By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
The fighters were miniature but mighty as a packed house took in a night of amateur boxing Saturday for Box Scene Academy’s Night of Champions.
Based out of Del Rio, Box Scene Academy welcomed fighters from around the state including San Angelo, Eagle Pass and the Rio Grande Valley to town for 13 bouts. Winners of each fight were awarded title belts while the runners-up received medals. At the end of the night, the fighters in the fight of the night were presented trophies.
It didn’t take long for fans to get on their feet and cheer for the boxers as the opening bout pitted Mid Town Soldiers’ Kael Ponce de Leaon against Elizondo Boxing’s Mark Guzman in a pee wee division fight. The two diminutive pugilists came out swinging, exchanging flurries of punches throughout the first round. The explosive start took some of the starch out of the fighters as the pace slowed in the second and third rounds, but each fighter managed to stun the other with a blow to the head hard enough to warrant a standing eight count from the referee. Guzman was awarded the fight via split decision.
Fight two went to Josue Faz from Concho Boxing Club via unanimous decision over Jez Almance of Team JAB. Faz was the smaller fighter but he was unafraid to get close and mix it up with Almance.
In fight three, Matthew Fonseca of Fonseca’s Boxing Gym defeated Gilberto Laureles Jr. of Mid Town Soldiers via unanimous decision. Fonseca controlled the fight from the outset and was able to move Laureles around the ring wherever he wanted.
Gabriel Quiñonez of Mid Town Soldiers won the fourth fight of the night over Manuel Reyes of Eagle Pass B&G. Much like the first fight of the night, both fighters came out swinging but appeared to tire themselves out by the end of the first round.
The fifth fight of the night brought out the first non-pee wee fighters as Diego Mata of Mid Town Soldiers matched up against Bryan Pedraza of Robstown Boxing in the junior male, 138-pound division. Mata was the slightly taller fighter, but both fighters peppered the other with heavy blows. The third round was one for the books as each recorded a standing eight count against the other, bringing a dramatic end to the fight. Pedraza won the fight via unanimous decision.
In the final fight before intermission, Eli Andujo of Team JAB defeated E’lontay Boston of San Fernando Boxing Club by split decision. It was a close fight with both fighters appearing evenly matched. They threw calculated punches and didn’t throw just for the sake of throwing punches.
Del Rio was represented in the next bout when Box Scene Academy’s Viggo Hernandez defeated Luis Hernandez of Team JAB. Box Scene’s Hernandez was in control from the outset. He landed crisp combinations and never really looked in trouble over the three rounds of the bout.
Edward De Leon Jr. of Concho Boxing Club dominated Rodrigo Perez of Monsivais Boxing Academy to earn the win. After battering the shorter fighter in the first two rounds, a series of combinations and a peppering of blows 16 seconds into the third round brought a referee stoppage for a De Leon TKO win.
In the fight of the night, Hector Fonseca of Fonseca’s Boxing Gym defeated Julian Sanchez of Team JAB by split decision. The fight was nearly ended early when Fonseca complained of pain in his left arm near his elbow. After a quick examination by the ringside physician, Fonseca was allowed to continue and seemed to throw even harder punches than before the stoppage. At one point the punches were thrown so hard and so quick in an exchange that the mouthpieces of each fighter were knocked loose and fell to the canvas.
The most one-sided fight of the night went to Brayden Govea of Concho Boxing Club as he defeated Freddy Cavazos of Elizondo Boxing Club via referee stoppage in the first round. Govea was relentless in stalking Cavazos. He dotted Cavazos with shots at will and Cavazos had no choice but to take a knee in the corner and surrender.
Tristan Flores of Robstown Boxing defeated Alez Licon of Team JAB by decision. Flores dropped his hands and baited Licon to move in, but once he did Flores quickly countered and delivered a cacophony of blows to Licon to help earn the win.
Del Rio’s Giovanni Pascacio of No Quit Boxing Club battered Luis Garcia III of Concho Boxing Club to earn the win via referee stoppage 56 seconds into the second round. Garcia stunned Pascacio in the first round with a blow that brought a standing eight count, but the young fighter took his coach/father’s words of “Get it back!” to heart when he dropped Garcia to the mat twice in the second round before the official stepped in to stop the fight.
In the final fight of the night, Xavior Baeza of Team JAB defeated Juan Delgado of Monsivais Boxing Academy by unanimous decision. Baeza had the advantage with his longer reach but the two brought the card to a close with a flurry of punches that helped provide the perfect punctuation to the evening.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
