29.01.04 – By Carlos Kalinchuk – Large Photo Gallery – In the Main Event of the evening, Jr. Middleweight Chase “White Tiger” Shields 13-0 (9 KO’s) took out a very game Marcus Woods 6-4-1 (3 KO’s) in 5 rounds to win the Miller Lite Texas Title Belt. The fight was officially stopped at 2:07 seconds.
What happened? Although, Shields clearly lost round one, he seemed to warm up in round two. Even though it was a close round to score, I gave it to Woods for his earlier work in the round. His headshots were more impressive early on and he seemed to keep Shields at bay with his erratic movement. Perhaps it was the cold temperatures outside or Woods’ head movement but Shields clearly struggled early on. But, as Shields has proven time and time again that wouldn’t last long. From round 3 on, it was all Shields as he would hook, and uppercut his way to victory. To Woods’ credit, he tried his best to make it a fight in a phone booth but this only gave Shields more angles in which to punish him up close. You could see that the strategy was to keep Shields from extending his arms and it seemed to work but it also takes a lot of energy to do this of which Woods seemed to be drained of in rounds 4 and 5. In round 5, Shields punished Woods with a flurry in the corner. Woods went down in a heap but he was able to beat the 10 count, however, he looked to be in bad shape as referee Sam Garza waived off the bout. Many thought Sam may have been a bit overzealous but Woods was on clearly on thin ice with a sack of nails on his back. In fact it seemed like only a matter of time before the fight would end. The stoppage in this case was not too entirely intrusive. On the other hand, Sam only expedited the inevitable.
Deleon Jr. Impresses With Boxing Skills; Wins By Unanimous Decision!
In the co-featured bout of the evening, Middleweight Antonio Garcia 16-17-1 (5 KO’s) took on Puerto Rico’s rising middleweight star Carlos “Baby Sugar” Deleon Jr. 9-0 (7 KO’s). Deleon won all four rounds by a score of 40-36 on all three judges scorecards. Deleon is being highly touted because he’s the son of the former Puerto Rican Champion Carlos Deleon. Tonight he showed that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as he hooked his way to victory. His fast hands and good boxing skills excited many at ringside and Eastside Boxing caught up with afterwards and he had this to say; “My heredity does not put pressure on me. It only makes stronger. Most people don’t know about me because I don’t’ have the support that Jeff Lacy and Jermaine Taylor have but in time, I too will be well known for my work in the ring.” When asked about his future and when he expects to fight for a Title he said, “I think late this year of the beginning of 2005.” Let’s hope so because this kid can box!
Barnica Sizzles Out A Victory As Only He Knows How-By Exciting KO!
In what has become as customary as the Running of the Bulls in Pompei, Jose “Beto” Barnica 5-0 (4 KO’s) banged out another opponent after taking some wicked shots of his chin. This guy must be related to Chuck Wepner (The Character Sylvester Stallone wrote his screen play on) because he’s always in the most dramatic fights I’ve ever seen. Just when you think, he doesn’t have it in him, Superman appears and he leaves another foe vanquished in his wake. This time it was San Antonio’s Louis Muriel 2-1-1 (1 KO) turn. After winning round one with great movement and distance on the shorter Barnica, Barnica was having none of it in round two as he turned into the straightforward bull we’re accustomed to seeing. He came forward with pressure, winging wide shots and then more pressure and winging wide shots to the body. It would eventually be to much as Muriel would touch his gloves to the canvass in round two from the body damage he was receiving. But just when good sense or a lack of fear should have told him to stay down, he came back to land some of his own shots. Barnica seemed even more inspired as he hit himself as if to say, “Come on, Come on.” Round three would be the last as Barnica disconnected Muriel’s head from his body with an extremely hard right. Muriel went down and did not beat the 10 count. Sam Garza waived off the bout as medical personnel attended to Muriel. With the victory Barnica improves to 6-0 (5 KO’s).
In Other Action…Alexander and Zaragoza Win!
In the opening bout of the evening, Cruiserweight Carl Pierce dropped to 2-2 after dropping a unanimous decision to Houston’s Dominique Alexander 4-1 (2 KO’s). After going down from a straight jab, in round 1, it all seemed over but a game Pierce came to fight and made it a close fight by clearly taking rounds 3 and 4. All three judges had the bout 38-37 in favor of Alexander. Some boos where heard but it was probably due to the fact that many thought Alexander should have done more to KO the previously hurt Pierce.
In the second bout of the evening, Middleweight David Zaragoza 1-0 (1 KO) was up against Donnel Jenkins 3-12 (1 KO) of Beaumont. The totally outclassed Jenkins took a whipping for all four rounds. All three judges scored it 40-36 in favor of Zaragoza.
My Two Cents…
Finally, the opening Browning Boxing Card of 2004 started the year out on a high note. This week in Houston, there have been 3 fight cards scheduled. Perhaps this is in lieu of the Superbowl but Marketing 101, says this is perfect timing and smart use of the Promoters realization that fans need to enjoy and celebrate what most tax paying Americans cannot attend. By last accounts a ticket to the Superbowl is running $1,800 in the local paper. Funny to think that when the first Superbowl occurred 37 years ago that ticket prices were as low as $6!!! Imagine that! Well, for those fans that came out, ticket prices were no where near $1,800 and they certainly weren’t $6 but they also weren’t much higher than that. Browning gave fans a thrill without the spill (of their wallets), so let’s just hope the fans never take that for granted because as many a longtime Houston fight fan will tell you, it wasn’t always like this. Tonight there was no controversy or scorecards that made you want to give up on boxing. No, just good boxing and a bunch of hot women. A dollar can still go a long way; you just have to know where.
Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk
Contributing Writer and Photographer