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After last week's nonstop boxing action, the fight scene here will get a bit of a reprieve. At least, until Fresquez Productions and Top Rank announce their next shows.

In the meantime, Juan Romero Promotions already has a July 28 card set to go at Sky City Casino in Acoma (and, believe it or not, with signed contracts for the main event).

In what should be an anticipated 10-rounder, at 115 pounds, Espanola's Monica Lovato (10-1, 4 KOs) will face her most demanding test yet when she takes on unbeaten Melinda Cooper (18-0, 10 KOs), of Las Vegas, Nev. Cooper is one of the most-talked about female fighters - a former world champ. It's a minor miracle that she's willing to put her unbeaten record on the line in New Mexico, given some of the ridiculous scorecards shown by local judges in Lovato's last two fights. (They were deserved wins for Lovato, but by some of the cards, you never would've known how razor-thin the fights were.)

Lovato and Cooper will be fighting for one of the zillion belts conveniently available to any promoter willing to write a check. But this is still a top-notch match-up.

If you don't want to wait that long for local action, plenty of opportunities are available for on-the-road cards (if the price of gas isn't a deterrent).

Sky Ute Casino of Ignacio, Colo., will end its yearlong absence from boxing June 9 with a five-bout card headlined by two female world champs and local pros from the Four Corners area.

Bloomfield welterweight Joe Gomez (10-1-1, 4 KOs), well-known in Albuquerque, will go eight rounds at 152 with El Paso's grizzled veteran Rene Herrera (26-16, 19 KOs), staging a comeback after a four-year layoff. Also, Farmington's Victor Barela (7-0-1, 2 KOs) will stage his umpteenth attempt at a ring comeback, in a five-rounder at 124 against Manuel Saravia (15-18-7, 10 KOs), of Las Vegas, Nev.; and, in a four-rounder at welterweight, Utah's Silvanus Morris (pro debut) is up against Rodrigo Aguiar (1-0), also of Vegas.

In female fights, Layla McCarter (22-12-5, 5 KOs), of Las Vegas, Nev., holder of a world title at lightweight and a No. 1 contender to Holly Holm for one of the welter titles, faces the much-less-experienced Domingo Olivo (4-1), of Brooklyn, N.Y., in an eight-rounder at 132; while Denver's Terri Cruz (15-4-2, 9 KO's), also, a holder of a world title, at 115, will face Heather Percival (9-4, 1 KO), of Fontana, Calif., in a seven-rounder at bantam.

Another road trip at the end of the month could be worth it - but only if you're an Evander Holyfield fan and never got the chance to see him fight. If you're hoping for a toe-to-toe distance war, you will probably be disappointed.

Holyfield, 44, is scheduled for a June 30 bout in El Paso at UTEP's Don Haskins Center. The former heavyweight great (41-8-2, 27 KO's) is relentlessly insistent upon a final world title before retirement. He is matched with 41-year-old Lou Savarese (46-6, 28 KOs) of Houston. High-action featherweight Jason Litzau (21-1, 18 KO's), of St. Paul, Minn., unbeaten El Paso heavyweight David Rodriguez (25-0, 24 KO's) and Las Cruces' Ricky Vasquez (1-0, 1 KO) are also scheduled to fight.

My recommendation? Wait until you find out who Rodriguez and Litzau are signed to fight before buying tickets or ordering the event on pay-per-view ($30).

The big action for the amateur scene is in Colorado Springs, starting today and ending next Friday, with the U.S. Nationals - a must-win for anyone hoping to qualify for August's Olympic team trials.

New Mexico has several hopefuls in the tournament, including Las Cruces 178-pounder Siju Shabazz, who already qualified for the Olympic trials when he captured the National Golden Gloves last month; 132-pound Archie Ray Marquez of Albuquerque; and 119-pounder Sammy DiPace of Las Cruces.

As for MMA action?

Although New Mexicans didn't fare so well at recent UFC cards - Diego Sanchez (19-1) lost to Josh Koscheck (11-1) at UFC 69 and Keith Jardine (12-3-1) got KO'd in one by unknown Houston Alexander (7-1) at last weekend's UFC 71 show in Vegas - two of the Duke City's lesser-known-but-highly-ranked cage fighters have the chance to shine this month on prominent cards.

Albuquerque's Carlos Condit (19-4) will defend his WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) welterweight belt Sunday night on the Versus network, live from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. Condit takes on Brock Larson (20-1) from Minnesota.

On June 22 on Showtime pay-per-view, Albuquerque's Joey Villasenor (23-5) faces Brazilian Murilo Rua (13-7-1) for the EliteXC middleweight belt.