By David Finger
Boxing has been going through something of a revival in New Mexico in 2024 and November may end up being on of the most exciting months in recent memory for fight fans in the Land of Enchantment. Two exciting boxing cards will be held simultaneously on November 9th in different parts of the state.
Legacy Promotions will return to Albuquerque as they host “The Battle at the Pyramid” featuring undefeated Hobbs, New Mexico prospect Mario Gonzalez (5-0, 4 KOs). Gonzalez takes on Albuquerque’s Clinton Chavez (7-2, 4 KOs) in an eight round battle for the UBO Continental Super Welterweight championship. Although the UBO is not seen as a particularly high profile sanctioning body, it is a rare opportunity for the winner to bring a championship belt back home on their way to what they hope will be bigger and better things in the future. But although Gonzalez and Chavez are both coming into the fight with solid records, both suffer from the same weakness that has plagued many a young New Mexico prospect: inactivity. After turning pro in 2019 Chavez has subsequently had only one fight in 2020, two in 2021, one in 2022, and one in 2023. The Gonzalez fight will be his second fight of 2024, having lost to fellow prospect Emeka Nwokolo in January. For Gonzalez, the inactivity is even more pronounced, with the undefeated Lea County native having no fights since stopping Luis Luna in two rounds back in August of 2021. Although the UBO belt probably won’t catapult the winner into the world rankings, it could be just what is needed to kick off some cobwebs and reestablish themselves as a prospect of note in the state.
Rounding off the undercard in Albuquerque, heavyweight Cody “Freight Train” East (5-1, 4 KOs) also looks to shake off some ring rust and revitalize his career for one more run as a regional prospect as he takes on Manuel Eastman (3-8-2, 1 KO) in a six round fight. Although the fight on paper looks to be a safe one for the hard punching Los Lunas native, it is seen by many ringsiders as a classic “pick ’em” fight. After all, Eastman is already 1-0 over East, having knocked him out back in 2015 (a loss that prompted a four year period of inactivity for East). However, East has recently picked up the pace and has already fought twice in 2024. He is hopeful that his third win in 2024 will prove that the upset loss in 2015 was an outlier.
Also featured in the Legacy Promotions card will be popular female middleweight Jordanne Garcia (4-4-3, 0 KOs) of Albuquerque as she takes on Kayla Williams (2-5-1, 1 KO) of Louisiana in a four round bout. Undefeated Albuquerque boxer Andres Rey (3-0, 0 KOs) takes on 21-year old Gerardo Vasquez (0-1) of Albuquerque in a super lightweight battle. In another super lightweight scrap Codi Chavez of Albuquerque will make his professional debut against fellow debutant Isaiah Aguilar of Albuquerque. And rounding off the card, tough luck Jose Vialpando (0-4) will look for his first win as a professional as he takes on another winless boxer in Moriarity’s Austin Lewis (0-1) in a super bantamweight battle.
The Battle at the Pyramid” will take place at the Marriott Pyramid Hotel in North Albuquerque with doors opening at 5 PM and the first fight slated to kick off at 6 PM. Tickets can be obtained by visiting Legacy Boxing’s Facebook page or by visiting the venue at 5151 San Francisco Road NE in Albuquerque.
Fight fans from Southern New Mexico who are unable to make it to Albuquerque for the Legacy Promotions fight card will have an option to watch some fights a little closer to home as another event will take place on November 9th at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico. Combat Promotions will host an equally exciting fight card featuring undefeated San Antonio, Texas prospect Javier Fernandez (16-0, 7 KOs) as he takes on the ever dangerous TBA in an eight round lightweight fight. Although Fernandez may be something of an unknown quantity to local boxing fans, the undercard will be stacked full of familiar faces, starting with hard hitting El Paso, Texas prospect Dominic Barry (5-0, 5 KOs). Barry takes on Gallup, New Mexico’s Ronald Baca (9-4-4, 3 KOs). Barry has emerged as a local internet sensation after a successful football career that saw him emerge as one of the best linebackers in the state of New Mexico. After a successful collegiate career at Western New Mexico (WNMU) Barry would end up getting a pre-season invite from the LA Rams and subsequently has kicked off the immensely popular “Train Like Dom” website. Coupled with nearly 300,000 Instagram followers and millions of TikTok views on his videos, Barry has emerged as a legitimate influencer and has shown flashes of being a legitimate cruiserweight contender to boot. But although he comes into Mescalero with an impressive 5-0 record, he is taking on a fighter who is the personification of the erratic upset specialist. Much like the Purdue Boilermakers, the Gallup native has perplexed fans in the Southwest for years looking great against exceptional opposition…only to struggle against weaker foes. He is best remembered for holding high profile prospects like the 19-0-1 Justin Jones to a draw, only to follow it up with a mind boggling draw to an 0-4-1 Corey Barlow. Although it will be Baca’s first fight in over five years, the veteran has no shortage of tricks and could pull off the “Spoilermaker” like upset if the same Baca who fought Justin Jones shows up. With Barry fighting at around 200-pounds, the fight is expected to take place in the bridgerweight division.
Rounding off the card will be hard hitting Rolyn Nez (3-0, 2 KOs) of Bloomfield, New Mexico as he takes on Aaron Martinez (5-5, 3 KOs) of Santa Fe in a scheduled six round welterweight fight. Nez is regarded as one of the hottest young prospects in the state, and with Martinez coming into the fight with Nez on the heels of back to back losses, few are anticipating an upset. But Martinez has shown tremendous grit in both of those losses, and could prove to be more than up to the task of derailing the undefeated Nez if Nez fails to bring his A-game. Also on the card will be a battle between one time Hobbs based light heavyweight prospect Yhorhighness Rezzaq (2-1, 1 KO) as he takes on a TBA. Rezzaq has not fought since an shocking upset loss to Herman Rendon back in 2021, but despite the loss he did show flashes of being a legitimate regional prospect in his short career and needs to stay active if he is going to make a run as a professional boxer.
Elijah Sweet (3-4, 0 KOs) of Las Cruces looks to snap a two fight losing streak as he takes on Robert Lartigue (2-3, 1 KO) of Pecos, Texas in a four round super middleweight fight. Sweet showed some grit in taking top prospect Jorge Tovar the distance, dropping a six round decision back in September of this year. But a loss to Lartigue would be devastating for his career and could derail it entirely. Undefeated prospect Jose Luis Sauceda (6-0, 3 KOs) of Mercedes, Texas is slatted to take on El Paso’s Gabriel Gutierrez (7-15, 5 KOs) in a four round welterweight fight. With ten stoppage losses in his career and coming into New Mexico on the heels of six straight losses, Gutierrez is not expected to seriously test the young prospect. But it should be a good opportunity for fight fans in New Mexico to gauge the East Texas-based prospect and assess where his career trajectory will go as his competition improves.
Also on the card, debuting Eduardo Pinon takes on another rookie in Isaac Barrientos in a four round bantamweight fight. Lubbock Texas based Ephraim Martinez (6-2, 2 KOs) looks to revitalize his career after back to back losses to undefeated fighters in 2010 and 2012, as he takes on Rey Trujillo (1-8-3, 0 KOs) in a junior middleweight clash. It will be Martinez’s second fight of 2024, but considering he turned pro in 2018 during the George W. Bush administration, time is not on Martinez’s side and he needs to win in impressive fashion to make up for lost time. Tickets for the Mescalero event can be obtained by contacting the Inn of the Mountain Gods at 1-800-545-9011.
If that wasn’t enough boxing for fight fans in New Mexico, there is still one more major boxing show that is slated to take place just across the border of Las Cruces. Just two weeks after the boxing double header takes place in New Mexico, El Paso, Texas will see an exciting night of boxing as Kings Promotions hosts another action packed boxing show featuring what may be the hottest prospect in the Southwest in undefeated Jorge Tovar (10-0, 7 KOs) of El Paso. Tovar will take on Damarian Kelly (5-5, 3 KOs) of Casper, Wyoming in a six round super middleweight fight at the El Paso Coliseum. Also featured will be another talented undefeated fighter in Devon Young (5-0, 4 KOs) as he takes on Donna, Texas native Hugo Trujillo (5-4-1, 2 KOs) in a fight that promises to be more competitive than it would appear on paper. Trujillo is noted for giving young prospects the toughest fight of their careers, having dropped a split decision to 16-1 Raphael Murphy in his last fight and having given undefeated Elvis Garcia (7-0) all he could handle before dropping a majority decision back in 2019. But perhaps Trujillo is best known for his stunning upset over 34-1 Eugene Hill (also in 2019), a fight that cemented his reputation as one of the most dangerous “opponents” in the heavyweight division. The fact that Young is coming from South Carolina to Texas to take on the dangerous Trujillo is a sign that his team is confident that Young is a world class prospect with a legitimate aspiration at world title. But Trujillo earned his reputation for a reason, and if Young is not the real deal, or if he looks past the pudgy veteran, his world title plans could end up derailed in the Sun City.
Also rounding off the card will be a one time hot prospect who has stumbled out of the gate in recent fights. Amy Salinas (6-6, 0 KOs) of Las Cruces, New Mexico turned pro to much fan fare, and many in the state assumed that a world title fight would be in the cards for the talented New Mexican. But after dropping five of her last seven fights, Salinas is in desperate need to halt the slide and get back in the win column. Her opponent, former IBF minimum weight champion Nancy Franco (19-21-2, 5 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico, has seen it all in a career that has spanned 42-fights and sixteen years. but despite her experience she is winless in her last seven fights. A win for Salinas could propel her into a minor regional title fight, which could n turn lead to a world title fight. But a loss to the veteran could prove to be the final nail in the career of one of New Mexico’s most charismatic female fighters.
Welterweight prospect Muhammad Robinson (7-1, 3 KOs) of Baltimore, Maryland takes on Jorge Fleites (2-1, 2 KOs) in a welterweight fight. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Quadir Albright (10-1, 10 KOs) takes on the 39-year old Daulis Prescott (34-23, 26 KOs) of Barranquilla, Colombia in a battle between punchers. Another talented El Paso prospect in Victor Aranda (4-0 4 KOs) takes on fellow El Paso native Eduardo Monrreal (1-1, 1 KO) in a four round junior middleweight fight. Heavyweight Marcios Duran (1-0, 1 KO) of El Paso looks to win his second professional fight as he takes on Miami, Florida native Joshua Brice (0-1) in a four round clash. Tickets for the Ring Wars fight card can be obtained by contacting Warriors Edge Boxing at 3465 Lee Blvd, Suite 233 in El Paso, Texas or by contacting the El Paso Coliseum at 1-915-534-4229 or visiting the El Paso Coliseum box office at 4100 E. Paisano Drive, El Paso, 79905.
