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08/28/2005 Archived Entry: "Hot Night in Houston: Trejo wins NABF Lightweight Title in War; Pavlik annihilates Harris!"
Hot Night in Houston: Trejo wins NABF Lightweight Title in War; Pavlik annihilates Harris!
A victorious Trejo celebrates his win (Karl Hegman photo)
By Karl Hegman at ringside
Mexico's Fernando Trejo punched out East LA's Jose Armando Santa Cruz in round 10 to capture the NABF Lightweight Championship in a virtual steambath in Houston Friday night.
The temperature inside the D & I Colonial Ballroom was 95 humid Texas Gulf Coast degrees and inside the ring under the hot lights, it was over a hundred. The Top Rank Main Event started off with Santa Cruz bounding about the ring like a gazelle and landing unorthodox combinations on the persistent Trejo who doggedly pressured the NABF Champion. Jose danced left and right, back and forth, and side to side while throwing a lot of punches. Though he was winning rounds-he was burning himself out.
"He'll be dead in another few rounds with all of this movement" were the comments I made to WBA Lightweight King Juan Diaz who was at ringside doing comentary for Telefutura. The WBA Champion had to constantly keep mopping his brow with a towel to keep the sweat off of his face as the temperature inside continued to rise and it seemed as if you could cut the air with a knife.
Santa Cruz really punished Trejo throughout the first five rounds to the body and head with left hooks underneath and right hands over the top as the Mexican kept kept coming at him in a straight line. Santa Cruz virtually abandoned his jab and kept swinging for the knockout, but it was evident after the fifth round that he was becoming exhausted.
Santa Cruz was gasping for breath in the sixth as Trejo began to hammer his lithe foe's body with thudding left hooks that visibly hurt the Californian. Santa Cruz must have been wishing he was back in the mild LA climate rather than in this hell hole with this tough Mexican that he couldn't keep off of him.
The crowd was strongly behind Trejo as he continued his assault over a tiring Santa Cruz who was gasping for every bit of breath that he could. Referee Robert Gonzales did a good job of controlling the action and was drenched in sweat as was everyone else in the arena as Santa Cruz was fighting for his life in the eighth round. Both fighters' bodies were wringing wet as were their trunks, and Trejo was in total command now. Fernando had taken some very hard shots in the brutal fight and Santa Cruz had shot his load.
Trejo dropped him with a left hook right at the bell as the crowd went wild but Gonzales didn't call it a knockdown, ruling the punch landed after the bell. Santa Cruz was gasping for breath and his cornermen were trying desperately to revive him as the ten second warning buzzer sounded for the tenth.
The bruised but energetic Trejo pounced right on his exhausted prey looking to tear the title away from him at the start of the tenth round and now it was only a matter of time as Santa Cruz had nothing left in the tank. Trejo forced him to the ropes and emptied his clip in a vicious assault that prompted Robert Gonzales to call a halt to the proceedings at the 39 second mark.
Santa Cruz slumped in his corner and had to be administered oxygen by the ringside paramedics as the team of Trejo celebrated their new Champion's hard earned victory. The new NABF Lightweight Champion improves his mark to 25-9-4 with 17 KO's while Santa Cruz suffered his first defeat in 21 professional fights.
On the undercard: Olympian Vanes Martiroysan (154) won a unanimous four round decision over Fernando Vega (154.5) in the curtain opener. Vanes didn't utilize his jab hardly at all; but did some good things in there against a tough guy who came to fight. He is next scheduled to fight on the big Top Rank September 10th card at the Staples Center in LA.
Nestor Rocha (121) stopped Jose Barnica (120.5) at the end of the fourth in a tough battle as Rocha suffered a badly broken nose.
Young Mike Alvarado (143) of Denver TKO'd Chad Lawshe in the third round of a fight that the crowd enjoyed. The Denver hitter is an action fighter that really goes to the body and head hard with hooks and right hands and likes all the action that he can get.
Victor Ortiz (Karl Hegman photo)
Victor Ortiz (133) of the La Colonia boxing club in Oxnard, CA won a four round unamious duke over Houston's Oliver Bolanos. The young southpaw Ortiz fought a disciplined technical fight and dropped the awkward Bolanos in the third round. Bolanos fought hard in front of his hometown though, and Ortiz had to settle for a wide points verdict.
Youngstown, Ohio's undefeated Kelly Pavlik (169) fought Vincent Harris in the walkout bout. Pavlik put on the most impressive performance of the evening as he utterly destroyed Harris in two rounds.
Pavlik leapt right on his opponent from the opening bell and hammered him with left hooks, right hands, and punishing left and right uppercuts. He beat Harris pillar to post in the opening stanza and opened a bad cut over his right eye as Harris grunted from the body shots and jolting head punches he was being raked with.
The tall Pavlik has the cool and calculated look of an assassin in the delivery of his attack and fights completely without fear. He literally oozes menace inside the ring and is always on balance as he sets up his combinations behind a jolting left jab.
Harris tried, but could do nothing to hold off the relentless onslaughts from the big Youngstown native. Pavlik jumped right on Harris at the start of the second and cut loose with both hands, driving the badly cut Harris almost through the ring apron. The badly bleeding Harris gamely struggled to his feet but the match was mercifully stopped by referee Gonzales.
Pavlik runs his unbeaten string to 26-0 with 23 wins via the short circuit route. All in all; it was a fun night of professional boxing that provided lots of fistic fireworks for the sweat drenched fight fans and boxing people in attendance. These Houston summers are murder.
Kelly Pavlik (left) and Karl Hegman (Karl Hegman photo)
Team Trejo (Karl Hegman photo)
Vanes and Freddie Roach (Karl Hegman photo)
Thanks to: the fine folks at Top Rank, Miller Lite,Telefutura, Willie Savannah, Ronnie Shields, Jay Johns, and the staff and management of the D & I Colonial Ballroom.
