Wille Gomez wins one in Rodarita, Mexico
It has taken a while for the world of boxing to get back on its feet, and even as it slowly starts to come back, there are visible differences ranging from fights held in empty venues or in the case of Saturday's show in Tijuana, Mexico, the ring was beach side. usually with outdoor shows, there is a canopy of some sort over the ring, but the fighters in Rosarita were fighting under the natural light of the sun for most of the show. On a show long on amateur bouts, Willie Gomez and Antonio Duarte stepped in as bout seven of the professional card. Gomez entered the ring carrying an unbeaten string of four wins, Duarte brought a record of two wins and two losses. Duarte's last two fights, like this one with Gomez, pitted Duarte against an unbeaten fighter.
There were clear signs that the fighters had not been in the ring for a while in the opening round. Duarte last fought in November while Gomez last was in the ring in January. Duarte answered the opening bell stepping toward Gomez and shooting his right hand at Gomez's head. Gomez slipped punches and worked to find a counter punching rhythm. Once Gomez gained a level of comfort he was able to fight from the center of the ring, keeping Duarte's back towards the ropes. Duarte was quite aggressive, firing combinations looking to land to Gomez's body and his head. Gomez was patient as the round progressed, settling in and shooting his right hand to Duarte's body and in so doing, Gomez began to take control of the round.
Duarte returned to using the combination to open the second round. He doubled shots to Gomez's body, and then worked up to fire his right at Gomez's head. Gomez covered well, and tried to stay in close to limit the impact of Duarte's punches. When in close, Gomez was able to throw more punches and land some heavy body shots. Duarte proved tough and while the punches landed, Duarte did not back off. When some distance occurred between the two men, Gomez returned to the jab and often followed it with his right targeting Duarte's head. Gomez kept pressure on Duarte as the round drew to an end, and that pressure meant that Duarte could often only throw a jab to keep Gomez at a distance.
The third round was quite close. The fighters exchanged punches in the center of the ring to answer the bell. Duarte was initially more aggressive, and that meant that Gomez had to cover up to block punches. As Gomez covered, Duarte focussed his right on Gomez's head. Continuing his assault, Duarte moved effectively to create angles and land body shots. Gomez did well to slip a number of Duarte's punches, but that also allowed Duarte to control the action from the center of the ring. Gomez ended the round landing a couple of long range rights to Duarte's head.
Gomez established his position early in the final round, fighting from the center of the ring. Duarte tried to get in closed, pumping his jab and stepping toward Gomez. While in close, Duarte focussed his attack up the middle. Gomez countered that attack with an overhand right that did catch Duarte a few times. Mid round Duarte threw a wild looping left that caught Gomez flush, causing him to step back and regain his position. In the last minute of the round, the two men fought in close. Duarte tried to land punches to Gomez's head, but Gomez threw more punches at a quicker rate on the inside. This was another close round.
At the end of four rounds, the three judges scored the fight 40-36 all in favor of Willie Gomez, keeping him unbeaten.
Gomez rasies his arm after unanimous decision. |
Team Gomez
(thanks to Keith Weir for the photos) |
Corben Page Gets Back on Track With Unanimous Decision Win
Corben Page has been billed as an opponent in his recent fights. He is brought in to push the man in front of him; challenge the man in front of him, but too often as of late, not beat the man in front of him He is a tough opponent, and he faces tough fighters. The last eight men he faced had a combined record of 39 wins and 3 losses. Clearly, Page is not afraid to be in tough fights. Carlos Apodaca came in to the ring with a similar pedigree, the last eight men he faced had a combined record of 55 wins and 28 losses. Apodaca also was apparently not concerned with being in tough fights.
The opening round got off to a slow start as each man circled the other looking for an opening and poking at the other with a jab. Apodaca was the first to open up and he used a slight reach advantage to catch Page with the jab. Once the two men felt comfortable, there were a few more exchanges of punches, many of them short and quick to the other's body. Page began to find the range with his jab, and that kept Apodaca at a distance and when he did throw punches, they were often wild and wide of the target. When Apodaca stepped close and fired his jab, Page was able to effectively counter punch, scoring and taking control as the round drew to an end.
Page opened the second round steadily shooting his jab to move Apodaca. When Apodaca did counter, Page became more aggressive and stepped in close to push the action and fight on the inside. Page's assault began to pay dividends once the round passed the midpoint. He landed a hard left to Apodaca's head. He followed that with a flurry of combinations after pinning Apodaca in the corner. As the round ended Apodaca was able to move out of range, but that meant he did not land punches either.
Both men threw a lot of punches to open the third round. Apodaca was clearly more aggressive than he had been in previous rounds and that forced Page to create some distance and use his jab to keep Apodaca at bay. Page also stayed in the middle of the ring, causing Apodaca to step toward him, and as he did so, Page was able to land his jab and follow it with his right. Again, as the round drew to a close, Apodaca had to step back to avoid getting caught and fire his long right toward Page's body.
Page forced the action early in the final round, aggressively pursuing Apodaca and backing him into the corner. While there, Page was able to land shots to Apodaca's body and head. As the round hit the midpoint, Apodaca landed a heavy right hand, and jumped toward Page to attempt to inflict more damage, but Page quickly backed out of trouble. The round ended with Apodaca pursuing Page and swinging with heavy hands, though he was not able to land anything flush. Often when the men were in close, they held, forcing the referee to step in and break them up.
After four rounds, Corben Page would claim the unanimous decision win, one a long time coming.
Miklo Arnold and Bryan Perez Fight to a Draw
Miklo Arnold stepped in to the ring for the second time to face Bryan Perez, a taller lanky opponent. To counter Perez's height, Arnold would have to fight tough and throw hard when in close.
The opening round began in the manner of many fights, both men threw their jab, looking to create an opportunity to add a heavy right hand to the attack. Perez's reach enabled him to control the action early, and he moved Arnold across the ring. Then the action to a wild turn as both men began to swing wildly at the other, hoping something would land and inflict some damage. What happened instead is that the two landed some punches, then backed away, then when they closed the distance, they held each other and the punching stopped. Arnold figured out how to use the distance between the two to his advantage in the latter half of the round as he landed a few long reaching hard right hands. Perez's attack featured a double jab followed with a right. Arnold ended the round landing a few heavy shots to Perez's body and head.
The second round began much as did the first. The two men exchanged jabs, but Perez tried to take advantage of his reach to keep Arnold from moving in close. When Arnold did get close, the result was often that the two men held each other. Perez began to take control near the midpoint of the round as he backed Arnold in to the corner and landed some solid punches. Once Arnold slipped out of trouble, Perez stayed in the middle of the ring and looked to land his long and heavy right hand.
The pace slowed some in the third round, some of that was due to the two men holding each other each time the distance closed between them. Perez fought much more aggressively in the round, and that meant that Arnold had to move and slip the punches. Arnold was able to get close and land a few body shots, but Perez leaned on the shorter man and thus slowed the action.
The fourth round began with the referee talking to both fighters about all the holding. That talking to was followed by both men swinging wildly and a lot. Perez continued to shoot his right from long range, and he was able to land it. Arnold did close the distance between the two, and fire shots to Perez's lanky body, but rather than backing out, Perez fired short punches and scored with them. The fight ended with the men in close and holding.
Though both men displayed moments of boxing skill, neither was able to do enough to convince the judges he had won. The fight ended in a draw.
The fighters, corner men and trainers |
