On Friday evening, March 6, 2020, The Jab Promociones was back at the newly opened Quartz Hotel & Spa in Tijuana with another heady cast of fighters while not overlooking those extra wrinkles in a show which make it stand tall, above the norm. From the prim and proper officials to the window dressing around the ring, everything was in place, even the two costumed gents Shrek and Roma were dressed to impress and never out of character. While posing for photos, these gentlemen did a wonderful job of getting attendees to socialize with each other and of course suspend belief. Before you knew it, it was time for the opening of the curtain to allow the first combatants make their way through this colorful fog to the ring. In no matter of time, everyone had gotten themselves totally invested. As your reporter, I will now take liberties by first mentioning the Main Event of the evening followed by the show’s Bout of the Night. The Main Event featured 27-year-old, righty Elizabeth “Veneno” Lopez (7-2-4, 1 KO) from Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico facing the local favorite Tania“La Chula” Enriquez (15-0, 8 KOs), the younger sister of the extra-ordinary Kenia Enriquez (23-1, 9 KOs), the current WBC World Female Light Flyweight champion.The tenacity and determination of Elizabeth Lopez was right there on her face.Immediately following Elizabeth Lopez‘s entrance came the hometown favorite, the 5’6″ tall, Tania “La Chula” Enriquez, who suddenly materialized out of this colorful dense fog which had to impress the 1,100 plus onlookers.“Remember what we talked about, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” After veteran referee Jose Cobian had the boxers touch gloves, the battle was on. Not long after the crowd feasted their eyes on the clear disparity in size, this one-sided affair appeared to be headed for an early stoppage. Then, just 25 seconds into round one, Lopez went down. Before long, the courageous/durable Lopez had gone down (twice) and it became apparent it was just a matter of time before an early stoppage by the referee or that the Lopez corner would be throwing in the towel.The job of working on an early cut was handled quickly and with precision. Here we see Tania Enriquez working over Lopez’s tougher than expected midsection.Then, surprise, surprise, Lopez (right) lands one of her all or nothing, desperation, overhand rights which caught Tania Enriquez (left) on the chin. Regardless, the stoppage seemed inevitable as Enriquez would weather anything that came her way. After the heated exchange with Lopez, Enriquez returns to her corner where her father immediately settles her down, resolves the problem and renews his daughter’s confidence. Mere seconds into round seven, Tania Enriquez had re-establish her superiority with this ferocious, four punch assault that sent Elizabeth Lopez to the canvas.At this point, it had become decision time for referee Jose Cobian who called a time-out to have the fight doctor examine Lopez and give his opinion on whether the fight should continue. After their consultation, Cobian went ahead and stopped the bout. Once the stoppage was announced, there was Daddy’s little girl giving her father a big hug.In the Lopez corner, things were certainly a lot more somber.As they say, to the victor goes the spoils which included the vacant WBC International female light flyweight title.
Not to discount the title fight between the ladies, but later the majority opinion concurred that the following bout between Abraham “Choko” Rodriguez of Tijuana (26-2, 12 KOs) Global ID 646560 and fellow dynamo German Valenzuela (13-0, 9 KOs) Global ID 760259 from Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico (13-0, 9 KOs) had to be considered “the Fight of the Night”.
Pre-fight we had an opportunity to take several photos of German Valenzuela of Navojoa, Sonora, Mex. who at the time was awaiting his introduction to face Rodriguez.
From the opening bell of Bout #7, it was all about payback. I get to hit you with everything I’ve got, then you get to do the same to me. As each of the eight rounds passed, the almost unanswerable question became who was ahead on the scorecards and can either boxer withstand the punishment that was being dished out.
Early on, Rodriquez had to be bothered by this nasty cut over his left eye from which his blood kept streaming down his cheek and causing a major distraction. Undeterred, Rodriguez kept matching and at times exceeding Valenzuela’s output to secure this extremely close victory.
In the end, we saw Abraham “Choko” Rodriguez of Tijuana coming away with the decision victory over the very tough German Valenzuela of Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico.Taking stock in the fact that he had just been in a classic, hard fought battle with another outstanding fighter, we see German Valenzuela acknowledging his supporters. Without any paparazzi protection, one close friend, one fan after another approached our hero of the night for a memorable photo.Keeping the blood out of Choko Rodriguez’s left eye for seven rounds was the chore of cut man/dear friend Edgar Sandoval (l) who wears many hats. Aside from being a cutman, U. S. Border Patrol Agent, Head Boxing Coach at the National City CYAC, he’s a proud parent.
On the undercard:
Making his way to the ring for Bout #6, it was Vincente “Suavecito” Portillo (8-0, 4 KOs) Global ID 719590 from Tijuana, a 23-year-old orthodox boxer set to face …the little known, 30-year-old David Antonio FelixDuarte (0-3), Global ID 867907 from Tijuana who had been a victim of stoppage in his first three bouts (2 TKOs, 1 KO).
As you might have expected, we witnessed another impressive outing from the younger Vincente Portillo who ended up putting his opponent the 30-year-old David Antonio “Three Shots” FelixDuarte Global ID 867907 of Tijuana on his back. With this being “Three Shots” fourth loss by referee stoppage in his fourth contest, it makes you wonder if he will once again change his alias/nickname to “Four Shots”.
Here we see the first of two knockdowns of David Antonio “Three Shots” FelixDuarte by the undefeated power puncher Vicente Portillo.Shortly after came the second and final knockdown of David Antonio “Three Shots” FelixDuarte who never seemed to get on track to deal with the power puncher Vicente Portillo.Concerned for his safety, everyone showed their concern while the fallen boxer David Antonio “Three Shots” FelixDuarte remained on his back. Finally, still wearing a respirator, David Antonio “Three Shots” FelixDuarte was taken away on a stretcher by the quick acting medical team. Soon after, we saw the victorious Vicente Portillo having his arm raised in victory. In Bout #5, they had the 24-year-old Jesus Antonio Rubio “Chino” Rubio Global ID 704387, Record 11-2, with 6 KOs from Mexicali, B. C., Mexico facingthe 32-year-old Juan Carlos “Miniburgos” Burgos of Tijuana, Global ID 287229, Record 33-4-2, with 21 KOs who was making his second appearance in 2020 in the 40th bout of his long and illustrious career.
Our overview of this match-up: Bout #5 had lightweight Juan Carlos Burgos (3-3 in his last six bouts, a victim of three unanimous decision losses) taking on the less proven 24-year-old Jesus Antonio Rubio (11-2 with 6 KOs) from Mexicali, B. C., Mexico. Concerning Burgos’ three recent Unanimous Decision losses: on January 11, 2020, Burgos lost to Hector Tanajara (18-0) at the Alamo Dome, on September 28, 2018, he also lost to Devin Haney (19-0) at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. on and finally there was that Mikey Garcia (33-0 at that time) trouncing on January 25, 2014 at Madison Square Garden in New York. In all three of those losses, Burgos lost badly, losing nearly every round on all nine of the judges’ scorecards. That being said, on Friday night, Burgos appeared to back to his old self and simply out-foxed Rubio, who was repeatedly beaten to the punch, and clobbered with more of the better leveraged punches.
Despite all the support from la papa de Jaime Munguia, his dedicated coaching staff, and celebrities like the Trek and Roma, Jesus Antonio Rubio (center) could not match Juan Carlos Burgos‘ trickery/output and in the end was simply outpointed by the veteran. With the win, Burgos improved to 34-4-2 with 21 KOs while Rubio now drops to 11-3 with 6 KOs.
Bout #4 featured pure mayhem between two wild swinging lightweights Ricardo “Explosivo” Urias (now 5-0-1, 4 KOs) Global ID 872547 and the even more chaotic 30-year-old, 5′ 3″ tall Manuel “Chaparrito” Salvador Manzo Global ID 766166 from Michoacan, Ocampo, Mexico, who’s record now goes to 5-7-3, 2 KOs after their split decision Draw. Interesting to note, early on, this fight appeared to be headed Urias’ way while he remained focused and used his jab to set up his arsenal of left hooks and overhand rights. Then, all of a sudden, Urias played right into the hands of his opponent who was forever swinging for the fences. Important to note, Mr. Manzo has yet to beat anyone with a winning record and the combined record of the opponents he has beaten thus far is 18 wins, 67 losses, 1 tie.
This palsy-wowsy meeting after the final bell had to be a bit awkward for the Urias camp. Soon both fighters were canvassing the audience for support.At the end, there was obviously a difference of opinion: “I won! No, no way! I definitely think I won! There can be no doubt about that.”After the unwanted Draw was announced, the man who was most incredulous happened to be Manuel Salvador Manzo. “I was robbed!” No doubt the fans will be wanting a rematch.
In Bout #3, a four round super lightweight contest, it was Rolando “Chico Piedra” Luna Global ID 740307, from Tijuana facing
Sergio Oaxaco Hernandez Global ID 848553, (2-4-1) from Rosarito, Mexico.
(top photo) Hit by a low blow, we immediately see Rolando Luna (white trunks) begin his recovery by walking it off as the ref then signals to his opponent, Sergio Hernandez, to go to a neutral corner.
In this competitive match, it was the better disciplined Luna who remained focused throughout to simply outpoint his opponent and improve his record to 5-5-1, 1 KO, while Hernandez’s record now drops to 2-5-1.
Then, as a gesture of respect and good sportsmanship, Sergio “Oaxaco” Hernandez (right) went out of his way to raise the arm of the victorious Rolando “Chico Piedra” Luna. Bout #2, a four round middleweight bout, featured Isaac “La Bestia” LuceroJr. of La Paz, Baja Calif. Sur, Mexico Global ID 898072 (white trunks, bottom left) improving his record to 3-0, 3 KOs, after stopping the game 21-year-old Oliver Dominguez of Tijuana, Global ID 831940 (right, black trunks), who’s record now drops to 0-2. As they say, “to the victor goes the spoils” as we see everyone joining in the celebration of Isaac “La Bestia” Lucero Jr.’s victory over the outpointed Oliver Dominguez.
In the four round opening bout, Bout #1, a super lightweight contest, they had Cesar Lozano from the Mariscal Boxing Club of Tijuana, in his Pro Debut, taking on Samuel Cuevas of Rosarito, B. C., Mexico, who was also making his Pro Debut.
You talk about the adrenaline flowing, both of these gents, Cesar Lozano (left) and Samuel Cuevas (right) were no doubt giving it their all.In the end, it was Lozano coming away with the much deserved victory.Winning your first fight must be quite an adrenaline rush because Lozano was ecstatic.Coaches and their star pupil from the Mariscal Boxing Club of Tijuana together celebrate Cesar Lozano’s first victory.We also got several photos of Cesar Lozano’s opponent, Samuel Cuevas and his daughter who come from Rosarito, B. C., Mexico At first they didn’t know what to make of me, who was I, what kind of website is SportofBoxing.com or can we trust this character but soon after we were all smiling.
To get you acquainted with this venue, the Quartz Hotel & Spa we did seek out some additional photos of the premises. Of course no look-see can out do the wonderful, fashionable and glamorous people who were in attendance at this Friday, March 6, 2020 event.
No doubt the Show’s Hostesses would be the best place to start. Unfazed by all the talk of the Corona-virus scare, we see (left to right)the new Chief of Officials of the Tijuana Boxing Commission Jesus Gonzalez, boxing official Jose Secre Flores, referee/judge Jose Cobian, theever popular Shrek, and finally a fellow photo journalist. Long after her championship bout, there were family and friends still waiting patiently for their opportunity to share a special moment with their hero. Right Mr. Castro.Once again, the most patient and loyal of fans were the immediate family.(l to r) More of the family patiently waited for that one killer photo with Tana. The most proud of them all: Tania’s brother, Dad/coach Gustavo Pacheko Enriquez plus dear friend and fellow champion Sandra Robles.All a Father ever needs by way of recognition is that hug and a peck on the cheek.On hand to assist Fernando Paramo of LATV in this delayed broadcast were Nayeli Franco plus Abedith Rico Arellano (right) who was joined by her husband plus daughter (left).You talk about being a local and International fan favorite, Jaime Munguia, the 23-year-old, undefeated WBO World Welterweight Champion (35-0, with 28 KOs) could not go five feet in any direction without an adoring fan asking him for a photo.
Finally, a word about this new event center for Boxing, the Quartz Hotel & Spa in Tijuana. Being just four city blocks from the border and having comfortable seating for 1,200+ fans, certainly makes it special. The following photos were taken prior to the start of this March 6, 2020 show.
