SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA — The improbable comeback run of Paul Nave, which began in 2009 after a nine plus-year retirement, hit a snag on Friday night, as Brandon Hoskins flew in from Missouri with an unbeaten record and came away with a hard-fought eight-round majority decision at Albert Park Field.
The action was competitive, but it was Hoskins (16-0-1, 8 KOs) of Hannibal, Missouri that came out of the gate faster. While Nave (19-9-2, 8 KOs) of San Anselmo, California looked to time his right hand in the early going, Hoskins did some solid work behind his jab, including two hard right hands.
Hoskins, 143, opened up the second round with two lefts, as Nave, 146 ½, still could not get his timing just right. After Hoskins doubled up on the left again, Nave decided to let loose and rocked Hoskins with a combination to end the frame.
Both fighters had their moments in rounds three and four as it became mainly an inside fight. Hoskins punctuated an even exchange in the third with an eye-catching right over the top. Nave closed the fourth well as he worked his way inside and landed with some short hooks. By the fifth, Nave’s left eye was badly swollen. There would be a decent-sized cut opened up below the eye by round’s end as well.
Just when the fight looked to be heading in one direction, Nave had one of his better rounds in the sixth. The overhand right Nave had trouble timing in the early going was finding its target with better regularity, but Hoskins did well enough to move out of harm’s way before the local favorite could really follow-up. Hoskins stemmed some of Nave’s momentum with the cleaner punching in the seventh.
Knowing he needed to take the eighth in order to have a shot at coming away with the victory, Nave, who turns 51-years-old in less than a week, outworked and outfought the much younger Hoskins in the final round. Nave’s final round performance got the hometown crowd up and cheering, but it would not be enough to pull out the win. One judge had the fight even, 76-76, but was overruled by the other two who had the fight 78-74 and 78-73 for Hoskins.
“I feel awesome. I’m going deer hunting on Sunday and back to work on Monday,” said Hoskins, full-time factory worker, after the fight. “[I began boxing] just to lose weight. Nine years ago I was 185-pounds, so I have come a long way from just losing weight.”
Though he came away with a deserved win, the 24-year-old Hoskins seemed genuinely impressed with his nearly 51-year-old opponent. “I thought he was going to come out like a dog, and that’s what he did,” said Hoskins, who sought Nave’s autograph during the post-fight interview. “I told Craig, ‘If I can’t outbox him and I am going to try and dogfight with him.’ The last round he was mean. I just tried to wrestle with him a little bit.”
After the fight, Nave refused to make any excuses for loss, such as his age or the added distraction of being the promoter of the event. Instead the veteran seemed to have just one regret. “The bummer is I felt fine at the end and that’s not good,” said Nave. “I should have felt exhausted and given it my all, which I did in the final round especially. I should have picked it up a little earlier. It was just one of those days you feel you could have done a little better. I’m not going to blame anything. The better fighter won tonight and you just have to tip your hat to him and give him the credit he deserves.”
Of course the inevitable question after a loss at this stage is whether or not Nave would continue to fight. “I have to take a step back and take a look at it and see what I am going to do,” said Nave. “I’m going to take time to evaluate everything.”
In the co-main event, Lamont Williams (5-1-1, 2 KOs) of Fairfield, California completely turned around a fight that was going against him and scored a third-round stoppage over Brent Urban (7-5-1, 5 KOs) of Burlingame, California.
The first round was even before Urban, 185, caught Williams, 183, in the final seconds, forcing him to backpedal until the end of the round. Urban again stunned Williams with a short right in the second, but in boxing a fight can turn around in an instant, which it did in the third. Out of nowhere, Williams rocked Urban with a clean right and flurried him into the ropes. After a vicious right uppercut, the referee leaped in to stop the fight at 2:26 of the third round.
Making her professional debut before a throng of fans, Marquita Lee (1-0) of Novato, California pounded out a four-round unanimous decision over a game and determined Laura Deanovic (0-3) of San Francisco, California.
Lee, 132, often gave ground in the fight but did well to catch the onrushing Deanovic, 128 ½, with hard shots. Backing to the ropes, Lee rocked Deanovic late in the first with a combination. Undeterred, Deanovic fired back, but she simply did not posses the same type of power as did her opponent. The second and third rounds looked much like the first, with Deanovic pressing the action, but Lee catching her with the harder shots. Deanovic showed her heart and took the fourth round, most notably rocking Lee against the ropes with a combination. All three judges scored the fight in favor of Lee, 39-37.
In a solid action fight, Luis Alfredo Lugo (12-16-1, 5 KOs) of Richmond, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico slugged his way to a four-round unanimous decision over Hector Alatorre (16-17, 5 KOs) of Tulare, California.
Alatorre, 146, got off to a good start, as he found Lugo’s body a hittable target early. Lugo, 145, got warm later in the round and returned the favor, working the Tulare resident’s body in the final minute. Action further heated up in the second, with Lugo’s left hook, right uppercut combination standing out. After Lugo outworked Alatorre in the third, both men had their moments in a tit for tat fourth. In the end, all three judges had it a shutout for Lugo, 40-36.
In the free-swinging opener, Jesus Partida (0-0-1) of Redwood City, California tasted the canvas in the fourth but managed to eke out a draw against a determined Denis Madriz (0-0-1) of San Francisco. After almost three frantic minutes, Madriz, 125, appeared to hurt the awkward Partida, 127, with a combination late in the first. Partida came out swinging to begin the second, rushing Madriz with combinations in the early going. Madriz looked to time the southpaw Partida coming in, but was too tentative at times.
After getting outworked for much of the third, Madriz caught Paritda with two well-placed right hands that stunned the Redwood City resident. However, Madriz failed to capitalize on the advantage and it appeared Partida had regained his footing before the end of the round. That was not the case as Madriz dropped Partida in the opening seconds of the fourth. As the round progressed, Partida fought on even terms as Madriz tried to put him down again. Each fighter took a card 38-37, with the third judge scoring the bout even, 38-38, forcing the draw.
Photos by Stephanie Trapp/[email protected]
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
