In a successful night of local boxing, Quiñones Promotions brought a multi-bout fight card to the cavernous Las Pulgas night club located in the heart of the legendary Avenida Revolucion Thursday night. In a night full of wins, losses and controversial decisions, Tijuana was the definite winner as the majority of the contestants where from the border town and each brought their respective crowds to offer support which made the night a raucous one. In the main event, WBC #13 ranked straw weight Julio Cesar “Gatito” Felix (16-3, 6KOs) took the momentum in the second half of a ten round junior flyweight bout to defeat the popular Sergio “Elegante” Nuñez (4-7), both of Tijuana, via a split decision.
"Gatito" Felix Gets his Hand Raised Along with Antonio Margarito
The first round was a tactical one as both fighters circled around each other but not really attacking. The slightly shorter Felix had the quicker hands and threw jabs to the body to find his range while Nuñez tried to score with over hand rights. Nuñez steps up the pace in the second and begins to throw more punches while Felix tried to box. Nuñez was the more persistent of the two and controlled the pace with measured aggression. Nuñez kept the pace and began to attack the body to slow down the boxing Felix.
The wilder of the two, Nuñez was still successful in the first half of the fourth with lunging punches that find their mark but slowly Felix is beginning to catch up to him with his counter attack. Nuñez was still able to close out the round with two big over hand rights. After a minute rest between rounds, Felix came out slightly faster and counter punching the wild over hand rights from Nuñez more consistently. Surprisingly, Felix turned into the shocker and pushed Nuñez against the ropes and forced him to fight while he succeeded in scoring with counter punching combinations. Nuñez continued to go to the body but not with the same luck as before.
After turning the tide, Felix seemed to take his foot of the pedal slightly in the seventh but still kept control of the contest. Noticing Felix possibly taking the round off, Nuñez attacked at a more frenzied pace than the last two rounds but it still was not enough to win the round. By the eight, Felix had found a permanent home for his right hand, either as a lead or counter. He scored with it almost at will until the final seconds of the round when Nuñez caught him against the ropes and was able to unleash an assault that bothered Felix. By the last two rounds, Nuñez had nothing else to try and the much technically sound fighter, Felix, was able to control the action and cruise to a win.
After ten rounds, Judges Benjamin Rendon and Roman Cruz had it 96-94 for Felix while Frank Navarro saw it with the same score but for Nuñez awarding “Gatito” the split decision win.
Emilio Bojorquez Is Back
With live music and the loud chanting of a strong fan base in his hometown, super welterweight Emilio Bojorquez (17-1, 12KOs) is back from a two year hiatus from the ring. The local favorite who as an amateur star amassed more than 150 bouts including five state titles and two Mexican national gold medals, decided to hang up the gloves momentarily to raise his young son and to embark in a music career. Finding his way back to a ring, the thick around the middle Bojorquez was awarded a unanimous decision over the durable Alejandro Alonso (2-9-1, 1KO), also of Tijuana, over six rounds.
Emilio Bojorquez Scores with left hook
Nothing much was expected from Alonso of Tijuana and he was clearly there to be hit which Bojorquez was more than happy to oblige from the opening bell as he quickly resorted to his signature punch, the devastating left hook to the liver. Alonso didn’t serve up anything in return. Alonso began to move more in the second trying to stay away from that left hook but Bojorquez was still able to score with it. Alonso did have some success with a couple of over hand rights as Bojorquez, not fearing Alonso’s power, moved inside freely. Alonso kept moving in the third which seemed to frustrate Bojorquez since his condition wasn’t his best asset. Despite of it, Bojorquez did add a straight right hand to his attack which proved to bear fruits. Alonso did not score much but kept moving. His best punch of the night up to that point was a left uppercut that caught Bojorquez as he came in but nothing to stop him or even slow him down.
For the rest of the fight, Bojorquez kept scoring with combinations always punctuated with the left hook. Alonso’s biggest skill was the availability to withstand everything Bojorquez was dishing it out but it came obvious by this point that Bojorquez, who usually battles in the lightweight division, did not have the power to stop Alonso.
Bojorquez was awarded a well-deserved unanimous decision. Scores were not announced.
Chistian Bojorquez’s Christmas Comes Early
For the first time on the same professional fight card, Christian Bojorquez (3-0, 1KO) joined his older brother Emilio as he took on Mario Lara (0-4), also of Tijuana, in a super bantamweight four rounder. Welcomed into the ring with the same enthusiasm as his brother, the younger Bojorquez was also an amateur stand out with over 125 bouts of his own in which he captured five state titles and three bronze medals in Mexican national Olympiads.
Lara Scores Versus Christian Bojorquez
The slightly taller Bojorquez easily took the first round, scoring with a sneaky long left hook that went around the guard of Lara. Lara scored with a big over hand right which became his weapon of choice near the end of the round to show Bojorquez that he was there to fight. Lara began to attack to the body in the second while Bojorquez never did though out the four rounds. Lara kept pushing the fight as Bojorquez did away with his jab and fought Lara’s fight and stayed in the inside.
Lara turned into a brawl in the third which didn’t help the little experienced Bojorquez. Inexplicably, mid-way through the round, referee Alberto Ramos stopped the action after a clinch and took a point from Lara. The referee, who had been suspended a couple of years ago from the Tijuana boxing commission for getting into an altercation with a fighter after a bout, never explained while the point was deducted.
Amidst the chants from his family and friends, Bojorquez completely lost control in the third and allowed Lara to beat him to the punch all round long. Lara had Bojorquez’s ticket and scored to the body and with multiple over hand rights to the cheek of the taller Bojorquez. Bojorquez fought back in spurts but it wasn’t enough to hold the bullish Lara at bay or win the round.
After the four rounds, Bojorquez was shockingly awarded a majority decision which prompted heavy jeers from the crowd. Fightnews.com had it a close 38-37 for Lara.
Other Results:
In what was possibly the best fight on paper, wasn’t as undefeated Edibaldo “Indio” Ortega of Tijuana kept his undefeated record when he quickly stopped the tough Pedro “Pitbull” Lopez in the first round of a scheduled super bantamweight six. The usually over matched Lopez is a tough out for any up and coming fighter but Ortega proved to be too much as the southpaw scored with straight rights easily. Ortega later scored with a left hook that dropped Lopez. Lopez was able to beat the count only to be met with a right hand that also sent him to the canvas. As Lopez tried to survive the round, Ortega caught him with a perfectly placed left uppercut to the mouth of the stomach which was too much for Lopez to endure. Official time of the TKO was 2:58 of the first round.
With the win, Ortega’s record went to 11-0-1, 4KOs while Lopez’s drops to 4-4, 1KO.
Perro Salado Ring Card Girl
In a slight upset, super lightweight Eduardo Iñiguez impressively stopped previously undefeated German Perez (5-1-2, 2KOs), both of Tijuana, in the first round of a scheduled four rounder. The southpaw Perez, visibly fighting over his ideal weight of 130 lbs., was the better skilled of the two and that was evident with the hard left hooks he was scoring from the opening bell. Iñiguez (2-41, 2KOs) stayed in the game and when he trapped Perez against the ropes near the blue corner made his room and in a barrage of punches scored a scorching right hand that sent Perez down for the count. Referee Juan Jose Ramirez began to administer the count but when he noticed that Perez was not going to beat, he instead waived off the bout. Official time was 1:57 of the first round.
After scorching Luis Sanchez merely two weeks ago, San Diego, CA’s jr. welterweight Adrian Vargas (5-0, 3KOs) stepped into the squared circle again to score his second 1st round KO in the month when he quickly demolished Hector Rivera (1-14-1) of Rosarito at the 2:53 mark of the first round. Official time was 2:53.
Super bantamweight Reynaldo “El Rey” Russell kept his perfect record intact as he stopped Hector Figueroa, both of Tijuana, in the third round of a scheduled four. Russell, the more technical and precise of the two, scored big with combinations with the uppercut giving him the best success. Mid-way through the third, a punch to Figueroa’s jaw forced him to lose his mouth guard, Russell then connected with a classic left jab-right hand that sent Figueroa to the canvas. He was able to beat the count but Russell launched an attack of flurried punches and with no response from Figueroa, it prompted referee Alberto Ramos to stop the bout. Official time was 1:14 of the third round.
With the win, Russell goes to 2-0, 2KOS while Figueroa drops to 0-2.
After a tedious lightweight four rounder between Jose Luis “Zurdo” Ramirez Jr. (1-0-1), son of former champ Jose Luis Ramirez Sr., and Cesar Sanchez (0-6-3), both of Tijuana, it was deemed a draw with one judge seeing it for Ramirez Jr. 39-37, the other for Sanchez with the same score and the third an even 38-38.
