By Cliff Rold
Chris Avalos fights like he has other plans, his opponents an impediment to other things to do on a given evening. On Friday night at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the 20-year old Bantamweight from Lancaster, California cleared the rest of his evening with a knockout of 29-year old Jose Nieves (17-2-3, 8 KO) of Carolina, Puerto Rico, in round number four.
Avalos came into the bout at one pound over the Bantamweight limit, weighing in at 119, while Nieves scaled 118 even.
Avalos wasted no time coming forward as the bell for round one sounded, his hands high and too far apart in a southpaw stance. Nieves would strike first, banging a one-two through the wide opening and Avalos began shifting back and forth between orthodox and southpaw stances. Nieves, a southpaw at all times, landed a counter left as Avalos charged with a minute gone and then another jab-left hand down the pipe, but was not deterring the younger man. Avalos would strike with a left at the minute mark and, as Nieves clinched, Avalos kept firing the shot. Another right landed on Nieves near the corner and, comically, referee Rocky Burke would take Avalos’s follow-up left to the back as he stepped in to separate the two. It was a good round for Nieves but things turned quickly in the second.
Again racing forward to start the round, Avalos rolled off of a punch from Nieves and blasted him with a slightly blocked left hook and a flush right hand, sending his man to the seat of his trunks. Avalos glared at the fallen man as he walked to the neutral corner and Nieves nodded his okay to continue after the mandatory eight. Nieves was quickly to the floor again but Burke ruled it a slip and the action resumed with Avalos nailing Nieves four times in a clinch. As the round developed, Nieves was firing back but spent much of the last minute against the ropes taking thudding blows to the body, arms, and head for his trouble.
Nieves was back into ropes and corners soon after the bell to start the third, Avalos’s left hand taking away Nieves’s right defensively and he slung hooks. Nieves wisely tried to get off the ropes and circle with ring, moving the action to mid-ring where his jab and footwork could keep him from harm’s way. He couldn’t stay there enough, Avalos’s physical strength and power forcing him backwards with each charge.
Nieves could only hold off the inevitable for so long. Halfway through the fourth, Avalos again muscling him backwards, a right uppercut and right over the top were followed by a jab and thudding left to the head. As Nieves’s back touched the strands, Avalos opened up even more with another right uppercut and then a hail of rights and lefts to the body and head, Nieves teetering forward before tottering into a sitting position along the ropes.
Bravely, Nieves rose again and tried to fight but the momentum of Avalos crashed into his chin via right hand and another left in a quick flurry sent Nieves onto all fours. He attempted to stand at nine but could just missed as the referee tolled ten at 2:20 of the fourth round.
In the televised opener, 21-year old Jr. Lightweight Archie Ray Marquez (10-0, 7 KO), 131, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, scored an eight round decision over 28-year old Derrick Campos (20-8, 11 KO), 132, of Topeka, Kansas. It was Marquez’s third decision victory in a row after opening his career with a string of knockouts. The bout was Campos’s second consecutive defeat after winning three in a row.
Marquez began the fight with a flicking jab while Campos stayed low and aimed the stick to the body. Into close quarters quickly, both men threw short hooks to the body and the fight found its rhythm, Marquez mostly boxing but meeting the veteran Campos all the way with the rough stuff.
Some quality lead left hooks in round two ended with a tangle and Campos slipping to the floor, referee Richard Espinosa correctly ruling it a slip. Over the course of the fight, Campos would occasionally throw hard to make Marquez work for it but the younger man’s speed and technique carried the bout. Left hooks gave way to precision uppercuts and some laser rights. In the final round, Campos stayed on Marquez’s chest and, while often missing, kept his hands moving. Marquez responded by doing the same and made the most of it. A perfectly timed counter right with just shy of thirty seconds remaining in the bout landed high and slightly behind the head of a rushing Campos, sending the older man splaying to the floor, his face just missing the floor. Campos complained he’d been tripped and took the standing eight count rushing forward wildly to try and even the score. He did not but the fans cheered the effort of both men.
Marquez moved forward in his career at scores of 77-74, 79-72, and a shutout 80-71.
The card was televised on U.S. premium cable outlet Showtime as part of its ShoBox series, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
