Las Cruces fighter wins USA Boxing title
Jon Jones catching jibes from UFC czar
Jos is still the boss. In Shreveport, Louisiana, Las Cruces amateur boxer Joscelyn Olayo-Muñoz on Tuesday added a third USA Boxing national title to her long list of accomplishments, defeating Mia Garcia by decision in the women’s intermediate division (ages 13-14) 95-pound championship match.
Olayo-Muñoz outworked Garcia, of Lynwood, California, over three rounds to earn the victory. The Las Cruces boxer needed only two victories to secure the title, since only six fighters were entered in her weight class. Drawing a first-round bye, Olayo-Muñoz then defeated Alyssa Samorano of Sanger, California by split (4-1) decision in the semifinals.
Olayo-Muñoz won USA Boxing national titles in 2017 and 2018.
The current tournament is actually the 2020 national championships, postponed from December due to COVID-19 precautions.
Earlier Tuesday, Albuquerque’s Yoruba “Li’l Ru” Moreu lost by decision to Cornellio Phipps of Oxford, Pennsylvania in the men’s junior division 119-pound class. Phipps was the top-seeded fighter in the bracket.
Moreu had advanced to Tuesday’s bout with a victory by walkover (forfeit) Monday.
Las Cruces’ Marcos Sanchez lost his opening bout by thirdround RSC (referee stopped contest) to Daben Figueroa of Akron, Ohio in the Youth (1718) 114-pound weight class. In the 85-pound bantam (11-12) division, Las Cruces’ Santos Sanchez lost to Reno Busby of Omaha, Nebraska.
Two of New Mexico’s top hopes for a medal, Albuquerque’s Sharahya-Taina Moreu (women’s elite, 152 pounds) and Las Cruces’ Ariana Carrasco (women’s youth, 141) have yet to appear.
JONES VS. WHITE: UFC President Dana White has always known how to push Jon Jones’ buttons and seems to delight in doing so.
But then, Jones’ buttons are eminently pushable, his thin skin perpetually and predictably penetrated by promoter, fighter and social-media maven alike.
The latest: After Francis Ngannou’s stunning knockout victory over Stipe Miocic on Saturday, Albuquerque’s Jones began campaigning on social media for a shot at the new UFC heavyweight champion.
“Show me the money,” Jones tweeted.
White, asked about Jones’ financial demands for what clearly would be a fight desired by everyone, questioned whether Jones — who relinquished his long-held UFC light heavyweight title to campaign at heavyweight — really wanted
to face the hard-punching Ngannou.
“You can say you want to fight somebody, but do you really want to?” White said. “If I’m Jon Jones and I’m home watching (Ngannou-Miocic), I start moving to (middleweight).” Jones reacted with disgust. “What a great way to promote the fight,” he posted on Instagram. “Let’s just (defecate) on Jon Jones and make him seem afraid. How dare he ask to get paid serious money for a serious fight.”
Later, Jones — not for the first time — threatened to leave the UFC. Of course, if he really wants to fight Ngannou, and get paid, he won’t leave.
Consensus in the MMA world appears to be that, eventually, Jones-Ngannou will happen.
“Jones’ tweets and White’s tweaks,” wrote veteran combat-sports writer Kevin Iole, “are all part of the negotiating process. “It’s a big fight. Both sides know it. “It will be done.” MIESHA REDUX: The recent unretirement of former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate creates one delicious possibility: a Tate-Holly Holm rematch.
If that ever happens, it can’t be anytime soon. Tate is matched against Marion Reneau for her scheduled return on July 17. Albuquerque’s Holm, scheduled to face Julianna Peña on May 8, instead is recovering from a bout with a kidney condition.
Holm fans, though, no doubt recall it was Tate who took away the bantamweight title Holm had won so spectacularly against Ronda Rousey — and that, in the estimation of virtually everyone, Holm was some two minutes away from victory when Tate scored a takedown, secured a rear-naked choke and put the Albuquerque fighter to sleep in the fifth and final round.
And there’s this: First as a boxer, then as an MMA fighter, Holm has had 10 rematches.
She’s never lost one.