21.01.05 – By Carlos Kalinchuk — Photo Gallery — In the Main Event of the evening, WBA Champion Juan “El Torito” Diaz retained his title and gave the local fans what they wanted when he defeated a very resilient Billy Irwin in round 9 of their twelve round-scheduled fight. For much of the fight Irwin laid against the ropes only to be beaten from pillar to post. Although he tried to mount some form of comeback after a second round knockdown, it was obvious that he was overmatched. The referee finally ended the massacre in round nine after Irwin received 10 consecutive unanswered punches. Diaz improves to 27-0 (13 KO’s) while Billy Irwin drops to 42-6 (30 KO’s).
After the fight, Irwin seemed at a loss for words when discussing his future. Hopefully he’ll do the right thing and retire while he’s still in good mental and physical shape. Diaz added after the fight, “I have so much respect for him. He just wouldn’t quit and he is an honorable man and I tip my hat to him. He came to fight.”
In the co-main event, Heavyweight Calvin Brock (24-0, 20 KO’s) demolished Clifford “The Black Rhino” Etienne (29-2-2, 20 KO’s) in round 3 of their 10 round-scheduled fight. The fight was entertaining for as long as it lasted as Etienne was able to mount a semi comeback after going down in round one. The second round was entertaining as both traded some heavy shots but it was Etiennes’ weak chin that once again opened the door for another opponent (Brock) to end the fight early. Etienne went down twice in round three and but the referee ended the fight before a dazed Etienne could go down a third time in the round.
Besides the 3,000 excited fans in attendance, other celebrities and local sports figures were seated ringside. In attendance was Houston Texans General Manager Charlie Casserly, the newly and re-signed Astros pitcher Roger Clemens, “Jesse” James Leija, Thomas Tate, Michael Grant, Rocky Juarez, and former Champion Raul Marquez.
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In other action…
Jr. Lightweight Benjamin Flores 7-0 (2 KO’s) fought to a unanimous 6 round decision against Thomas Villa 9-4-3 (4 KO’s) of Midland Texas.
San Antonio’s Raul Martinez 6-0 (6 KO’s) continued his hot streak as he blasted Leonard Martinez 21-17-1 (8 KO’s) in the first round of their 6 round scheduled fight. Martinez went down twice from Martinez’s attack before the referee waved the fight off.
Featherweight Jose Diaz 6-0 (3 KO’s) (Juan’s younger brother) turned Bryan Garcia 7-12 (2 KO’s) into a bloody pulp before the referee called a halt to the action 2:46 into round four of their 6 round scheduled fight.
Lightweight Larry Gonzalez 6-0 (2 KO’s) won the Miller Lite Texas Title belt by beating Julio Cesar Garcia 10-1 (6 KO’s) in an eight round affair. Although the crowd vehemently protested the decision, it was clearly the right one as Garcia fought as if he was fighting in quick sand the whole night. Rarely did he ever throw more than one punch at a time and the struggle to make weight clearly showed as he could not keep up with the more mobile and elusive Gonzalez. Gonzalez clearly landed more shots and he was able to put his combinations together even though they clearly lacked the power of Garcia’s. The final scores were 77-75 on all three judges scorecards.
Akondayne Fountain improved her record to 4-0 (2-0) against Krystle Davis who was making her pro debut. The fight was sloppy overall, however, both came to fight. Unfortunately the fight was ended prematurely in round three when the referee waved off the fight. Even though it was evident Davis was not hurt, she did not respond to a twenty plus (answered) punch attack by Fountain. Most punches landed on the gloves but the referee could be given a pass on this one because Davis’ lack of ring experience. The argument could also clearly be made that she was not hurt (which most including myself believe). Davis’s lack of experience though perhaps played a role in the early stoppage.
Houstons’ Chris Tamayo came out victorious in his pro debut against Rafael Torres 0-7. The fight ended by 3rd round TKO after Torres could not recover from two body shots that sent him to the canvass.
Another Houstonian was making his pro debut, Jesus Rodarte came out with a victory after crushing Javier Segura 3-9 in the first round. Segura went down twice and the referee stopped the bout 1:46 in round 1.
Contributing Writer & Photographer
Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk