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Carlos Quintana vs. Oscar Delgado

San Jose, CA
May 20, 2004

The boxing business is filled with treacherous pitfalls. No one can blame the promoter, if he makes a sincere effort to keep his promise, and things still donıt work out. I donıt know if Sugar Ray Leonard who promoted the bout, did so or not. I do know that what we were promised was not what we got. It was like being invited to the Kingıs Castle for dinner, and being served weenies and beans. We didnıt even get the chips or beer. The initial fight card looked interesting. I was looking forward to seeing some of the boxers again. However, the actual event was lackluster and it seems Sugar Ray must be getting some his fighters at Wal-Mart. I donıt know how much he paid these guys, but it canıt be much. I donıt know the reasons for such a poor show, but he could sure use some improvement. On the other hand, Jim Sparaco, always a gentleman, and a professional did an excellent job of running the actual event. His staff, for the most part does a great job, but as you know youıll find a jerk in every crowd.

Unfortunately the fights were not just bad, they were very bad. Mexican fighters often stink, not only do they love to brawl, which I hate, many have little knowledge of boxing, and are often out of shape. Giovanni Rubio, of Fresno did little to impress me, he won by KO in the second round over Carlos Tovar, of Riverside but I bet Tovar got his boxing license in a crackerjack box. Not so with Ricardo Baragan, who wasnıt even on the card at fight time, this kid loves to fight, and is always ready. Iıve seen him do some pretty cool stuff in the ring, once more he did not disappoint me, as he stopped Edgar Sabal in the second round. I hope he put the squeeze on Sugar Ray’s matchmaker for taking a last minute fight. I like this kid. He is quite, soft spoken, respectful and always a gentleman. I admire these traits; although they seem out of place amongst todayıs loud mouth, foul taking hip-hop fools. Me, I ignore fools, idiots and jerks. Its not easy, but it is a lot easier than having to tolerate them. The most exciting bout of the evening, even though not technically interesting, was the brawl with a Roy Jones wannabe, Damon Franklyn of Palmdale and Sergio Rios of Oxnard. Neither of these guys seems to have many boxing skills. It’s hard to believe, but his records claims 10 KOs. Rios did keep his hands up. Franklyn threw an overhand, hammer of God right hand that put Rios on the canvas in the first round. However, he lacked the grit to finish him. Franklyn must be under an irrational delusion about himself, and thinks he is as good an athlete as Ray Jones. He lacked everything from A to Z. He bobbed his head like a turkey and looked sideways, as if he might be cross-eyed. He did everything wrong, from punching form left field, to crossing his feet as he moved. He dodged, rather than parried and crab-walked rather than slipped. He threw terrible jabs and pulled his right back, behind his head before he threw it. He threw overhand bombs with no power and some miracle managed to survive until the fifth round, when due to his terrible conditioning, finally took so many shots, the referee stopped the bout. His handlers, who must also be suffering from some form of self made delusion, ran into the ring and held up his hand. I have no idea what they were drinking or thinking, but I he looked awful. I mean, if you are a boxer and not in shape, you might as well take up karate, because as long as you pay, theyıll let you came back. Most karate schools are a joke, Dig this, I received a signed certificate to the Karate Hall of fame, for doing absolutely nothing. Its funny, only no one is laughing. Once again American greed has striped an art form into just another dollar making money scheme, selling itself out in the process. The next bout, matched Jose Bermejo of San Jose and Orlando Lora of Vallejo, I was pleasantly surprised as these two guys demonstrated excellent boxing skills, great conditioning and a desire to win, not merely survive. Lets hope Sugar Ray is not as stingy with his pocket book as he is with his autographs. These guys gave us a good show, although I doubt the crowd which comes to see someone get his head knocked off, appreciated their skill. I must also add these guys were the exception to my comments about Mexican fighters being brawlers. The main event was a complete disaster. Who ever is making the matches for Sugar Ray, blew it. This was the worse mismatch I have witnessed in many years. The guy who replaced Moca Rico of Puerto Rico, Oscar Delgado, some guy I’d never heard of, and for good reason, the poor guy was simply awful. The guy was in way over his head, he kept falling, tripping, and stumbling around like a clown. Thank God, the referee stopped the match. Carlos Quintana won, because Delgado was disqualified. He was that bad. It was clearly a no contest. I have to congratulate the referee for stopping the bout. The poor guy will not even get paid. This has got to be the worse humiliation any fighter can receive. Imagine, having your fight stopped because you are so bad, you are not considered worthy enough to be in the ring. Wow, that's gotta hurt. Sugar Ray, the once upon a time American hero will have do better next time. I’ve met both Sugar Ray and Tommy Hearns, it’s disappointing to say, neither of them impressed me. Neither has developed a public persona, or simply attempts to be courteous. Neither of them even seems interesting. I hope I never have so much money, or so much popularity that I forget to be courteous. If I do, please slap me. I noticed Sugar Ray was talking some guyıs ear off the entire night. In my view this is disrespectful towards the boxers, who no matter how they performed, were hired to do a job. Like I said, I also met Tommy Hearns this year, I hope he was just having a bad night, or suffering from a headache, because he behaved like guy playing a role in a make believe movie, poor guy. Maybe heıs taken too many shots to the head and is also suffering delusions. Hey, nobody said you have to be a gentleman, just because you were once a champion. I know it’s just me, but I wanted to like these guys, too bad they made it impossible. Sadly, I once thought highly of these men. But, like, the old gangster in the God Father said. “This is the life we have chosen”. With all its drawbacks, blowhards, know it alls, and once upon a time heroes, I would rather be doing this, than anything else in the world. Once more, I gotta say. Thank God for boxing.

Always in Your Corner,

Jorge A. Martinez
Sportswriter/Trainer/Manager
dancingskyhorse@earthlink.net