Troubled Oct. 27 boxing card in Albuquerque called off
Oct. 10—A proposed Oct. 27 professional boxing card at the Albuquerque Convention Center's Kiva Auditorium, approved by the New Mexico Athletic Commission in August but put on hold by the NMAC in September, will not happen.
The Athletic Commission made the announcement on Tuesday during its October meeting.
At the meeting, NMAC Executive Director Richard Espinoza said California promoter Justin Garner had notified him of the decision to abandon plans for the card. But, Espinoza said, Garner still hopes to promote in New Mexico at a later time.
After Garner's card was approved in August, the NMAC became aware that Garner's listing on boxrec.com — professional boxing's official record keeper — reflected a suspension of his promoter's license apparently imposed by the state of Colorado.
Garner, doing business as Legacy Sports & Entertainment Company, had promoted a card in Denver in January 2022. Colorado's Department of Regulatory Agencies, reacting to Garner's failure to pay three boxers and a ring doctor, stripped him of his promoter's license.
Neither the word "suspended" nor "suspension" is present on DORA's summation of its action. A DORA representative told the Journal that Colorado was not responsible for the notation on boxrec.com.
That notation does not appear on Garner's listing as viewed by a Journal reporter. It's possible that Espinoza, as the executive director of a boxing commission, has a different boxrec.com login.
The NMAC had given Garner until Tuesday to get the boxrec.com notation removed as a condition of his card's reinstatement.
During Tuesday's meeting, Espinoza said he hadn't checked to see if the suspension notation remained on Garner's listing but said Garner told him he was working through the problem.
The cancellation of the Oct. 27 card can be seen only as good news for Albuquerque's Legacy Promotions, which has a Nov. 4 card scheduled at Tingley Coliseum.
Legacy's Aaron Perez had expressed concern about the proximity in time between his card and Garner's and also about the similarity of the two companies' names.
Albuquerque welterweight Clinton Chavez, who originally was scheduled to fight the Oct. 27 main event, now is scheduled to fight on the Nov. 4 card.
The Nov. 4 main event matches Albuquerque's Abraham Perez (8-0, four knockouts) against Mexico's Luis Villa Padilla (15-4-2, two KOs) for the vacant IBA flyweight title.
TICKETMASTER: As of Tuesday, tickets ($20 to $50) for the now-cancelled Oct. 27 card were still available for purchase on Ticketmaster. A seating chart reflects that only a smattering of tickets had been sold before the cancellation.
STATE TITLE: The Nov. 4 co-main event between Albuquerque's Aaron Angel Perez (10-1-1, six KOs) and Clovis' Rafael Reyes (20-16, 16 KOs) has been designated a New Mexico lightweight title fight. The NMAC approved the designation on Tuesday.
Perez, Abraham Perez's older brother, has not fought since suffering his only pro defeat against San Diego's Diego Elizondo in October 2021.
Reyes last fought on a Teresa Tapia-promoted card in February at the Rio Rancho Events Center, losing to Albuquerque's Jason Sanchez by third-round TKO after aggravating a hand injury.
