Alamo City beat down: Juarez stops Escalante

SAN ANTONIO – Whenever a boxing match can be reduced to a good athlete versus a good fighter, one is advised to bet the fighter. Rocky Juarez, for all his career’s near misses in championship matches, has never been mistaken for less than a professional fighter. Antonio Escalante, for all his athleticism, was out of his depth with a man precise and serious as Juarez, and it told.

Saturday at Freeman Coliseum a few miles east of the downtown area, in the main event of a sparsely attended seven-fight card presented by Leija-Battah Promotions and televised by Telefutura, Houston junior lightweight Rocky Juarez (29-10-1, 21 KOs) stalked, stung, dropped and ultimately beat-down El Paso’s Antonio Escalante (27-5, 19 KOs), stopping him at 1:29 of round 8.

“I want to fight the biggest names at 126,” Juarez said afterwards. “I’m in the gym. I’m focused. I knew I was going to knock him out.”

After an opening round that was close and saw Escalante busier and Juarez more powerful, the next two stanzas found Juarez gradually grinding Escalante down. Escalante would throw more and land more, but every punch Juarez landed, whether a left to the body or a counter right cross, mattered more. Escalante looked impressive. Juarez was effective.

“I’m not interested in fighting at 130,” Juarez said, when asked afterwards about the prospect of a match against Gary Russell Jr. “I want to fight the biggest names at 126.”

After dropping Escalante in round 3, Juarez allowed Escalante’s confidence to return in the fourth, fifth and sixth – making those at ringside familiar with Juarez’s litany of near-misses apprehensive. The seventh, however, saw Juarez land a left hook to the body followed by an overhand right that wobbled Escalante. The end was preordained after that. Juarez charged out his corner at the beginning of round 8 and beat on Escalante till referee John Schorle abided no more.

BENJAMIN WHITAKER VS. JAWNTA MANSON
Saturday’s opening bout saw local middleweight Benjamin “Baby Boy” Whitaker (2-0) continue a career that began in August on another Leija-Battah Promotions card against a tricky and awkward opponent. Saturday’s opponent, Austin’s Jawnta Manson (2-3-3 1 KO), was neither as tricky nor as awkward as Whitaker’s debut opponent, though, despite his appearance, he was conditioned well enough to take Whitaker’s best punches – which, Saturday, were right crosses.

Both men began at a quick pace and exchanged zealously in the fight’s opening round. But a few Whitaker left-hook counters took most of the fight out of Manson. Soon enough, Whitaker detected it and began to deliver left hooks to Manson’s soft midsection. The hooks led to crosses, and the crosses brought a knockdown.

All three judges saw the fight Whitaker’s way, giving “Baby Boy” his second career decision win.

KENDO CASTANEDA VS. ALBERT ROMERO
Pro debuts before hometown crowds are supposed to be highlight-reel affairs: The celebrated local amateur comes in, throws his favorite combination, the designated opponent folds, and talk of future golden belts fills the arena. None of that happened for San Antonio lightweight Kendo Castaneda (1-0) against Austin’s Albert Romero (1-3-1) Saturday.

After starting well, gliding and setting and popping Romero in the first round, things got tougher for Castaneda in the second. By the third, as he pressed Romero to the ropes, collapsed space too much and put himself in a place Romero was comfortable having him, Castaneda began to eat left hands from his southpaw opponent. Castaneda, whose heart proved his best asset, nevertheless fought back gamely, worked through his difficulties and dropped Romero as the bell rang to end the fourth and final round.

That knockdown was decisive, as Castaneda escaped his debut with a unanimous decision victory – three scores of 38-37 – that was going in the books as a draw till the last instant.

UNDERCARD
Saturday’s co-main event, California featherweight Julian Ramirez (5-0, 4 KOs) against Fort Worth’s Steven Gutierrez (4-2-1, 2 KOs), started fast, continued fast, and ended violently, with the southpaw Ramirez too good from the outside and the inside, defeating Gutierrez by knockout at 0:16 of round 5.

Among the evening’s most entertaining bouts was a four-round scrap between Texas lightweights, Saul Montes (3-0) from San Antonio and Marty Gutierrez (1-1) of Robstown, a match Montes won by unanimous decision despite fading late and employing a genuinely bizarre habit of touching his lead glove to his trunks before throwing each jab.

Opening bell rang on the professional portion of the card in a quiet Freeman Coliseum at 7:20 PM local time.