Border Battles, Part II - October 22, 2004

Garcia retires Rivera!
Throwback card in Juarez has 3 former heroes stopped

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

Hoping to be the first boxing reporters to cover two cards in one night—and in two separate countries—we hustled out of the El Paso County Coliseum and crossed the border into Mexico for the first Promociones del Pueblo card since February.

With a card held before 2,500 at the Poliforo Juan Gabriel, PdP put on a throwback card that captured every element of the Juarez fight scene: non-stop action, a bit of controversy, a maniacal crowd who dutifully hurled cups of beer into the ring when angry and several feisty, busty ring girls who gave the crowd a taste of the Juarez strip club scene.

The main event was a rematch from a 2003 Juarez supermatch between local legend Kirino Garcia and Mexican lightheavyweight champ Arturo “Licenciado” Rivera which ended in a draw.

This time, it wasn’t even close.

With both fighters agreeing to retire if they lost, Garcia and ‘Licenciado’ met at 173 (last time, it was 168) to fight for Rivera’s light heavyweight belt. It was do-or-die for both fighters: Garcia was coming off two losses on TV, to Kingsley Ikeke for the NABF Middleweight belt, and to David “the Destroyer” Lopez for the IBA Middleweight title. Rivera, he’d won three of his four last bouts, but was getting KO’d when stepping up, not to mention struggling against mediocre opponents.

Last night, neither fighter looked the same as they had.

Kirino looked better—while Rivera looked ready for the glue factory.

Garcia wasted no time. When the bell rang, he came right at Rivera, stunning him with a right hand. Dictating the pace, he kept the pressure on Rivera who could not get into gear.

Rivera put up a fight in the 2nd, until Garcia launched a short right that had him moving awkwardly back, clearly frustrated by Garcia’s uncharacteristic early attack.

In the 3rd, a left to the chops by Garcia lifted Rivera’s foot off the canvas. Clearly out of sync again, and on unsteady legs, Rivera showed his mettle by throwing back, but Garcia showed his whiskers, taking any and all Rivera had to offer.

A mouse started to develop under Rivera’s right eye from Garcia’s chopping rights. Off-balance, Rivera fought on the defense while Garcia started to mix it up, changing angles and throwing a variety of punches.

Frustrated and occasionally stunned, Rivera tried to buy time tying up, but Garcia took the play away, pushing him off with his shoulder. Double left hooks to the body and head had Rivera unraveling and, for the first time, a look of resignation appeared on his face.

Garcia and Rivera went toe-to-toe in the Sixth, but the elder Garcia got the better of it with every exchange. Now cringing from Garcia’s onslaught, Rivera was fading quick.

A desperate last-chance attack by Rivera opened up the 7th but Garcia opened up, driving Rivera against the ropes with heavy punches. Drained by Garcia’s flurries, Rivera fell into a desperate defense while the veteran started to stagger his cross-town nemesis around the ring.

It didn’t look as if it would last one more round for Rivera—and that’s what he must’ve been thinking, too, because he stayed glued to his stool when the 8th round bell rang.

Ref Javier Caballero declared Garcia the winner—and new WBC Mexican Lightheavyweight champ—as the crowd showed their disapproval of Rivera by hurling dozen cups of beer and garbage into the ring.

Garcia was elated:

“Thank God I don’t have to retire. I will fight again.”

Garcia admitted that Rivera had stunned him a couple times, but that “this was my fight tonight. I love winning this rematch and I dedicate this fight to the people of Juarez who wanted this fight.”

Now a four-time Mexican champion, Garcia moves his record to 35-26-2, 27 KOs.

Valdez stops former champ Soto

‘In with the new, out with the old . . . .’

In the co-main event of the night, Adrian “Gallero” Valdez scored a shocking knockout in the first round over former world champion Cesar “Cobrita” Soto.

In 70 fights, Soto had been stopped but once—when Johnny Tapia put him down for the count with a body shot in 2001. But last night, against a pure stylist type fighter most would say could not break an egg, Soto hit the canvas twice before losing in the first round by TKO.

‘Gallero’ ran for most of the first, pursued by an aggressive Soto who was able to shoot his patented left that put Valdez on the seat of his trunks. Valdez was up, unfazed, and, to his credit, quit running to trade with Soto. Within the barrage, a straight right hand rocked Soto and, to everyone’s amazement, he went down.

Soto was back up but Valdez moved in for the kill and put him down again. This time, Soto had trouble getting up, dramatically shaking his head to clear it. Staggering to his feet off-balance only brought the ref to wave the fight over at 2:08.

Once royalty in Juarez due to his world title, Soto, now 54-14-3, 40 KOs, looks like he’s finished. He has not won a fight since 1999 and is 0-7-1 in his last eight.

Valdez, on the other hand, only gets better. He improves his record to 15-3-3, 8 KOs.

Roman beats up Tacubayo

If Rivera is truly retired after losing to Garcia; and Soto is destined for the big ‘R’; David “Tacubayo” Murillo is not too far behind.

Just two years ago, Murillo was a WBC World Youth champ, a Mexican titleholder and second only to Kirino Garcia and Juan Carlos “Ranchero” Ramirez in Juarez.

Along came former champ John Michael Johnson who gave Murillo a beating—he went downhill from there.

Last night, he not only had to face a former sparring partner—the new kid on the block, Miguel “Mickey Mouse” Roman—but had to stare across the ring at his former cornermen and entourage.

Things got worse for ‘Tacubayo’ as the fight went on . . . .

Roman entered the ring to the disturbing theme to the Mickey Mouse club show, wearing a set of Mickey Mouse ears, enjoying the adoration of old Tacubayo fans and looking confident, young, strong.

Murillo, on the other hand, and only 23, looked shopworn—but he had come to fight.

In what was, hands down, the best fight of the night, Murillo and Roman battled back and forth for nine solid rounds fought in the center of the ring before the fight was called to a stop.

In the first, Murillo set the pace with a left hook but the younger, harder-hitting Roman—looking more like a veteran than someone who only has a handful of fights—kept the pressure on and drove Murillo to the ropes.

Murillo tried to establish his jab in the 2nd, but Roman insisted on close quarter fighting, making it a slugging match in his favor.

Murillo fought off the ropes in the 3rd, but went to the body, looking to slow Roman down. It was a much closer round but Roman’s punches had more thud on them.

Knots appeared over Tacubayo’s right eye in the 4th and an arrow-straight right between his eyes had him blinking and fighting on the run. Roman was relentless, punishing Murillo when he wasn’t showboating for the crowd.

A hard right hand landed early in the 5th, hurling Murillo three steps back. To his credit, and huge heart, Murillo retaliated, counterpunching desperately. Unfortunately, Roman, unfazed by Murillo’s popless punching, only encouraged him and landing an inside right uppercut shot Murillo’s mouthpiece straight into the air.

Landing two for every one, Roman started to dominate in the sixth round. Again, Murillo’s mouthpiece flew out, as Roman started to play target practice.

Cut inside the orbit of his right eye, Tacubayo could not get off. A right cross from Roman staggered him in the 7th, but somehow Murillo kept on his feet . . . .

Until the 8th. Coming out for the kill, Roman went to work, bruising and battering the former hometown hero. Finally, a second before the bell sounded, Murillo was sent to the canvas from a barrage of punches, but made the count.

In the 9th, the ref did what Murillo’s corner should’ve done—stop the fight. After another brutal beating, the ref stepped in at :55 to score a TKO victory for Roman.

Roman, now 9-0 or 5-0 depending on your source, just might have the makings of another Juarez contender.

“He had nothing,” Roman said after the fight. “I proved myself tonight as a warrior. I will move forward and upward.”

Ranchero returns with TKO win

Coming off a loss to Jorge Martinez for his NABF belt, Juan Carlos “Ranchero” Ramirez (33-6, 13 KOs) got back on the winning streak by scoring a sixth round TKO over Jose Sarabia (21-15-2, 12 KOs.)

Round One was a tentative one, with Ranchero winning with his jab.

Both fighters unleashed their shots in the 2nd, Sarabia counterpunching while Ramirez kept the pressure, trying to land inside the smaller man’s defense.

Sarabia landed a chopping left hook upstairs but Ranchero traded with a clean right hand. Continuing his pressure attack, Ranchero pursued Sarabia around the ring, looking to land.

Flat-footed and obviously looking for a KO, Ramirez dominated the fourth, with hard jabs and left hooks. A left hook to the body nearly momentarily staggered Ramirez in the fifth frame, inspiring him to retaliate with left hooks and rights. The tide changed briefly but Ramirez soon retained control, winning yet another round and creating a deep hole for Sarabia to climb out of.

Although rugged and durable, Sarabia was simply outgunned in the sixth, and after unleashing a furious flurry of punches in the neutral corner, Ramirez fired away until the ref stepped in to call it quits at 2:08.

Castro makes pro debut

On the seven-bout card, we missed the two openers upon arriving, but —Martin Quiroz won a unanimous decision over Jose Peceno; and Oscar Olivas won a unanimous decision over Ernesto Rivera—but walked in to see hot prospect Javier Castro fight his pro debut against 0-1 Carlos Castillo.

It was a short one.

Outclassed, Castillo went down from a left hook in the neutral corner. Bleeding from the mouth, he got up, got battered around a bit more, then went down for good at 1:48 from yet another left hook to give Castro his first pro win.

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

Bonus Pics

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