Osorio takes advantage of ‘big opportunity’
Cordova’s Leanna Martinez gets win in unexpected TV limelight
Lights, camera … Oh no!
Leanna Martinez made her professional debut in Saturday’s “Countries Collide” fight card at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino. The Cordova native, though, did not expect it to be her television debut, too.
But there she was in the spotlight as the opening fight on a satellite TV broadcast, taking on Belen’s Brittney Horton in what was her debut fight, as well. It had all the makings of two fighters battling stage fright as much as each other.
“Originally, I wasn’t supposed to make TV, but it changed in the order of the card,” Martinez said. “I didn’t find out until I was here in the back [in the fighters] room. It was too late to prepare for that, so that made me a little more nervous.”
The best way to fight nerves for Martinez was with her fists. The shorter Martinez worked her way into Horton’s body and pummeled here until the referee called the fight just a minute into the fourth and final round.
It was the start of a wild first half of the TV card, as the following bout saw Albuquerque’s Jose Osorio overcome the early flurries of Argentina’s Roman Reynoso to take control of the eightround fight and win a split decision over the now 20-2-2 fighter who had aspirations of a future title fight. Osorio has his dream, too. “This was a big opportunity,” he said. “This guy was 20 and 1. That means only one guy blemished his record. Now, it’s two with me. They were doubting me with my record, which is now 9-3 and 1. But I know I am not a regular fighter. I’m special.”
Juan Jose Velasco is pretty special, too. The 30-year-old Argentine improved to 17-0-1 by methodically breaking down Mexico’s Juan Garcia Mendez in a 139-pound fight before knocking him down to end the eighth round and twice more in the ninth before scoring the technical knockout and winning the main event that was for the World Boxing Council Latino title.
The fight card, though, meandered late into the night, as the final fight between Española’s Antonio Martinez and El Paso’s Gabriel Gutierrez didn’t take to the ring until almost 10:15 p.m.
Six rounds later, Antonio Martinez earned his first loss under trainer and manager Pat Holmes Sr. with a split decision defeat to Gutierrez. Two judges scored it in favor of Gutierrez by 59-55 and 58-56 counts, while Antonio Martinez earned a 58-56 split on another card.
Antonio Martinez (8-3-4) fought valiantly despite suffering a cut below his left eye that slowly swelled shut as the fight proceeded. Gutierrez controlled the fight with his longer reach and his jab that he usually followed with combinations.
Antonio Martinez tried to counter by pressuring Gutierrez into the corners and working his body, but to no avail.
In the other fight that involved a Northern New Mexico fighter, Aaron Martinez of Santo Domingo Pueblo returned to the ring after a nine-month absence to register a technical knockout of Hobbs’ Richardo Reyes in the fourth round of the four-round 125-pound bout. Aaron Martinez said he struggled to deal with his first pro loss in January
to Alex Holguin, avoiding training until late July. He pushed himself through two months of rigorous workouts, but his rust showed in a tentative first round.
“I didn’t run at all, I didn’t do anything,” Aaron Martinez said of his sabbatical. “I put on a lot of weight since January. I had barely started training until then. So it might have been the fatigue.” By the second round, though, Aaron Martinez (4-1) started to hit Reyes in the body and break him down before Reyes did not respond to a 10-punch barrage that led the referee to halt the fight.