Tovar gets his revenge, Cruz wins in his debut, Ramos KOs Lopez, etc., etc.

For a quick synopsis of last night’s Borizteca Boxing Management Group’s show at the Salon Mezzanine in Tijuana: There was a little bit of everything, from play-acting to the scary knockout, from the well-matched fighter to the questionable match-up, from the nerve-racking debuts to the one of a kind showboating of a performing artist by the name of “Crazy.” And, behind the microphones, you had the triple threat of ring announcer Pablo Flores along with Pro Boxer/Boxing Color Commentator Chris Martin plus well-known Sportscaster/Sports Journalist Marcos Villegas to keep the home viewers advised.

Bout #1 featured the late addition of the popular Argentinian, 30-year-old super lightweight Juan Manuel “El Principito” Witt (32-0-2) from Campana, Buenos Aires, Argentina fighting the formidable 5’5½” Carlos Bacasegua (5-40-1, a victim of 21 knockouts). Bacasegua, from Bacabampo, Sonora, Mexico, a small farming town of around 8,500 people, where everyone knows everyone, was no doubt out to improve his record. Overview: the much taller Witt carried his opponent for as long as he could.

After getting his opponent in trouble, Juan Manuel Witt (left) landed his patented right uppercut to Carlos Bacasegua’s chin. Photos: Jim Wyatt (below) Unable to finish his opponent with punches to the midsection and head, Witt finally decided to come down hard on Bacasegua’s left shoulder.

Hired guns? Be on the lookout for these gentlemen, if they head your way. (r to l) gunslinger Juan Manuel “El Principito” Witt (now 33-0-2), his father/trainer Enrique Witt, and Assistant Trainer came to Tijuana for one purpose, to add another “W” to their victory total and that’s just what they did. They’re now off to another locale to add another notch in the belt, another victim on their list.

If you are interested in checking into Witt’s career, you will discover he has defeated 11 boxers with a winning record and the two draws he has, came against boxers who currently have a combined record of 1-10-3. Many if not all of these embarrassing performances are up on YouTube like this laugher: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mBfeLD71_Q0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Bout #2 featured the second early stoppage. In this one, San Diego welterweight Kevin Ottley (now 5-1-1) literally had no problem defeating Alejandro Valladares (9-14-1) from Loreto, B. C., Mexico who has now lost his last 10 fights.

Hiding behind those gloves won’t do you any good. Kevin “KO” Ottley (left) patiently moved in for the kill against Alejandro Valladares (right).

Ottley (l) moves around to the left to land a left uppercut on Valladares.

After the stoppage, the referee raises the arm of the victorious Kevin Ottley.

At the outset of Bout #3, you felt in your heart of hearts, finally, we have ourselves two boxers of equal ability. Both, like serious professionals, began fast and threw hard punches. That all ended in dramatic fashion, like a head-on car crash after just 43 seconds. That’s when welterweight Kevin “The Diamond Boy” Torres (4-0-1) from Bellingham, Washington by way of Sinaloa, Sonora, Mexico, caught Javier Olachea (0-1) from La Paz, B. C. S., Mexico coming forward. The perfect punch, a screaming left hook, landed square and for a time it appeared to have Olachea frozen in time until he finally fell unconscious to the canvas.

How Torres ended up moving from Sinaloa, Sonora, Mexico to Bellingham, Washington is a topic for further exploration. Bellingham, a city of subdued excitement, is in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a college town a short distance from the Canadian border. The town where the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy hung out.

Javier Olachea lays flat on his back after getting hit flush by a left hook from the hard-hitting Kevin Torres from Bellingham, Washington. Photos: Jim Wyatt

In an attempt to get an even closer look at Javier Olachea’s condition, we took a photo of the Best In Boxing’s TV monitor being monitored by Marcos Villegas.

After careful consideration, the doctors allowed Olachea to get up on his feet.

Javier Olachea sat on his stool for a good while, at least until the fight doctor felt it was safe to have him escorted from the ring.

After knocking out Javier Olachea, the victorious Kevin Torres (left) had his arm raised in victory by referee Jesus Soto.

Before leaving the ring, the victorious Kevin Torres was joined by Cutman4Hire Juan Ramirez (l) and House of Boxing’s Head Boxing coach Carlos Barragan Jr.

Bout #4 featured the popular 18-year-old USA Amateur Boxing standout, Brandon Cruz from San Diego’s Bound Boxing Academy, making his Professional Debut against Antonio Verdugo, an opponent with matching credentials from Loretto, B. C. S., Mexico, two youngsters who had been dreaming of this night for a long time. As he did as an Amateur, Cruz, now weighing only 121 lbs. (instead of the 132 lbs. he weighed for his last Amateur bout) did a great job of calculating his punch count. If Verdugo landed a two punch combination, Cruz made certain to answer with a three to four punch combination. After the announcement of his unanimous decision victory, Cruz, with a badly bruised hand, went looking for Verdugo to raise his arm and congratulate him for his commendable performance.

In Bout #4, it was Brandon Cruz (l) from the Bound Boxing Academy, Chula Vista, Calif. taking on the game Antonio Verdugo from Loreto, B. C. S., Mexico. Both Cruz and Verdugo were making their Pro Debuts. Photos: Jim Wyatt

(top) The victorious Brandon Cruz was joined by his support staff, which included Mario Ramos, Sr. plus his Boxing Coach Juan Medina Jr. (bottom) On hand for his Pro Debut were many USA Amateur Boxing officials such as (l to r) Willie Kuhn, the Head of Officials plus LBC 44 President Hondo Fontane.

Bout #5 featured super bantamweights, Gilbert “Lince” Garcia (0-0) from the House of Boxing, Paradise Hills, San Diego, Calif. who was making his Pro debut against Jose Luis “La Loca” Leal (0-8) from Mexicali, B. C., Mexico. Translated, “La Loca” means “Crazy” and that handle is spot on for Mr. Leal. First off, it’s important to note that both fighters were in tremendous shape. They would have to be to survive their all out war. The question we propose, “If Leal did receive formal training, when did he decide to ignore the fundamentals in regards to defense and leaving himself open after throwing one of his wide looping punches of which he lands about 25%? With three-quarters of his punches going astray, Leal found himself open for the counter. What pleased the crowd was his wild and crazy antics reminiscent of Jorge “El Maromero” Páez. The only problem, Leal never demonstrated an ability to switch back and forth from the Clown Prince to the straight puncher as Paez had done. Yes, Leal had his hands down by his side. And yes, he did avoid some punches with his head movement, but after awhile he ran out of gas and resorted to holding, a lot of holding or spitting out the mouthpiece. His diversionary tactics, like twirling his wrist to distract Garcia, were fruitless. Through it all, Mr. Leal persevered as an entertainer to maintain his winless record. The knockdown by Garcia, plus the point deduction for spitting out his mouthpiece, made the conclusion clear.

In Bout #5, it was Gilbert Garcia (r) from the House of Boxing, Paradise Hills, making his Pro debut against Jose Luis “Crazy” Leal (l) from Mexicali, Mexico.

After a while, the panicky Jose Luis “Crazy” Leal (blue trunks) was trying everything and anything just to slow down Gilbert Garcia’s assault.

(top) Gilbert Garcia’s supporters joined him after the victory. (below right) Referee Jesus Soto raises the arm of the victorious Garcia, who has both words “Lince” and “Iberico” on his waistband, translation – Iberian Lynx, the animal who waits for the perfect moment and then pounces on his prey.

Bout #6 was another one-sided match as another USA Amateur Boxing standout 17-year-old southpaw Mario Ramos (now 2-0 with 2 KOs) a featherweight from San Diego, gave his opponent Juan Lopez (now 0-2) from San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, a boxing lesson. Being a seasoned fighter, a southpaw and having both a height and reach advantage, made it just a matter of time before Ramos’ punishing blows ended Lopez’s night.

From the outset, the gutsy Juan Lopez, seen here receiving a standing 8-count, appeared to be having problems with Ramos’ southpaw stance plus his size.

After awhile, people had lost track of how many knockdowns and how many 8-counts had been issued to the gutsy Juan Lopez. (bottom photo) At this point, Lopez knew he had to be alert when referee Juan Morales Lee asked him a question or the fight would have been stopped.

Unable to recognize the error of his ways, here we see Juan Lopez coming at Marion Ramos with yet another wide open stance with the looping punches. Each time he did this, the more seasoned Mario Ramos took advantage and hit his wide open, ripe for the taking, opponent.

In boxing they always tell you, it only takes one punch, one miscalculation and you’re going to be sorry. After Lopez had Ramos backing up against the ropes, Ramos suddenly lost his footing when his left foot slipped off the apron. As a result, he went down. If the referee had not been paying attention, there was a chance this mishap could have been ruled a knockdown. Thankfully, referee Juan Morales Lee was right there doing his job and ruled the fall “a slip.”

After that slip, Ramos took the match to another level, a real serious level and his power shots to Lopez’s head gave cause for ref to step in and stop the carnage.

No amount of cajoling could have stopped referee Juan Morales Lee from stopping this beat down. (bottom right) Mario Ramos was then joined by his coach Juan Medina Jr. as referee Juan Morales Lee raised his arm in victory.

Another systematic destruction followed when 22-year-old Adrian Gutierrez from San Diego (now 4-0, with 3 KOs) made quick work of Carlos “La Rafaga” Lopez (now 1-8) from Tijuana, B. C., Mexico, in Bout #7.

From the outset, we saw Adrian Gutierrez (yellow trunks) boring in on his opponent Carlos Lopez. After first working over the midsection, Carlos Lopez’s hands started to drop. All photos: Jim Wyatt

In the end, it was Adrian Gutierrez (l) coming away with his fourth victory.

There seems to be a wide divergence in the beverage of choice at this table. The couple on the left side ordered a bucket of beer while the group on the right, coach Gustavo Pacheko Enriquez and his boxers, Sandra Robles and Kenia Enriquez, were drinking Powerade. Interesting.

During Intermission, the Borizteca Boxing Management Group announced the honored guests which included undefeated and top-ranked Super Lightweight Antonio Orozco (26-0, 17 KOs) from San Diego who trains at the House of Boxing in Paradise Hills. Orozco is the current NABC and WBC United States (USNBC) Super Lightweight Title holder. Next, they introduced the WBC Interim Light Flyweight World Champion Kenia Enriquez from Tijuana. Her current record is (19-1, 9 KOs) and of course, she had her WBC World Light Flyweight Title belt draped over her right shoulder.

WBC Interim Female Light Flyweight World Champion Kenia Enriquez. And finally, it was 23-year-old Light Flyweight Sandra “Perla Negra” Robles (18-2, 9 KOs) who is currently ranked #6 in the world.

Returning to his Ringside seat, Antonio Orozco joined his mates from the House of Boxing to watch the final three bouts.

These attractive ladies were also present to show their support for Armando Tovar. Believing no one would recognize her (2nd from the left) is the actress Ariadne Díaz from the popular TV Novela: La Doble Vida de Estela Carrillo. Just saying, there is a remarkable or is it more like a slight resemblance?

In Bout #8 they had Super Lightweight Ricardo Valdovinos from San Diego (3-0) taking on Abraham Yocupicio (0-3) from Tijuana. After going just one round with the hard hitting Valdovinos, Yocupicio decided he had had enough and was counted out while sitting on his stool.

After giving Yocupicio the 10 count, referee Juan Manuel Morales Lee returned to center ring to raise RValdovinos’ arm who by this time was smiling from ear to ear. During his opening round with Yocupicio, Valdovinos had done the same smirking each time Yocupicio hit him. He may have thought Valdovinos was a bit touched up in the head. Whatever works, as Valdovinos now improves to (4-0, with 3 KOs), while Yocupicio drops to (0-4).

Bout #9 was expected to be another tough test for Camulu, Mexico’s Super featherweight Mario “Guero” Ramirez (6-1) as he was set to face Jose Manuel Garcia (1-1) from Loreto, B. C., Mexico. As the bout started both boxers were landing fierce shots and then Ramirez landed this hard shot to the midsection and down went Garcia in pain. There was no discussion about a low blow or giving Garcia a few minutes or a full five minutes to walk it off. He was done for the evening.

Observers might not be familiar with these body shots that completely destroy a boxer like the one Jose Manuel Garcia received. The worst thing about isn’t the pain, it’s the embarrassment of not being able to continue.

Mario “Guero” Ramirez holds his hand up high to salute his many supporters.

In Friday’s Main Event, Bout #10, insiders felt the pressure had to be on referee Juan Morales Lee for not penalizing Alejandro Castaneda for his egregious behavior on Friday evening, February 26, 2016, when Castaneda used rabbit punches to cause a knockdown and then added insult to injury by landing two additional blows to the back of  Tovar’s head while he was clearly down on the canvas. The perpetrator of the fouls plus the referee who managed to overlook them needed to revisit this travesty of justice and they did Friday evening with a more rigid, unalterable observance of the rules.

In round two, a low blow was thrown by Armando Tovar and referee Juan Morales Lee immediately called it an infraction of the rules and levied a point deduction. This was a good call. A warning for a low blow is not necessary since boxers have always known the consequences of this behavior. Plus, warnings are also issued in the dressing room prior to each fight.

(top photo) It was evident that Armando Tovar was throwing and landing more of the harder, quality blows, like this one which landed on the belt line.

With all three judges favoring Tovar, it appears everyone has saved face. Tovar had his revenge and the referee Lee was applauded for doing such a superb job.

Friday’s unofficial round by round, scoring:

With Round #1 being extremely close and uneventful, you got to figure it went in Castaneda’s column, 10-9.

Round #2 was again close but the more meaningful blows were landed by Tovar. 10-9 Tovar

In Rround #3, Tovar looked to be gaining the upper hand and then inexplicably threw a low blow which referee Juan Morales Lee deemed worthy of a one point penalty. With that deduction, Castaneda takes the round 10-9.

In Round #4, Tovar went on the attack and kept landing blow after blow. To his credit, Juan Morales Lee was not fooled by the play acting of Castaneda who twice claimed he had been hit below the belt, when in fact the punches looked to land right on the belt line. 10-9 Tovar

By Round #5, Tovar had gained the momentum and started landing power shots to the head. Tovar 10-9.

Round #6 was critical with Tovar up 3 rounds to two. Who wants a draw? Both fighters went all out to the finish line and the tally of meaningful blows was close but definitely favored Tovar. The only question remained was the view afforded the other judges. Had they seen what we saw or was their view blocked? After tallying up the scores, all three judges agreed. Tovar was the winner and had gotten his revenge.

As mentioned, this August 18, 2017, Borizteca Boxing show had a little bit of everything. After our take on the proceedings, here is the video of the show produced by Armando Bareno from Best In Boxing: