Emmanuel Robles improves to 12-0 with win over Carlos Valenzuela

Serious as a heart attack: Emmanuel “Renegade” Robles (r) gets win #12 after defeating Carlos Valenzuela of Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. Photo: J. Wyatt

Prior to Friday evening, somebody should have warned Carlos “Guerrero” Valenzuela from the Cachanilla Boxing Club in Phoenix, Arizona that fighting Emmanuel “Renegade” Robles in his hometown, in front of his Mom, wife and mates from the Old School Boxing Gym would be suicide. If someone did, the 19 year-old didn’t pay heed to the warning.

Valenzuela (6-1-0, 3 KOs) of the Phoenix, Arizona area by way of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, came to town full of confidence, conviction, after training extensively for two months with two southpaws for this six round welterweight clash with Robles scheduled for six rounds at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Diego’s Mission Valley.

In round one, both boxers mixed it up pretty good and apart from this one scary moment when Valenzuela went flying backwards into the ropes from a straight left, no one dominated the first stanza. 

In round two, Robles cranked it up and scored repeatedly with these hard body shots to the right side of Valenzuela’s midsection, veryclose to the liver. Then, while Valenzuela was preoccupied with those body shots, Robles landed a mean left hook to the head which sent Valenzuela to the canvas on one knee.

Valenzuela showed his mettle and survived the round by throwing these wild punches to answer Robles’ inside game which featured many damaging combinations.

By the end of the third round, with both men trading punches, a mouse developed under Valenzuela’s right eye. Simply put, Robles’ punches had more impact. Valenzuela’s money punch was the straight right but it appeared to be slower and not a factor. In the closing seconds of round three, Robles landed this beauty of a left hook that clearly rang Valenzuela’s bell. It was the icing on the cake to make certain that round went in his column.

In round four, it was more of the same with Robles doing the hitting but not getting hit. The way Robles was slipping punches had to be frustrating for his opponent and his now anxious corner. 

In round five, Robles, who is seven years his senior, continued to take the youngster to school and avoiding his wild attempts to land something big. After a low blow by Robles caused a stoppage in the action, it was at this time that you wondered if the observers were starting to feel sorry for the overmatched youngster. On resumption, Robles was back to peppering the inside and outside with power shots to try and end the fight.

In the sixth and final round with Robles well ahead on the scorecards, the courageous Valenzuela hung in there and took another three minutes of battering.

Even though the man and woman are the pillars of a family, the man is regarded as the guardian and the secret to his success is his expression of love for his wife and children. Boxers Antonio Orozco and Emmanuel Robles appear to have this going in their favor. Let this be a warning to the Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s of the world.

Judge Jose Cobian scored the bout 60-53, judge Fritz Werner 59-54, and judge Alejandro Rochin 60-53, all for Robles as his record improves to 12-0-1, 3 KOs while Valenzuela’s record drops to 6-2, 3 KOs.

Later, after the men had left their respective dressing areas, we spoke to both and as you can imagine, Valenzuela was hurting and Robles had only a few scratches. Both of Valenzuela’s eyes were puffed up, plus his right shoulder was sore and would need mending for at least two months. Regardless, Valenzuela and his trainers were of the same mindset. They had learned a lot from the match and said they’ll be back on another day.

In the Co-main event, it was the WBC ranked #7 Dmytro Kucher (top right photo, blonde hair) pummeling Galen Brown from pillar to post. Photos: Jim Wyatt

In the co-main event, they had 6’2” cruiserweight Dmytro Kucher (196 lbs.) of Kiev, Ukraine (21-1-0, 15 KOs) going up against the well traveled 33 year-old Galen Brown (200 lbs.) of St. Joseph, Missouri (42-28-1, 25 KOs).

After winning his first 20 bouts, Kucher lost his first fight, a razor thin loss to Llunga Makabu and hadn’t fought since. Even with his inactivity, Kucher, ranked #7 by the WBC, was expected to have little or no trouble with Brown, a snidely veteran of 71 fights with a record of 1 win and 6 losses over the past 12 months. Brown was expected to be a walk in the park and he was.

Never was that saying, “He beat that man from pillar to post!” more applicable. To his credit, Brown, who bears a slight resemblance to actor Sean Connery, went four rounds and put on a show with the “you didn’t even hurt me body wiggle,” “the hands down at his side challenge” and the “is that all you got smile.”

(bottom, left) This one-sided affair saw Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe (l) from London, England by way of Accra, Ghana land power shot after power shot on the defenseless 38 year-old Ronald Rodriguez (r) of Pomona, CA. Photos: Jim Wyatt

(bottom) Referee Pat Russell is shown calling a halt to the match between Ronald Rodriguez (black trunks, gold trim) and Isaac Dogboe (top) who is shown unloading a punch on the defenseless Ronald Rodriguez. Photos: Jim Wyatt

Famous is when everyone wants a photo with you. Right, Mr. James “Lights Out” Toney? The former three division World Champion has a record of 76 wins, 9 losses, 3 ties with 46 wins coming by way of knockout. Photos: J. Wyatt

In the opening bout, the 20 year-old, 5’2” tall Isaac “Royal Storm” formally known as “Brave-son” Dogboe (132.5 lbs.) of London, England by way of Accra, Ghana improved to 3-0 with 2 KOs after having his way with Ronald Rodriguez (134 lbs.) from Pomona, CA.

Dogboe’s opponent, now 1-5 with 1 KO, hadn’t fought anyone in two years and four months and it showed.

In the first round, the Olympian set sail on a vicious body attack that saw Rodriguez backpedaling for most of the round. Dogboe, a physical specimen, landed at will and with his feet well grounded. The solid straight rights were  of the head-snapping variety.

The second round was more of the same as Rodriguez got on his bicycle and started circling about the ring with Dogboe chasing after him as if he were a guard dog, a hungry Pit-bull. The end came at the 2:24 of round two after referee Pat Russell decided Rodriguez had no chance and called a halt to this beating.

Edmonton, Alberta’s Brandy Badry (red trunks) found herself in a cat fight with Goodyear, Arizona’s Jillian Lybarger, the eventual winner. Photos: J. Wyatt

In this photo we see pro boxer Steve Forbes smiling at Brandy Badry who is almost incredulous about what has just taken place – the sudden, late knockdown with just one second left in her bout with Jillian Lybarger. Photo: Jim Wyatt

Bout #2 on the fight card featured the ladies, 39 year-old Brandy Badry from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1-5) taking on a 29 year-old mixed martial artist by the name of Jillian “Justice” Lybarger from Goodyear, Arizona (0-1) in a four round super lightweight match.

Unlike most boxers who are hurried along by the officials, Badry would not be rushed. After the meeting in the center of the ring, the Prima Dona needed to remove multiple layers, first the silk robe followed by an even more glamorous silk blouse. You were half expecting a hairdresser to show up or have her receive a phone call from the Canadian Prime Minister.

Throughout the early goings, Lybarger tried to press the action, get in close, while Badry, with her height and reach advantage, was content to be standoffish and throw punches only from a safe distance. When Lybarger did get in Badry’s space, she’d react as if it were a cat fight. She’d hit on the break, use headlocks or grab Lybarger in a clinch so she could eventually bang her in the back of her head with a rabbit punch. 

From the second round on, things got more contentious as both Lybarger, reverting back to her MMA tactics, and Badry, using every dirty trick in the book, became more pugnacious.

With the clinches clearly bothering Badry and Lybarger coming in hard with her head, Badry began to hold to deflect the forearms and errant elbows. In round three, things heated up again as Lybarger started landing these left hooks to the side of Badry’s head. With her antics clearly frustrating Badry, she began to hold for the remainder of the round.

With the match oh so close, both ladies came out swinging in the final round. Then came a new wrinkle. Referee Jose Cobian decided to deduct a point from Badry for her continual holding and hitting, which clearly gave Lybarger an advantage. Surprise #2: with the clock ticking down Lybarger sent Badry to the mat with a surprise right cross with just a second remaining. It was like watching synchronized swimming. We see Badry getting clobbered and headed down on the mat, a second later the bell rings. With the knockdown occurring just before the bell and the ref signaling as such, the Lybarger fan club began to cheer wildly.

Meanwhile, you had Badry trying to explain to the ref that it was only a slip, “It wasn’t a knockdown!” Veteran boxer Steve Forbes had a smile on his face when Brandy tried to plead her case.

With the combination of a point deduction and the last second knockdown, the decision was never in doubt. Lybarger won by an unanimous decision to improve her record to 1-1, while Badry now drops to 1-6.

Chula Vista’s Joe “The Bull” Delgadillo (shown in collage below) got an unexpected battle royale from Tijuana’s Edgar “Porky” Najera (above). Photos: J. Wyatt

On Friday evening, October 24, 2014, Joe “The Bull” Delgadillo (top, left) was in a battle royale with Tijuana’s Edgar “Porky” Najera (r). Photos: Jim Wyatt

Bout #3 turned out to be a crowd pleasing, bloodbath between local favorite Joe “The Bull” Delgadillo (1-0) of Chula Vista and a Tijuana favorite son, Edgar “Porky” Najera (0-3). To the amazement of many, it was “The Bull’s” opponent, “Porky,” who ended up winning over quite a few fans with his underdog, no-quit status.

Midway through round one, both men landed big blows on each other and Delgadillo was cut. With seconds left in the round an exchange in the center of the ring led to Degadillo landing a hard left hook to send Najera to the canvas. Up quickly, Najera made it out of the round.

In round two both men continued to battle with good back and forth action. That’s when we first heard the “Porky!!!!, Porky!!!!!” chant from the crowd. Towards the end of the round, Najera landed this left hook flush to sent Degadillo backwards into the ropes. Both men survived the round and continued on to what was to become a classic brawl.

Round three was another evenly matched round that had the crowd watching closely for that one big punch that could end the fight. Najera continued to throw his left hooks while Degadillo found success with his overhand rights. Delgadillo, who ended the round strong, looked impressive, impressive enough to carry over the momentum into the final round.

In the fourth and final round, both men were a bloody mess and continued to trade shots in the middle of the ring. Najera, who appeared to be tiring, relied mostly on his jab to ward off Degadillo who would often press forward to land his combinations.

After being the victim of that first round knockdown, it was Porky who ended up breaking Joe’s nose. From amongst the corner people came the following remarks, “It’s a good thing Juan “Cutman4Hire” Ramirez was on-duty to realign Joe’s nose. Actually, it was Ramirez’s first realignment.

A quote from Delgadillo later, “It was his first? Oh well, it was a good job!”

With his unanimous decision win, 38-37, 39-36 and 39-36, Delgadillo improves to (2-0, with 1 KO) while Najera (0-4) loses his fourth straight.

On Friday, November 21st, Bobby D Presents will be returning to the Crowne Plaza Hotel for a clash between undefeated Tijuana fighter Kenia Enriquez (12-0, 6 KOs) and southpaw Ana “La Bronca” Arrazola (20-10-3, 13KO). These young ladies will be fighting it out for the vacant WBO female flyweight world title. For more info, you can always visit the BobbyDPresents.net website or check with the SportofBoxing.com Pro Boxing pulldown.