Perez dominant, defeats Villa Padilla for IBA flyweight title

Nov. 4—It might have been boring in its repetition, had it not been so powerful and artistic at the same time.

Albuquerque's Abraham Perez, gradually and inexorably breaking down a tough, poised opponent, defeated Mexico's Luis Villa Padilla by ninth-round TKO on Saturday in the main event of a Legacy Boxing card at Tingley Coliseum.

The victory. earned Perez (9-0, five knockouts) the IBA flyweight world title.

Villa Padilla, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, is 15-5-2 with two KOs.

As focused as he was throughout, Perez said, he also had a good time.

"What's boxing without a little fun?" he said, smiling.

Perez, clearly the stronger, more skilled fighter, was in control from the start. Through seven rounds, each round was almost a replay of the previous one.

In the eighth, it appeared Perez's pressure and power were starting to break Villa Padilla down. Then, 1 minute, 35 seconds into the ninth, Villa Padilla's corner signaled the fight was over.

Villa Padilla, a sound technician, kept his hands high throughout most of the bout. Perez responded with thudding body shots. Eventually, the hands lowered enough for blows to the head to find their target.

"I had to stay more in the pocket to get him to start throwing," Perez said. "If I'd just kept on throwing and getting out, he was just gonna stay in the shell ... I threw some, stayed in the pocket waiting for him to throw, and that gave me opportunities."

In a postfight interview with boxingnewmexico.com and Southwest Fight News, Villa Padilla called Perez a stronger fighter and better overall than unbeaten Golden Boy prospect John "Scrappy" Ramirez, to whom he lost by unanimous decision in February.

In the evening's semi-main event, Albuquerque's Aaron Angel Perez, Abraham's older brother, used superior speed of and foot to outbox Clovis resident Rafael Reyes over six rounds.

All three scorecards read 60-54, a shutout.

In his first bout after two years off, Angel Perez improved his record to 11-1-1 with six KOs. With the victory, he claimed the previously vacant New Mexico lightweight championship.

I feel good," Angel Perez said. "... I was a little nervous (before the opening bell), but as soon as we got in there it just felt natural."

It was important after a two-year layoff he said, to feel the power of Reyes (20-17, 16 KOs) early.

"In the beginning I wanted to feel his best shots so that I could get to work right off of it," he said. "... I just basically went in with a tight guard, let him tee off a little bit and went to work after."

In earlier bouts:

In a terrific six-round super middleweight bout, Clinton Chavez, 164 pounds, San Felipe Pueblo (7-1, four KOs) defeated Cesar Alvarado, 167 1/2, El Paso (3-1, one KO) by split decision.

The Journal scored the first two rounds for Alvarado, but the more deliberate Chavez began finding the range in round three. Landing clean shots from multiple angles, he won on scorecards that read 59-55 and 58-56. A third judge had it 58-56 for Alvarado, who failed to make the contracted weight of 165 pounds and forfeited a portion of his purse.

The most unpopular decision of the evening was the split draw handed down after a six-round middleweight bout between Cristian Cabral, 159 1/2, Albuquerque (9-2-1, four KOs) and Moris Rodriguez, 159 1/2, Sacramento California (8-16-2).

The official scorecards read 58-56 for Rodriguez, 59-55 for Cabral and 57-57. The Journal saw Cabral solving Rodriguez's awkwardness round by round: 60-54.

In an early Fight of the Night candidate, Josh Rodriguez, 139, Albuquerque (2-0, one KO) banged out a victory by unanimous decision over Deonte Smith, 130, Phoenix (0-2).

Rodriguez, the more active and accurate puncher, weathered a series of powerful and well-aimed second-round left hooks from Smith to earn the decision by identical scores of 39-37 from the three judges.

Saul Gomez, 119, Las Vegas, Nev., (2-0, one KO) defeated Alejandro Moreno, 118 3/4, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (24-51-3, 11 KOs) by third-round KO.

Gomez ended the one-sided fight with a right hand that dropped the 45-year-old Juarez veteran, who turned pro during the Clinton administration, for the second time. Moreno was counted out at 1:33 of the third.

Leonid Grachev, 223, Albuquerque (6-0-1, three KOs) fought to a four-round majority draw with Hobbs' Juan Cardona Puentes (2-1-1, one KO).

Puentes, far shorter and rounder than Grachev, was the more active fighter and quickly became the fan favorite. Grachev, however, appeared to land the cleaner shots throughout.

The Journal scored it 39-37 for Grachev, whose low work rate might have cost him a victory.

In a bloody heavyweight four-rounder, Jonathan "Pizza" Abeyta, 248, Farmington (2-1-1, one KO) and Brandon Heredia, 220 1/2, Los Alamos (0-2-1) battled to a majority draw.

All the blood flowed from Heredia's nose, down his chest and onto the canvas and ringside tables. But Heredia did enough in two judges' estimation to earn the draw against Abeyta, whose ample belly more than justified his nickname. Abeyta landed the harder punches; Heredia landed more frequently.

The scores were 40-36 for Abeyta and 38-38 twice.