Fritz Werner’s 76th birthday, Team USA member Danyelle Wolf went to congratulate the revered boxing judge. (top, right) Boxer Amaris Quintana poses for a photo with Sue Fox, Creator/Director of the Women’s Boxing Archive Network, former boxer and retired police officer. Photos: J. Wyatt

House of Boxing’s Sanchez registers first win in the U. S. 

In his first fight in the United States, welterweight Miguel “Zurdo” Sanchez (9-0, 7 KOs) of San Diego by way of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, looked impressive in his destruction of Ivan “Oso” Zavala (6-7-2, 2 KOs) of Tijuana, B. C., Mexico.

(top, l) Miguel Sanchez of San Diego by way of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, looked impressive in his victory over Ivan Zavala of Tijuana. Photos: Paul Gallegos

(top, left) Boxer Ivan Zavala cringes with pain when the fight doctor applies pressure to his right hand. (below, right) Miguel Sanchez (c) is joined by mates and coaches from his new gym, the House of Boxing in San Diego. Photos: Jim Wyatt

In the early going both fighters went toe to toe and threw a ton of punches. Midway through the second round, it was Sanchez, the lefty, pressing forward with mainly power punches while Zavala looked to be in retreat.

Between rounds we discovered the reason for Zavala’s stepping back. During that second round, he threw this hook that landed on the top of Sanchez’s hard head which most likely fractured a bone or bones in his right hand.

From the look on his face, it didn’t appear as though he was going to come out for the third round. After the fight doctor, Dr. Gamboa, looked at his hand, the Tijuana trooper decided to give it another try and did. As a result, Sanchez kept coming and kept throwing while Zavala was there trying to play matador with the throbbing right hand.

At the end of the third round after another examination by Dr. Gamboa it was determined Zavala could not continue. Official time of the stoppage was 3:00 of the third round in this match which was scheduled to go six.

Enjani in his pro-debut defeats Urbina

Super bantamweight Mulapi “The African Mexican” Enjani (1-0) from the Congo dropped Juan Urbina (0-3-1) of Los Angeles in the second round en route to an unanimous decision victory in his first pro bout.

(top, right) Super bantamweight Mulapi “The African Mexican” Enjani with his coach Tiger Smalls. (top, left) Juan Urbina of Los Angeles pre-fight in the dressing room.

After a 27-2 record as an amateur, Enjani proved he was more than ready for the pros by battling nonstop with the game Mr. Urbina for four solid rounds. Then it was a right uppercut from Enjani that dropped Urbina and an over hand right in the third round almost dropped him again. Enjani, who displayed his amazing toughness, earned a 40-35 tally from all three judges.

The four photos above are courtesy of Paul Gallegos

(bottom, left) Mulapi Enjani has his arm raised in victory by referee Pat Russell. (right) Enjani poses for a photo with his coach Tiger Smalls. Photos: J. Wyatt