By Andy Rivera, Ringside at the Isleta Resort & Casino
Holly Holm v Mia St. John
Albuquerque’s hometown favorite, Holly Holm (12-1 4 KO’s) defended her IBA JR. Welterweight belt against Mia St. John (42-6-2 17 KO’s) of Oxnard, CA.
Round one started with St. John dancing around Holm, avoiding any contact she could. Holm immediately answered with a series of combos that backed St. John into the ropes several times. For every impending jab, it looked as if St. John was just trying to avoid being dropped to the canvas as opposed to just being hit. With Holm dominating the round, the crowd was sent into a frenzy cheering on their local favorite. In round two, St. John was cautiously looking for some sort of hole in Holm’s offense, landing several shots, but unable to keep any sort of defense up as Holm would drop jab after jab on her. The second and third round had Holm landing countless solid jabs and body shots without giving St. John any chance to retaliate. Overpowered, St. John had yet to land a decent shot on Holm yet. In the fourth round, Holm had St. John on the ropes several times. Already dominating the fight, Holm was relentless and never slowed down a bit.
The fifth and sixth round continued to have Holm control the fight by unleashing a volley of punches, forcing St. John into the corner, unable to counter or escape. The few times St. John was able to land solid jabs, Holm would answer with an onslaught of body shots and the occasional uppercut. In the eighth round, neither fighters were showing any significant fatigue, but it was clearly evident that St. John knew she was losing and there wasn’t anything she could do about it except smile. Once again St. John is ineffective in either landing any punches or holding Holm back. The ninth round finally showed some physical wear on St. John. Upon several clean straight jabs by Holm, St. John appeared to be stunned, but not out entirely all the while Holm was still floating around the ring unscathed. The tenth round started with St. John able to punch Holm into a corner, but that was short lived when Holm fired back, easing the pressure St. John was putting on her. Into the ten second warning, both fighters unleashed whatever fight they had left in them before the bell had finally rung.
St. John gave her all but could not come close to her opponent. Holm had dominated all ten rounds of this fight and won every round on all three judges’ cards - 100-90. She walked away from this fight easily retaining her IBA JR. Welterweight belt.
Cesar Lopez v Gabriel Elizondo
El Paso’s Cesar “El Gallito” Lopez (18-1 4 KO’s) went up against Gabriel “Kid Combo” Elizondo (19-1, 8 KO’s) from San Antonio, TX for the NABA Super Flyweight Title.
First round started off with Lopez dancing around the ring, making Elizondo follow vigilantly. Lopez landed a clean body shot and had much more activity as the first round ended. The second and third rounds had Lopez make great use of his speed to quickly throw in a few jabs then circle the ring, trying to make Elizondo follow. As Elizondo was carefully looking for a way to penetrate Lopez’ defense, he was caught off guard by a combo of jabs and body shots from Lopez that sent him to the ropes several times. Elizondo was quick to recover and fought back; easing the pressure Lopez was placing on him. The round ended with Elizondo landing a devastating right hook and then Lopez answering with a clean straight jab to Elizondo.
The fourth round opened to both fighters letting their dominant qualities work for them. Lopez would use his excellent footing help him maneuver the ring while Elizondo would set off a flurry of combos for both offense and keeping Lopez from trapping him in the corner or on the ropes. In the fifth round Lopez starts off by handing a hard right hook to Elizondo. Lopez tried getting a little more insistent by delivering more punches, but would be met by a return volley of punches. The sixth round opened to Elizondo keeping his combos coming. The fight is starting to take shape as Elizondo still seemed as focused attentive as he was in round one while Lopez is showing signs of fatigue and becoming slightly erratic on his punches. Elizondo answered by neutralizing Lopez’s speed by unloading a hail of punches, forcing him to close up in defense.
In the seventh round, the tables were turned as Lopez starts to seek Elizondo out, following him around the ring. Elizondo keeps him at bay by unleashing combos of uppercuts and body shots. The eight and ninth rounds have Lopez unfocused at times, but still landing solid hits while Elizondo dances around the ring avoiding most of the attempted strikes. Elizondo is still as focused as he was in round one and has an answer for almost every attempt Lopez attempts.
In the tenth and final round, Elizondo was on the ropes several times, but was able to subdue any bombardment Lopez made an effort to land. Still focused and dancing around the ring, Elizondo keeps Lopez from landing practically any punches for most of the round as they both finally unload on each other for the ten second warning.
With his steady fight technique and constant press on Lopez, Elizondo won all three cards with a unanimous decision by the judges, 97-93, 96-94 and 99-91
David Martinez v Elvis Martinez
Albuquerque’s own David Martinez (14-1-1, 3 KO’s) fought against Elvis Martinez (10-13, 4KO’s) from the Dominican Republic.
In the first round of the fight the two fighters were cautiously feeling each other out, exchanging jabs with each other. David Martinez coming out slightly ahead in the round throwing a few more open jabs than Elvis to finish out the round. Second round starts off with Elvis opening up a little more and landing several straight rights followed by several body shots. David came back with his own combos to keep the round even between the two. The third and fourth rounds were fiercely competitive. David Martinez danced around the ring as Elvis sought a chance to land one of his straight rights. David lands two solid left hooks and forces Elvis to push him into the ropes with David escaping quickly.
David Martinez keeps the crowd pleased with a few well placed jabs and a solid right hook at the beginning of the fifth round. After a brief confrontation, Elvis loses his footing and stumbles across the ring. As quickly as it happened, David Martinez moved in to finish the job, but was unable to make any progress by the end of the round.
In the sixth and final round, David lures in Elvis for a devastating body blow followed by a vicious combo that caught him off guard. With both showing some fatigue, they would not give up and gave 100%. By the ten second warning, each gave the other a punishing barrage of hits to finish off the match.
Carried by the cheers of a hometown crowd, David Martinez prevailed as the champion with all judges giving him the decision.
In other news,
El Paso’s Carlos Madrid managed to keep his undefeated record by TKOing Moriarity’s Tommy “Cobra” Aragon 1:02 into the fourth round.
In an exceptionally physical fight, Espanola’s own Gabe Gonzales overpowers Charlie Reyes in his pro debut as the bout was stopped 2:45 into the second round.
