By John Gabriel Thompson – The Laredo Civic Center in Laredo, Texas was treated to an entertaining, albeit one-sided night of boxing as three up-and-coming fighters squared off against more experienced yet limited opposition this Friday Night.
Demetrius Andrade 9-0 (7 KO’s) of Providence, Rhode Island made quick work of Bernardo Guereca 15-10-1 (3 KO’s), who has now been knocked out six times in his career. At 6’1” the 21-year-old Olympian Andrade was simply too much for the 5’6” 36 year old from El Paso, knocking him out in the first round with a quick cross to the chin and hook to the ear. While Guereca should seriously consider retirement, Andrade should look towards a better challenge. Ringside commentator Teddy Atlas stated “let him fight the kind of guys who will help him develop..”
Yaundale Evans 5-0 (3 KO’s) from Cleveland, Ohio coasted to a unanimous decision victory against Gino Escamilla 5-7-1 (2 KO’s), a hometown favorite in Laredo. Being that Escamilla had lost his last five fights, was smaller, and took the fight on four days notice, this was not the best test for Evans. Evans controlled the first round and scored a knockdown, even if it was just a glancing blow to an off-balance Escamilla. Escamilla got up quickly and Evans continued his assault, looking to finish off Escamilla, though he did not appear hurt. There was some great action in the last ten seconds of the round as Escamilla held the head of Evans with his left, while hammering away with his right. Evans answered and then perhaps got the better of a fantastic exchange, which brought the crowd into the fight.
Escamilla let his fists fly early in the second round, backing Evans into a corner; however, the southpaw Evens let out a perfect straight left to the jaw and Escamilla hit the canvas hard. Getting up on shaky legs, Teddy Atlas commented that “the referee should stop this.” Joe Tessitore agreed, stating “he was extremely week legged there.” The referee let the action continue and somehow Escamilla did what he needed to do by avoiding the loaded shots and then holding on before Evans could get set to throw another.
In the third round Escamilla came out with a combination of punching and holding. While he did get caught with several shots coming in, he landed some himself. It’s easy to see why the crowd at Laredo seemed to know who Escamilla was, as the twenty-four-year-old showed great heart at trying to make it a fight. By the end of the round Teddy Atlas admitted he was wrong and the referee had done a good job letting the fight continue.
Rounds four and five saw the fight become a sustained one sided affair, though Escamilla continued to fight bravely. In the sixth and final round, Evans seemed more concerned with earning a unanimous decision than stopping his foe. He moved and jabbed; only throwing combos when caught against the ropes. The decision was obvious and the judges score cards reflected the one sided affair.
The main event, while clearly another mismatch, proved entertaining despite that undefeated Juan Carlos Burgos 24-0 (17 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico won every single round against Juan Carlos Martinez 17-12-1 (7 KOs) also from Mexico. Burgos, the nephew of former world champion Victor Burgos, was a heavy favorite going into the fight for good reason.
From the first round through the eleventh Burgos used his height advantage to land punches from outside the range of the shorter Martinez. Martinez would move and attempt to be elusive, though, it seemed that his strategy was severely flawed. Martinez was the one giving up the distance, even though he fought better on the inside. The commentators speculated that Martinez was attempting to move constantly to keep from being hit by the body shots of Burgos. While perhaps true, this may have also cost him any chance of success in the fight. A significantly shorter fighter needs to fight on the inside.
If the distance factor won the bout for Burgos, the chin and heart factor of Martinez won over the crowd for Martinez. He took solid shots for eleven rounds and kept fighting back. Unfortunately for Martinez, just as being on the outside was a bad strategy against a taller man, relying on his chin proved equally ill advised. In the twelfth and final round Burgos came out swinging, catching Martinez with a left hook and following it with a strong right. Martinez bravely got up but Burgos almost immediately landed a left-right-left-wicked right combination to the head of Martinez which forced the referee to step in and call a halt to the action.
Had he not been knocked out, Martinez might well have become the star of the night with his show of heart, and I suspect Gino Escamilla will always draw a crowd in Laredo. For Andrade, Evans and Burgos, they need to step up their level of competition if the want expand their fan base.
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