BY DAVID A. AVILALOS ANGELES-A vibrant crowd showed up to watch a very long Bash Boxing Promotions fight card on Friday night.
Though the fight card wasn’t the size of those put on in Mexico, it provided nonstop action at Sportsman’s Lodge before a packed crowd in Studio City. The boxing lineup showcased mostly talent from the San Fernando Valley and inner city Los Angeles area.
A super welterweight clash saw Jessy Martinez (8-0) out-work Nam Phan (3-5-1) behind a stiff left jab and sharp punching in the first two rounds. Then Pham stepped on the gas and was battering Martinez who waited for the proper moment to unleash a withering counter-attack. Martinez was banging Pham around the ring when referee Jerry Cantu decided to stop the fight at 1:30 of the third round.
“I feel great it was good,” said Martinez. “Nam is an impressive fighter he kept that pressure going.”
Martinez, who fights out of Tarzana, the town named for the movie hero Tarzan many years ago, was several inches taller than Phan and possesses a crisp effective jab. He used it wisely the first two rounds.
Pham also fights in MMA and like most of those fighters he is willing to exchange freely. But he ran into a few punches especially in the third round and though he never went down, he was being smacked around the ring and couldn’t stop the onslaught. It was a wise stoppage and allows Pham to fight again in the near future.
Miguel Alcantara (4-0) managed to avoid an upset by the clever southpaw Adrian Rodriguez (2-10-1) in a featherweight match that saw both have their moments. After four rounds the judges saw Alcantara (pictured in the white trunks) as the winner by unanimous decision. Rodriguez continuously befuddles opponents with his darting style but was unable to connect as frequently as Alcantara.
Stephen Pichardo (2-1) used his taller height and longer reach to an immediate advantage against Donnis Reed (0-2) and floored the smaller fighter with a right hand blast. Reed beat the count and was allowed to continue but was met with a left hook and wicked right cross that folded him like an old accordion.
Rudy Garcia (6-0) survived a horrible gash high on his forehead due to a clash of heads to win by unanimous decision against Yezber Romero (2-6) in a four round bantamweight clash. No knockdowns were scored and all judges scored it for Garcia.
A battle between two debuting middleweights saw Albert Leyva (1-0) floor Sheldon Payne (0-1) twice before referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight at 1:37 of the first round. The first knockdown saw Leyva deliver a crunching right that sent Payne crashing against the ropes and down. The second knockdown saw Leyva deliver another right that crushed Payne even worse than the first knockdown. The referee allowed the fight to continue but a five-punch combination saw the referee decide it was enough and stopped the fight.
Stelios Papadopoulos (9-0-1) out-muscled Martin Martinez (17-13-1) for six rounds to win by unanimous decision. Papadopoulos floored Martinez in the sixth round with an overhand right but the fight continued until the final bell. The judge’s scores were 60-53, 58-55, 59-54 Papadopoulos.
Alex Enriquez (4-0-3) held and wrestled his way to a majority decision win over Victor Torres (2-7-1) after a four round super bantamweight contest. The fight was marred by constant holding by Enriquez who won by scores 38-38, and 39-37 twice.
Valley Fight Night continues today with an MMA card at the same location, the Sportsman’s Lodge on Coldwater Canyon and Ventura Blvd.
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