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09/24/2006 Archived Entry: "Alvarado Out-slugs Galvan, Novak Dominates Nichols in ‘Civic Center Rumble!"
Alvarado Out-slugs Galvan, Novak Dominates Nichols in ‘Civic Center Rumble!
Photos and report by Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Alvarado (right) attacks Galvan with a fury
HAMMOND, Ind. – This was the type of fight that thrills fans and shortens boxing careers overnight.
In a rousing, pier six-type brawl, defending IN.B.A. Light Welterweight Champion Jaime Alvarado came out slugging furiously and never stopped, often overwhelming Ruben Galvan and appearing on the cusp of a stoppage victory in the seventh and eighth rounds.
However, Hammond’s Ruben Galvan had nothing to be ashamed of. He gave it his best, landing his share of blows and jarring Alvarado several times. This night, he just couldn’t quite stem the tide of aggressions from his tormentor.
Alvarado bounces a heavy right off Galvan's head
Alvarado won a unanimous decision with scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 79-72, bringing his record to 6-4-2 with four knockouts and two wins to one loss against Galvan. Meanwhile, Galvan slipped to 26-9-2 with nine knockouts.
Hammond’s Johnny Novak pitched a virtual shutout over rugged, but slower Dean Nichols, who could never find a solution to Novak’s superior speed, work rate and footwork. Sporting a ponytail, a deeply creviced face and tattoos, Nichols looked every bit the tough customer he was—and needed to be—to sustain such a thorough beating and remain upright through eight rounds.
The judges scored the bout 80-71 thrice, garnering Novak a well-earned unanimous decision victory. With this win, Novak advanced to 18-1 with six knockouts, while Nichols dropped to 8-12 with six knockouts.
Prior to the main event between Galvan and Alvarado, popular ring announcer Joe York bellowed his trademarked line, “It’s time to get nasty,” followed by, “And rumble at the Civic Centerrrrr!”
And rumble they did.
Alvarado came out very aggressively in the first, repeatedly backing Galvin to the ropes and getting low behind his punches, landing thudding rights to the head mixed with assorted blows to the body. At about the halfway mark into the round, Galvan asserted himself in spots with raking blows of his own.
Galvan continued surging into the second, landing especially well with crisp lefts to the head. Still, Alvarado maintained the busier fists and kept Galvan on the defensive a great deal.
Even as Alvarado poured on the heavy artillery with both fists in the third, Galvan bounced sharp telling rights off his head with increasing regularity. In the process, he began finding his range and breathing room.
In the fourth, the tide appeared to shift almost imperceptibly, as Galvan gave nearly as well as he received. Trading toe to toe, it appeared that, by and large, they couldn’t—or didn’t care to—get out of the way of each others blows. Still, coming forward and leaning more into his blows, Alvarado generally generated more leverage and volume, while it appeared that Galvan was forced to fight more upright and off his heels.
A weary Ruben Galvan afterwards
The fifth round was Galvan’s best, as he appeared to stun Alvarez on several occasions with sharp lefts and rights to the head. Still, Alvarez kept punching.
Both continued battering each other in the sixth, slugging toe to toe on even terms and administering a fearful head beating to one another. Something had to give.
Suddenly, in the seventh, Alvarado jarred Galvan with a profusion of wallops to the head. He appeared on the cusp of a stoppage win. Living up to his nickname, “The Modern Warrior,” Galvan shook it off and came roaring back.
Teeing off on one another in the eighth, Alvarado soon had Galvan rocked and holding on with his unceasing pounding. To his credit, Galvan shored up his reserves and unloaded all he had on his antagonist until the final bell.
Leaning into the ropes following the fight’s conclusion, and exhausted and surprisingly candid Galvan asked me, “Did I lose?”
I said, “Yes, I think you did. However, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
After the scores were announced, Galvan said, “It was hard to keep him off of me. He kept coming in with his head. He wasn’t doing it on purpose. It was a hard ass fight!”
Later, Alvarado’s manger, Efrain Ramos said, “It seemed that the referee was against us tonight. We had to pressure him like we did. But, we were pleased. Every time we fought Ruben, when it started out, we heard, ‘Ruben, Ruben!’ But at the end, all you could hear was Jaime, Jaime, Jaime!” We stole the crowd!
“Still, we have all the respect for Ruben. He gave us a fight three times!”
Novak (right) traps Nichols--who tries to slug free--in a corner
In the co-main event, Johnny “Kid One in a Million” Novak circled and speared Nichols with relative impunity. Riling himself up behind a fusillade of blows, at one point, Novak shouted, “Come on, Mother (expletive)!”
Novak’s distinct advantage in speed and skills were clearly obvious as he had Nichols in momentary trouble in the second and third rounds.
In the fourth, however, Nichols dug back hard to the body and the occasional stiff right, reminding Novak that he was in a fight and that he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Novak appeared on the brink of stopping Nichols with jarring rights to the head and ripping hooks to the body. As earlier, when his efforts fell short, he resumed circling, jabbing and boxing well.
In the eighth and final round, Novak again shouted that now famous epithet—“Come on, Mother (expletive)”—and unleashed a feverish attack, battering Nichols from proverbial pillar to post. However, the stoppage he was looking for failed to materialize.
Following the announcement of his win, Novak said, “I’m not happy. Not at all! I should have stopped him at least in the fourth. But, a win’s a win.”
Novak weighed 145 lbs., while Nichols weighed 149.5 lbs. for their fight.
Walker (right) slugs away at Smith
Chicago’s Michael “The Midnight Stalker” Walker (161 ½ lbs., 12-0-1, 8 KO’s) looked very sharp and crisp in stepping up against a wily veteran with over three times as many fights, garnering a decisive unanimous decision victory over Joshua Smith (158 lbs., 17-26-1, 15 KO’s). Maintaining a superior work rate and punching, Walker repeatedly jarred Smith, pitching a clinic in quick and hard punching boxing, but fell short of the stoppage win he sought.
Mobley shows off his tattoo dedicated to his late grandmother
Judges scored the bout 79-73 twice and 80-72.
Afterwards, Walker said, “I feel good! That guy sure had a lot of experience. I hurt him several times, but I didn’t shoot the shots to capitalize. You’ve got to respect him. He had a lot of experience.”
Shay “Marvelous” Mobley (161 lbs., 14-7-1, 6 KO’s) wasted no time putting the wood to Moises Martinez (9-18, 5 KO’s), rattling him early in the first round with wicked lefts and rights to the head and digging shots to the body. However, Martinez withstood the assault and slugged back aggressively, stirring up the Latinos in the crowd.
Martinez’s stand, courageous as it was, was short lived. After being rocked badly in the second round with a hook to the body, Martinez folded in the third under a torrent of blows to body and head, punctuated with a right uppercut to the head. The referee counted him out at 2:16 into the third round.
Afterwards, Mobley said, “It was the right uppercut and shots to the body [that did the damage]. He couldn’t take it. He’s never been knocked out like THAT before. But, I was doing it for my grandmother, right here (tapping a tattoo on his right arm).”
A victorious Parker (right) with former light heavyweight, now cornerman Guy Solis
Indiana heavyweight prospect Michael Parker (201 lbs.) overcame some early jitters and advanced his record to 4-0 with four knockouts by flattening veteran Vincent Durham (196 ½ lbs., 21-36-3, 4 KO’s) at 2:21 into the first round. Afterwards, he said, “I feel good. I had to overcome his experience and his holding to get to him.”
Derrick "Superman" Findley
Gary, Indiana’s popular middleweight slugger, Derrick “Superman” Findley (5-1 and 4 KO’s) made quick work of Omar Bass (2-5-1, 1 KO) knocking him out at 1:42 into round one.
Jarred by a stupefying right bomb moments into their fight, Bass began jabbing and crossing in earnest. As Findley pressed, a quick right caught coming in and knocked him off balance into the ropes. Just as the fight became compelling, Findley exploded with a left hook to the head. Ten seconds later, Bass was counted out. Findley said, “We were coming off a break and I caught him with the left.”
And like that, Octavius James/One in a Million’s “Rumble at the Civic Center” entertained the crowd in explosive fashion and, in the process, perhaps shortened a few boxing careers.
Mobley (right) attacks Martinez with savage abandon
Shay Mobley stands victorious over his fallen victim, Moises Martinez
Jaime Alvarado (left) with his manager/trainer, Efrain Ramos
Michael Walker (left) and "One in a Million's" PR man, Mike Gonzalez
At the After Party at the Wood Hollow Bar & Grill
Popular ring announcer Joe York with a couple ring card girls after the fights. He said, "Now, THIS is why I love my job so much!"
Joe York with Shelly, a former ring card girl who now bartends at a popular bar, Wood Hollow, in Merrillville.
Joe York looks on Guy Solis with his friend
Guy Solis and friend at the bar
Guy Solis with Juan C. Ayllon
Story and stories copyrighted by Juan C. Ayllon, 2006. All rights reserved.
