In the auto industry, the days after Thanksgiving are as busy as in any other retail business. People take advantage of the sales the car manufacturer’s offer and they come out in droves to the dealerships. Since I work in that business, I am extremely busy for those last 4-5 days of November. So once the month ended and my request for a couple of days off was miraculous approved, I had no other choice but to fill up my time off with my favorite pastime, sitting ringside for professional boxing. My first stop was right in my backyard of Tijuana, MX, where I caught a great boxing fight card put together by Zanfer Promotions in association with the local TV Azteca affiliate.
Featured in the main event was undefeated lightweight Misael Castillo of nearby Ensenada, MX. Known as the “Rapero” or the “Rapper” for his affinity to “spit some knowledge” any chance he gets, I was impressed by the bulky 135 pounder for the first time. Since my good friend, Conrado “Conejo” Guerrero, who works for Zanfer as a matchmaker, logistics manager, over all boxing guy, is Castillo’s manager, I have had the opportunity to see Castillo fight several times.
Castillo was crowned as the local champion of the “Guante Azteca” tournament held here in Tijuana last summer. Despite the fact that the tourney was held in the jr. welterweight division, Castillo is a natural lightweight. Castillo’s style is nothing special in these parts since he fights like your typical Mexican brawler, basically charging forward until he is close enough to unleash murderous power shots to the head and body. His fight against Abraham Barrera was no different and for five rounds, it was a battle to see who was going to land more and harder punches. Suffice to say it was Castillo who knocked out the fighter from Sinaloa. What impressed me this time about Castillo was that he was very patient with a fighter that was going tit for tat on the punch output with him and did not get discouraged once he landed a hard shot and his man was still standing. I would love to see him fight with a little more distance between him and his opponent since he is a good size for the division, but if he keeps punching as hard as he did last Friday night, he won’t need to change a thing.
For those who do something in the boxing world like write for a website or newspaper, referees, trainers, fighters, etc, etc, the sport of professional fighting is like a fraternity. You see the same people week in and week out, in my case, the majority of them are writers. You get to know them as you sit next to them in press row and talk about the fights and eventually about your personal lives. A lot of times, you actually become friends.
Since Tijuana is basically the wild, wild west frontier of boxing, anything goes and if you are part of the media, you don’t need any special credentials to sit or walk anywhere in the arena. I had the pleasure to say hi to Antonio Margarito, who I had not since he left camp for the Pacquiao fight about three months. He looked good and in great spirits as he wrapped the hands of his brother in law, super flyweight Hanzel Martinez, in the dressing room. I also got to sit next to Michelle Margarito, Tony’s wife, for the majority of the fight card. Like many wives of fighters, she has absorbed to sport through her husband and brother and it was great to see her yelling instructions at her brother from ringside and he actually listening and looking over to her. Hanzel looked impressive in stopping his toughest opponent to date, Jose Escarcega. Hanzel had to actually figure out how to beat the kid once he didn’t go down from one of the many over hand right he landed. He eventually did it with a series of uppercuts. I guess it helps to figure out the winning strategy when you have a three time welterweight champion in your corner. Great stuff.
Once the fights were over, we made our way over to our favorite haunt, the Perro Salado or Salty Dog. [emember_protected]There we got to unwind, talk or more like argue about the fights we witnessed and enjoy a refreshing beverage or two… ok, more like ten.
On Saturday night, I made my way to Anaheim, CA, for the Top Rank promoted “In Harm’s Way” fight card held at the Honda Center. Once I hooked up with my trusted side kick, Edgar Gonzalez of MyBoxingFans.com, we made our way to the venue. I had never covered a fight card at that particular venue but had visited it as a fan. I find it to be a great place to watch boxing since there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.
One thing that I did find strange, especially at a Top Rank card, was the lack of catering for the press and a total disorganization in the post fight presser. Top Rank, who I consider from top to bottom the best promoter in the business, just did not seem all that interested in the card after the star, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., dropped out earlier in the week. It was like as if you had a date for the prom with the hottest girl in school and she gets the flu and you end up going with your cousin, its just not going to be the same.
Well, I would hardly consider the Soto-Antillon war that transpired that night the late sub cousin. The back and forth slug fest more than made up for the lack of “star” power missing from the card. I think the only beneficial thing that Chavez Jr. would have brought to the night would have been more of a walk up gate which would have had the arena buzzing, something that lacked from the 3200 patron attendance. Not that the fans did appreciate the fight of the year candidate that was developing in front of their eyes but the small crowd was just swallowed up by the building.
Just like in Tijuana, I got to see all the LA brothers in the boxing fraternity. Besides the already mentioned Gonzalez, the ring side press area becomes a riotous affair with Steve Kim and Gabriel Montoya of maxboxing.com, Francisco Salazar of fightnews.com, Doug Fisher of Ring Magazine, Ernest Gabion and Ryan Burton of boxingscene.com all trying to come up with the cleverest quip about the fight or the goings-ons of the night. I even got to shake hands with world class referee Pat Russell who hails from La Mesa in San Diego and boxing’s version of “Where’s Waldo”, Sean Gibbons. Gibbon’s is a tall lanky white guy who is always seen inside the ring before and after the main event. Wherever two men lace up the gloves and fight for a purse, Gibbons is there. Sometimes it seems like he is at two fights at the same time which leads my buddies and I at the Perro Salado to joke that maybe he is cloned.
Since Top Rank didn’t bother to feed me, the free food spread is always a perk at major fight cards, I had to run up to the concourse of the arena and buy some food. While there I ran into my old San Jose friend, Fabio. Too bad I didn’t hook him up after the fights because that would have led to one thing and quite frankly, the perfect ending to a great weekend.
Sam’s Haus Frau….[/emember_protected]