Martin Honorio of Mexico City, Mexico, represents Mexico and all its tradition by wearing a sombrero and a robe adorn in spanish lace. All fight photos taken by Jim Wyatt
Saturday night’s main event on Showtime’s Showbox at the Pechanga Resorts and Casino in Temecula featured the hard-punching and undefeated John Molina of Covina, Ca. facing Martin Honori, native of Mexico City and former USBA champion, veteran of over 31 pro-fights and countless amateur bouts. In the end, it was the Mexican boxer once again proving to the world that the best fighters come from South of the Border.
In his last outing at the Los Angeles Staples Center, John Molina ended the fight after only 34 seconds, flattening former USBA 135 pound titlist Efren Hinojosa with just two punches, a right to the ribs followed by a left uppercut to the chin. After Molina’s promotional people saw their fighter plow through 18 opponents, stopping the last four by either KO or TKO, they felt it was time to test the waters of the higher echelon fighters. It was clear to them they had a special fighter, one who was perhaps invincible.
But that’s why they play the game. Molina’s first significant test against a fighter who had major credentials, a fighter who had beaten the likes of Steven Luevano and Rogers Mtagwa, proved to be more than he could handle. Were there any red flags? In Martin Honorio’s last 29 fights, he had no problem defeating his opponents except for the dreaded southpaws, southpaws like Robert Guerrero, William Abelyan and Miguel Angel Huerta who together have a combined record of 76-17-3.
Honorio turned out to be more than just a litmus test for Molina; he was a startling wake-up call. On Saturday night, Molina, who had only 22 amateur bouts, at times looked clueless as the more skilled boxer picked him apart. The consummate professional from Mexico City out boxed and outworked his opponent to win the surprisingly one-sided decision – 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92.
After Molina (18-1, 14 knockouts) landed his best shots – Honorio (27-4-1, 14 KOs) was able to absorb the blows and reciprocate with even more ferocity. He was both the better and the busier fighter. Even the hometown crowd could see their fighter faltering and began to call out to him: “Come-on Johnny!!!!”
There were no knockdowns, but Honorio repeatedly landed his stiff jab which snapped Molina’s head back and blocked sight of the follow-up over-hand right or left hook to the body. As Molina pressed forward he seemed to be just one step behind his opponent, inches shy of connecting with one of his power shots. And make no mistake about it, Molina never showed any sign of fatigue and was always swinging for the fences.
Rico Ramos (14-0-0, 8 KOs) is surrounded by his boxing coach and manager (left0 and promoter Dan Goossen (right) after his unanimous decision victory over Alejandro Perez.
The semi-main event was an eight-round super bantamweight thriller between Rico “Suavecito” Ramos (14-0-0, 8 KOs) of Los Angeles and Alejandro “El Alacran” Perez (14-2-, 9 KOs) of Salinas, CA.
Perez looked great early on and in the first round exhibited ring generalship, good blocking technique, slipping punches and landing the more meaningful blows. After taking that first round to measure his opponent’s range, Ramos turned the tables in the second. Perez’s first visit to the canvas was a slip but the second one wasn’t as Ramos came on like gangbusters. By the third round Ramos had taken control with the more powerful blows coming from uppercuts and right crosses. He was most effective when he doubled up on the very same punch. By the fifth round Ramos was landing punches at a three to one advantage. By the 8th and final round Ramos’ combinations had escalated into machine gun like fury which showed on Perez’s reddened face. As Ramos was awarded a unanimous decision, Perez, who once sparred with Ramos, showed his fellow boxer much respect by applauding his victory.
Welterweight Javier Molina (3-0-0, 3 Kos) of Norwalk, CA. has his hand raised after his TKO victory over Miguel Garcia (0-2-0 of Zacatecas, Mexico, a stoppage in the third round.
On the under-card Javier Molina, a 2008 U.S. Olympian out of Norwalk, Ca. (3-0, 0, 3 KOs) stopped Miguel Garcia (1-1-1) of Zacatecas, Mexico at 2:42 of the third round of their scheduled four-round welterweight bout.
Molina’s most effective punch early on was a very hard jab. Soon Garcia's nose was bleeding from the jabs that were setting Garcia up for combinations. The first round almost ended with a knockdown as Garcia was pummeled into the ropes just as the bell sounded. In spite of the punishment he was taking, Garcia hung tough. Finally, in the third round his corner asked a member of the California State Athletic Commission to intercede and stop the bout. Molina, who had not fought in seven months, said he had no ring rust, because he had kept himself busy in the gym.
In the first fight of the night Malcolm Franklin III (2-0-0) of Rialto, CA. was able to out-slug Ludwin Mondragon (0-3-0) of Santa Ana, CA. to gain a unanimous decision.
Like the pro boxer who gets pummeled inside the ring, sometimes these boxing promoter need to get their bell rung. What was up with those two bouts on the under-card? In one of the fights, a legit Jr. middle-weight boxer by the name of Charles “Killa” Whitaker (35-12-2, 23 KOs) from Goerge Town in the Cayman Islands, was matched up against Chad “Taz” Greenleaf (11-14-1, 5 KOs) from Wheeling, West Virginia. After the bell rang, the two men circled the ring clockwise for at least a minute and then they circled each other for another minute until someone in the crowd yelled, “Is someone going to fight?” After Killa discovered his opponent was more of a lover than a fighter, he went on the offensive. Without further delay Taz went looking for a soft landing over and over again.
In the second burlesque act a 324½ pound, 7-foot giant by the name of Ernest “Zeus” Mazyck entered the ring to fight fellow heavyweight 6-foot-2-inch Ethan Cox who weighs 239 pounds. So here we have Zeus, with his Mr. Universe physique and no boxing skills getting set to face Cox, who’s wearing a cowboy hat and looking like he has just finished herding a bunch of steers. Well, for four rounds the two men pushed one another. As far as anyone throwing a punch, that’s debatable. According to the punch stats of the judges; Cox threw more punches (twelve or thirteen more) but Zeus (who threw about three punches total) landed with more power. And that’s how Dr. Zeus got to pad his win/loss record even though he lands only three punches per fight. Overall, it was a great night of entertainment.
As in the past, pictures of the fighters are availbable on request for the fighters, their family and friends by E-mailing me at ontherightside@yahoo.com. Also check out the additional slide show.
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