By Tom Donelson (photo by John Booze)

This was a typical ShoBox card, prospects facing adversity and testing themselves. In a scene out of a 1950’s Hollywood movie, the fighters fought in a local community gym before a rabid crowd of boxing fans. Far from the glitter of the Mandalay Bay, warriors dueled within the confines of 18-foot ring in the heart of blue-collar Cicero, Illinois.

Raul Martinez challenged Andres Ledesma in a battle of prospects. Martinez came in the fight with extensive amateur experience and undefeated professional record of 12-0 with 9 knockouts. Andres Ledesma was an enigma as he fought his first fifteen fights in Colombia. While his last five opponents were not the stuff that careers are made of, he fought some tough fighters in his first eight fights. Ledesma defeated featherweight contender Walter Estrada and former IBF bantamweight champion Harold Mestre, with his only loss coming at the hands of veteran Elvis Mejia.

The first two rounds provided the usual feeling out process as Raul Martinez appeared to have the slight edge with his jab but the third round, his fist provided the fireworks as Martinez knocked Ledeesma twice. Connecting on several combinations looking like a blur, Martinez had Ledesma nearly out on his feet. In the fourth round, he went for the finish, but the Colombian weathered the storm.

In the fifth round, Martinez abandoned his jab and went for the kill. While attacking, he became victim of Ledesma’s stiff jab and the hook that came from behind the jab. In the sixth round, a Ledesma left hook open up a nasty cut over Martinez’s eye. The cut was deep enough for the referee to have the ring doctor examine the eye.

Despite being ahead on points, Martinez decided that he needed go for broke. With a nasty cut caused by a punch, Martinez stood to lose a fight that he had safely secured on the scorecard. The rest of the sixth round and the seventh provided drama as Martinez threw power punches after power punches. Ledesma played the matador against the wounded bull and as the eight round began, drama existed. Would Martinez eyes hold out for one more round or would Andres Ledeesma find a way to upset the new golden boy?

Martinez started fast and within a minute of the final stanza, a Martinez right hand stunned Ledeesma and opened a cut over the Colombian’s left eye. Like a shark that smells blood, Martinez tossed left hooks to the bodies and rights to the head. The end came as a Martinez right sent Ledeesma sprawling to the canvas. Martinez survived his first big test. Cut and facing defeat, he overcame and adapted against a worthy challenger.

In the main event, Joel Julio showed why he is a highly regarded challenger. Facing the tough Robert "The Doctor" Kamya, Julio immediately showed who was the master as he sent Kamya to the canvas twice. Every punch that scored sent the Ugandan back on his feet. Kamya punches, if they connected through Julio defenses, merely bounce off the Colombian prospect.

In the second round, Julio showed patience as he covered up when Kamya attacked. As the third round began, Julio began to move forward in anticipation of ending the fight. Exerting pressure on the outgunned Kamya, Julio ended things with perfect left hook. Kamya lay prostrated on the canvas and it took a few minutes before Kamya found his way to his stool.

While the television audience saw these two fights, what they missed were some exciting preliminary bouts. 8 Count Productions put together cards that included local fighters. 8 Count showed that local promoters could be successful by promoting local fighters and making them local stars.

The second match of the evening featured Omar Reyes from Mexico and Chicago native Luis Navarro in a junior lightweight extravagance. Both fighters appeared to be evenly matched but Reyes drew first blood as he nailed Navarro with two left hooks that sent Navarro down twice within the first three minutes.

The fight looked like it would end quickly but Navarro showed heart as he took Reyes’ best and kept fighting back. Reyes won a unanimous decision in a fight that saw punches flying from every angle and two fighters in constant motion. Two of the judges had Navarro winning two of the five rounds, so the disparities in scores occurred as result of the two knockdowns in the first round.

Local light heavyweight prospect David Pareja faced off against Texas native Derek Andrews. This fight differed from all of the others since it turned into a jabbing contest. For the first four rounds, Andrews simply threw a jab, jab, jab and then an occasional combination. Pareja could not find a way past the jab of Andrews and often tried roughhouse tactics to throw the Texan off strike.

In the fifth round, Andrews slowed down and he gave Pareja his opportunity to take control of the fight. Pareja proved awkward as he attempted to use his jab to set up his right. What were missing from both fighters were hooks and bodywork. Being the hometown favorite, there was the ever-present chance that any close round would go Pareja direction. The first six rounds were close, even if Andrews’ jab proved the most accurate punch.

The beginning of the seventh was a repeat of the fifth and the sixth as Pareja continued to advance and threw inaccurate punches that occasionally missed their mark. These punches may have missed their target but they counted on the judges’ scorecard. With a minute left in the seventh, Andrews landed a perfect right that sent Pareja back and stopped his momentum.

With the fight in doubt, Pareja came out cautiously as he remembered the right from the previous round. The crowd yelled for their local hero to make one more push for victory. After a minute and half of allowing Andrews’ jab to dominate the round, Pareja made one last effort to pull out a victory. Pareja tried to jab his way inside and avoid Andrew’s jab. With 30 seconds left, Pareja threw one jab and missed. Andrew took a side step and threw a jab of his own that missed and a right that send Pareja faced first on the canvas. The crowd looked stunned as their hero barely beat the count. Staggering toward the center of the ring, Pareja looked to survive as opposed to winning. What saved Pareja was the final bell as he moved slowly toward his corner. The judges all had the fight 57-56 in Andrews’ favor and the knockdown in the final stanza proved to be the decisive factor.

In the fight that preceded the two televised bouts, Miguel "Macho" Hernandez clashed with Butch "Mad Dog" Hajicek. On paper, this fight looked like a mismatch, but it turned out to be an exciting. Hernandez came in the fight with 17 wins in 20 fights whereas Mad Dog was just 4-4-1. Hajicek made up in heart what he lacked in skills.

Throughout the fight, Hernandez had Hajicek in trouble, even knocking the Mad Dog down three times. Hajicek got up from the canvas and tried his best to counter. His jab found its mark and the evidence showed up on Hernandez face. Hernandez right eye developed welts from Hajicek jabs and his face swelled slightly from the occasional right hands that landed. Hajicek face was totally bruised and swollen. Hajicek finished the fight and the crowd was standing on its feet as Hernandez tried to finish his game opponent. Hernandez, a local fighter, had his loyal following in toll; yelling and screaming at every punch he landed.

ShoBox showed two young prospects at their best and 8 Count had the crowd ready for the two televised bouts by getting the blood flowing with some great preliminaries. This card combined young talent on their way to championship glory combined with local heroes who still thrill the local boxing crowd and that explains why the small Cicero stadium was filled. Good cards attract good crowds.