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Jose Navarro Vs. Adonis Rivas
San Jose California, Aug. 21,
2003
The best part of living in Gun
Smoke and the Valley of Tears is that it has two major freeways running
through it. It makes it easy to leave. Those two major high ways are also the
way drugs and guns get into the Central Valley.
It doesn't help to have early release programs continuously dumping
parolees into the general population. More and more kids are adopting prison
behaviors, manner of dressing and self-destructive attitudes that only
guarantee time in jail. While
Mayor Pedesto and his buddy, Alex Spanos the richest man in Stockton, and one
of the few men in the world who owns a football team, live behind gated
communities, the rest of us are forced to take our chances. Had I known before
what I know now about Stockton, I would have never bought a home here.
As I said, the best thing about Stockton is being able to leave it
quickly. As an avid boxing fan my most recent trip to San Joseıs HP Pavilion
was another adventure. I was a little concern about the strange events
occurring concurrently. A woman was killed by a white shark while swimming
with sea lions off of San Clemente. The miracle is that three lifeguards risked their lives to
pull out her body, after the shark chew off her leg. And people like to say ³we
have no heroes². These guys have
to be nuts or have cast iron gonads. In
another strange story out of Northern
India, thirteen children have been killed by wolves in the last two weeks.
It seems that no only has the world gone mad, so has the wild life. As
much as conservatives complain about it, thank God for boxing
I missed the first match, which
was no big deal. The second bout matched a tough little guy named Ricardo
Baragan squaring off with Jaime Orrantia.
Baragan, a seasoned veteran came it with seven wins, three loses and
one draw with three knockouts. Jamie
Orrantia came in with a record of seven wins, six loses, three draws with two
knockouts. It looked pretty even
on paper. Baragan
demonstrated good boxing fundamentals along with good defensive techniques.
The first round was close; I gave it to Baragan because he had the better
punches. The bell rang and Orrantia could not come out because he lost his
mouthpiece. It might have been gamesmanship or stupid coaches.
He made up for it by reading Baraganıs method of leading with his head
and catching him with several upper cuts.
This quickly changed. Baragan started taking charge with upper cuts,
left hooks and rights that rocked Orrantia.
Baragan continued to pressure Orrantia with beautiful punches that
carried all his weight. Orrantia demonstrated poor fundamentals and little or
no knowledge about throwing a correct punch. He never shifted his weight or
pivoted his feet. Baragan clearly proved that his technique and ringsmanship
were superior. Iıve said it a thousands times, its about the coaching. The
coach is the painter, the fighter the Masterpiece. It is no accident that
great coaches have great fighters. (Most coaches excuse the performance and
behavior of big named fighters, this is completely the opposite of what they
need. Anyone who saw the last Lewis fight knows what I mean, Emanuel Stewart,
seems to have fallen asleep at the wheel. Lewis looked awful). Baragan
punished Orrantia throughout the round. Orrantia
made the dumbest mistake possible and tried to trade shots with Baragan. He
barely survived and stumbled to his corner after the bell.
The next round once again proved that training, coaching and
intelligence are essential in a fighter. Orrantia lacked all of these. The
only quality
Orrantia possessed was courage,
however as important as that it is, it is not enough. Baragan beat Orrantia
continuously throughout the entire bout.
I believe Baragan should use more pivots as he punches, thereby
increasing his punching power. He might also consider developing better hand
speed and learning to fight from both sides.
As it stands now, Baragan will soon reach his peak and unless he
changes coaches, he will stop improving.
This happens to many fighters, which explains why belts changes hands
everyday. Orrantia as I say has
courage and a stout heart, however he must seek better coaching. He is headed
for brain damage or worse. After
Orrantia was cut above the left eye his corner should have stopped the bout,
but as you know few coaches ever do that.
He was behind on points and had no chance of winning.
He took an unnecessary beating, suffering continued punishment and lost
anyway. What a pity, too bad his coaches didnıt take a couple of shots.
Baragan took the victory.
Hutchingson
Vs. Quiroz
I came to watch the main event,
however as it often happens another bout upstaged it.
Lil Joe Hutchinson squared off with a tough Mexican fighter named
Hector Quiroz known as ³ El Canonero² which translates roughly into ³ The
Artillery Man². The Mexican
people have a thing about cannons. Their national anthem refers to ³ standing
at the call of the cannon ², which is how so many Mexican fighters fight.
They come in throwing bombs from every angle imaginable. I ran into Joeıs
manager, trainer and handler before the event. We spoke briefly. During our
short conversation I advised Joe not to brawl with Quiroz I also spoke with
Mr. Henry D. Orr, his coach, a down to earth, no nonsense individual. It was
refreshing to meet someone as professional. I was impressed with his manner
and down to earthiness. After meeting so many trash talking, delusional
coaches and managers, it was a pleasure to meet someone who was not selling
hype or self-promoting. I warned Joe about trading shots with this Quiroz who
came in with three consecutive knockouts to his credit. Quiroz, a former NABO
champion recently avenged a loss to Antonio Diaz, by stopping him in the ninth
round of a tremendous battle. In my opinion Joe and Hector put on the fight of
the night.
After the introductions Joe
came out confidently in a southpaw position.
Hector began to pressure Joe immediately, Joe used effective footwork
to avoid being trapped in a corner and counter punched. Hector continued to
pressure, throwing combinations attempting to brawl. Joe smartly refused to
trade. I gave the first round to Hector because of his aggressiveness. In the
next round, Hector came in jabbing with Joe attempting to parry and counter
with the same right hand. Joe hesitated momentarily then exploded catching
Hector with a beautiful right jab, left cross that put Hector on his butt. The
crowd reacted and Hector took an eight count. Joe came in to finish him, but
Hector managed to fight back. Joe failed to take advantage of Hectorıs
weakened condition. Hector had no legs and stumbled around about to fall, and
then he impressed me with his gamesmanship. He purposely dropped his
mouthpiece. The referee stopped
the action and replaced it, giving him time to regain his composure. Hector
survived the round because Joe lacked the punching power to finish him. The
next round saw Joe immediately come out, throwing beautiful combinations that
put Hector on the ropes. Hutchinson pressured Quiroz, who managed to hang on despite
Joeıs murderous attack. Again, Joeıs lack of punching knowledge hurt him.
Somehow Joe has failed to learn the importance of shifting his weight into his
punches and pivoting his feet. Joe, banged Hector like a drum without knocking
him out. This is a warning sign
and should be heeded. The next
round proved you can trick most people most of the time. Hector managed to
draw Joe into a brawl. Hector,
the brawler began to turn the tables on Joe, who forgot what I told him. As
soon as Joe starting trading punches, he stared losing. Hector got better as
Joe got worse. This mistake must have cost Joe dearly and he took punishment.
I hate to be right sometimes, but as they say. ³ you can show someone the
light, but you canıt make him open their eyes².
Hector continued to be more effective as Joe tried to brawl. Finally,
Joe realized his error and readjusted. He began to box and once again took
charge. The crowd booed when Hector continuously dropped his mouthpiece. Joe
took a powerful right that hurt him. It looked as if Hector was about to stop
Hutchinson. However, Joe who should be called Big Joe reconfirmed my belief
that a fighterıs greatest weapon is his heart.
I have to also admire Hector who refused to quit and continued to press
Joe, who hit him with everything including the kitchen sink. However, Joe was
unable to subdue Quiroz. The continued mouthpiece dropping cost Hector a
point. The eighth round saw Joe pound him with solid shots, but again failed
to stop him. He also made some
mistakes a professional fighter cannot afford to make. Some of his defensive
techniques were amateurish. He had no idea how to slip, parry or block a right
hand, and he lacks in-fighting skills. I believe I could help him, but there
is probably no chance of that. Most coaches are very possessive, they'd rather
their fighter take a beating, than have another coach show them up.
This is a character flaw, which is paid for by the fighter. A perfect
example would be the Ali -Martin fight. Christi had no business tangling with
someone six inches taller and thirty pounds heavier. Her coach, who is also
her husband, failed to get the help she needed. Christi was not ready to face
Ali. Her lack of composure, knowledge of infighting and insistence on wide
punches cost her dearly. It was a
no contest, promoted for purely financial reasons. Because of it, she took a
terrible beating and suffered a humiliating defeat. Thank God, Hectorıs
corner finally got the idea he could not win, and tossed in the towel. There
was no point in Hector taking more punishment. Joe Hutchinson got the victory
by knockout. Hector Quiroz
suffered the eighth loss of his career. Boxing
fanatics got to see an exciting match.
The
Main Event
Jose Navarro Vs. Adonis Rivas
Oscar De La Hoyaıs Boxeo de
Oro promoted this match. It appears like an exciting match-up on paper. This
is the trouble with match making. Itıs almost impossible to predict how it
will play out. Navarro who is promoted as a former US Olympian and one of only
a handful form the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia still undefeated sounds
great. His record is 17 wins, zero losses, zero draws. Already the
title holder of the NABA, and IBA, known as ³El Angelino, ² which translates
roughly into ³The guy from Los Angeles² big deal, aren't there about six
million guys from L.A.? The 22
year old Navarro is ranked fifth by the WBO and seventh by the WBA. His opponent, Adonis Rivas, with a record of 19 wins, three
loses and one draw with one knockouts if from Nicaragua. He is a former
two-time world champion. On paper this sounds like the makings of an exciting,
action-packed fight, but in reality it was not. I have witnessed Navarro fight
before. He is technically proficient, has great ring generalship with good
defensive and offensive maneuvers. That being said, the fight looked like
friendly sparring session. Neither fighter took chance, or went for the kill.
The crowd got bored and booed. I booed a little myself. I love boxing, however I would not pay to go see
Navarro fight again. Up to date, his fights have lacked excitement and drag
on. Although Navarro out smarts and out maneuvers his opponents, he lacks
punching power and the killer instinct. This
fight fits perfectly into the same pattern. Hundreds of punches being thrown,
hundreds of jabs, millions of quick moves, all without any effect. I saw him
after the bout and he looked like heıd just returned from an average day at
the gym. Navarro got the decision and the game goes on. He seems like a nice
kid, someone should do something to fire him up.
See you Ringside,
Jorge A. Martinez
Sportswriter/Trainer/Manager
dancingskyhorse@earthlink.net
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