MALDONADO ‘NOT CLOSE’ TO DONE
Albuquerque boxer headlines Saturday card
Boxer headlines Saturday night card locally while retaining the bigger goals of a world title.
The big fights are still out there for his son and namesake, says Fidel Maldonado Sr.
In the meantime, he said, it’s about fighting, winning and honing the skills that could produce a victory when those big opportunities come.
Saturday at the Embassy Suites, Albuquerque lightweight boxer Fidel Maldonado Jr. (27-4-1, 19 knockouts) faces Denver’s Juan Santiago (16-16-2, nine KOs) in an eight-round main event on a fivebout Holmes Promotions card.
Santiago, 34, has lost twice — once by split decision, more recently by sixth-round TKO — to fellow Coloradan Johnny Rodriguez, whom Maldonado defeated easily his last time out. Santiago had lost four in a row before defeating another Colorado fighter, Robert Rodriguez (no relation to Johnny) by split decision in July 2017. Santiago has not fought since.
On paper, it’s a mismatch.
Not so fast, says Maldonado Sr., his son’s trainer and manager.
“(Santiago) could spoil the party,” the elder Maldonado said. “… He’s no joke. “He’s gonna be in our face all night.” And that’s fine with Maldonado Sr., who is eager to see his son build on the boxing skills he has displayed in his four most recent victories.
That wasn’t always the case. Maldonado Jr. lost a slugfest with Amir Imam by fifth-round TKO in January 2015 and fought to a draw in a brawl with Art Hovhannisyan in May 2016.
“He got to the point where he was just going at it,” Maldonado Sr. said. “There was no boxing involved at all. … In this fight, we’re not going be crazy, but we’re going to be an aggressive boxer.”
In the meantime, the elder Maldonado said, major promoters are calling. It’s a question, he said, of taking the right fight when it’s offered.
“(Fidel Jr.)’s not even close to being done,” he said. “He’s 28. I still want to get that world title.”
ESQUIBEL-CIFERS: Albuquerque MMA strawweight Jodie Esquibel is 6-5 overall but is 0-3 in UFC competition entering Saturday’s fight against Hannah Cifers (9-3 overall, 1-1 UFC) on UFC 241 in Anaheim, Calif.
Only a handful of fighters have lost their first four UFC fights and not been dropped by the sport’s most powerful organization. But if Esquibel is concerned about anything but Saturday’s fight, she’s not saying so.
“I don’t feel any pressure,” she said in a brief phone interview with the Journal on Thursday.
Albuquerque MMA fight fans might remember Cifers from her first-round knockout of Celine Haga, Esquibel’s Jackson-Wink teammate, on a Jackson-Wink Fight Night card at Isleta Resort & Casino in June 2018.
Esquibel wasn’t in attendance that night but said she has the utmost respect
Saturday
Boxing, Embassy Suites,
7:30. p.m.: Fidel Maldonado Jr. vs. Juan Santiago, four other fights. Tickets: call 795-2772
MMA, Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.: Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic, Jodie Esquibel vs. Hannah Cifers, several other fights. Main card: PPV, 8 p.m. Prelims, ESPN, 6 p.m. Early prelims (Esquibel-Cifers), Fight Pass, 4:30 p.m.
for Cifers, both as a puncher and as a wellrounded fighter.
“I think she has a great skill set,” she said.
Esquibel’s fight is on the early prelims portion of the card, scheduled to be streamed on UFC Fight Pass starting at 4:30 p.m. A heavyweight title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Stipe Miocic headlines the main card, available on pay-per-view.
VANNATA TO DENMARK: Albuquerque MMA lightweight Lando Vannata (10-3-2) has signed to face Englishman Mark Diakiese (13-3) on a UFC card in Copenhagen on Sept. 28.
Vannata last fought in December, defeating Brazil’s Marcos Mariano by first-round submission (Kimura) in Melbourne, Australia. He hadn’t won previously in three years, going 0-2-2 in the interim.
NO LOVE IN RUSSIA: In Sochi, Russia, Albuquerque MMA heavyweight Cody East lost by first-round knockout to Alexander Maslov on Tuesday on a card staged by the Russian promotional company S-70.
East, a one-time UFC contract fighter, is 13-6 but has lost five of his last six. Maslov, of Muravlenko, Russia, is 2-0.