Emmanuel Robles stops Joshua Marks in four

Watching and scoring a fight like the Emmanuel “Renegade” Robles versus Joshua “Superman” Marks bout can be tricky, especially when the boxers are facing in opposite directions, righty versus lefty, as it was on Friday evening at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego. All photos: Jim Wyatt

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Last night, in what turned out to be a thriller from the opening bell, San Diego’s Emmanuel “Renegade” Robles remains undefeated after stopping El Centro’s Joshua “Superman” Marks in the fourth round of their scheduled eight rounder at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego.

Emmanuel Robles (c) poses for a photo with his support staff, (l to r) assistant trainer, Ernie “Silky” Johnson, cut man Juan Ramirez, mentor/head trainer Ernest Johnson, and finally promoter/matchmaker Jorge Marron. Photo: Jim Wyatt

With one boxer, Robles, being a southpaw and the other, Marks, being orthodox, the round by round judging differed dramatically. From Marks’ corner, it appeared Robles was landing the cleaner shots, especially the powerful left hooks to the midsection to put Robles ahead two rounds to one going into the final round. From the Robles’ side, it appeared Marks was landing more punches and ahead two rounds to one as a result of his inside counters. After checking the scorecards after the fight, we discovered the judges did indeed have Marks ahead in this fight.

Those were the circumstances leading into the dramatic fourth round in which Robles took charge. After being caught twice coming in and with the effect of the earlier body shots taking their toll, Marks had slowed considerably. The most telling punches coming from Robles were the emergence of uppercuts. Not to sound patronizing, but everything Robles started to throw landed. Marks no longer had the capability of countering. He was no longer fighting on the inside. He was now back-peddling. Then after Robles pinned Marks against the ropes, his opponent became a sitting duck.

By this time, referee Jose Cobian was keeping track of the unanswered blows. After Marks appeared defenseless, glassy eyed and on the receiving end of eight unanswered blows, Cobian stepped in to stop the match at 2:23 of Round #4.

Friday’s Undercard

After defeating Pablo Batres in Bout #1, Erick Ituarte (left) posed for a photo. (photo right) After his bout with Ituarte, Pablo Batres has his gloves removed by his trainer.

In the opener, Bout #1, featherweight Erick Ituarte (5-0-0, 1 KO) of Santa Ana, CA by way of Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico dished out more than enough punishment to defeat Pablo Batres (4-4-1) of Nogales, Arizona to win by an unanimous decision.

Ituarte was in command from the outset. He landed the majority of blows and his punches were straighter with substantial power. His only slip-up came when he delivered an ill-advised low blow in Round #1. Without the issuance of a warning, referee David Mendoza stopped the action and issued Ituarte a one point penalty which at the time could have cost him the opening round.

Being penalized put a sense of urgency in Ituarte’s step. From that point on, he went into attack mode and never let up. By Round #3, his success with the straight right became so pronounced it made you wonder if he might get careless and break his hand on the top of Batres’ head. You got to hand it to Batres, he can certainly take a punch.

By Round #4, Batres had become Ituarte’s punching bag.

(top photo) Johnathan “Johnny Boy” Quiroz makes his way to the ring. (bottom right photo) Quiroz (l) throws an effective, stiff jab at his opponent Javier Barragan (r).

(top right) At the conclusion of his bout versus Javier Barragan, Johnathan “Johnny Boy” Quiroz has his arm raised in victory by referee Jose Cobian. Photos: J. Wyatt

Bout #2

Oceanside’s all-action flyweight Jonathan “Johnny Boy” Quiroz gave another outstanding accounting of himself. After taking Javier Barragan’s best punches and being an early victim of a dandy right cross resulting in a knockdown, Quiroz did as he’s done so many times, he kept prodding forward to deliver his full repertoire of punches until he gained the upper hand.

In this contest, he earned himself a third round TKO victory. After pinning Barragan against the ropes and unloading one unanswered blow after another, Barragan miraculously stayed on his feet to finish the round. Unsteady, he made the trek back to his corner whereupon his trainer, manager and corner people discussed his condition. They decided Barragan had already taken too many blows to the head and waved over the referee, Jose Cobian, to ask him to stop the fight.

With the win, Quiroz improves to 4-1 with his first KO, while Barragan drops to 2-2 with 2 KOs.

At the conclusion of their bantamweight bout, Aracely Tinoco (below, right) has her arm raised in victory by referee David Mendoza.

Bout #3 featured female super flyweights Guadalupe Gutierrez (1-3) of Fallbrook, CA and Araceli Tinoco of Ramona, CA who was making her pro debut. 

The difference in this one? Tinoco’s punches were straighter, hardly ever off the mark and came in combinations to maintain the punch stat lead.

After the third round turned into a real snoozer, the gals got back to business in the fourth and final round. That’s when Tinoco reasserted her boxing prowess to make certain the judges had her ahead. Judge Tony Crebs (39-37), along with Fritz Werner (40-36) favored Tinoco. while judge Jose Cobian must have had an obstructed view. He scored the bout a draw. As a result, Tinoco gained the majority decision.

At the outset of his contest versus Moses Alvizo, David Barragan (l) was penalized a point for a careless low blow by referee Jose Cobian (r).

(bottom, l to r) David Barragan (center) is joined by his father/coach Carlos Barragan Jr. and two esteemed friends, USA Amateur officials Will White and Willy Kuhns.

Bout #4

Twenty-two year-old David Barragan, Co-owner of the House of Boxing, San Diego, improved his record to 5-0-1, 3 KOs after destroying 30 year-old Moses Alvizo (1-6-0) of Phoenix, Arizona.

Like Ituarte, Barragan got off to a rough start after landing a low blow in Round #1. Almost immediately referee Jose Cobian issued Barragan a point deduction. Then, by the 2:23 mark of the first round, Barragan had knocked Alvizo off his feet after landing two solid shots, one to the head, the other to the midsection. Unable to shake off the cobwebs, the unsteady Alvizo rose to his feet but was clearly unable to continue in the contest.

The next “Bobby D Presents” offering will be on Friday, May 24, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds featuring Leon Spinks III, Aaron Garcia, Brandon Adams and Michael Hunter.

The boxing fraternity:

At Intermission, ring announcer Benny Ricardo took a moment to introduce several of the in-house boxing notables (l to r): promoter/matchmaker Jorge Marron, USA National Amateur champion Genaro Gamez, world-ranked super bantamweight Christopher Martin, Hall of Fame promoter Bobby DePhilippis, son of the legendary Archie Moore and CEO of the ABC Youth Center, Billy Moore, boxer Leon Spinks III, boxer Pablo Capul, 2012 USA Olympian, heavyweight Michael Hunter (behind Capul), boxer Jorge Porras Jr., former boxer, now trainer Vince Parra (rear), boxer Aaron Garcia.