A very “Big Bash” at Chumash

October 6, 2010

ShoBox delivers great fight night!

“The Big Bash at Chumash” really lived up to its name last Friday night at Chumash Casino Resort in the city of Santa Ynez on the Central Coast of California.

It was road trip time once again as I traveled with some fellow boxing scribes and ring photographers for the latest “ShoBox: The New Generation” installment promoted by Gary Shaw Productions in association with Thompson Boxing Promotions. I always look forward to live boxing at Chumash and the seven-bout card sure looked good on paper. Making good on that promise, the night was a huge crowd-pleaser filled with a lot of firepower and knockouts taking place inside the ropes.

And as it turned out, everyone’s still talking about the two shocking knockouts in both the main event and the co-main. In fact, the audience was kept on the edge of their seats as they witnessed several KOs during the evening. Sandwiched between the pro bouts were a few highly-charged amateur exhibitions including one spirited female bout. In appreciation of both amateur and pro boxing, I think it’s great for the ticket holders to be treated to this special amateur showcase. And the Chumash venue is perfect for the fans–as every seat offers a close proximity to the squared circle–no nosebleed section for anyone to worry about.

Before the professional fights began in the Samala Showroom, I had time to greet “The Bronx Bomber” Alex Ramos, a good guy who’s one of the best ambassadors in the sweet science. After 39 victories, this former champion now does a bang-up job helping needy boxers through his Retired Boxers Foundation (RBF). Always smiling, Alex told me all about the nonprofit organization’s upcoming events in his usual effusive manner.

Promoter Ken Thompson also joined us for a visit as he was looking forward to seeing his fighter Patrick “El Elegante” Lopez square off in the main event against Tim Coleman. It’s been a busy year for the Southland-based promoter, who also co-promotes champions Timothy Bradley and Yonnhy Perez with a full stable of contenders coming up as well.

And I also got to catch up with a couple of Vegas visitors, boxing manager/writer/cornerman/website editor and more, Butch Gottlieb and Mary Ann Owen, professional ring photographer. The Nevada residents are very well-respected in the fight game and it was so good to see both of them back in Cali. And the night featured female pro boxing–something which Owen is quite acquainted with, to say the least! She’s the author of the best-selling “Extraordinary Women of the Ring,” which is filled with powerful images of the top women warriors through the years.

As the fights began to get underway, hordes of fans at Chumash got to see the power and skill of two female featherweights in one of the most entertaining undercard bouts. Amanda Crespin (3-2-1) squared off against Crystal Hoy (4-3-3, 2 KOs). Crespin, out of Las Vegas, New Mexico got off to a fast start in the opening round. But after some good body work from Crystal, Crespin’s mouthpiece was in and out during the first two rounds; she was later deducted one point in the second round.

In the scheduled four rounder, blistering attacks from both of the fierce females were exchanged, much to the crowd’s delight. After the final bell, the judges’ scores were read. Crespin, a 19-year-old former amateur standout who’s been boxing since she was just eight, was declared the victor by just one point in the split decision. After a close battle in the competitive fight, official scores were 39-36 for Hoy, 39-36 for Crespin and 38-37 for the winner Amanda Crespin.

During the SHOWTIME broadcast were two exciting back-to-back brawls in both the co-main and main event. As Curt Menefee and Steve Farhood called the action for the TV viewers, ring announcer Mike Adams took command of the mike for the fans in attendance.

First up was the unbeaten Archie Ray Marquez (11-0, 8 KOs) vs. Juan “Chago” Santiago (13-5-1, 8 KOs). The two lightweights were paired for a scheduled eight rounds that did not go the distance. With 22-year-old Marquez continuously buoyed by chants of “Archie, Archie, Archie” from his loyal fans, Archie’s fists pounded his brave foe against the ropes time and time again. Round two saw the game and courageous Santiago, 25, down with Marquez deducted a point for a low blow (which Marquez maintains was accidental) during one particular flurry–with fists of fury in their collision.

Marquez, with speed and accuracy, connected upstairs with a series of vicious shots that had Santiago pinned against the ropes for the latter part of the second stanza. With the crowd on the edge of their seats, perhaps expecting either a knockout or the bout to be waved off, the young challenger from Denver was saved by the bell.

But he couldn’t be saved in the next round. Just eleven seconds into the third round, the bomb-throwing Marquez shot out of his corner, went in for the kill and finished off his man as referee Ray Corona stopped the pummeling while the crowd roared. With this TKO in the third round, the popular Albuquerque slugger gets his eleventh professional victory. Earlier at the weigh-in, Archie had stated: “I always want to look good. I don’t care how I win. If the knockout comes, it comes.”

And after the technical knockout did come, Marquez said immediately after the bout, “I had him finished against the ropes. He couldn’t fight back. The ref did the right thing.”

With the fans ramped up for more of the bloodsport, the main event began. New Hampshire southpaw Patrick “El Elegante” Lopez was the favorite going into the fight, after making a big impression in his last ESPN outing with a TKO over Prenice Brewer on August 6. But as we all know in boxing, anything can happen. What happened to Lopez (20-3, 12 KOs) was a shocking knockout from the fists of his shorter and speedier opponent, Tim Coleman (18-1-1, 5 KOs) from Baltimore. In a mano y mano slugfest, the taller Lopez decided to brawl against the Roger Mayweather protégé “The Pit Bull” Coleman. Scheduled 12 rounds, this three-round highlight reel had Coleman seeing the better of the action in this all-out clash.

The menacing “Pit Bull” connected with clean shots that challenged the two-time Venezuelan Olympian, who chose to go toe-to-toe in their brutal war in the center of the ring. Backed by Mayweather and Cornelius Boza Edwards in his camp, Coleman stunned his tough foe with a knockdown in the second. But seemingly unaffected, Lopez popped back up, ready for more and fighting right back up until the bell sounded.

In the third and what was to be their final round, the two traded blows from the start as the crowd knew they were watching something special. After trading punches, Coleman timed his shots, finally connecting with the coup de grace of the night–a perfect uppercut that caught Lopez at 2:13 of the round. The courageous Lopez quickly stood up again, only to stumble back to his corner as David Mendoza waved off the contest with Coleman defending his USBA light welterweight belt (earned last December by defeating Mike Arnaoutis) and adding another win on his ledger.

Mayweather originally began training Coleman while he was a a 12-year-old amateur but this was “The Pit Bull’s” first pro fight with the famed trainer. The pair is already off to a smashing start. The 26-year-old was was used to fighting at a higher weight and had logged in only four knockouts before the Chumash bout. With this convincing KO, Coleman has seemingly found his full power now at 140. And for the former Olympian Lopez, look for the tough fighter to bounce back from this defeat.

And that’s what true warriors must do–bounce back from defeat.

The saying is “to the victor go the spoils” but on the flipside of the coin are those fighters whose hands aren’t raised in victory, who head back to the dressing room without the win. While their opponents celebrate, they are forced to persevere–and battle back even stronger the next time. One boxer who didn’t get the judges’ decision this time said she’s already learned from the defeat by the scorecards. A few days after the fight, Team Hoy is back in the gym and ready for the female puncher’s next bout on October 16. Her camp says she’ll quickly lace up again on Roy Englbrecht’s “Battle in the Backyard” at the Silverton Hotel.

And moving on from the loss, Crystal tells me she’s already prepared for the next one. “As for the next fight, I don’t know much about my opponent but I know I have to make some changes from this last fight–and I won’t leave it to the judges!”

Her manager Butch Gottlieb concurs with his young charge. “The team was disappointed as we thought that Crystal had won three of the four rounds and Crespin even had a point deducted for losing her mouthpiece continually,” he says of the decision.

“She could have been busier, throwing more punches but even with her work rate she bloodied Crespin’s nose and bruised over both eyes,” he adds of Hoy’s performance last weekend. She’ll face Allison Cole from Arizona later this month, but the team would welcome a rematch against New Mexico’s Crespin. Hoy, trained by Jerry Villareal, says, “I would love a rematch.”

“Any time, any place,” notes manager Gottlieb.

For fight fans near the Pacific coast, the place to be last Friday night was at the Chumash Casino Resort as they were part of another exciting ShoBox card.

See you at the fights!

For additional fight coverage, click to read Esteban Walters’ report: