In front of approximately 800 boxing fans at the El Paso County Coliseum, a pair of talented boxers from the Southwest left the local fans happy as both former featherweight contender Jason Sanchez of Albuquerque and undefeated El Paso super middleweight Jorge Tovar scored knockout victories last night. But whereas Sanchez dominated Dominican prospect Yeyery “La Bujia” Castillo en route to a highlight reel third round TKO, Tovar allowed his gritty opponent to make a war of things in the main event before “Jaguar” Tovar roared back to score a TKO in the final minute of the final round in the main event.
For boxing fans in El Paso, few probably knew anything about the African nation of Angola before last night. And although they may still not know much about the country as a whole, everyone in attendance can attest to one undeniable fact: Angola produces some tough, tough fighters. As Henriques Lando stepped into the ring with a record that was just one fight over .500, most expected Tovar to come out with the win against the journeyman from Africa. But a closer look at Lando’s record told a story of a fighter who could give Tovar a fight: Lando was only stopped once in his career (by a hard punching former IBF International champion named Emmany Kalombo) and Lando had twice fought for an IBF African title (losing by ten-round decision and a twelve-round decision in his two title fights). Boxing insiders recognized that Lando was no pushover, despite his record, and that if Tovar didn’t bring his A-game we could end up with a war.
And that’s just what boxing fans in El Paso got.
Lando showed no fear or intimidation as he jumped on Tovar at the opening bell with heavy bombs from both hands. Tovar seemed eager to mix it up with Lando, and clipped the Angolan with some decent counter shots, but Lando was unfazed. Lando seemed unable to throw a straight punch, but it didn’t matter as he found a home for his looping overhand rights and wide left hooks. Tovar seemed to be unwilling to push the jab and decided to try and capitalize on Lando’s obviously porous defense, pressuring Lando into the corner where he unloaded some heavy bombs of his own. But the Tovar offense did little to discourage Lando as he finished the round with some heavy shots of his own.
Round two saw more of the same as Lando marched in behind his wide, looping shots while Tovar would look to rally with his own heavy counterpunches. But the first sign of trouble for Lando emerged as signs of fatigue began to surface in the second. Lando would lose his mouthpiece, forcing a short delay, and Tovar seemed to be finally cracking the tough nut in Lando.
But by round three the all-action pace seemed to finally be catching up to Tovar as well. For the first time in the fight Lando backed up Tovar when he jumped on the Texan at the start of the round and rattled Tovar slightly with a hard left hand that landed upstairs. Tovar took the punch and began to unload with his own hard punches on Lando, even landing a perfect three punch combo to the chin of the African midway through the round. The combination upstairs prompted Tovar to once again try to unload on his battered foe as he again pressured him into a corner and flurried with heavy shots upstairs. This time, the gritty African seemed close to wilting under the unrelenting pressure and referee Robert Velez appeared close to stopping the contest. Lando, to his credit, weathered the storm and finished the round. But with three rounds in the books for Tovar, Lando was clearly in need of something big to pull off the upset.
Although Tovar probably could have simply jabbed his way to a safe decision win against the visibly tired Lando, signs of trouble emerged for the Texan in round four and Tovar’s legs showed signs of starting to fail and it became clear that Lando was not the only boxer dealing with fatigue. Although Lando started the 4th round backpedaling, a picture-perfect left hook landed for the African and for the first time Tovar seemed, if not hurt per say, clearly stunned. Tovar began to back up himself and the image of Tovar being rattled was enough to revitalize the fading African. A clash of heads opened up a small cut over the left eye of Lando, but it was not enough to stop Lando’s momentum as he edged out the round.
Tovar regained control of the fight in round five, and even though Lando seemed to be in control in the opening thirty seconds. Tovar began to pick up the pace himself and Tovar again unloaded on a visibly winded Lando by minute two of the round. Lando continued to switch between southpaw and orthodox but it had little impact on the now aggressive Tovar, who pushed Lando into the ropes and threw hard combinations upstairs.
The sixth and final round clearly had Lando in the deep end, as he was hopelessly behind on the scorecards and visibly tired. He was badly fatigued and needed to throw bombs in order to find lightning in a bottle. But to his credit, whereas a lesser fighter would have been content to do just enough not to be stopped, the Angolan dug deep and continued to try and throw bombs despite his fatigue and Tovar’s counterpunches. Lando landed a hard right that seemed to rattle Tovar and backed up the El Paso native in the opening minute. But three minutes is a lifetime for a tired fighter and Tovar was able to weather the storm and landed two hard punches to the chin of Lando that clearly stunned the African. Although he seemed to be able to continue, referee Robert Velez decided it was simply too much punishment for a fighter behind on the scorecards and perhaps too tough for his own good. Velez jumped in to stop the fight at 1:42 of the final round, giving Tovar his tenth knockout of his career.
When asked if this was his toughest fight of his career, Tovar confirmed it was.
“I would say so,” he admitted, “he came to fight though, no excused, he came to fight.”
When asked what he learned from the fight, Tovar admitted that he should have “kept him more on the outside and not smother my punches so much.”
Fans recognized that this was probably a tougher fight for Tovar than it should have been, but Tovar seems to have taken away some valuable lessons from his war with the African. He also admitted that there was room for improvement, grading his performance as “a C-plus.”
With the win Tovar sees his record improve to 14-0, 10 KOs. Lando, who earned a few fans this side of the Atlantic, drops to 10-10, 7 KOs.
In the co-main event, former world ranked featherweight contender Jason Sanchez, 126.1, made a strong argument that he should be back in the world rankings after scoring a highlight reel knockout over Dominican prospect Yeyery “La Bujia” Castillo, 126.1, by was of third round TKO at 1:14. Sanchez first exploded onto the scene at the WBO boxing convention in 2018 when he scored a win over undefeated prospect named Jean Carlos Rivera in Panama City, Panama in front of some of the biggest power brokers in boxing who were in Panama for the convention. The win led to a title fight against then undefeated WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez the following year. Sanchez would drop a lopsided decision loss to Valdez, and seemed to be unable to keep the momentum going as he would drop five of his next seven fights against some highly regarded contenders. But since switching trainers and working with Steve Garcia, Sanchez has not only revitalized his career, but may be on pace to be the sport’s comeback fighter of the year. Sanchez scored a split decision against undefeated prospect Julian Gonzalez in Gonzlaez’s backyard back in June of last year and looked to follow it up last night in El Paso against another prospect in Castillo, who only had one loss in fifteen professional fights. Although Castillo’s opposition was limited at best, he was still considered a slight favorite against Sanchez, although boxing insiders recognized that Sanchez was certainly capable of scoring the upset.
What wasn’t expected was the complete domination we ended up getting from the Albuquerque native.
Sanchez boxed intelligently in the opening round, scoring beautiful counterpunches against his aggressive opponent. By the second round it became clear that Sanchez was wearing down the Dominican, who had no answer for Sanchez’s solid gameplan. By the end of the round Sanchez had Castillo on the ropes, and although Castillo tried to fight back, it was apparent that he didn’t have an answer for what Sanchez was doing so effectively.
The end came in round three as Sanchez battered Castillo to the canvas early in the round. Although the knockdown was correctly ruled a slip, it was clear that it was the result of Castillo’s legs being compromised by the shots landed by Sanchez. A quick clip shot to the chin seconds later sent Castillo to the canvas and it looked for all intents and purposes that Castillo was out. But he gamely rose and referee Rocky Burke elected to let the fight to continue. But the seasoned veteran Sanchez recognized what to do when his opponent was hurt as badly as Castillo was and a pair of clubbing right hands sent Castillo to the canvas again, sending the Dominican falling face first. Castillo was able to get up again but this time referee Burke wisely waved off the fight at 1:14 of the third round.
With the win Sanchez sees his record improve to 18-6, 10 KOs. Since working with Steve Garcia he has gone 2-0 with his two wins coming against a pair of fighters with a combined record of 30-1-1, and Sanchez should find himself somewhere near the bottom of the world rankings of one of the major sanctioning organizations. A fight for a NABO or NABF regional type of fight before the end of the year is hardly out of the question for the New Mexican, and a win there almost certainly should put him back in the top fifteen of at least one of the sanctioning organizations.
In a featured female fight, 24-year old El Paso native Nayeli Rodriguez, 111, captured the UBO Inter-Continental flyweight belt as she won an eight round split decision over the tough veteran Maryguenn Vellinga, 110. Rodriguez was coming into the fight as a favorite, but as she was not seen as a power puncher most ringsiders recognized a decision was the most likely result as Vellinga was never stopped in her 12-fight career. Rodriguez was coming into the fight on the heels of a loss to cross border rival Diana Fernandez back in November in a fight for the WBC silver title, and the UBO I/C belt was seen as a nice first step in putting her back in line for another title fight from one of the major sanctioning organizations. Rodriguez seemed to know what the assignment in front of her was: box and don’t give the veteran any openings that she could capitalize on. To basically use her speed and youth to simply outbox and outwork the Utah native. And after eight rounds, it looked like Rodriguez did just that. Although there were no knockdowns, and the fight was not exactly a barn-burner, Rodriguez seemed to have boxed well behind her jab and counter punched well enough to win a comfortable decision. Although Fightnews had the fight 80-72, two of the three judges scored the fight slightly closer at 79-73 and 78-74. The third judge gave the fight to Vellinga by a score of 77-75, giving Rodriguez a split decision victory after eight rounds. Win the win Rodriguez improves to 7-1-1, 0 KOs while Vellinga falls to 5-6-2, 2 KOs.
El Paso has started to emerge as a hotspot for talented female boxers, and 18-year old Ivy Enriquez, 119.4, may just be the best of the bunch. At 5-0, 1 KO Enriquez was close to breaking into the world rankings, and her dominant stoppage over the seasoned veteran Crystal Hoy, 121.6, last night made that scenario highly probable when the April rankings drop. Although Hoy’s record on paper wasn’t exactly eye popping, it masked a deceptively solid career that saw her fight for an IBF world title, a IWBF world title, and a ten round majority decision loss to a then undefeated future WBO world champion named Heather Hardy in a fight back in 2014 for the WBC International title. Hoy had also only been stopped once in her professional career, and although she hadn’t stepped into the ring since 2024, she was still seen as a solid step up for the El Paso teenager. But “Poison” Ivy Enriquez took a major step up in her game as she pounded Hoy with solid body shots in the opening round before breaking her down in round two. Enriquez forgot to take off her headband in the opening round, but was so dominant that Hoy was unable to land a shot that could dislodge the headband. A devastating combination saw Poison Ivy tee off on the visibly wounded Hoy in the closing minute of the second round and Hoy’s cornerman elected to tell the ringside inspector to instruct referee Rocky Burke to stop the contest, with the end coming by way of TKO at 1:42 of the second round. With the win Enriquez improved to 6-0, 2 KOs and should crack into the world rankings. Hoy falls to 7-14-4, 3 KOs.
In what was the third fight featuring a talented Southwest female prospect, the only “dud” on the card transpired as debuting amateur standout Ariana Carrasco, 152.7, from nearby Las Cruces, New Mexico, scored a first round TKO over fellow rookie Tennielle Young, 145, at 0:00 of the opening round.
Yes, you read that right.
Fans may have remembered years ago when then undefeated Efe Ajaba faced off against a journeyman named Curtis Harper on a Foxsports televised fight out of Minneapolis. Harper, apparently upset about his pay, immediately stepped out of the ring as soon as the bell starting the fight sounded. Referee Celestino Ruiz wisely disqualified Harper, and the “fight” made the rounds online as it has been shared in the years that followed on social media sites like Facebook and TikTok. Fight fans found the bout curious and most assumed they would never see anything like that again in a boxing ring again.
Well, it happened again.
Young, who came into El Paso from Columbus, Ohio, was obviously not ready to become a professional boxer as she was visibly close to having an anxiety attack as soon as she stepped into the ring. With the Ohioan close to tears as the ring announcer introduced her, her trainer could visibly be seen trying to calm her down and put her mind at ease. But when it came time to introduce her opponent Carrasco, the ring announcer hyped up the New Mexican by going over her very impressive amateur resume before formally introducing her to the fans in attendance. It was an impressive resume, including over eighty amateur fights, twelve national championships, and a member of Team USA. It was also enough to push Young over the edge and she decided that boxing was not the career for her. As soon as referee Rocky Burke signaled for the fight to start Young decided to make her way back to Ohio and stepped out of the ring. Burke wasted no time and waved the fight off. After this reporter confirmed with the supervisor and referee Burke at ringside, they confirmed that the fight would be entered not as a disqualification as had been the case with Harper but as a first round TKO loss, making this a record for the fastest knockout in boxing history.
It is unclear if the commission will revisit this decision and elect to consider this a DQ after a review, but as of now history was made as Ariana Carrasco sets a world record en route to kicking off her professional career. For Young, she probably is a sweet person, but it is clear boxing is not something she needs to be doing and it would probably be for the best if this is her last foray in the boxing ring.
Rounding off the card, a pair of 1-0 boxers looked to capture their second win as El Paso’s Pedro Rodarte, 128.1, won a workmanlike four round decision over Kenario Davidson, 130, of Mobile, Alabama. Rodarte won a majority decision in his professional debut against Luis Angel Ledesma back in November but had a somewhat easier time against Davidson, winning by scores of 40-36 (x2) and 39-37. There were no knockdowns, but Rodarte did clip Davidson in round two and sent him stumbling back into the ropes at one point. The referee was Robert Velez.
In the opening fight of the night, Las Cruces, New Mexico’s D’Angelo Sanchez, 117, improved to 5-1, 3 KOs, as he scored a four-round decision over Albuquerque’s Alfred “The Animal” Lewis. Sanchez scored a knockdown against Lewis in round three and was more or less in control for the duration of the fight, winning a shutout on all three scorecards (40-35×3). With the loss Lewis sees his record slip to 1-2, 0 KOs.
For boxing fans in El Paso, it proved to be another knockout for promoter Marshall Kauffman and matchmake Herman Delgado. Despite the debacle of the Carrasco-Young fight, the Ring Wars XXII card was extremely well matched and there was no shortage of fireworks. The next fight in El Paso will take place on May 30th and will feature Stephanie Han and New Mexico’s Holly Holm in a rematch of their WBA title fight back in January.
The post Sanchez, Tovar Win By knockout In El Paso. World Record For Fasted Knockout Set By Debuting Ariana Carrasco appeared first on Fight News.
