Unpredictable happens at the latest Borizteca Boxing Show
With his bout lasting just 26 seconds, we had to get Elias Diaz more face time so we moved him to the header position. Elias Diaz (c) is joined by his loyal support team of (l to r) Carlos Barragan Sr., Elias’ proud father Greg Diaz, Carlos Barragan and the now famous Cutman4Hire, Juan Ramirez.
Truth in labeling or question of semantics: A club fighter is a pro boxer who usually fights locally and has a mediocre to a dismal record. They are not nationally recognized and have not won any fights that show they have a ghost of a chance of winning a regional, national or world title. The term is often used in a derogatory sense to describe an over-hyped boxer or older boxer who is in decline. It goes without saying a club fighter is far less respected than a contender. A true contender has built his reputation on defeating fellow contenders and establishing himself or herself as a challenger for a title. While a journeyman is more respected than a club fighter, they too have amassed a superficial record by beating either the declining boxers or the out and out tankers in the sport.
On Saturday night, Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia 33-0, 19 KOs, the current WBC Welterweight Champ, who took over the retiring Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s title in late January and now controls that belt, fought a 27-year-old journeyman by the name of Samuel Vargas who now has a record of (25-3-1, 13 KOs). Prior to his fight with Garcia, Vargas had lost to Errol Spence Jr. and the 34-year-old Pablo Munguia. By no means a contender, Vargas was given this golden opportunity. Insiders who had seen Vargas fight knew full well he had no chance versus Garcia and that’s why the Garcia camp chose him to fight Garcia.
In this photo, we see Danny Garcia patiently waiting for the likely stoppage of the fallen Samuel Vargas. Below is a photo of the shouting match which ensued immediately following the above stoppage. It’s a certainty that both Keith “One Time” Thurman and Garcia will do whatever it takes to whip up a media frenzy to create interest in their much-anticipated World Title Fight.
Now it’s time for further comparisons, such as the boxers on the latest Borizteca Boxing Promotions fight card of Friday evening November 11 at the Salon Mezzanine in Tijuana. A fight card that certainly had it’s share of surprises.
In Bout #1, it was Johnny “Azteca” Rosales from Los Angeles coming south of the border in order to secure a victory in his Pro debut. Extensive amateur career? No. In terrific shape? Decent but not what you would expect for a debut. His opponent, Edgar Ivan Garcia, was also making his Pro-debut.
Here we see Johnny Rosales (r) landing a more than decent left hook on the side of Edgar Garcia’s head.
Two rounds in and Rosales had already begun to run low on petrol.
By this point, Edgar Garcia (r) had himself ahead on the scorecards and had his opponent Johnny “Azteca” Rosales in trouble against the ropes.
In the end, it was the perceived underdog, Edgar Ivan Garcia from San Luis Rio, Mexico winning over the three Tijuana judges to win in his Pro debut.
Bout #2 appeared to be an even bigger upset as the winless Juan Carlos Moreno of Tijuana (0-14-2) was awarded a unanimous decision victory over Justin Woodard who had traveled with his support group all the way from Oakland, Calif. (524 miles) to make his professional debut. Unlike Rosales in Bout #1, Woodard had the body type of an NFL middle linebacker or maybe Adonis Stevenson, the Haitian/Canadian boxer who has now held the WBC and lineal light-heavyweight crown for the past three years. After taking off his robe, everyone seemed to marvel at his physique. In comparison, Woodard’s opponent, Moreno, was much shorter and not as trim.
Imagine the anxiety Juan Carlos Moreno felt when seeing this big dude coming at him and then getting pummeled by body shots that came at him like those wrecking balls you see tearing down a dilapidated building.
At the conclusion of his bout, Juan Carlos Moreno felt mighty good: ‘Did this really happen? I actually beat this guy? A guy who normally could crush anyone in his way.’ What happened was Moreno’s opponent became winded after just one round. Woodard admitted later, “I wasn’t prepared for this. All the nervous energy in round one and this being my first fight ever, Amateur or Pro.”
After 16 fights without a win, Juan Carlos Moreno’s trainer, Roberto Lopez (c) was so happy he couldn’t express his utter bliss after his boxer’s first victory.
In Bout #3, it was Jorge Escalante of San Diego going up against this giant, Jorge Alexis Guillen, who had a reach advantage akin a 15 ft. ladder.
In this photo, we can see Jorge Escalante getting smacked from a distance by Guillen’s powerful left hook.
After getting blasted by Escalante, down went Guillen on all fours and the giant didn’t get up until after the completion of the 10-count.
After his amazing, come from behind knockout victory, one of the show’s color commentators Shary Sarmiento, justifiably came up into the ring to interview our hero, Jorge Escalante, featured on the LATV broadcast.
When it was announced that Shrek plus Donkey were to attend Friday’s show, ticket sales went through the roof. Can you imagine if Fiona, Lord Farquaad and Puss in Boots were also added to the guest list? (l to r) Brandon Ambriz Lobato, Trek, yours truly Jim Wyatt, Shary Sarmiento and Fernando Paramo.
In Bout #4, it was Adrian Gutierrez (r) facing Juan Sanchez Valencia.
After Juan Sanchez Valencia began to get hit in the face repeatedly by Adrian Gutierrez, referee Juan Manuel Morales Lee made the decision to stop the bout and save Valencia from any serious harm.
After the early stoppage, we see referee Juan Manuel Morales Lee raising the arm of the victorious Adrian Gutierrez from San Diego.
Before leaving the building we had the Gutierrez family pose for one last photo. All were so very proud. Adrian Gutierrez is joined by his grandfather, father plus two brothers.
Bout #6 was over in the blink of an eye. It only took Elias Diaz 26 seconds to have his opponent, Christian Garcia, take a seat on the canvas.
Elias Diaz has his arm raised in victory by referee Juan Manuel Morales Lee after stopping Christian Garcia at the :26 second mark of round one.
Elias Diaz (center) is joined by his loyal support staff of (l to r) Carlos Barragan Sr., Elias’ proud father Greg Diaz, Carlos Barragan and the now famous Cutman4Hire Juan Ramirez.
At the start of Bout #7, we see Roberto “The Ram” Meza (l) of Temecula, Calif. facing off with Israel Pineda of Camalu, B. C., Mexico.
After getting hit repeatedly and landing on his back, Israel Pineda found himself sitting on the canvas and wondering what the heck happened.
After the knockout, there were congratulations to be made plus a stop in the center of the ring for an interview with one of the show’s announcers Shary Sarmiento.
Since it was such a battle royale, the two boxers later met up in the hallway to share their impressions of the fight and pose for one last photo.
Bout #8 turned out to be very one-sided and Julio Figueroa wasted little time in making his sentiments known to the referee that he was finished for the night. With his “No Mas!” refrain, Ricardo Valdovinos secured victory number three.
Despite what you might hear, Bout #9 was very dangerous for Mario “Guero” Ramirez. Throughout the bout, his opponent Dario Medina kept playing cat and mouse with Ramirez, would lower his head and then suddenly pop back up again to try to catch Ramirez napping so he could deliver a knockout blow.
For awhile there, the bout between Edgar Valadez and Ramon Madero had the makings of the “Bout of the Night”. Then all of a sudden Valadez landed this straight as an arrow punch that got through Madero’s defenses.
With that one KO blow to the much taller Ramon Madero, Edgar Valadez had attained his third victory. The solid blow to the head broke Madero’s nose.
At the conclusion of Bout #10, we see Jorge “Pantera” Silva being asked for his thoughts in regards to his match with Adriel Juzaino. The 10 round snoozer went the distance with Silva earning himself a unanimous decision.
With the early first round knockdown of Edgar Daniel Ahumada (bottom, left) in Bout #11, it appeared the final bout would end early. As it turned out, Ahumada got back up on his feet, regrouped and went the distance.
In the end, it was Adam Fiel earning his 10th victory without a defeat.
