Judges’ cards vary widely as Sanchez beats Urbina
Pros Rivera, Park, Flanders, Jackson win at Jackson-Wink Fight Night
ISLETA PUEBLO — As the New Mexico Lobos and UTEP Miners have done so often over the years, Albuquerque’s Joby Sanchez and El Paso’s Jesus Urbina engaged in a nail-biter Saturday.
After three close rounds in the main event of the inaugural Jackson-Wink Fight Night card at Isleta Resort & Casino, the hometown fighter’s hand was raised.
Sanchez was not immediately available for interviews afterward.
How close was the fight, how difficult to score were the rounds? One judge scored the fight 30-27 for Sanchez, another 30-27 for Urbina. The decisive score was 29-28 for Sanchez.
Sanchez, a flyweight MMA fighter from Albuquerque, improved his record to 9-2 with the splitdecision victory. Urbina dropped to 8-4.
Sanchez, who trains at Jackson-Wink, weighed 125.8 pounds, Urbina 124.4.
In other pro fights:
Santa Fe bantamweight prospect Jerome Rivera (6-0) quickly atoned for a sub-par first round with dominance in the second, stopping Albuquerque’s Saul Elizondo 6-8) by submission (rear naked choke).
Elizondo arguably won the first round, taking Rivera down and retaining control for most of the five minutes before Rivera reversed shortly before the bell.
In the second, Rivera rushed across the cage, battered Elizondo with punches and kicks, took him down in short order and applied the choke.
“I get emotional,” said Rivera, who trains in Albuquerque at Luttrell-Yee. “I’m an emotional guy . ... I’ve got nothing against Saul, but that’s just how I get in the mood.”
Clovis lightweight Harvey Park (7-1) devastated Albuquerque’s Brandon Trujillo (1-2) with a flurry of leg kicks, mixing in some kicks to the head, in taking a victory by second-round TKO.
Park stalked Trujillo, clearly in pain at times during the first round, in the second before landing a leg kick that put the former Del Norte wrestler on the ground. The one-sided fight was stopped at the 46-second mark.
Park, a Curry County sheriff’s deputy, admitted he was reluctant to inflict any more punishment after a dominant first round.
“I said, ‘Hey, man, I’m gonna keep doing it’ at the end of the first . ... He said, ‘Keep coming,’ so I kept doing it.”
Albuquerque light heavyweight Nate Flanders quickly had his way with Clovis’ Rico Urquizo, stopping him by TKO in 1:35 of the first.
Flanders, who trains at Jackson-Wink, is 2-1. Urquizo is 0-3.
In a rematch, Chicago transplant Maurice Jackson again defeated Las Cruces’ Armando Montoya — this time in brutal fashion with a flurry of punches that ended the fight at the 20-second mark of round two.
Jackson, a middleweight who trains at Jackson-Wink, is 6-1. Montoya is 8-6.
On the amateur portion of the card:
Lightweight Matt Biella-Fitzpatrick’s splitdecision victory over fellow Albuquerquean Brendan Trujillo, while not undeserved, underscored the unfairness of the 10-point must scoring system as it is typically applied.
Biella-Fitzpatrick appeared to win round one, though not overwhelmingly, based on superior striking.
Trujillo was dominant in round two, taking down Biella-Fitzpatrick, keeping him under control for most of the round, applying some solid ground-and-pound and almost securing a choke hold as the round ended.
The fighters traded takedowns in the third, Biella-Fitzpatrick again arguably having the better of the stand-up.
Trujillo was awarded just a 10-9 round for his clear dominance in the second, the same advantage Biella-Fitzpatrick got for his less-decisive margins in rounds one and three.
One judge, in fact, had it 29-28 for Trujillo. But two scored the excellent fight for Biella-Fitzpatrick by the same score.
Biella-Fitzpatrick who trains at Jackson-Wink, is 3-1. Trujillo, from Evolv Strong, is 1-2.
Santa Fe bantamweight Patricio Rodriguez made his MMA debut a successful one, scoring a unanimous decision over Albuquerque’s Daniel Alas.
Alas, nothing if not game, dropped to 0-6.