USA Amateur Boxing at the House of Boxing
At the end of their hotly contested bout, Antonio Orozco (C), a top light welterweight prospect at 13-0-o, with 9 KOs, offers his congratulations to Luis Angel Enriquez (L) of the National City CYAC and Richard Reyes (R) of El Centro PAL, the winner of Bout #3, for their fine performance. Photo: Jim Wyatt
April 14, 2012
Once again, young boxers came from near and far to showcase their talents and compete in the latest USA Amateur Boxing show. This one was held Saturday afternoon at the House of Boxing on Reo Drive in San Diego.
The breakdown of the 16 matches follows:
At the conclusion of Bout #1, Alan Ramirez (L) of Penacho Boxing was presented the winning trophy by police officer Randy Mills after getting the close decision over Jose Chollet (R). Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #1 featured two young, but experienced boxers, Jose Chollet of Barrio Station here in San Diego and Alan Ramirez of the Penacho Boxing Club in San Jacinto, CA.
From the outset Ramirez was as persistent as a house fly and kept throwing punches in bunches. However, Chollet, his opponent, did an even better job of inflicting pain as he sat back and countered each of Ramirez’s offerings. If this were a pro fight, the judgement would have gone in the opposite direction, in Mr. Chollet’s favor, who did a remarkable job of mixing up his punches.
At the conclusion of Bout #2, Lazaro Lorenzana (R) of Gladiators Training Center, Spring Valley had his arm raised by referee Lein Shoemake after getting the nod over Jimmy Reyes (L) of El Centro PAL. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #2 featured Jimmy Reyes of El Centro PAL going up against Lazaro Lorenzana of Gladiators Training Center here in Spring Valley, CA.
After being spoiled by the all action bout, these two gents slowed things down with a more purposeful, prodding style. In this close match, Lorenzana won the judges over by his performance in the third round when he pounced on Reyes and started delivering right and left crosses that went unanswered.
Bout #3 featured two more, very experienced pugilists, Angel Enriquez of the National City CYAC and Richard Reyes of El Centro PAL in a classic lefty versus righty matchup.
With both boxers having the same time in the gym and similar builds, it all came down to who had the quicker hands and better footwork. On this day, Reyes’ was quicker and had the ablility to slip more punches.
One of the telling blows came in Round #2, when Reyes landed a clean uppercut. In Round #3, he landed the majority of blows – right crosses and straight rights which were right on the money.
At the conclusion of Bout #4, Scott Torres (L) of Poway Boxing, the eventual winner, and Alex Arrista (R) of the Alliance Training Center, await the judges’ decision with referee Will White (C). Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #4 winner Scott Torres had the distinct the honor of having top 10 ranked lightweight Chris Martin present him with his trophy. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #4 featured Scott Torres of the Poway Boxing Club going up against Alex Arrista of the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista.
Arrista, who was making his amateur debut, ran up against the wrong opponent. Torres, who is coached by Tom DiFrancesco, has more experience and boxes in a Tyson-like big puncher style.
In this match, Torres came straight at Arrista and immediately found a home for his big punches. In no matter of time, Arrista was backpedaling and his hands started to drop. After an eight count was issued in Round #1, two more followed in Round #2, until the eventual stoppage.
At the conclusion of Bout #5, Roberto Meza (L) of Temecula Boxing had his arm raised in victory by referee Will White after he defeated Cedrick Garcia (R) of the Mount Zion Boxing Club in Ontario, CA. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #5 featured Roberto Meza of the Temecula Boxing Club going up against Cedrick Garcia of the Mount Zion Boxing Club in Ontario, CA.
Garcia, a very confident boxer, made the mistake of switching his stance back and forth from southpaw to orthodox. Each time he did, Meza took full advantage and landed more of the scoring blows.
By the end of Round #3, both boxers had left it all in the ring and there was nothing left in the tank. The close decision went to Meza.
At the conclusion of Bout #6, Cesar Solis (L) of the Black Tiger Gym in San Diego had his arm raised in victory by referee Will White (C) after defeating Terrence Hendricks (R) of the Undisputed Fitness and Training Center of El Cajon. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #6 featured knockout artist Terrence Hendricks of Undisputed El Cajon going up against boxer Cesar Solis of the Black Tiger Gym on Miramar Road.
Using the word fireworks to describe Hendricks’ power is way too placid. His punches come at you so hard and fast they remind you of those baseballs coming out of the pitching machines, the machines that have been cranked up to 80+ miles an hour. You have to have an unbelievable constitution to stand in there and survive one of his blows. Solis did just that.
Solis, a naturally gifted boxer, who had been out of the gym for over a year and a half, had recently returned to the sport, and just wanted to get his feet wet, get rid of the ring rust.
How did this match up come to be? With Hendrick’s reputation for flattening opponents, there weren’t many takers. Surely Solis would be another feather in his cap. Since Solis wanted to be tested, why not go in there with the best.
In Round #1, Solis avoided two of Hendricks’ big bombs and more than likely took the round on points, mostly off of counters.
Round two was more of the same with Hendricks looking to unload one of his show-stoppers. He did land one roundhouse but fortunately for Solis his glove was in position to soften the blow. Again, Solis was landing the majority of blows inside and likely took round two.
Then in round three, Hendricks landed one of his KO blows and Solis went down. In Amateur scoring, the knockdown only counts as one point. Solis, a bit groggy, got back to his feet and held Hendricks off until the final bell.
Who got the best of his opponent? Of course, Hendricks did. All you had to do was look at their faces. But in the end, who won the bout? Solis did by out-boxing the knockout artist.
At the conclusion of Bout #7, Jorge Agiss (C) of the National City CYAC received the winning trophy from Joe Stedman (R), owner of Heartland Meats, one of San Diego’s biggest supporters of Amateur Boxing, after Agiss defeated Alfredo Vargas (L) of Barrio Station. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #7 featured Jorge Agiss (R) of the National City CYAC going up against Alfredo Vargas (L) of the Barrio Station. This was one of those matches where you needed the clicker to keep track of the punches. Vargas worked the inside, while Agiss, the taller of the two, did is damage from long range. In the end, Agiss won the favor of the judges by landing the cleaner, more telling blows.
At the conclusion of Bout #8, Erik Puente (R) of Legacy Boxing, the eventual winner, and Mario Ramos (L) of Undisputed El Cajon, await the judges’ decision with referee Lein Shoemake. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #8, featured Mario Ramos of Undisputed Gym in El Cajon, CA going up against Erik Puente of the Legacy Boxing Club in Vista, CA. In all the times I’ve watched Puente compete, I have never seen him more confident and sharper.
Even after snapping Puente’s head back, Ramos had virtually no chance of winning this one as Puente kept up his relentless pace. An early 8-count to Ramos was followed by a second and a third, until referee Lein Shoemake stepped in to call for an early stoppage.At the conclusion of Bout #9, Adrian Hernandez (L) of the Legacy Boxing Club had his arm raised in victory by referee Lein Shoemake (C) after defeating Joel Cruz (R) of the ABC Mongoose Boxing Club. Photo: Jim Wyatt
At the conclusion of Bout #9, Adrian Hernandez (L) of Legacy Boxing had his arm raised in victory by referee Lein Shoemake after defeating Joel Cruz (R) of the Mongoose Boxing Club. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #9 featured Adrian Hernandez of Legacy Boxing in Vista going up against Joel Cruz of the ABC Mongoose Boxing Club.
Even though Round #1 was hotly contested and featured several momentum swings, it appeared Hernandez landed the majority of scoring blows. This became even more evident when Cruz started losing his mouthpiece.
In the end, the judges had the more experienced Hernandez ahead on all scorecards.
At the conclusion of Bout #10, Christian Camacho (R) of Ocean’s Boxing had his arm raised in victory by referee Will White after defeating Guillermo Garcia (L) of the National City CYAC. Photo: J. Wyatt
Bout #10 featured Christian Camacho (R) of Ocean’s Boxing Club in South San Diego going up against Guillermo Garcia (L) of the National City CYAC.
After the decision was announced that Camacho, the more technical boxer had won, there was a lot of grumbling in the audience. Garcia’s style of in-your-face boxing and landing the harder blows to the head went unrewarded by the judges. Case in point, Garcia had the crowd cheering as he ended the final round with three solid shots to Camacho’s head.
At the conclusion of Bout #11, Jabin Chollet (L) of Barrio Station, the eventual winner, and Jesus Zaragosa (R) of Legacy Boxing had their arms raised by referee Will White to acknowledge their fine performance. Photo: Jim Wyatt
In Bout #11, Jabin Chollet of Barrio Station in Logan Heights went up against Jesus Zaragosa of the Legacy Boxing Club of Vista, CA.
When the bouts are this close you have to be very careful and weigh every variable. After three rounds of boxing, Zaragosa was issued an eight count and Chollet did appear to be landing the harder and more frequent shots to Zaragosa’s head. When it comes to the in-fighting, Zaragosa threw more punches. In this case, the decision went to the better and more in control boxer.
At the conclusion of Bout #12, Carlos Mora (L) of Mongoose Boxing, the eventual winner, and Gilberto Vasquez (R) of Ocean’s Boxing await the judges’ decision with referee Will White. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #12 featured Carlos Mora of the ABC Mongoose Boxing Club, San Diego going up against Gilberto Vasquez of the Ocean’s Boxing Club in South San Diego.
For those who like nonstop action and no defense, this was right up your alley. Back and forth went the momentum. In Round #1 an eight count was issued to Mora. At the end of the hotly contest round, the boxers touched gloves out of respect.
In Round #2, back came Mora and an eight count was issued to Vasquez. After the Round #3 slugfest ended, the no-defense, crowd pleasing match went to the scorecards, where the judges favored Mora.
At the conclusion of Bout #13, Stanley Perris (L) of Temecula Boxing had his arm raised in victory by referee Lein Shoemake after defeating Jorge Marentes (L) of Mongoose Boxing. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #13 featured Stanley Perris of the Temecula Boxing Club going up against Jorge Marentes of the ABC Mongoose Boxing Club.
From the outset it appeared Perris had all the right moves including the dandy footwork, everything but the Ali Shuffle.
Then in the third round with the boxers tiring, Mora began to dance about which drew the ire of one patron who called out, “Is that all you can do is dance?” This pronouncement got Mora’s attention and he got back to work.
At the conclusion of Bout #14, Ivan Guardado of Mongoose Boxing Gym (R) had his arm raised in victory by referee Lein Shoemake after he defeated Jovany Contreras (L) of Barrio Station. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #14 featured Jovany Contreras of Barrio Station going up against the slightly taller Ivan Guardado of the ABC Mongoose Boxing Gym.
In Round #1, you could see a difference in the boxer’s skill levels. Guardado would set up his punches and almost always land them in combinations. In Round #2, Contreras was able to make a comeback of sorts but in the end, the scorecards ended up favoring the more accomplished boxer, Guardado.
At the conclusion of Bout #15, Noe Larios of Undisputed El Cajon (L), the eventual winner, and Roberto Ocampo (R) of the Mongoose Boxing Club of San Diego await the judges’ decision. Photo: Jim Wyatt
In Bout #15, Noe Larios of Undisputed El Cajon faced Roberto Ocampo of the ABC Mongoose Boxing Gym in San Diego.
In Round one, Ocampo appeared to have the quicker hands and landed more punches. All that seemed to change in Round #2, when Larios started getting off first and showing better defense. Larios finished strong and eventually had Ocampo covering up and taking shots to the head.
The next USA Amateur Boxing Show is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Escondido Sport & Fitness Center at 130 East Lincoln Ave., Escondido, CA 92026
Contacts: Gregg Sharp (619 395-1348) or Tony Contreras (760 445-1954)
Weigh-ins start at 9 a.m. sharp, with the first bout at 1 p.m.
