The Best and Worst Year
2002: Year in Review

By Chris Cozzone

Seventeen fight cards—it’s doubtful that New Mexico has ever seen as much action as it did in 2002. But, while we saw enough fighting, we ended the year on a sour note after all our top prospects and champions ended up with losses—all but one.

Six months ago, New Mexico was on top of the world. Johnny Tapia was a world champion again; Danny Romero was on his way to another championship; Ray Sanchez III was building momentum; Frankie Archuleta, now an NABA champ, was on his way into the Top Ten; and Joseph Brady, also a regional champ with the WBC 154-pound FecarBox belt around his waist, was squeezing his way into national ratings.

By mid-December, all we’d be left with would be Brady . . . .

The Assassin Prevails

Joseph Brady kicked off the year with one of the best fights, taking on Santa Fe’s J.C. Linson. Linson, a former world and continental NBA champion, was Brady’s toughest opponent to date, and the two squared off in a 12-round match for the vacant WBC FecarBox belt—a regional belt that’s supposed to be limited to fighters from Central America and the Caribbean but is, more often than not, borrowed by U.S. fighters and promoters with deeper pockets able to give the WBC what they want by way of sanctioning fees.

Brady took care of business, stopping Linson in the 11^th. Since then, Brady has continued to take care of business: a 2^nd round stoppage over Jose “the Goose” Ramirez in April; a title defense & unanimous win over Frankie Sanchez in August; and recently, in December, after a bit of trouble, a decision over late-sub Anthony Bowman.

With an even dozen wins and zero losses, is Joseph Brady actually our best prospect? We won’t know until he’s up against a rated jr. middleweight. In the meantime, there are a couple things you can count on from Brady: he is rarely a dull fighter (although Brady vs. Sanchez was not the most exciting match), and he is a lot tougher than most of us have given him credit for (myself included.)

I wouldn’t be writing about Joseph Brady first had he lost a fight—like our two former world champs . . . .

Tapia Gets 5^th World Title, But Loses to Barrera

Still the best Chicano fighter to ever come out of New Mexico (and possibly the best, depending on how you compare him to the possibly-best light heavyweight of all time, former undisputed champ Bob Foster), Johnny Tapia kicked off ’02 in England, knocking out little-known Eduardo Alvarez in the 1^st. In April, ‘Mi Vida Loca’ got a title shot against IBF Featherweight champ Manuel Medina.

No doubt about it: Tapia did not look his best. And Medina fought a smart fight, tap-tap-tapping Tapia throughout 12 rounds, outlanding the challenger. Tapia threw the meaningful punches, making it a difficult fight to score. Despite punch-stat numbers and Medina’s backhand slaps, the judges saw it for Tapia, giving him his 5^th world title.

Tapia’s success was short-lived. When he opted to fight Marco Antonio Barrera in November for THE featherweight crowwn, the IBF took his belt away for failing to fight their #1 Contender. Against the Featherweight King, Tapia could not win more than a few rounds and for the first time in his career, Tapia—without question, without controversy—lost.

3^rd World Title Slips Away from Romero

Danny Romero started his climb to another world championship, as well—but a fluke eye swelling ended matters on September 27^th when WBO champ Cruz Carbajal came to town—and left, with his title intact.

United with Team Fresquez and Guy Riordan, with big Danny assisted by former world champ Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Romero made a strong comeback in June by stopping Famosito Gomez in the 7^th Round in one of the year’s best fights. It was the first time the Mexican had ever been stopped outside of injuries.

Romero continued his return in July when he beat up little Domingo Guillen, setting up a title shot against WBO champ Carbajal in September.

World Title #3 wasn’t going to happen, though. When Romero’s eye blew up in the 3^rd, the fight was allowed to go on while Danny desperately tried to score a knockout shot at a target he could barely see. In between the 4^th and 5^th, the ringside physician was on his way to stopping the fight when cornerman Muhammad waved the fight off.

Despite the huge setback, Romero remained in good spirits throughout the rest of the year, and a rematch is set for March or April.

Archuleta 2-2 in ‘02

Archuleta proved he could bang with the big boys.

Unfortunately, he also ended the year the way he started it—with a loss.

In March, on Showtime’s ShoBox, Archuleta got a shot against the undefeated Emmanuel “the Butcher” Lucero for his USBA belt. After a tremendous first round, in which both fighters tasted canvas (Lucero nearly for good), Archuleta held back while Lucero controlled the action through the rest of the fight—until Archuleta opened up in the last round, nearly taking Lucero out again. Lucero won the unanimous but the loss proved that Frankie was for real.

Training under the Chavez team at San Jo, Archuleta regrouped; promoter Lenny Fresquez secured an NABA title shot in June, but after several fighters fell through, the title fight was hastily arranged against Armando Guerrero—an overblown flyweight who’d lost his last 8 fights. Somehow, the NABA okayed the fight and, as expected, Archuleta destroyed the little guy in three rounds.

While Frankie might’ve won his belt in June, he didn’t really earn it until August when he took on proven contender Arturo Valenzuela. For nearly five rounds, Archuleta outboxed and outclassed the rugged Valenzuela, until an injury had the fight going to a scorecards for a unanimous win for Frankie.

A chance to defend his belt would not happen until December when he took on the undefeated Alejandro Barrera—cousin to Marco Antonio. Archuleta represented a massive step-up for Barrera, and despite fighting on Archuleta’s turf, the Mexican won a very narrow split decision win for Frankie’s NABA superbantamweight belt.

Archuleta’s progress would further be stymied soon after, when Fresquez announced that he was leaving trainer Luis Chavez. Who Archuleta’s new trainer is, and what his fate shall be in Boxing shall be decided in ’03 . . . .

The Sanchez III Shocker

After a stop-and-go year in 2001, Ray Sanchez III kicked it into high gear in ’02, fighting six times. By August, he was 6-0 with six knockouts and, sponsored by Santa Ana Star Casino, was being touted as “The New Pride of New Mexico.”

Shortly before his fight in September, on a card he was headlining, there was a billboard overlooking I-40 prompting residents to “Support your next hometown champ!”

Sanchez III was looking like the real thing.

Then, on September 6^th, the trouble started, when he stepped into the ring against  3-1-1 Luis Alonzo-Gauna. Shortly into the 1^st, Alonzo-Gauna landed a short right hand that had the hometown hero holding on for life. Sanchez III survived . . . and went on to win a unanimous decision in a bang-up fight, but that near-knockdown began to cast a little doubt about Sanchez’s chin.

Sanchez III was back in action in November, winning yet another decision, this time in Vegas. Then came, the shocker.

Sanchez found a spot on a November Telefutura-televised card in El Paso, against overblown superbantamweight, Juarez’s Jose Juan “Maromerito” Mendez. Despite a ridiculous disparity in height, and Sanchez’s star amateur background, Mendez pulled a Buster Douglas that night, flooring Sanchez in the 3^rd. Sanchez made the count, but he was never truly back in the fight. He did not answer the 5^th round bell.

Now, with one loss and a truly suspect chin, Sanchez III will be facing big, big tests in ’03. Santa Ana Star is contracted to put him on at least two more cards, but it’s doubtful the big leaguers of boxing—like Top Rank—will have a contract at the ready. Look for Sanchez III to be fighting tougher opposition, for less money—plus, the intimidation factor that had his first six opponents shaking in their boots will no longer play much of a role.

Despite the trials and tribulations Little Ray has ahead, if this kid is the real thing—if he prevails—the end product, the fighter he will develop into, will be worth the ride.

New Blood

At least half a dozen New Mexicans made promising pro debuts in ’02—most of ‘em on Santa Ana cards.

Topping off the bunch would have to be Albuquerque-born but Stockton, CA-transplanted David Martinez. After a highly successful amateur career, Martinez returned to New Mexico to train with Danny Romero. 

After his first two pro fights—two wars that, after watching Martinez getting hit too many times, had me doubting he’d go too much farther—Martinez pulled it together and has shown grit, skills, intelligence and, finally, a good defense in the ring. He finished off the year in December beating undefeated Tony Valdez in a thrilling four-rounder.

Finally, after a year lay-off, Brian “Torito” Romero also made his debut, starting out in San Antonio, TX fighting a late sub for a first round knockout. After another layoff, Romero was back, looking sharp at Santa Ana with another knockout win, this time over Eloy Varos.

From April through June, supermiddleweight Jason Bray made a splash at Santa Ana, starting off strong with a solid stoppage over Ed Abeyta. Two good decisions followed, over Danny Almanzar and Arturo Ortega. This Bob Foster protégé broke ties with the former light heavy king at the end of the year and, now training under Rocky Stapleton, will be back in action in February or March.

After a stint in the Navy and a strong amateur record, junior middleweight Joaquin Zamora also made his pro debut at Santa Ana, destroying 0-3 Dwayne Pope in one round. Unfortunately, a TKO loss to hot prospect Juan Salazar followed when Zamora hit the road to fight at the Orleans Casino in Vegas six weeks later.

Zamora, too, will be back in action in February or March.

With mention of pro debuters, we also can’t forget the “Hurricane,” Hector Munoz, who kayoed overblown lightweight Tony Loudy in a December pro debut. It’s too early to tell if Munoz has it, but there’s one thing that’s certain: In the ring, this stylish pug has the best threads in the Southwest.

On the Rise

Farmington’s hopeful, Victor Barela, had a run of bad-luck with fights falling through at the Sky Ute card but he did become a permanent part of the Romero camp halfway through the year. Since then, he’s fought three times: an absolute war with the more-experienced Bryan Garcia; a throwaway knockout win over Jose Martinez (Mr. “I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up!”); and a lackluster win over Heriberto Velasquez in December.

Despite the last fight, Barela can be a monster in the ring, and is one of the more exciting fighters.

Another beast to keep an eye on is Espanola’s Tony Valdez. Valdez fought three times in ’02: two easy wins over easy opponents, and a big step up against David Martinez.

Consider this: You’re an undefeated prospect at 4-0 (4 KO’s) and the call comes in to fight a guy 5-0 with a ton more amateur fights in his background. That call comes in 24 hours before the fight. What do you do?

Valdez doesn’t hesitate. Despite the odds, the short notice, and the fact that Martinez is naturally bigger—a jr. bantam to Valdez’s jr. flyweight frame—Valdez takes the fight.

Martinez wins but Valdez shows blood and guts in the ring—nevermind the loss, this kid’s someone to watch.

Older Blood

Despite being one of our best prospects, “Vicious” Vernon Payne did not get much time in the ring in ’02. After a rusty showing against Jose Luis Cruz in April, Payne took another seven months off before his next fight—a laughable fight (which was not Payne’s fault) against drama king Agustin Caballero, who was DQ’d after milking it up as much as he could after Payne got tired of his holding and gave him a halfhearted shove at the beginning of the 2nd.

Francis Royal gets “Busiest Fighter” award, fighting eight times in ‘02—but only winning three of ‘em, although one win did include a massive upset over previously undefeated heavyweight monster Jo-El Scott. Taking fights on short notice and a lack of training leaves King at 6-8 (5 KO’s) at the end of the year.

“Sensational” Steve Aragon ends the year with just two fights—a great match against fellow Aragon in March, and then a tune-up six-rounder against Alberto Cepeda in June. Since then, Aragon looks like a middleweight but says he’ll be back in ’03.

The other Aragon—Tommy, that is—was a little bit busier, fighting four times and starting the year off with a big win over Stevie at Sky City in March. Since the Aragon win, Tommy went on to score a draw with Leobardo Roman, and a close decision over Juan Aranday. Then, in September, on the ESPN2-televised undercard portion of the Romero vs. Carbajal fight, Tommy was KO’d for the first time by El Paso’s “Conan the Destroyer,” Miguel Torrecillas.

Speaking of Conan . . . Torrecillas was also able to spoil things for previously-unbeaten Las Vegas lightweight Shawn Gallegos. Fighting only twice this year (the other time against Juan Aranday), and getting knocked down in both of those fights, Gallegos ends the year at 6-1.

Jose “the Goose” Ramirez also had a 1-1 year, first making a comeback against unwon Sergio Vasquez in March, then getting stopped by Joseph Brady in April in the 2^nd Round.

Once-stablemate Adriano Sanchez followed suit, returning to the ring with a big win against formerly-undefeated Lamar Alexander at Santa Ana, then getting KO’d in the 1^st against the “Hurricane,” Earl Jackson later on in the year.

Albuquerque’s “Bad Boy,” Rudy Lovato had a bad year, losing three times, albeit against tough opposition: Emmett Linton, Elco Garcia and Quandray Robertson.

On the upswing, several New Mexicans made strong comebacks.

Max Heyman had a two-fight streak going from June to July before another injury set him back until December. Then a win over .500 fighter from Youngstown, OH gave had him 3-0 in ’02. Fighting now at a near-middleweight and under Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Heyman is looking at big fights in ’03.

Although only a 3-4-1 fighter when he returned to the ring in ’02 after a couple years off, Nazareth Rojas showed more progress than anyone else in the state. After a knockout win over Andre King in June, then a close decisioned loss to Juan Aranday in September, Rojas showed us what he had by dominating big Colorado prospect Stevie Marquez in December.

Lee Montoya also returned in ’03, after several years off, taking care of Phil Gurule in the 1^st at Santa Ana; Fernando Yguado resurfaced after a year in December, to win a 4-round decision; and Jeremiah Torres came back after nearly a year, to lose to Bobby Joe Valdez, then decision Colbert Losoya; and Danny Almanzar came back to give us some great fights with Earl Jackson, Jason Bray, Ed Abeyta and Steve Marquez before going back into retirement.

The El Paso Connection

Still waiting for that shot at a world title, #1 Contender and NABF champ Juan Lazcano kept busy in ’02 with three tune-ups, two in Oroville, one in El Paso. Lazcano fights again in February on a HBO Latino card and will most likely get some shot a world title in ’03.

Also hoping to step up the opposition is heavyweight David Rodriguez, who finished off the year at 8-0, 8 KO’s. YK2 brought Rodriguez three easy fights, all ending in first round knockouts.

Alex “El Diablo” Becerra did step up the competition—but he paid the price in September when Jorge “Speedy” Gonzales clobbered him in the 3^rd round, knocking him out. Becerra was back in November for his fifth fight (and 4^th win) of the year, to prove his knockout loss was just an off-night when he clobbered the usually-rugged Len Martinez.

Stablemate from the JCG Crew, Cesar “El Gallito” Lopez kept busy, taking care of his opponents to build an 8-1 (3 KO’s) record. Now a proven force in the flyweight division, Lopez will step up in February.

The JCG crew also boasts New Mexico’s spoiler, Miguel “Conan” Torrecillas, who made a striking comeback in ’02 after a year’s layoff. With wins over Shawn Gallegos and Tommy Aragon, then finishing up against 6-2 fighter Jose Espinoza, Torrecillas is proving himself to be THE force in the Southwest’s lightweight division.

Bobby Joe Valdez, also of JCG, kept relatively busy despite minor injuries, beating Jeremiah Torres in March, knocking out Ruben Aguayo in August, then putting on a good show on TV against hot prospect Kili Madrid before the fight was stopped in the 3^rd and declared a No Contest when Madrid was injured.

Finally, Adan “El Tejano” Hernandez crossed the border into Juarez where he fought on several cards, building a record against unknowns until August when he was pitted against Hugo Lewis on Telefutura. It was a close fight but Hernandez lost the eight-round decision and finished off the year with a 11-1 (4 KO’s) record. Look for Hernandez to fight on the February 13^th card in El Paso.

Women’s Action

January saw the return of a somewhat rusty Adriana Delgado, now training under Fred Esquibel after leaving Chavez Karate in ‘01. What was supposed to be an easy fight for her—against an 0-1 Monica Michel—turned into an excellent four-round battle that somehow ended up a win for Delgado. A rematch with Michel occurred in May on a Durango card and this time, after six rounds, the judges declared it a draw.

Delgado cleaned up her bad habits and in July, came back a different fighter when she fought beautifully and decisioned seasoned Tracy Moulton. Continuing to improve, Delgado prepared for a rematch against Jayla Ortiz in September for the WIBA Continental belt but at the last minute, the fight fell through due to certain . . . ah, legalities.

Rated by all three women’s ABC’s Delgado remains New Mexico’s top contender in women’s boxing. Now 9-2-1, she will headline a card at Sky City come February.

Close behind, if not ahead, of Delgado is Delia “Chikita” Gonzalez, the former WIBF champ who is also rated by all three women’s organizations. Gonzalez finished the year 2-2-1 with a decision loss to Mary Ortega for the WIBA Continental Super flyweight belt.

Jayla Ortiz? Well, after a year’s layoff, she came close to fighting, to Delgado in September, but the cops where there to take her away just a couple hours before she was scheduled to enter the ring—something about having pulled a gun on someone a month or two beforehand.

New Mexico has a lot of new female blood: Jackie Chavez, now 5-0 having fought three times in ’02, remains the hottest prospect despite a gift win in August against Raquel Tebo. Unfortunately, she’s been M.I.A. since the fight.

Other prospects include three pro debuters: Holly Holm, Stephanie Jaramillo and Nicole Salazar.

Holm racked up four wins in ’02, twice on Fresquez cards, twice on Santa Ana cards, and is quickly attracting a flock of fans. Jaramillo and Salazar both debuted on Santa Ana cards in June. Jaramillo made easy prey of Martha Flores; then, later in the Fall, came close to inking a deal with Don King Productions—she decided not to. Salazar, on the other hand, took on tough Robin Pinto giving the veteran hell but losing a decision. She has not been able to land a fight since.

Did I forget Monica Michel?

Michel remains the best women fighter on the planet who has never won a fight. In ’02, she was 0-2-3, after taking on Delgado twice (one loss that should’ve been a draw; the other a draw that might’ve gone either way); Elena Reid in a brutal six-rounder (losing a narrow decision and with Reid saying afterward that it was her toughest fight); a robbery draw with Bernice Chavez in Tijuana; and a draw with Mary Duron. If someone could give her a fair fight and bring her up right, this girl could be a champ in the lower weight divisions.

Retired

At least two New Mexico fighters officially retired in 2002.

After a shoulder injury that required extensive surgery, former world champ Trina Ortegon decided to call it quits. And former NBA world champ Chris Linson, Jr. decided to hang up the gloves shortly after his loss to Joseph Brady.

Other fighters who did not fight in ’02 included Eric Holland and Sean McClain. McClain, though, is near-ready for a final comeback, this time as a cruiserweight. Believe it or not, McClain is under 200 pounds (I’ve seen the scale and yes, I checked to see if he was hanging from a bar.)

R.I.P.

Losses in 2002 go beyond the ring. In the summer, we lost Chris Benividez, who’s been a familiar face at San Jo for years. This summer, we also lost boxer Tomas Felix, who’d fought an exhibition bout with Steve Aragon shortly before Aragon’s pro debut. And just last week, we lost trainer Jim Johnson, one of New Mexico’s most respected men in the business.

© 2003 by New Mexico Boxing.com.
Site & photos by cozzone.