PHOENIX – There was blood this time instead of tears.
Bloody sweet.
Phoenix super-middleweight Jesus Gonzales tasted victory Friday night in the only place he ever lost with a unanimous decision over Francisco Sierra at U.S. Airways Center in a back-and-forth bout that in some ways summed up a Gonzales career first paved with promise, then frustration and now resilience.
Gonzales won a minor title, the North American Boxing Federation’s version of the 168-pound title. But there was nothing minor about the triumph. It was personal. It was about confronting old fears, coming back to a building that in his nightmares had come to haunt him. US Airways was where fear and Jose Luis Zertuche beat him in 2005.
Six years ago, perhaps, Sierra could have done the same thing as Zertuche. In the fifth round, Sierra threw a winging right hand that dropped Gonzales onto the mat and into a spot that seemed to say history was about to repeat itself. It didn’t.
“There was no way I was going to get knocked out,’’ Gonzales (27-1, 14 KOs) said after winning in front of an estimated crowd of 5,000 fans. “No way. The last time, I was here I just panicked. But this time, I was poised instead of panicked. I got hit, yeah. But I wasn’t going to lose. I just wasn’t.
“That knockdown was a wake-up call.’’
And maybe, just maybe, a new beginning for Gonzales.
“I’m back,’’ said Gonzales, who spent two years out of the ring and working at odd jobs, including late nights of loading trucks at Target and walking school hallways at midnight as a security guard.
Yet, even a happy Gonzales conceded there’s still a lot of work to be done. His defensive shortcomings, noted by ESPN2 commentators before opening bell, were not as evident against Sierra. Yet, they were there long enough for the Mexican to knock him down.
In the early rounds, Gonzales displayed agile head movement and footwork in a vigilant effort to elude the power possessed by Sierra (24-4-1, 22 KOs), who could not win the NABF title because he failed to make weight Thursday.
On the official scale, Sierra, who was fined $2,400, was 175 pounds. Gonzales, who weighed in at 167 and said he was at 175 on Friday, guessed that Sierra was at 190 at opening bell. Overweight might have meant out-of-shape. In a tactical attempt to test that theory, Gonzales went to the body early and often with his powerful left hand. It worked. In the fourth, Gonzales scored a knock down with body shot that sent Sierra stumbling and then to his knees.
That’s when Gonzales’ well-known shortcomings appeared. In the fifth, a seemingly confident Gonzales seemed to forget what he had practiced in the gym. His head and feet stopped moving. Sierra immediately capitalized, landing a right that put Gonzales on his back and left his nose bloodied. That single shot serves as a warning for Gonzales, who has said he would like to fight Kelly Pavlik. Pavlik’s right is one of the best at any weight.
Sierra’s right possessed just enough power to remind Gonzales to stay vigilant. Over the last five rounds, Gonzales did, despite a head butt that left a deep cut near the corner of his left eye. After getting up in the fifth, he gathered his wits in the sixth and got back to the brutal business of body-to-head combinations that eventually — perhaps inevitably — wore out Sierra, who took the fight on late notice.
“I don’t have to call anybody out,’’ said the 26-year-old Gonzales, who says he’ll fight three-to-four more years in pursuit of major title. “Everybody saw what happened tonight. I’m just going to keep on working, keep on doing what I do.’’
But there’s a big difference now. He’ll do it without panicking.
Best of the undercard: If Emanuel Lucero’s parents ever warned him to be careful about what he asked for, he didn’t listen. Lucero asked and Yaundale Evans delivered, fourfold.
Lucero (26-7-1. 14 KOs) asked Evans not to run during pre-fight news conference. Evans (15-0, 11 KOs) didn’t, winning a sixth-round TKO and dropping Lucero four times — once in the first, again in the second and twice in the sixth – in a super-featherweight bout.
“I don’t think he knew I had that kind of power,’’ said Evans, a Cleveland prospect who is promoted by Roy Jones Jr.
Biggest punch: Canadian junior-middleweight Janks Trotter (5-0-1, 5 KOs) threw one that could have qualified him for the Home Run contest Monday in festivities leading up to the major-league All-Star Game Tuesday at Chase Field, a couple of blocks down the street for US Airways Center.
In winning a rematch of a technical draw, Trotter threw a right hand that launched Arturo Crespin of New Mexico into mid-air at 25 seconds of the second round. The bottom of Crespin’s shoes could be seen from a ringside seat. Crespin (6-2-1, 2 KOs) fell face first on to the canvas. He had to be helped up. It was several minutes before he could walk under his own power.
Some of the rest: Super-middleweight Jose Gonzalez, a former national amateur champion in Mexico , is struggling in his pro apprenticeship. He has yet to win, losing a decision to Kevin Riding-In (3-2) of Zuni, N.M., just weeks after getting a draw in his debut.
