Border Battles, Part I - October 22, 2004
De Leon carves up the 'Butcher'
Daniel Ponce De Leon returns to El Paso for NABA title win

Ringside report by Ricardo Trujillo and Chris Cozzone
photos by Chris Cozzone

Daniel Ponce De Leon might be the worst boxer on the planet.

Nevertheless, he is destined for big things, the least of which will be a world title in the near future.

Fighting like a drunken sailor but hitting like a cannon, Chihuahua’s De Leon returned to home turf last night to earn the vacant NABO Super Bantamweight title with a slaughtering win over former contender Emmanuel “the Butcher” Lucero.

The Golden Boy Promotions card, held at the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso and televised by Telefutura, gave a crowd of 1,200 the best show in recent years—paralleled only by a card held ten miles on the other side of the border later that night. (Click here for “ Border Battles, Part II .)

Down twice in the third and deciding round, the Bronx bomber Lucero could do little but cave in to the power of the southpaw slugger De Leon.

In the first stanza, De Leon came out tight and low while Lucero kept his hands high, weary of the former Mexican Olympian’s hammer hands and circling away from a crudely-thrown but thunderous left cross. After a spell, Lucero started to trade with De Leon, rocking him back on his heels and getting in some good licks of his own in what was a close round.

De Leon picked up the pace in the second, making it clear that his two-fisted attack would dominate Lucero. Throwing wide ramrod rights and loopy lefts, he battered his way through Lucero’s defense, cracking scintillating right hooks and left crosses to the body and head.

Clearly, it was only a matter of time before De Leon closed the show.

In the 3rd, De Leon turned the fight from one-sided to slaughter. Lucero hit the canvas from a left to the body, and after beating the count, tried to weather yet another storm when De Leon moved in for the kill.

But another left, this time to the chin, deposited the hapless Lucero to the canvas right in his corner, this time for good. Quickly, the ref stepped in, saw Lucero unfit to continue, and waved it off at 2:51.

“I knew I would knock him out,” said an elated De Leon afterward. “He never hurt me, but I had a difficult time in the first round.”

Now 21-0 with 20 KOs, De Leon, now a contender, is looking at a world title shot in the near future.

“I’m looking at the big picture now,” he said.

Mora draws with Rubio in best fight of night

Continuing to step up big and closing ten rounds of solid action with his opponent a near goner, Denver’s Adrian Mora had to settle for a majority draw against rugged Mexican veteran Juan Carlos Rubio.

While Mora turned up the heat late, Rubio never let up during the fight. The relentless Mexican made the fight, pressing the much taller Mora who gave up the early rounds while trying to put his game plan into play.

In the first frame, Rubio slipped past Mora’s long jab, pressuring the lanky fighter who sought to play it safe on the outside. His jabs were effective, causing Rubio’s nose to bleed early on.

In Rounds Two, Three and Four, Rubio dictated the pace, never letting up while Mora tried to do his best keeping the hard-charging Mexican off him. Mora’s inexperience started to show, and by the fourth, losing every round, he was starting to suck air.

But Mora not only made the necessary adjustments, he started to turn the fight around after that.

The middle rounds were non-stop action. With Rubio still walking down Mora, he started to take hard shots as Mora raked lefts and rights off his body and head. Hooking off his jab, Rubio’s tenacity paid off as Mora’s right eye started to puff up. While these rounds were closer, Mora’s one-punch-at-a-time made it hard to score for him as he let the Mexican invade his space without making him pay. Still bleeding, Rubio continued his assault, undaunted.

As the fight wore on, Mora turned the tables. Rubio’s crimson red face and a bad cut from an unintentional headbutt did little to slow him down, but Mora evened the show by timing his rushes with jabs and straight rights.

In the ninth frame, Rubio slowed down and Mora took advantage by throwing more hooks and a shot to the back of Rubio’s head that had him wobbling toward the ropes.

The tenth and final round was a pure slugest, with both men emptying their gas tanks. Rubio was a buzzsaw taking the fight to Mora—when he wasn’t hanging on to recover from Mora’s solid rights and lefts.

At the end of ten, one judge had it for Mora, 96-94, while the other two scored it even, 95-95.

However, Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing had it for Rubio, 96-94.

“I give myself a six out of ten,” Mora said afterward. “I didn’t dominate the way I wanted to so a rematch is okay with me—I’ll knock him out next time.”

Rubio was more bombastic:

“He doesn’t hit hard at all. I almost pulled off the upset.

“As for a rematch? Sure, it’s on—but for more money.”

Garcia opens the show with impressive KO

Looking to impress potential promoter Golden Boy, Albuquerque youngster Vicente “El Picosito” Garcia demolished Mexicali’s Ruben Lopez, showing one-punch kayo power with a left hook to the chops that had us ringside yelling, ‘Timmmberrrr . . . !”

Garcia’s heavy artillery wooed the crowd from the get-go. Garcia was game, though, but was too short and slow to get in the game.

In the 2nd, a thunderous left hook to the chin at the :50 second mark slammed Lopez to the canvas. The ref began the count, got to eight, then called it off—he could’ve counted to 50.

Garcia moves up to 5-0, 4 KOs; while Lopez falls to 10-8, 8 KOs.

Escalante destroys Garcia

Recent high school graduate Antonio Escalante of El Paso also showed his power by dominating Sante Fe veteran Bryan Garcia from the opening bell.

Garcia, optimally a superflyweight, was simply too small, too slow and too weak for a solid superbantamweight like Escalante, who outlassed and outsmashed Garcia on his way to a convincing KO win.

There’s an old boxing axiom—‘Don’t hook with a hooker’—and that’s what spelled the end for Garcia. Early on, a left-right combo by Escalante put Garcia on the canvas, and soon after, the Santa Fean was bleeding profusely from his nose.

In the 2nd and 3rd, Escalante continued to outhustle and batter Garcia. In the 3rd, a right hand folded Garcia at the waist and without counting, the ref caught Garcia before he hit the canvas and waved it over.

“I hit him with everything I had,” said a jubilant Escalante, who is now training under Luis Aguilar. “I’m really happy with my performance.”

Vallle decisions Cordova in sleeper

In a fight that can only be described as a real snoozer for TV viewers and fans in attendance, Ivan Valle of Los Mochis, Mexico sleepwalked to a unanimous decision over Californian Armando Cordova.

Cordova did nothing, and for all intents and purposes, handcuffed himself by not punching, following Valle around the ring, while Valle did just enough to win on the judge’s scorecards. Each round was a repeat.

Cordova never made a run at it and Valle never sat down on his punches. The boring affair had final tallies of 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56.

Rodriguez walks through Fulton in walkout bout

In the walkout bout, undefeated El Paso heavyweight David Rodriquez crushed yet another hapless opponent.

This time, the handpicked victim was Travis Fulton of Idaho.

Fulton was down twice in the first. The first knock down was a left to the chin; the second and final knock down was a left to the body, and Fulton was done. Official time 2:01 of the first round.   

CLICK HERE FOR PART II OF 'BORDER BATTLES' - JUAREZ CARD, OCTOBER 22

Bonus Pics

 # # #