After the Castaneda knockout, Martin returns to the limelight
After knocking Roberto Castaneda out in the 6th round of a scheduled 8 round ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Show on June 29, 2012, Chris Martin is joined by his brother, Guillermo Martin Jr. (C) and longtime manager Sergio Melendrez (L). Photo: J. Wyatt
To quote Jerry Cantu, the referee for Friday’s bout between Roberto Castaneda and Christopher Martin: “It was two to the stomach, one to the chin and down he went.”
On Friday, June 28, 2012, Christopher “Maravilla” Martin (24-2-3, 7 KOs) of Chula Vista, CA stopped Roberto “Azabache” Castaneda (20-2-1, 15 KOs) of Mexicali, B. C., Mexico in the sixth round of their scheduled eight round match at the Omega Products Outdoor Arena in Corona, CA.
Roberto Castaneda of Mexicali is shown in the preparation stages for his bout Friday night versus Chris Martin of Chula Vista, CA.
A win of this magnitude stirs the pot, gets the right people talking to put Martin right back in contention.
Why? Because of Castaneda’s ranking and the fact this bout was aired internationally on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, one of the big three production companies to offer professional boxing.
Martin started off well and easily took Round #1 based on four well placed shots to Castaneda’s head. Between rounds Castaneda received a tongue lashing from his corner and made a comeback. Relying exclusively on left hooks to the body and straight rights to the head, he rebounded to take Round #2. In the final seconds of an uneventful Round #3, Castaneda stole the round by getting the best of a late exchange.
After Martin lost Round #4, his backers (a bus load from San Diego) had the worried looks on their faces. In that fourth round, Castaneda hit Martin with several good shots early, the kind that wobble most fighters. Martin showed his resiliency and weathered the punches that had him backing up.
In the fifth round, Castaneda became bolder yet and it showed as he threw even more punches in an attempt to break Martin’s will to continue. At the end of round five Martin dropped Castaneda with a right uppercut to the stomach.
Even though Castaneda survived this round, the knockdown gave Martin a 10-8 round and evened the scoring at 47-47 a piece.
Chris Martin’s family and friends await the start of the bout against Roberto Castaneda at the Omega Products Outdoor Arena in Corona, CA, Friday, June 29, 2012. At the end of each row is a member of the Martin family. Chris’ father in row one, his wife in row two and his mom waving in row three. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Referee Jerry Cantu is shown crouching over the fallen Roberto Castaneda after he was sent to the canvas in Round six by a shot to the midsection.
At the start of the sixth round, Castaneda showed no signs of wilting and once again came out perky and aggressive. A veteran like Martin can see right through the deception. After leading off with a punch to the midsection, followed by a right to the chin, he dug down deep to deliver a left hook to his opponent’s body which dropped Castaneda face-first on the canvas. Even though Castaneda got up, referee Jerry Cantu could see he was in trouble and stopped the bout at 2:31 of round six.
Before the end of the second round, Ruslan Provodnikov (rear left) had finished off his opponent, Jose Reynoso. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Jose Reynoso is seen attempting to get back on his feet. Photo: Jim Wyatt
While waiting for his bout to begin, Ruslan Provodnikov listens to his favorite music.
In Round #1 of the scheduled 10 round main event, Jose Reynoso (16-3-1, 3 KOs) from Riverside, CA gave a good account of himself. Only problem, his command of the fight only lasted for one round. In the meantime, the more powerful Ruslan Provodnikov (22-1-0, 15 KOs) of Los Angeles by way of Beryozovo, Russia, was measuring his opponent to get both the distance and timing right. While Reynoso circled and hoped to counter, Provodnikov began to stalk his prey.
By the second round, Provodnikov had his bearings and started landing the serious artillery. In their final exchange, Provodnikov stunned Reynoso with a solid right, followed by another overhand right to drop Reynoso. As Reynoso struggled to get back to his feet, referee Raul Caiz, Jr. counted him out at 1:52 of the second round.
Provodnikov has but one loss. It came at the hands of Mauricio Herrera when the two fought 18 months ago for the IBF North American light welterweight title.
Angel Osuna is shown saluting the crowd after defeating Dashon Johnson at the Omega Products Outdoor Arena, June 29, 2012. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Bout #3 featured Angel Osuna (R) facing the wily veteran Dashon Johnson.
Pro boxer Dashon Johnson of Escondido, Ca.
In a six round bout between Southern California super welterweights, both 24 years of age, Angel Osuna of Coachella, CA won every round from Dashon Johnson of Escondido, CA. Osuna (8-3-1, 4 KOs) landed the cleaner blows, while Johnson (13-6-3, 4 KOs) threw the wild, looping and most times inaccurate punches.
I’ve been ringside for three of Johnson’s fights and the boxer who showed up on Friday night was a stranger. Even some of his backers started to yell, “Dashon, where are you?” For the first time in his career, the patrons witnessed Johnson taking rounds off. He was a shell of his former self and his loss was a foregone conclusion.
At the conclusion of his debut bout Daniel Martinez (C) receives congratulations from his support group. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Next up, they had Aaron Acevedo (1-0-1, 1 KO) of Riverside going up against Daniel Martinez of San Bernardino who was making his pro-debut.
At the outset, it was Acevedo getting off first and when he tired back came Martinez with some fury of his own. Even though both fighters had their moments, it appeared Martinez was landing the heavier, more telling blows.
Then, in the final minutes, it was Martinez running on empty and starting to cover up. This development allowed Acevedo to go on the attack and go free swinging at Martinez’s midsection. If it hadn’t been for this brief respite, the judges would have had themselves a clear winner. One judge scored the bout 39-37 in favor of Martinez, while the others justifiably scored the bout 38-38 for a four round majority draw.
On one of the rare occasions, Oscar Godoy (brown trunks) is shown being smacked in the face by Roberto Crespo (blue trunks). Photo: J. Wyatt
After defeating Robert Crespo, Oscar Godoy and his corner look out at the cheering fans. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Next, it was welterweights Oscar Godoy (6-2-0, 3 KOs) of Watsonville, CA facing Roberto Crespo (4-1) of Riverside, CA. For the first three rounds, Godoy gave Crespo a boxing lesson and consistently landed the big right hands at a three to one clip.
By the fourth round, Crespo had gotten comfortable and started matching Godoy blow for blow. In the end, all three judges scored the bout 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Godoy. As a result, Godoy improves to 7-2, 3 KOs, while Crespo falls to 4-2.
Some of Lizette Medel’s friends join her in the dressing area before her bout with Tatina Anderson. Photo: Jim Wyatt
Tatina Anderson (L) takes a straight left hand from Lizette Medel (R).
Lizette Medel salutes her family and friends after her victory over Tatina Anderson.
In the final bout, 25 year-old lightweight Lizette Medel of the Maywood Boxing Club in Maywood, CA took on 26 year-old Tatiana “Little Tyson” Anderson of Las Vegas, Nevada in a rematch of a bout fought to a majority draw back on April 8, 2011 at Buffalo Bill’s Star Arena in Primm, Nevada.
With biceps larger than most men, Anderson looked intimidating. She even featured a prideful strut as she returned to her corner. Less we forget forget, she also delivers one heck of a wallop.
This bout featured a lot of two way action and what surprised most people was the way the young ladies were able to take a punch. Medel, who was cut over her right eye from an accidental head butt in round three, is as skillful a boxer as you’ll ever see. After getting clobbered several times by Anderson’s best shots, she hung in there and returned fire. Most of her scoring came by way of solid left hooks while countering.
Both young ladies had their moments, particularly in the final round when Anderson countered with a resounding overhand right to Medel’s head.
All three judges scored the bout for Medel, 58-56, 59-55, and 60-54 which was a surprise because it was a much closer bout. While Medel improves to 7-1-1, Anderson drops to 5-2-1, 4 KOs.
