Young fighters Griego, Mendoza hungry for bouts
Matthew Griego and Brian Mendoza, rising young boxers, had gotten used to fighting every other month or so. They were both undefeated. This pro boxing stuff is easy, right?
Well no. Not exactly. Mendoza and Griego, friends and teammates at Albuquerque’s Atrisco Boxing, are still undefeated. But when they step into the ring Saturday night in separate bouts at Expo New Mexico, they’ll be fighting for the first time in eight months.
The layoff has not been fun for either fighter.
“It’s tough to stay in the gym when you’re not getting fights,” said Griego (7-0, six knockouts), an Albuquerque super flyweight (115 pounds). “But it makes you hungry . ... It makes you work a little harder for that next one.”
Mendoza (15-0, 10 KOs), a Rio Rancho welterweight (147 pounds), reduced his class load as a UNM student to part-time status because he’d been so busy
as a fighter.
“When I went part time (as a student),” he said, “so did my fighting, apparently.”
Both men, however, believe things are looking up.
For each, promotional problems contributed to the eight months out of the ring. Manager Cameron Dunkin, a Las Vegas, Nev., resident with previous ties to Albuquerque — he once guided the careers of Danny Romero and Johnny Tapia — has extracted Mendoza and Griego from out-oftown promotional relationships that weren’t working.
Saturday’s card, though, is locally promoted. It’s Legacy Boxing’s eighth event but its first without Eric Martinez, who had been the face of the company. Martinez died in June.
Martinez’s partners in the enterprise, brothers Jordan and Aaron Perez, pledged to keep Legacy going in honor of Martinez and to continue giving New Mexico boxers a platform.
“I’ve known the Perezes since I was 5 years old, so I’m really happy for it,” Griego said. “I’m sad that Eric Martinez is gone. He was a great guy, a good friend . ... It’s still part of his promotion, even though he’s not here. I’m happy.”
Saturday, Mendoza is scheduled to face John David Charles (9-12) of Corpus Christi, Texas in a sixrounder. On a Legacy card at the Lujan Building in April, he was stopped via third-round by Albuquerque’s Josh Torres.
“He tries to come forward a little,” Mendoza said. “He’ll try to box . ... He tries to get his shots off, but I saw Josh landing to the body, and that’s my favorite (tactic).”
Griego’s scheduled opponent certainly doesn’t lack experience. Juárez veteran Alejandro Moreno (24-37-3, 11 KOs) is 39 and made his pro debut in 1997, when Griego was 1 year old.
In his 64 listed fights, Moreno has been stopped short of the prescribed distance only three times.
“He’s supposed to be pretty slick,” Griego said. “He knows how to survive . ... He can take a shot, obviously.
“I’m gonna go in there and really work on his body, mostly. That’s what we’ve been working on.”
BEST-LAID PLANS: Albuquerque featherweight Jason Sanchez (10-0, six KOs) is scheduled to fight Saturday’s eight-round main event. But, Jordan Perez said, two highly qualified opponents dropped out. First, Ray Ximenez, a Dallas fighter with a 16-1 record, pulled out. Perez’s original replacement — he couldn’t remember the fighter’s name — suffered a cut during training.
Sanchez’s new opponent, Stephon McIntyre, is a professional loser with a 3-35-4 pro record.
“We, and Jason’s camp, really wanted to give Jason a challenge,” Perez said. “Unfortunately, it looks like no one out there wanted to challenge him.”
In the past, Perez said, it was Martinez who actually put the cards together. “I’m more the finance guy,” he said.
Perez’s day job is ownership and management of an auto repair business. “We’re building a new facility,” he said. “Maybe once the new facility is done, this will be easier on me.”
To fill the undercard, Perez has brought in some fighters on the “B” side of the card with lessthan-glowing records: super lightweight Christopher Russell (3-201), super welterweight Tavorus Teague (4-17-2), super lightweight Anthony Hill (1-23).
“After this fight,” Perez said, “we’re gonna reconstruct ourselves and try to figure out how we’re gonna bring the tougher opponents for Jason and the (local) guys that want to step it up.
“This one was very challenging for us.”