Vargas gets split nod over Bonilla!
Ex-champ Sanchez in technical draw...

October 10, 2003

By Ralph Gonzalez at ringside

Photos by Roger Williams Email: radioman@pressroom.com

The Pechanga Entertainment Center played host to the boxing wizardry of Ricardo “Chapo” Vargas (36-9-3, 11KOs) out of Tijuana, Mexico. The current NABF Bantamweight champ who is also rated #3 by the IBF and #6 by the WBC lost the first couple rounds to Roberto Bonilla (15-4-1, 10KOs) out of Nicaragua in trying to figure out his very gutsy and aggressive opponent.

The first round was all Bonilla as he came out fast throwing leather with bad intentions. Bonilla landed a decent uppercut on Vargas who found himself trying to counter and looking to find the right distance. The second was a better one for Vargas as he began to counter effectively to Bonilla’s body. The third was full of action as “Chapo” boxed around Bonilla and continued to counter with more success. By the fifth, Bonilla was beginning to wear down due to the numerous body shots that Vargas had landed. At this point, Vargas was obviously getting to Bonilla as he became more and more susceptible to Vargas’ body shots.

Round six, seven and eight was when the roles started to reverse as Vargas was now the aggressor and stealing rounds with volume punching. In the tenth round, Vargas was deducted one point for hitting below the belt as Bonilla sunk to his knees for a couple of minutes claiming that he needed the time to recover. The fight resumed and so did Vargas’ domination of Bonilla as “Chapo” landed several hard shots to a tiring Bonilla. Curiously enough, the scores were 115-112 (Vargas), 114-113 (Bonilla) and 116-111 (Vargas). Fightnews scored it for Vargas 116-111 since Vargas seemed to dominate the second half of the fight easily.

“The plan was to go to the body as you saw. The body work tired him down and that just opened up the headshots,” stated Vargas after the fight. Vargas now intends to position himself for a title shot against brutal puncher Cruz Carbajal. “I want Carbajal, Marquez or any of the other champs. Just have them sign on the line. It’s time.”

Sanchez vs. Martinez ends in collision!

Local fighter Jorge Martinez fought to a six round split draw against former world champ Enrique Sanchez as a collision of heads in the sixth round of a scheduled ten rounder opened up an ugly gash over Sanchez’s left eye.

The battle started out with the younger Martinez coming out as the aggressor and Sanchez boxing. Sanchez managed to land some solid shots to the body and Martinez went upstairs landing some shots of his own. In the second, Sanchez was closing the distance and landing nice head and body shot combinations. Martinez, who seemed the hungrier of the two, shook Sanchez with a hard left in what was ultimately his round. In the third, Martinez landed some nice straight jabs and varied his shots landing successfully the head and body. The fourth saw good back and forth action with Sanchez benefiting the most as he landed to the head. Martinez promptly answered back but this seemed to be Sanchez’s round. Sanchez now seemed to be warming up and getting more accurate with his shots as he landed some very nice combos. It seemed that Sanchez was gaining ground on Martinez and was about to pull away as an unintentional head butt during some intense action in the sixth helped to decide the outcome.

A nasty gash prompted referee Tony Crebs to call time and have the ring doctor look at the bloody damage. Crebs waved off the fight at 1:45 of the sixth in what was turning into an interesting battle. Due to the unintentional head butt, the fate of both fighters rested in the hands of the judges. The scores read by ring announcer Amy Hayes were 59-56 Martinez, 58-56 Sanchez, and 57-57 draw. A split decision draw.

Martinez was unhappy with the decision as was the audience who favored the local boy. “I beat the guy. I trained for a lefty at the gym for a long time. The result was very disappointing but I was happy with my performance,” said the former Mexican Olympian. Sanchez was also disappointed the fight ended this way. “I was just getting warmed up. This was not a difficult fight for me. I think I would have swept the rest of the fight had it continued.” No controversy here as a draw seems to be a proper ending.

Juarez rocks Pechanga!

There are many out there who can’t stand women’s boxing. Well then you haven’t seen Mariana Juarez in the ring. Juarez (10-3-3, 6KOs) throws picture perfect shots and sweet combinations that are a big change from the “bunches of punches” method used by most female fighters. Former kickboxing champ Yvonne Chavez (1-2, 1 KO) out of New Mexico was the unlucky female that got to sample some of those straight rights that snapped her head back on numerous occasions. Although Chavez was full of heart, she was no match for Juarez’s vastly superior skills. From the first round you knew Juarez had some very good game as she displayed patience after her opponent ran out trying to swarm her on the ropes. Juarez picked her shots and rocked Chavez repeatedly. Chavez, whose huge heart does not match her skills at this point, got a lucky break as she caught Juarez off balance and scored a knockdown. Juarez later claimed she slipped on water that was a problem on the canvas throughout the bout. In the third, Juarez dropped Chavez with a beauty of a right hand. Chavez got up and fought on valiantly as Juarez continued to shake up the New Mexico native with straight rights.

The back and forth action electrified the packed venue and prompted promoter Dan Goossen to add $250 dollars to each fighters purse in appreciation for their exciting performance. The unanimous decision was for Juarez with scores of 48-45, 48- 45 and 49-45. Juarez stated that she would like to fight for a women’s title in the near future. Juarez, a real crowd pleaser was hounded by a multitude of autograph seekers after she came out of the dressing room.

Other results:

Jorge Diaz wins 4 round bantamweight decision over Larry Olvera. The scores were 39-37 all the way across. Diaz is now 2-2. Larry Olvera loses his debut and is now 0-1.

Sal Fernetti and David Johnson fought to a four round draw in the heavyweight division with all scores being 38-38. Fernetti is now 2-4-3. Johnson drops to 1-3-2.

Ricardo Fuentes wins four round decision over Jorge Espinoza in lightweight action.

Faces in he crowd: Cruiserweight king and now heavyweight contender James “Lights Out” Toney. Former world featherweight champ Gabriel Ruelas and 2003 Pan American gold medalist at 119 lbs. Rocky Ramos.

The event which was promoted by Goossen-Tutor will be broadcast on Fox Sports Sunday Night Fights.

Rich Marotta, Barry Tompkins and Sean O’Grady called the bout for Fox Sports Net.

Send questions or comments to Ralph Gonzalez