By David Finger
In New Mexico there is a common understanding when it comes to the weather. Bet on a drought but know that if it rains, it will be a deluge. And that unique weather phenomenon actually applied to the sport of boxing this weekend. Whereas fight fans can go months in the Land of Enchantment waiting for a live boxing show, November 7th saw two amazing boxing shows in the state on the same day.
At the same time that WBA flyweight champion Abraham Perez was defending his title against Yankiel Rivera in Albuquerque, three of the hottest prospects in the Southwest were electrifying boxing fans in the southern part of the state at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino in Mescalero. Although Las Cruces’s Ayanna Orona would come up short, losing a unanimous decision in the main event, two other New Mexicans would emerge victorious with impressive knockouts.
In the main event, female flyweight Ayanna Orona, 125.2, was looking to crack into the world rankings as she took on a scrappy undefeated Colombian prospect named Yeni Arias, 124, in a six round affair. Orona was ranked by Boxrec as the #2 ranked American super featherweight and #41 in the world, but she had yet to break into rankings of any of the major sanctioning organizations. But although she was fighting in what was practically her back yard, she drew a tough foe from South America in Arias. Arias, a former Olympian, had a disadvantage in reach and height but she would make up for it in tenacity.
When the bell rang Orona seemed to have a workable game plan: jab and use her reach advantage to keep the shorter fighter a safe distance away. And for two rounds it seemed like she was cruising to an uneventful six round decision victory. But in round three the Colombian realized that there was a path to victory: swarm her opponent and never step off the gas. Perhaps realizing that Orona lacked the power to stop her, Arias came out in round three throwing caution to the wind and overwhelming Orona with wide punches from all angles. She would march in throwing bombs and although few of them landed, she was winning points for aggression. It was enough to prompt Orona’s corner to yell “be first!” to their fighter, but Arias was simply not interested in cooperating.
Round four saw more of the same, with Orona unable to derail the Tasmanian Devil that was the former Olympian. By round five Arias seemed to be slowing down just a bit, and it appeared that Orona might have an opening to take control of the fight again. But the New Mexican also seemed to be suffering from fatigue and was unable to fully capitalize on her opponent slowing down. By round six it seemed to be anyone’s fight, although the momentum was clearly still favoring Arias. Both fighters were clearly winded, but Arias dug a little deeper and closed out the round strongly, to cement what would be a unanimous decision victory as all three judges scored the fight 58-56. Fightnews also scored the fight 58-56 for Arias, who improved to 3-0-1, 2 KOs. Orona ‘s dream of breaking into the world rankings will have to wait as she sees her record slip to 8-3-1, 1 KO.
Albuquerque’s Yoruba Moreu survived a scare in round one against El Paso’s Jesus Moreno Arias in a six round co-main event in Mescalero at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino. The fight, which took place in the 122-pound weight class, was seen as a dangerous crossroads fight for the New Mexican. Although he was seen as a tremendous prospect with three wins in three fights, his opponent was coming in with an impressive 11-2-1 record with 8 knockouts. That experience was seen as a potential equalizer, and early in round one it appeared that Moreu may have bit off more than he could chew when he seemed to walk into a right hand from “Apache” Moreno Arias that almost sent him to the canvas. Although it was actually a head-butt that rattled him and not a right hand, Moreu was nonetheless clearly stunned and Apache jumped all over his wounded foe. But Moreu wisely covered up and moved away from his aggressive opponent. Although Moreu lost the round, by the three minute mark it was apparent that he cleared his head and wasn’t in any danger.
Moreu boxed intelligently in round two and picked apart the El Paso based boxer, keeping him at the end of a crisp jab for most of the round. By round three fatigue was also becoming an issue for Apache, and Moreu upped the pressure and battered his opponent for much of the round. In the closing seconds of round three a hard combination to the body sent Apache to the canvas and he struggled to get up. It was clear that he was spent as he rose on shaky legs, and his corner wisely told referee Edgar Lopez that they were figuratively throwing in the towel. Lopez concurred and waved the fight off at 2:59 of round three.
Moreu now improves to 4-0, 4 KOs and establishes himself as one of the better young prospects in New Mexico based on this performance.
Farmington New Mexico’s Rolyn Nez had little trouble with late sub German Perez from Guadalajara, Mexico in a welterweight clash. The 36-year old Perez had a tall order coming into Mescalero, quite literally, as the undefeated Nez possessed a huge advantage in height, power and reach. It didn’t take him long to capitalize on those advantages as he dropped Perez hard with a counter right in the opening 45 seconds of the fight. Another knockdown followed at 1:10 of the round, and although Perez gamely rose, his corner indicated to referee Roberto Velez that they were surrendering. Velez followed the corners advise and waved the fight off at 1:32 of round one. With the win Nez improves to 8-0, 5 KOs while his opponent’s record now stands at 3-14-2, 1 KO.
In an interesting matchup of undefeated prospects, Pedro Rodarte, 130, and Jack Banzoy Sambiaku, 131.2, fought to a four round draw in a spirited battle that saw both men refuse to take a backward step for much of the fight. Although it was a back and forth battle, Rodarte seemed to edge it due to better accuracy. However, two of the judges scored the fight 38-38 (the third judge scored it for Sambiaku by a score of 39-37). Both men now see their record stand at 3-0-1 and few at ringside would complain if the two men step back in the ring against each other in a rematch in Mescalero in 2027.
In a junior middleweight fight, El Paso’s Dwayne Bonds, 153.2, took on former contender Braulio Rodriguez, 155, in a scheduled four round fight. Rodriguez was once a 19-1 prospect who lost a split decision to an undefeated fighter in a WBC Latino title fight back in 2016. He would then go on to fight two time world title challenger Christopher Diaz-Velez for the NABO title in 2018. But if anyone in Mescalero was expecting a gritty performance from the former contender, they would be disappointed as Rodriguez performed atrociously en route to a second round stoppage loss. A three punch combination to the body dropped Rodriguez early in the opening round and Bonds pretty much had his way for the rest of the round. At the start of the second round Rodriguez elected to tell referee Robert Velez that he was done for the night, forcing Velez to wave off the shellacking at 0:02 of round two. With the win Bonds sees his record improve to 15-4-1, 9 KOs. Rodriguez, who really needs to call it a career, loses his 20th fight in his last twenty-four outings and sees his once impressive 19-1 record now stand at 23-21, 20 KOs.
In an entertaining four round super middleweight fight, Levelland Texas’s Damian Munoz 164.8, scored an impressive stoppage over Corey Caad, 164.2, at 1:12 of round four. Munoz was well conditioned and had an intelligent game plan of pressuring Caad behind a solid jab. By round four Munoz was in complete control and had the visibly fading Caad stumbling back into the ropes, prompting the referee to wave the fight off. Although Caad complained about the stoppage, which did seem a tad bit premature, there was little question Munoz was in complete control. Munoz now sees his record stand at 5-3, 3 KOs while Caad slips to 9-12, 3 KOs.
In the opening fight of the night junior lightweight Luis Ledesma survived a knockdown in the opening round to win the next three rounds and capture a razor thin unanimous decision over Jesus Marin by a score of 38-37 on all three judges scorecards. Ledesma improves to 2-2-1, 1 KO while Marin falls to 1-8, 1 KO.
The Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino has emerged as one of the hottest boxing venues in the State, and this near capacity crowd and exciting seven fight card only added to that growing consensus. There is early talk that the next fight card at the Inn of the Mountain Gods will take place in March.
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