01.09.07 – By Jaime Castro-Núñez: I was born in Muncie, IN, but I spent my childhood in Montería, a fluvial port along the banks of the Sinú River in Northern Colombia. Montería is a tranquil city whose most important resident is Miguel “Happy” Lora, the former WBC Bantamweight champion of the world who reigned from 1985 to 1988. As a teenager, I remember my family gathering together to watch Lora’s fights.
The day of the bout, I must say, virtually nobody could be found on Monteria’s small streets after 3:00 PM. So it was that I grew up on boxing, enjoying Lora’s wars and of course the food my mom used to cook before the fight. Lora lost the crown in 1988 and I didn’t pay much attention to boxing until last year, when I read by casualty that some guy from Magangué had been close to defeat boxing sensation Miguel Cotto. That anonymous boxer happened to be Ricardo Torres.
During the following days I read so much about Torres and his impressive performance against the Boricua, that I felt compelled to scribble an article about this guy whose right index phalanx had been cut away by a bite of an iguana. After the Cotto-Torres encounter, I felt that the passion for the sport was back in my heart. I’d returned to the United States a year earlier and I got little idea about boxing, but I wanted to write about the sport of the pug noses. And there I was, in front of my computer, struggling with English –because it’s my second language- and trying to use the same jargon that looks nice on Tessitore´s predictions.
I’m a dentist and the only thing I like to do is to provide people with beautiful smiles. And I love boxing, too, but I’m miles away of becoming a boxing erudite. On June 7, 2007, I wrote a decent article for ESB about WBO Junior Welterweight titleholder Ricardo Torres, and since then I have been informing about his fight against mandatory challenger Kendall Holt, which took place last night in Barranquilla, Colombia. Initially scheduled for August 4 in Chicago, IL, Torres’ manager, Mr. Billy Chams, won the purse bid and organized it in South America.
Soon we fans discovered that it was not going to be televised in the US, so I decided to buy a couple of ticket to Barranquilla. A last-minute inconvenient deprived me from traveling, so I resigned not to see the fight. To make things worse, mom called and asked: “Are you watching the fight in the States? My mom’s sentence was like a hook to my liver, but I wasn’t going to give up. Inspired by technology and all these webcam stuff, I instructed my sister Tania to open her messenger, place a webcam in front of the TV in order for me to watch the fight. Wow! Now I gotta credit Tania for her amazing job setting up the lights, the zoom, the volume…
Minutes before the show, I went to ESB and, under the Jeffrey nickname, posted the following comment: “Guys, I will be posting comments on the fight after every round. I’ll be watching the fight live!! Keep u informed.” I was not sure if somebody would follow my comments, but I wanted to share. Ready for the time of the truth, an ocean away from Colombia and in front of this machine called computer, my wife and I started to manage the tension eating popcorns. As I returned to ESB, I read a comment by AUTHORITY. “good stuff Jeffery, what time are they expected to enter the ring?” Later, KNOCK KNOCK asked: “Any updates? Have they started or did Holt win already?” They gave me the courage to write what I believe was the first ESB online broadcast of a fight. Here is what I wrote:
AUTHORITY. “Is there an undercard, or are they just getting straight to business?”
JEFFREY. “the fight starts at 9:30 pacific time…11:30 colombian time. Yes, 10 fights before Torres-Holt. Jose Miguel Torres (Mochuelo´s brother) is fighting. Jr Flyweight WBA ranked N. 2 Cesar Canchila scored a knock out in 4th. Getting ready to the walk-ins. Its raining in Barranquilla. Journalists are talking good stuff about Holt. Colombian press is aware of Holt’s ability.”
AUTHORITY. “Sweet! Any sense of what the fight atmosphere is like?”
JEFFREY. “Well, people is excited!!! Very excited. They respect Holt, but of course they go with Torres. Chilly breeze outside. Excellent attendance.”
AUTHORITY. “I think I’ll pop a beer on that note!”
JEFFREY. “Holt is just entering the ring!!!!!!!”
AUTHORITY. “Please describe the mood of the fighters during the ring-walk…”
JEFFREY. “Holt is strealing the show!!! he entered the ring with the american flang, along with colombia´s in his trunk…people is going crazy with him. A lady threw him an underwear…Holt looks confident, all smiles…he is stealing the show. Torres is entering.”
AUTHORITY. HAHAHAHAHA!!!! OOOHHH SHIT!!”
JEFFREY. “both holt and torres are dancing “champeta” a caribbean rythm….total show!!! duddes this is totally crazy!!!”
AUTHORITY. “Who received the loudest applause?”
JEFFREY. “announcing Holt. Applause even… torres is local, but people is loving holt.”
AUTHORITY. “Sweet stuff Jeffrey, please keep it coming!!”
Just before the bout began, I lost the connection with my sister in Montería. “Tata, Tata, give me signal, please, give me signal. I can’t see anything. I got it back, thanks Tata”.
JEFFREY. “laddies and gentelmen, the fight starts…time: 9:40. both in the center of the ring. job by torres. holt steps back. job by holt. holt moves fast. is the faster. holt wears a usa trunk. Holt takes the lead. 1st round ends. 10-10, but holt took the lead…could go 10-9 holt. both fighters very, very careful….good hand by torres on holt´s chin. best shot of the fight so far. good holt…shook torres. 3rd round ends. Holt is the better fighter so far. Fight kinda boring to this point. 4th round starts. holt seems to be hurt.”
AUTHORITY. “DAMN!”
JEFFREY. “Torres impressive on 4th. Going to the 5th. Bad round for holt.”
AUTHORITY. “Yes!!! the Champ is getting stronger!!! LET’S GO MOCHUELO!!”
JEFFREY . “mochuelo confident in the 5th. 3 goods by torres, 2 hands by holt. this is hot man!!!! people chanting torres, torres. 5th started…torres better now, but holt looks in good condition. different fight now…torres aggressive…Holt moving. holt walks the ring…difficult to get hit, but mochuelo trying hard. 6th round…man, what a right hand…torres went down…seems to be hurt. Duddes, torres saved by the bell!!! down goes torres, ready to go to 7th.”
AUTHORITY. “FUCK!!! C’mon Torres, fight smart!!!”
JEFFREY. “torres hurt…very hurt….holt confident after flooring torres. torres very bad. Torres is worn down. end of round. Torres hurt, very hurt. 8th starts. Holt is ahead according to the colombian press. 9th round starts. the auditorium is silent!!! Torres recovered. holt seems to be wining. 10th starts. Mochuelo knows is loosing the belt.”
AUTHORITY. “He’s going to have to put it all on the line now, he shouldn’t enter the showers with one fucking shred of energy!!”
JEFFREY. “all right u guys…the fight is almost over. mochuelo is loosing the fight. holt confident. 11th about to start. only a kout saves mochuelo! holt hurt…holt down!! holt down. torres impressive, laddies and gentelman…what a drama, spectacular, unique, toores was losing, what a hand, duddes, torres impressive. barranquilla is crazy knock out by torres in the 11th. knock out by torres dudedes. torres won”.
AUTHORITY. “Colombia must be buzzing with electricity!! Great, Great stuff!”
JEFFREY. “The most dramatic fight in colombian history!!! holt got confident, torres was out of gas, but at the end showed his power.”
AUTHORITY. “WHAT A CHAMPION!! WAY TO SNATCH VICTORY, FROM THE UNFORGIVING JAWS OF DEFEAT!!!! FUCKING SWEET!!!!! What’s happening in the ring?”
JEFFREY. “people is crazy here….in 3 minutes they went from saddens to total craziness. Boxing funs around the world, specially those in the US, it was an orgasmic pleasure for me to bring you the ESB online transmision of Torres-Holt from Barranquilla, Colombia. Thanks for staying. It was hard to see the fight and update you. Thaks.”
AUTHORITY. “Jeffrey, that was a very colorful, and detailed oriented presentation of the events. You literally had me on the edge of my seat. The only thing I appreciate more than your willingness to share your experience. Is the frequency with which you delivered it…Kudoz my friend, great coverage!!
BIG HEAD. “Well i was The First one that Thought holt was Going to win i guess i was wrong Respect to ricardo torres he fought hard and got the knockout What the hell was holt doing stay in front of him and Got caught huh when he shoulda of been Moving oh Well that boxing i hope Holt can come back it just shows it Dont matter how many rounds you win against torres he always going to Be dangerous great Win for him Holt got to go back to The drawing borad again man that sucks he got Go back all the way to new jersey with out no belt”.
And that was pretty much how I shared with the ESB readers what I saw and heard thanks to this technology called internet, and to my beloved sister Tania. She doesn’t enjoy boxing as much as we do, but without her impeccable work I wouldn’t be able to give you this information. Tata was so excited, that suddenly she became my personal Larry Merchant. Here is how she described the moment in which Ricardo Torres escaped “FROM THE UNFORGIVING JAWS OF DEFEAT!” “Jaime, in the eleventh round Torres threw a vicious left hook to Holt’s chin and he visited the ants [fell]. He woke up so badly and Torres finished him off. Seeing him defenseless and not throwing anything back, the referee [Genaro Rodríguez] stopped the bout in front of 1800 Colombians.”
It’s 3:12 AM. Tata and my relatives in Montería are already under their blankets. I look to my bed and see my wife asleep, perhaps dreaming about upper-cuts and jobs, wishing to be dancing on Barranquilla’s 84th Street, where the celebration must be taking place right now. Before ending this article I ask myself: What’s next for Torres? I don’t know. The only thing I can say at this point is that the Torres-Holt is the most dramatic fight in Colombian boxing history! I wish I could write accurate predictions full of boxing jargon, but, as I already stated, I’m just a dentist who loves boxing.