The Hollewood view of March Badness
March Badness presented by Fresquez productions took place on March 7th at the Showroom at Isleta Resort & Casino.
The opening bout of the night saw Travis Foster (1-0) vs Nikko Nathan (1-1). Foster opened up the bout with a fast jab, but is off balance when throwing the overhand right. Nathan was a standing target, but continued to push the action forward, always ready to fight. Throughout the match is easy to see that Foster has more power and ring generalship. Even though Nathan kept pushing forward, it was Foster’s speed and angles that allowed him off the ropes as Nathan came in just ready to brawl; leaving himself open for jabs and overhand rights. Even when both looked fatigue in the later rounds, they still came out swinging for the fences. It was very visible to see that Foster came out with the higher percentage of punches landed. All three judges scoring the match in favor of Foster giving him the unanimous decision win and dropping Nathan to (1-2)
In the second bout of the night we had Brad Grelck making his pro debut vs. Mario Gonzales (2-0). Gonzales opened the match with a skillful jab to close distance while working body and head, confusing Grelck leading to two body shot knock downs. An over right hand to the forehead knocks Grelck to the ground for the third time in the first round. The second round opened up in a similar fashion an overhand right within the first minute of the round was referee Rocky Burke needed to see. Giving the victory to Gonzales and moving his record to 3-0, while Grelck lost his drops to 0-1.
For the third fight of the night we had, the cards lone Women’s bout, Jordanne Garcia (4-1-1) vs Jozette Cotton making her pro debut. The match started very slow, Cotton walking Garcia down but not really landing. I would just say for both fighters it was feel out round. As Cotton walks down Garcia she left herself open, giving the chance for Garcia to land the clear shots. Both tended to get a little bit busier but not that much. Garcia getting the best of the action with in and out movement being able to land the clear shots. Even though Cotton was on the forward movement, due to her hand placement she tended to get touched more in the exchanges. The bout ended in a split draw.
For the forth bout of the night we saw Clinton Chavez (3-0) vs Luis Marez making his pro debut. Chavez had the obvious height advantage, using his jab intelligently enough to pop Marez’ head back and timed it with an overhand right. Off Balance Marez never really regained his composure causing the referee Rocky Burke to bring the fight to an end in the first round. Clinton Chavez remains undefeated at 4-0 and Marez goes 0-1 record.
The fifth match of the night was a rematch between Lorenzo Benavidez (3-1-1) and Bryant Mclain (5-3-3). In this rematch we saw how Bryant went back to the chalkboard and realized how much more range he has than Lorenzo. For the most part of the fight, Byrant allowed Lorenzo to walk in to his punches, keeping Lorenzo in his spot while he worked around him, keeping Lorenzo at distance, working a lot more to the body, with a better jab and the higher connect rate. Lorenzo never looked fazed but did not put enough work to win the match. Bryant McClain wins the rematch on all judges cards by 60-54 unanimous decision. Bryant McClain is now 6-3-3 and Lorenzo Benavidez drops to 3-2-1.
The main event had Matthew Griego (10-0) vs. Jeronil Borres (14-4-1). Both fighters opened up the bout with strategic exchanges in the first round, knocking each other off balance. Griego using his jab, trying to keep Borres off balance, landing and making Borres miss. Both fighters were unpredictable with their punches, with a lot of lead left hooks to the body and head from Griego. Griego threw backing out with his left hand low leaving an opening for Borres to catch Griego several times with a lead overhand right. Griego’s footwork, never allowed Borres to catch him with more than one punch. Griego wisely avoided getting caught up in exchanges. In the closing rounds we see Borres turning it up with body shots and a little show boating, trying to get Griego to exchange. But, Griego stayed composed and stuck to his game plan of getting in and out and angling off counter punches; allowing for Griego to win his first minor tittle by a majority decision. The judges scored cared read 95-95, 99-91, 96-94. Griego stay unbeaten and improves to 11-0, becoming the new ABF champion while Borres falls to 14-5-1.
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