Holmes Boxing promoter and trainer Pat Holmes always assembles a worthy fight card for his events at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, but he’s over-the-top excited about his latest, titled “Cold War 5,” set to take place Saturday.
“If I got fired tomorrow, I’d buy a ringside seat to check out these fights,” Holmes said Jan. 19 inside his training facility in Santa Fe. “That’s the kind of card it is. Every one of these fights should be great.”
Headlining the six-fight card will be an eight-round bout between Fidel Maldonado Jr. (24-4) from Albuquerque and Luis Gerardo Avila (8-14) from Los Cabos, Baja California, but a majority of the eyes inside Tewa Grand Ballroom will be on the 27-year-old Cordova native Leanna Martinez.
Martinez returns to Buffalo Thunder after last defeating Danielle Saldanha by unanimous decision Sept. 22, 2018 during Sound of Thunder, and now Las Cruces product Amy Salinas stands in her way on the path to a 5-0 start in her professional career.
Salinas, 18, is just one year removed from Oñate High School, but she brings with her a wealth of experience. She has competed in the USA Boxing Youth Girls Championships in India in 2017 and is a two-time national champion and three-time ringside champion. She began fighting in 2008 and has compiled a 73-8 record in all her bouts, regardless of level.
Salinas is the latest — and sixth overall opponent — in what has been a colossal list that have been scheduled to fight Martinez and she was officially added to the card Jan. 21. Prior, the scheduled opponent was Lovethpatra Young from Nigeria by way of California.
Young would have brought an MMA style to the fight and a kickboxing background. Holmes said Martinez would be the obvious underdog in that scenario, and despite the nine-year age difference, the case remains the same against Salinas.
“Leanna’s giving up a ton of experience in this fight,” Holmes said. “She’s a big underdog. She’s a huge underdog and any trainer in the world would look at this fight and tell you right off the bat, ‘Hey, this is a huge disadvantage on paper.’ We have a huge challenge ahead of us.”
Martinez rode her jab in her last victory, and the focus of this camp has been improving upon the power of the jab, while also adding in additional strength and conditioning training.
“My biggest improvement has been my jab,” Martinez said. “Also, my head movement and my breathing. You can be in good shape, but if you don’t control your breathing that can hurt you and I’ve learned that from experience.”
Holmes said Martinez has handled the shuffling of opponents like any boxer in the industry should and hasn’t let the uncertainty frustrate her.
“It’s just part of the business,” he said. “Leanna said, ‘I train every day and have prepared myself for a fight regardless.’ She understands it and accepts it, because it’s part of the boxing mentality.”
While Leanna Martinez tries to protect an unblemished record, Española’s Antonio “Tone” Martinez (9-5-4) will aim to shred a two-fight losing streak.
The 32-year-old said losing his last two bouts has been a difficult challenge, but he’s held things together mentally in preparation for his matchup with Nogales, Sonora, Mexico’s Pablo Batres (9-16).
“I’ve used it to motivate and fuel me and I’m training harder than I ever have in any camp,” Antonio Martinez said. “It motivates me to get a win because I am dealing with the uphill battle with age.”
“Even though he’s older, he’s still got a young mind,” Holmes added. “He’s not worn down by late nights or an aggressive lifestyle, so I’m still able to teach him like he’s a 23-year-old fighter.”
Batres, also 32, has lost seven of his last nine fights, but three of those have come against opponents with undefeated records combining to 44-0.
“On paper, it doesn’t look like he’s a tough opponent,” Antonio Martinez said. “If you actually look at the opponents he’s faced and look at the BoxRec (.com), you understand records don’t really matter in this sport — when earning a belt it does, but not when it just comes down to strictly fighting, so I’m expecting a war and like most Mexican fighters, I expect him to be right in my face and I’m looking forward to that.”
Antonio Martinez and Batres should see clearly eye-to-eye for a majority of the fight because the game plan is for Antonio Martinez to be on the attack, as Holmes wants him to fight aggressive and make exchanges near the middle of the ring more often than not.
‘Game plan’ may just be at the top of the list in Antonio Martinez’s fighting vocabulary, and he believes his inability to stick to the game plan at times has cost him in the past by looking too often for a knockout punch.
“That’s that fighter, brawl fighter mentality,” he said. “The street fighter mentality is when I get hit with a shot, I want to return fire and I don’t care if I get hit. I need to listen better to the game plan, set up my punches and not let my hands go wild.”
The other bouts on the card include: Jordanne Garcia (2-0-1) vs. Karina Mendoza (0-1-1), Loretto Olivas (2-0) vs. Andre Galarza (pro-debut) and Maurice “The Hulk” Jackson (2-0) vs. Gabriel Rodriguez (4-2).
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the first bout is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 505-795-2772.