By Jake Donovan
Unbeaten featherweight Matthew Esquibel (7-0, 4KO) gave his hometown crowd a thrill with a 6th round TKO over determined Mexican trialhorse Martin Armenta (11-16-3, 7KO) in athat was balls-to-the-wall throughout. Esquibel cleaned out the kitchen with his two-fisted assault, though Armenta refused to go away quietly, taking it all night and managing to give back some in return. A right uppercut in round two produced the bout's lone knockdown, but it was a series of unanswered shots along the ropes in the final round that led to the stoppage. Official time was 1:07 of the 6th round.
A minor upset occurred in a four round bantamweight bout, as tougher than expected Dallas native Jose Garcia (2-2, 0KO) had his way with previously unbeaten Santa Fe prospect Anthony Vialapondo (2-1, 0KO). Garcia looked like a human pogo stick with boxing gloves, bouncing around on one leg for most of the bout while lacing Vialapondo with wide looping punches. Scores were 39-37 (2x) and 40-36.
Archie Marquez' pro debut couldn't have went any better, twice flooring fellow Albuquerque native Scott Furney en route to a 1st round TKO in their super featherweight bout, which served as the evening's curtain raiser. Both knockdowns came courtesy of Marquez left hooks. Furney (1-3, 1KO) was able to beat the count on both occasions, but was unable to sell referee Russell Mora on the notion that he was fit to continue following the second knockdown. Official time was 2:17 of the opening round.
Jake "The Jake-of-All-Trades" Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, a licensed judge, manager and promoter, and presently serves on the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.
