Mexican Beat Report (9/7/09)

by Paul Magno

Welcome to the first Mexican Beat Report, a monthly wrap-up of the fight scene in Mexico.

The month of September is always a huge month for Mexican boxing, with many cards scheduled for dates in and around Independence Day (September 15th-16th).

There were mixed results from two prominant Mexican fighters in Panama on Saturday.

Daniel Ponce de Leon (36-2, 31 KOs) won a WBA Featherweight Title Eliminator via wide Unanimous Decision against Panamanian Roinet Caballero (27-8-1, 19 KOs). Ponce de Leon is now in line for a shot at "regular" WBA Featherweight Champ, Yuriorkis Gamboa or the winner of the "super" WBA title bout between champ, Chris John and Rocky Juarez.

On the same card, for the WBA Interim Flyweight Title, hometown boy, Luis "El Nica" Concepcion (18-1, 13 KOs) beat Mexican Omar Salado (21-2-2, 12 KOs) via TKO when Salado's corner waved off the fight in the 12th. Despite losing each round on this reporter's scorecard, Salado was game the whole night, but was hampered by two deep cuts over his left eye and swelling around both eyes.

Also Saturday, in Chihuahua, former world champ Jhonny Gonzalez (41-7, 34 KOs) KO'd Jose “Pegono” Mendoza (21-4-2, 17 KOs), of Columbia via liver shot in the first.

On the same card, hometown Marco "Dorado" Reyes (14-0, 12 KOs) won the WBC Youth World Middleweight Title via UD against Colombian, Beibi Berrocal (6-2, 6 KOs).

From contacts who frequent the Romanza Gym in Mexico City, Juan Manuel Marquez is walking around right now at about the Welterweight limit of 147 and has been absolutely brutal on his sparring partners in preparation for his September 19th clash with Juan Manuel Marquez.
Trainer Nacho Beristain is focused on targeting Mayweather's body and, based on inside sources, don't be surprised if Marquez switches over to southpaw at some point in their bout. Beristain and Marquez are doing lefty drills in sparring and on the mits.

On the verge of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.'s (39-0-1, 29 KOs) fight on the 12th against unranked Jason LeHoullier (21-1-1, 8 KOs), 19-year old, Mexican prospect, Saul "El Canelo" Alvarez (28-0-1, 21 KOs) is still intent on calling out the son of the legend.

The Jalisco-based Welterweight recently won the WBC Youth World Welterweight Title to go along with his NABF Welterweight strap and has issued public challenges via ring mic after his last several bouts. Alvarez will be fighting in Puebla, Puebla against Carlos Herrera (21-1, 8 KOs) on the same card that will see Edgar Sosa (36-5, 20 KOs) defend his WBC Jr. Flyweight Title against Puerto Rican, Omar Soto (14-3-1, 6 KOs)

On the undercard of Chavez's Jr.'s bout in Nuevo Vallarta, Fernando Montiel (39-2-1, 29 KOs) will take on southpaw, Alex Valdez (21-3-2, 15 KOs) and Manuel "Chongo" Vargas (26-3-1, 11 KOs) puts up his his WBO Interim Strawweight belt against "Full" WBO Champ, Donnie Nietes (24-1-3, 14 KOs).

September 11th will feature a bout for the vacant Mexican Flyweight Title pitting Alejandro Hernandez (22-6, 11 KOs) against Wilbert Uicab (25-5-1, 16 KOs). The fight will be held at the Salon Marbet Plus in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl in the state of Mexico.

On September 12th, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, plays host to a rematch of Venezuelan Nehomar Cermeno (17-o, 10 KOs) against Cristian Mijares (36-5-2, 15 KOs)

There will be a huge Independence Day card on September 15th in Leon, Guanajuato:

Jorge "El Travieso" Arce (52-5-1, 40 KOs) fights for the vacant IBF Flyweight title against South African, Simphiwe Nongqayi (15-0, 6 KOs); WBC Super Featherweight Champ, Humberto Soto (48-7-2, 31 KOs) will defend his crown against Colombian Aristides Perez (15-0-1, 8 KOs); Ulises Solis (28-2-2, 20 KOs), coming off his title loss to Brian Viloria, takes on journeyman, Gilberto Keb Baas (28-20-3, 16 KOs); Omar Chavez (17-0-1, 13 KOs), after his tragic win over the late Marco Nazareth in July, will fight Tennessee journeyman, Jessie Davis (11-14, 8 KOs) in a six round Welterweight bout.

Gutsy Featherweight Tomas “El Norteno” Villa (20-6-4, 13 KOs) has signed a promotional deal with Gary Shaw Productions.

Israel Vazquez (43-4, 31 KOs) is back in training for his October 10th comeback bout against Al Seeger (28-4, 22 KOs) at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. Should he win, Vazquez has hinted at a desire to fight Rafael Marquez in a part 4.

To all of our Mexican friends and fans, Happy Independence Day... ¡Viva Mexico!

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Results From Arena Monterrey: Marquez Shines, Gonzalez Overwhelmed

From The Arena Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico:

There were mixed results for the sold-out partisan crowd packed into the Arena Monterrey Saturday night.

Rafael Marquez (38-5, 34 KOs) took the first step on his comeback trail as he disposed of a tentative Jose Francisco Mendoza (21-3-2, 17 KOs) via third round TKO.

Marquez started off slowly in the first and second, showing obvious signs of ring rust. Then, towards the end of the third, Marquez connected with a sharp straight right hand that sent Mendoza to the canvas. It was obvious that Mendoza was in no shape to continue and, after some confusion between the ref and both corners, the fight was waved off at the 2:26 of round three.

In the main event, Japanese southpaw champ, Toshiaki Nishioka, brought his WBC Super Bantamweight title to Mexico and defended it impressively against Jhonny Gonzalez.

The challenger, Gonzalez, started off extremely strong by dropping Nishioka late in the first round with a textbook straight right hand. The champ, although dropped, didn't look to be in any grave danger of being stopped.

The second round was a good recorvery round for Nishioka as he managed to box on the outside and nullify Gonzalez's forward momentum.

The end of the fight came in the third when Nishioka connected with a teeth-rattling straight left hand that sent Gonzalez down hard in the corner. Jhonny managed to get up at the 8 count, but he was obviously out on his feet, prompting referee Kenny Bayless to wave off the contest.

Nishioka moves to 34-4-3 (21 KOs); Gonzalez falls to 40-7 (34 KOs).

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Rafael Marquez, Jhonny Gonzalez on the Comeback Trail!

This weekend, former Bantamweight champ, Jhonny Gonzalez, gets his first shot at a title since his surprise loss to Gerry Panalosa back in 2007. He'll be taking on reigning WBC Super Bantamweight title holder, Toshiaki Nishioka, in Monterrey, Mexico.

On the same card, Rafael Marquez makes his long-awaited return against Jose Francisco Mendoza in a WBC Super Bantamweight title eliminator.

If Gonzalez and Marquez both win, you can expect a great showdown between the two later in the year.

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