By Andy Rivera at ringside
Freddy Hernandez and Toma Villa spoiled the night for the New Mexico hometown fighters at Isleta Casino outside of Albuquerque on Friday night. Hernandez halted previously unbeaten welterweight Lee Montoya in the fourth round, when Montoya quit in between the fourth and fifth. Montoya he informed his corner he couldn’t continue. Villa stopped David Martinez in the tenth round of their NABA Jr. Featherweight bout.
Montoya looked to win round one with landing hard right hands to the head of Hernandez. Montoya threw every punch with power and zip on it, his best flurry came in the final 30 seconds of the round as he trapped Hernandez on the ropes and began to unload on Hernandez’s head and body.
Hernandez had a good second round, as he was able to establish his jab and keep Montoya off balance by making Montoya missing wildly with his right hand. When Montoya missed, Hernandez would counter. Montoya got away from his jab and Hernandez took advantage of it.
Round three was all Hernandez as he was able to land jabs and quick right hands to the head then make Montoya miss. Montoya looked to land one good shot but wouldn’t fire back with anything else. Hernandez was the quicker of the two and it showed as he was able to get off on Montoya while Montoya missed with his right hand.
Some drama in round four as Hernandez looked to land a good right hand to the head and then a left hook to Montoya’s body. Montoya took a step back then looked to keel over as Hernandez looked to jump on his hurt prey, but Montoya was able to tie Hernandez up.
When Montoya went to his corner he told his trainer Luis Chavez that he couldn’t continue, Montoya tried to leave the ring in disgust, but he did stay there with his wife consoling him. Hernandez tried to shake Montoya’s hand but Montoya just pushed it away. As most at ringside tried to figure out what had happened, rumors erupted that Montoya was injured in training, but that that depends on whose story you believe. Take nothing away from Hernandez, it was a clean shot that hurt Montoya and nothing should be taken away from his win.
After the fight Hernandez said it reminded him of Roberto Duran in reference to the famous words, "No Mas" when asked about the end of the fight.
With the win Hernandez raises his record to 18-1, and he also becomes the newly crowned WBA Latino champion. Montoya loses for the first time at 8-1.
David Martinez took a big step up in competition and even a bigger jump in weight, as Toma Villa was just too strong for him. Martinez, who had fought most of his 14 pro fights at 112-115 pounds, took this bout at 122. The weight difference showed as Villa controlled the action from round two until the fight was halted. Martinez was unable to keep the much more experience Villa off him. Villa is the current Texas featherweight champion.
Martinez would box using his jab to keep Villa at bay. Martinez isn’t much of a power puncher and has only three knockouts in his 14 fights, all of which came at 112-115 lbs. Martinez won the round by doing what he does best, boxing and keep Villa from getting to his body.
Round two saw the tide change, as Martinez was not able to keep Villa off him, as Villa who was much stronger and it showed. Villa went to Martinez’s body with left hooks and rights. Villa was now able to dictate the fight as he took Martinez out of his game plan.
The pro Martinez crowd was kept quite by Villa controlling the action in round three, doing much of what he did in the previous round, going to the body with vicious shots and keeping Martinez right in front of him.
Martinez ‘s right eye started to bleed from a cut caused by a clash of heads, the ring doctor took a look at the cut and let Martinez continue. Rounds five and six saw more of Villa keeping Martinez in the middle of the ring and giving Martinez a good lesson in body punching. Martinez would fire back only to have nothing on his punches to keep Villa off him, it was becoming more and more evident as the rounds progressed that Villa was too strong for Martinez.
In round seven the ring doctor took a good look at Martinez’s right eye again, taking about a good minute to see if Martinez was able to continue. Martinez was allowed to keep going, but his face started to show the signs of a serious beating. His left eye was beginning to swell, Villa would keep going to the body then the head with left hooks then right hands.
In between rounds, the ring doctor let referee Rocky Burke know that Martinez is starting to take a lot of shots due to his eye swelling. It looked as if the doctor was going to stop the fight, but once again Martinez was allowed to continue. Martinez showed some life as he threw combinations to the body of Villa, but they had little to no effect, as Villa would take Martinez’s shots then fire back to the body.
Villa took target practice on Martinez in round nine, as he trapped Martinez on the ropes several times; going to the body mostly with his left hook. Martinez would show no signs of firing back and took most of the shots covering up. Villa looked fresh as if it the first round just began. Martinez would need an unlikely knockout to win this fight.
In the opening minute of the tenth and final round, Villa trapped Martinez on the ropes and once again fired away at the head and body, with Martinez not retaliating. Referee Rocky took a good look at Martinez and felt he had taken enough punishment and halted the fight, Martinez would protest and vas visibly upset, but it was highly unlikely he would have won a decision.
The time of the stoppage was 1:04 of the tenth. Villa captures the NABA title and raises his record to 14-5-1, while Martinez suffers his first loss as a pro.
