Latin American rivalries mixed with Northern New Mexican flair, Sept. 30, at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino in the “Countries Collide” fight card.
The event was hosted by Holmes Boxing, Sampson Boxing and TyC Sports.
Three fights in the middle of the card were broadcast live on satellite TV, and Cordova native Leanna Martinez was the first to be featured on the broadcast.
Two bouts of Mexican nationals against Argentine nationals followed Martinez’s quick victory on her professional debut.
The featured fight of the night was for the World Boxing Council’s Latin American title, that match-up was between Argentine Juan Jose Velasco and Mexican Juan Garcia Mendes.
Velasco went home with the belt strapped around his waist and finished his night with a maintained perfect record of 17-0.
Two area boxers fought on the undercard of this title fight, and Martinez called the energy from the crowd “crazy.”
Antonio Martinez
If anybody doubted Antonio Martinez’s toughness before his fight against El Paso’s Gabriel Gutierrez, they surely left Buffalo Thunder with a different impression of the Española native, who lost the fight by a split decision from the judges.
This last fight of the night did not disappoint fans looking for a close and bloody bout.
“In the last 30 seconds of the first round, I got caught with an elbow,” Antonio Martinez said. “It was a hard elbow. I told the referee and he was like, ‘I didn’t see it.’”
Gutierrez came out of the blocks with something to prove. He utilized his long arms to give Antonio Martinez trouble, and somewhere in the first round, a stray elbow landed under Antonio Martinez’s eye.
Soon, specks of blood flew along with each punch. Antonio Martinez could not open his left eye and Gutierrez used the opportunity to send a flurry of punches before the bell gave way to a break.
“As soon as I got hit with the elbow, I felt the swelling instantly,” Antonio Martinez said. “I literally felt it start to puff up … They looked at it right away, and they wanted to stop it.”
After begging the doctors, he was allowed to remain in the ring, as long as his condition did not worsen over the next five rounds.
With his cuts temporarily patched up, Antonio Martinez faced the second round with a vengeance. He backed up Gutierrez into a corner and pummeled him with whatever punches he could throw.
Still, Gutierrez held the slight edge for the rest of the fight. He made sure to keep his distance and hit Antonio Martinez with punches that would be difficult to block with no peripheral vision on the left side.
“He (Gutierrez) was smart, too,” Antonio Martinez said. “He knew I couldn’t see out of this eye. I’m sure he knew it was closed. So, instead of coming in and letting me counter, he stayed at bay and started picking me with different shots.”
Antonio Martinez’s primary mode of landing shots on Gutierrez was to try to bait the Texan into coming close, then he would try to block Gutierrez’s shots, before countering from close range.
At the end of the six rounds, one judge voted in Antonio Martinez’s favor, scoring the bout 58-56.
The other scorecards were 58-56 and 59-55 in favor of Gutierrez. Antonio Martinez was not upset at the decision, feeling that Gutierrez was the better fighter of the night.
This was his first fight with an eye swollen shut. He said while he doesn’t want to repeat it, facing adversity can only make him a better boxer.
Gutierrez’s record now jumps to 5-6, his first win in four matches, while Antonio Martinez lost his first match in nine. His record is 8-3-4.
Leanna Martinez
Three thunderous body shots rang in Leanna Martinez’s entry into the world of professional boxing.
The 25-year-old matched up against Belen’s Brittany Horton, after her scheduled opponent, Sanaz Khamisi, dropped out of the prepared bout with a hurt hand.
This was also Horton’s first professional boxing match, but she already had experience fighting professionally in mixed martial arts, losing all three of her fights in that discipline.
This was the only female bout on the card, and it was the first to appear on TV. That only added to Leanna Martinez’s nerves on her debut.
“I was pretty nervous going in,” Leanna Martinez said. “But, once I got in there, I was trying to adjust to her. Everybody is different, so I was just trying to work my way inside … the second I got inside, I took advantage of it.”
Horton opened with a game plan of using her 5-foot-6 frame to keep the 4-foot-11 Leanna Martinez from reaching her with any power shots. But, as soon as Leanna Martinez backed Horton into a corner, the fight ended quickly.
After gunning at Horton with overhead punches, Leanna Martinez hit her taller opponent with three consecutive body punches, and Horton crumpled inward, before bowing out of the contest a couple of punches later. The fight ended in the first round by technical knockout.
“When she was down low, I got her with the right hook to the head and right hand, and she took a knee,” Leanna Martinez said.
For Leanna Martinez, this was the dream debut, and she did not know what to expect when she knocked her gloves together for the opening salvo of the fight. She had not seen any prior video of Horton, nor did she know that Horton fought in a southpaw stance.
Leanna Martinez is hoping to get back to the gym this week, after enjoying her first taste of life as a professional boxer.