Main Event – Jesse Lara (Dallas, Texas) v Gilbert Vera (Austin, Texas)
Some might say if Jesse Lara could have the night back, he would love it. But taking the night back wouldn’t change the outcome. The closest Lara could come to changing it would be to go back a few weeks or even months and spend more time in the gym, more time on the road, and less time enjoying the fruits of his labor. Still Gilbert Vera would have something to say about all of that just as he did Friday, June 19, at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas.

Round one was a feeling out round for both fighters. As is typically the case, Lara was his predictable self, a slow starter. Vera took advantage of Lara’s slow start and let Lara know hometown favorite or not, he was there to make a statement. Round to Vera 10-9.

In the second round, Vera fought Lara’s fight. Lara is old school, laying on the ropes, conserving energy, slipping and ducking punches, making this opponent miss, and countering. Round to Lara 10-9.

The third round was a round that made me appreciate I was writing and not judging. Both men took turns unloading, with neither giving much ground. It was a good round for both men, but a hard round for this writer to score. I took the easy way out, 9-9 draw.

In the fourth, Lara opened with a flurry then settled back against the ropes to counter. Vera took advantage of the situation peppering Lara with quick punches and hard lead rights before Lara could counter. Round to Vera 10-9.

In the fifth, Vera continued throwing lead rights. But Lara was not on the ropes to catch them. Instead, he was dancing in the center of the ring controlling the tempo. That was a good change in the fight plan; round to Lara 10-9.

The sixth was the last round of an eight round fight. Apparently, the extra weight Lara was carrying caught up to him. He fell back to his old tactics of laying on the ropes and trying to counter. Only one boxer has ever been good at that, Lara is no Muhammed Ali. As he did in the fourth, Vera took advantage of Lara laying on the ropes landing some of the hardest punches I’ve seen in any weight division, in any fight this year. Those punches took their toll, at 2:59 of the round, with Vera landing, and the bell ringing, Lara took one too many rights and hit the canvas. A fight cannot be stopped by the bell, the count continued, the fight and the night was over for Jesse Lara. Gilbert Vera was impressive. As of right now, I rate this as the #1 knockout of the year of North Texas.

Luis Yanez (Dallas, Texas) v Joseph Rios (San Antonio, Texas)
Interestingly before the fight as my thirteen-year-old son Aaron and I perused the fight program, he made the comment about the discrepancy in records between Yanez and Rios. He asked me, “Dad how can a guy with so many fights fight a guy with just one fight?” I stated the obvious, “Either fighters are afraid to get in the ring with Yanez and he has to take what he can get or someone needs to do a better job matching him with other fighters.”
I find it interesting a thirteen-year-old novice boxing fan succinctly verbalized what a lot of us wondered to ourselves.

As Yanez made his walk into the ring a small, classless, possibly inebriated fragment of Robert Marroquin fans were chanting Marroquin’s name. I’m sure Marroquin appreciates all the fans he has just as I’m sure he knows these morons are the cesspool of his fans. Team Yanez may say such negativity only inspires Luis, but I spotted Yanez looking toward the cesspool with a small hint of disappointment. The morons were the ones who were soon to be disappointed. Those smarter than me say a crowd cannot dictate a fight. Unfortunately, for Joseph Rios to some degree, the cesspool dictated how soon Yanez would open the can of whoop ass he put on Rios.

Beginning with the first round, Yanez dictated the fight. I gave every round to Yanez 10-9, with the fourth being his best round, it was in this round he staggered Rios. In the fifth, the pace slowed again but there was not doubt Yanez was in control. Two of the judges’ saw it my way, giving every round to Yanez and one of the judges [I don’t want to know which one.] scored it 58-56. When the verdict was announced, it was encouraging to see that other than the cesspool of morons the crowd was mightily pro Yanez, standing and cheering the verdict enthusiastically. Still I cannot comprehend the jealousy and the lack of class the cesspool demonstrated. It is so far on the other side of the spectrum and so opposite of the way Robert Marroquin carries himself. He is a class act. The cesspool needs to take a queue from him.

Robert Marroquin (Dallas, Texas) v Jose Manuel Garcia (Zacatecas, Mexico)
This will be a night I will always remember. This night was a treat for North Texas boxing fans of which I am one. When I first met Roberto Marroquin to interview him, I came away in awe at such a classy young guy at such a young age. When I watched him fight that night for the first time, I came away in awe at such a classy young fighter at such a young age. Roberto Marroquin has a picture perfect boxing style. He keeps his chin low, his guard tight, his body turned to provide a smaller target, never taking his eyes off his opponent. He doesn’t even seem to blink. This is a young man who will be invited to the big dance in the not too distant future.

Until the fight was stopped at 1 minute 37 seconds of the second round by Garcia’s corner, the entire fight was Marroquin stalking and Garcia running. The knockout punch was an overhand right that probably would have knocked down bigger men. After the fight was stopped, Garcia literally cried as if he didn’t know why the fight was stopped. Maybe he was so loopy he didn’t know. His coach did what any good corner man would do; stop the track meet before any real damage could be done.

Casey Ramos (Austin, Texas) v Justo Vallecillo (San Antonio, Texas)
According to the pre fight pub, Casey Ramos from Austin, Texas is the Texas Welterweight Champion. He fought like one winning the fight by a unanimous decision. After the fight, Vallecillo was overheard by North Texas Boxing telling someone, “I ran out of gas.”

Interesting side note to this fight; at the weigh-in on Thursday, I walked up and said hello to one of Ramos’ coaches/seconds, Inez Guerrero. He said to me, “You look familiar, where do I know you from?” I replied, “From Austin.” He said, “Have you brought fighters to Austin before?” I laughed and said, “Kinda.” He said, “When?” I replied, “Do you not recognize me?” He said, “No, I guess I don’t.” I told him, “I’m Ex Alba; I used to coach against you in Austin when my brother John and I were coaches at the Montopolis Recreation Center and you were one of the coaches at the South Austin Recreation Center.” We then shared a quick trip down memory lane, a laugh, and a hug and promised to stay in touch. [Inez, that was 30 plus years ago, nice seeing you again Bro.]

Miguel Delgado (Ciudad, Mexico) v Albert Romero (Austin, Texas)
I was honored to sit next to manager extraordinaire Lou Mesorana, manager of record of Roberto Marroquin. Lou gave a good a running commentary of each fight and fighter that would give Teddy Atlas a run for his money. This, the first fight of the evening ended in a draw, not a way a promoter would like to start the evening. Unfortunately, for the ring announcer, he did not put his best foot forward either. The scorecards were 38-38, 38-38, and 37-39. Almost any astute boxing fan knows this is a majority draw; the poor ring announcer called it a majority decision in favor of one of the combatants. The hoots and the hollers from ringside officials and boxing fans immediately began. After a brief consultation at ringside between the officials and the ring announcer, the decision was reversed and a draw was called. That was the most excitement of this fight.

Mendelson Entertainment
It was a great night for boxing and boxing fans. We look forward to another Mendelson Entertainment boxing event and we look forward to seeing both Luis Yanez and Roberto Marroquin in action again. We also look forward to the rough and tumble style of Jesse Lara, if he drops ten pounds and fights in his appropriate weight class.