By David Finger
The 2025 New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame had its annual induction ceremony this Saturday, September 27th, at the Encanto Event Center in Roswell, New Mexico and a familiar face to many fight fans the world over was one of the notable inductees. Levi Martinez, a retired boxing judge with an estimated 850 fights under his belt and an eye popping 199 world title fights, was one of the most notable names to come out of the State of New Mexico over a storied career that started approximately 30 years ago. Since he first took up the pen ringside, Martinez has travelled the world for both the WBO and WBA, judging fights in thirty-seven countries. As a judge he was held in such high esteem that he was often called upon to train fellow judges at the WBO conventions over the years.
“I’ve covered numerous boxing conventions over the years,” event MC and Fightnews Feature Writer David Finger told the audience as he introduced Martinez. “And two names are held in the highest regard in this profession when it comes to judging. The First is Steve Weisfeld from New York, and the second is Levi Martinez.”
Martinez would go on to judge numerous legendary fighters over the years, from New Mexico’s own Johnny Tapia, Austin Trout, Holly Holm, and Danny Romero, to notable champions like Oleksandr Usyk, Terence Crawford, Michael Carbajal, Floyd Mayweather, “Canelo” Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao, Jessie Vargas, Hector Camacho, Roberto Duran, Carl Frampton, Anthony Dirrell, Sven Ottke, Paul Williams, Ivan Calderon, Chris John, Roy Jones Jr., Ruslan Chagaev, Felix Sturm, and Jennifer Han among others.
After a legendary career as a judge where he represented New Mexico with honor and integrity, he would be called upon by the IBF to join their executive board in 2019. In 2023 he was named Executive Vice President of the IBF, a position he continues to hold to this day.
Martinez was humble during his speech, and shared a message of following your dreams, encouraging young fighters, trainers and officials to never stop chasing their dreams.
Also inducted was the former legendary New Mexico boxer Larry “The Rock of New Mexico” Cisneros, who was arguably the most recognizable athlete from New Mexico in the 1930s and 1940s. Cisneros has a lengthy and legendary career culminated with a victory over future International Boxing Hall of Famer Chalky Wright in 1947 in Albuquerque. The Cisneros-Wright fight, which saw over 8,00o fans come out for the event, is widely regarded as one of the biggest matches in New Mexico boxing history. Cisneros retired with a final record of 72-15-6, 21 KOs in 1948 and passed away in 2017.
Another fighter who as inducted was former NABA Super Bantamweight champion Frankie Archuleta, who famously split a series with Johnny Tapia in 2004 and 2005. Archuleta finished his career with a record of 27-10-1, 14 KOs.
Also inducted was long time boxing promoter, matchmaker and trainer Isidro Castillo or School of Hard Knocks Boxing in Hobbs, New Mexico. Castillo was widely respected in the sport for his dedication to helping others out and in the highly political world of fight promoting, it was notable how many other promoters spoke about how Castillo helped them out with their own shows. Castillo, who grew up around the sport of boxing, began training young fighters in the 1990s and promoted his first show in 2010. Since then 81% of all boxing shows ever held in the Southeast corner of New Mexico have been promoted by Castillo.
Another notable former boxer in Ray Sanchez III was inducted in the 2025 class. Sanchez, who fought professionally from 2001-2008, would win the WBO Latino welterweight title as well as the WBC Youth Welterweight title before wrapping up his career with a 21-3, 15 KO record.
2008 and 2012 Olympic Alternate Shijoula Ade Shabazz, who is arguably the most accomplished amateur boxer in New Mexico’s history, was also inducted in the 2025 class. Shabazz also fought professionally from 2012-2017, amassing a record of 6-3, 5 KOs in a career that saw him fight for a NABA USA middleweight title in 2017.
Rounding off the inductions were legendary trainer and former amateur standout Guadalupe “Lupe” Lozoya from Crosstown Boxing in Las Cruces, as well as former three-time New Mexico State Golden Glove champion John De Los Santos, who sadly passed away in 2016. Wrapping up the induction ceremony, legendary boxing trainer Joe Hidalgo received a “Lifetime Achievement Award”. Hidalgo, who is in his 70s, has been a staple of the boxing scene in southern New Mexico for decades and is currently is an assisting coach to WBA world lightweight champion Stephanie Han from El Paso.
