26.06.05 – by Kent Appel @ Ringside: The Spotlight Casino in Coachella, California was the scene of an excellent five bout professional card that was broadcast live on Hombre.tv, the cable television network for Hispanic men. Information about Hombre TV can be found at www.HombreTV.com. The card took place on June 24, 2005. There were also two fine amateur bouts that opened the show..
The card was promoted by One Tough Cookie Promotions and it featured various regional titles such as the WBC super lightweight youth interim title, the WBC Mundo Hispano title, as well as the somewhat better known NABF title.
Often when titles seem to be created on a continuing basis they don’t seem to mean too much to a lot of people in the boxing world but all of the fighters on this card earned any titles they could claim. The winners, and the losers as well, earned the title that is lasting, the title of Warrior with a capital “W.” In most of the fights the outcome was in doubt until the fights were over as in fight after fight the contestants battled it out toe to toe, giving no quarter to their worthy opponents.
The headlining fight saw Adam Carrera of Cathedral City, California squaring off against Julio Gamboa of Leon, Nicaragua. Carrera won this excellent contest and the NABF super bantamweight title by a seventh round TKO when Gamboa’s corner advised referee Raul Caiz that Gamboa was not able to continue.
Although I saw the winner Carrera winning nearly every round, the fight was very competitive and Gamboa was very much in the fight until the end. He even protested his corner’s decision but to no avail as they felt there was no need for him to absorb any more punishment.
The fight started with the fighters pounding each other from bell to bell in the first round, which I saw as being even. Carrera was very effective with the right hand lead to the head and the left jab while Gamboa, a southpaw, was particularly effective with the straight left hand to the head
Both fighters let their hands go in abundance again in round numbers two and three with Carrera having the edge in round two on the basis of strong two handed combinations and Gamboa gaining the advantage in round three again using the strong straight left hand to the head as well as with his own two handed combinations.
Rounds four and five saw Carrera starting to find the range with the left hook to the head and he also connected with some hard body shots. The two fighters took turns hurting each other in round number four but Carrera had a slight edge and this trend continued into round number five.
Round number six was another good action round as the two fighters again traded combinations throughout the round. It was at this point that Gamboa’s punches seemed to be losing steam somewhat and although he was still in there fighting his heart out, by round seven it was more noticeable that he was wearing down due to the blistering pace while Carrera seemed to be getting stronger. It was a good decision on his corner’s part to have the fight stopped to protect their fighter.
With the win Carrera, 121 pounds, improves his record to 17-1, 8 by KO while Gamboa, 122 pounds, is now 26-10-2, 16 by KO.
I spoke with Carrera after the fight and he said, “I had to be at my best to pull off the win as it was for a title and the man was very tough. But I trained hard and I had the best sparring partners to help me get ready for the fight. This fight is going to help me get ready for other fights down the road. It was a good learning experience.”
In a ten round CO feature bout in the featherweight division, Marcos Licona of Mexico City, Mexico fought Sammy Ventura of Villarosa, Mexico for the WBC intercontinental Hispano Mundo title. Licona, 125 pounds, was the winner by a fourth round knockout at 2:59 of the round over Ventura, 126 pounds.
Licona knocked Ventura down twice in the fight, once in the second round with a hard combination that ended with a fine left hook to the head and also in the fourth and final round with a combination that was punctuated with a right hand, also to the head.
Ventura was game and he fought hard and even though he did land some good shots in every round, they were not enough to stem the tide of Licona’s victory. Licona improves his record to 23-5, 8 by KO while Ventura steps back to 22-14, 17 by KO.
In another ten round fight, in the super lightweight division for the WBC youth interim title, Hilario Lopez of Caldwell, Idaho won by a TKO over Noe Inzunza of Mexico after Inzunza was unable to continue after the sixth round.
Lopez effectively switched back and forth between a conventional stance and a southpaw stance throughout the contest, landing jabs, hooks, and right and left hands from both sides. Inzunza for his part was game and he hung in there tough but he didn’t have an answer for Lopez’s onslaught. The decision by referee Pat Russell to stop the contest was a good one. With the win Lopez takes a step up to 8-4-2 while Inzunza goes a notch back to 7-8.
In a fight scheduled for eight rounds in the bantamweight division Jose Luis Cardenas, 114 pounds, of Mexico City, Mexico defeated Adrian Aleman of Cathedral City, California by a unanimous decision to win the WBC intercontinental Hispano Mundo title. The judges all voted for Cardenas by scores of 76 to 75, 76 to 75, and 77 to 74. I thought the fight was a draw by the score of 76 to 76 but even though the pro Aleman crowd booed the decision, the decision was fair as it was a fine action fight and I would not argue against a close verdict favoring either fighter.
Aleman did knock down Cardenas in the sixth round but Cardenas rallied in the seventh and eighth rounds to pull even on my card and apparently to win on the judges scorecards. With the win Cardenas improves his record to 5-5-1, 3 by KO while Aleman, who suffered his first loss as a professional is now 3-1-1, 3 by knockout.
In a lightweight fight scheduled for six rounds, Luis Cervantes of Guadalajara, Mexico won by unanimous decision over Richard Alduenda of Los Angeles, California. Cervantes, 135 pounds, got the judges’ nod by scores of 59 to 55, 59 to 55, and 59 to 55 over Alduenda, 132 pounds. The two had fought to a draw in a previous encounter and I felt the fight was closer than the judges indicated as the two traded evenly in the entire fight. Another draw would not have been out of the question. With the win Cervantes is now 3-1-1, 1 by KO
while Alduenda is now 1-4-2.
Finally, the show opened with two good amateur fights. Rico Ramos of Los Angeles, California defeated Charles Huerta of Paramount, California by a decision in the 119 pound classification and Danny Martinez of Azusa, California defeated Rene Anaya of Huntington Park, California by a decision in the 125 pound classification.