Burgos honored in Tijuana

In what turned out to be a huge success, an eight bout fight card was presented at the Municipal Auditorium in downtown Tijuana in benefit for former IBF light flyweight champ Victor Burgos.  Burgos, whose career ended in March ’07 after suffering a brain injury in his fight versus current IBF super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan, finished up his pro run with a 39-15-3, 23KO ledger while collecting the aforementioned IBF title and earning his spot as one of the top fighters to call the border city home.  All fighters fought for free while all the proceeds from the attending gate went towards Burgos and his family as he continues to recuperate from the coma that he suffered immediately after his last bout.  Among the 500+ in attendance were former champions Alejandro “Terra” Garcia and Manuel “Mantecas” Medina, local prospects Juan Carlos Burgos, Pavel Miranda and Emilio Bojorquez and current WBA welterweight super champion Antonio Margarito.

In the main event, junior welterweight Alvaro Aguilar of Tijuana defeated Jorge Juarez of Culiacan, MX in an eight round affair.  Aguilar, who last fought back in ’05 and in whose biggest fight he drew against Emanuel Augustus in early 2004, began the bout with a brisk pace landing quick jabs and sporadically coupling them with right hands while Juarez tried to counter with single pot shots.  By the second round, Aguilar began to put together combinations to the body and head of his rival.  Midway thru the round, Aguilar landed a straight right that stopped Juarez in his tracks as he tried to get in the inside in hopes of landing to the body.  Aguilar turned up the heat even more in the third as he began to land his jab even more consistently as Juarez began to slow down and lean against the ropes.

Aguilar brought back the action in the seventh as he went back to putting together combinations but this time beginning with the head with a jab/right hand and ending with a left hook to the body.  Juarez had no answer but to circle around the ring and throw one punch at at time trying to discourage Aguilar from going in for the kill.  Juarez was able to continue the strategy thru the eighth as he added some light holding to survive the contest.

After the scores of 80-72 twice and 79-73 were read, Aguilar was awarded the unanimous decision.  With the win, Aguilar sees his ledger go to 19-2-1, 16KO after a three year hiatus while Jorge Juarez sees his go down to 7-10-2, 2KO.

Super flyweight David Gaspar (7-0-1, 5KO) of Los Angeles, CA, only needed thirty six seconds of the second round to annihilate Nogales, MX’s southpaw Rogelio Armenta (0-3) with a quick flurry punctuated with a left hook in the semi main event scheduled for six.The taller Gaspar dropped his cautious opponent near the end of the first stanza with a quick right.  Armenta was able to beat the count and just in time to hear the bell that ended the round and return to his corner on wobbly legs.  At the onset of the second, Gaspar attacked from the opening bell and landed a four punch combination  in the middle of the ring that sent the clearly over matched Armenta down to the canvas for the count.

---

In a rare showing of Mexican heavyweights, local hometown favorite Antonio Mendivil (14-2-3, 8KO) ruined the pro debut of Nueva Italia, MX’s Esteban Sosa (0-1).  The first was feel out round as neither fighter wanted to over commit but the newcomer was the busier of the two as he landed the slightly more precise punches and finished the stanza with burst of punches.  Although Sosa was not as skilled as Mendivil, in what he lacked in ability he made up in spirit as he attacked his opponent with unhinged abandon making the boxing match seem like a playground tussle.  Mendivil sped up the pace somewhat in the second half of the bout but the action was still very sporadic as the local favorite went after the body of Sosa as he inched his way on the inside.  After four rounds, Mendivil was awarded a unanimous decision with scores of 39-37 twice and 40-36.In a super featherweight four round barn burner, David Dousten of Agua Prieta, MX, controlled most of the action including closing the left eye of Culiacan, MX’s Raul Gomez with precise jabs and left hooks.  Although Gomez seemed to get the worst of it, he shockingly was awarded a split decision with scores of 39-37 twice while one judge saw it for Dousten 39-37.Local welterweight pro debuter Ocramh Sainz made his first fight a good one as he dropped Agua Prieta, MX’s Eduardo Urrea with a stiff over hand right at the 1:55 minute of the second round of a scheduled four.

After four competitive lightweight rounds, Alain Hernandez was awarded a unanimous decision over journey man Juan Pablo Bojorquez, both of Tijuana, with all three judges seeing it 40-36.

Francisco Navarro of Tijuana stopped Agua Prieta, MX’s Wilber Ortiz in the second round of a scheduled super flyweight four.  After being stunned in the first, Navarro settled down in the second and dropped the game Ortiz with a quick overhand right.  After Ortiz beat the count, Navarro scored with effective upper cuts from either fists which prompted official Juan Morales Lee to stop the action at the 2:45 mark of the second stanza.

Super bantamweight Fernando Vargas of Tijuana was awarded a four round unanimous decision over Mexicali’s switch hitter Israel

Barron.  Official scores were 40-36 three times.