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Boxing: Holly Holm beats Angel Martinez for the third time
Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune
Tribune
Holly Holm lands a hard right to the face of challenger Angel Martinez. Martinez, ranked as high as No. 2 in one of the women's boxing organizations this year, was the latest victim of Holm on Friday night at Santa Ana Star Casino. The Tribune scored the fight 99-91 in favor of Holm, who raised her record to 19-1-2. Martinez fell to 6-4-1.
Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune
Tribune
Holly Holm does a flip in the ring with the help of trainer Mike Winkeljohn after defeating Angel Martinez. Holm dominated the first eight rounds of the 10-round bout Friday night at Santa Ana Star Casino.
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With the way Albuquerque boxer Holly Holm is treating visitors, she might have a hard time finding future foes to come to her hometown den of destruction.
"Holly Holm has cleaned up at home," promoter Lenny Fresquez said Friday night at Santa Ana Star Casino, after his top box-office draw pulled off another dominating win.
"Opponents are getting harder and harder to find. It may be time to import contenders from Europe."
Angel Martinez, ranked as high as No. 2 in one of the women's organizations, was the latest victim of Holm. The Dallas native apparently was the only American contender willing to face Holm, according to Fresquez.
The fourth go-round between the two fighters proved as entertaining as the first three - two wins by Holm and a draw.
The capacity crowd saw Holm successfully defend one of her six world titles, the International Female Boxing Association welterweight belt.
Through nearly the first eight rounds of the 10-round bout, Holm outboxed and outclassed her game opponent.
Holm indulged Martinez in a slugfest at just the right times, almost always beating her nemesis to the punch.
It wasn't until the end of the eighth that Martinez was able to land her big right hand. Stunning Holm twice, she stole the eighth and made the ninth and 10th rounds a nail-biter.
Showing grit while keeping the fans and Martinez happy, Holm swapped punishing shots to close the show while winning a unanimous decision with scores of 99-91 twice and 96-94.
The Tribune scored it 99-91 in favor of Holm, who raised her record to 19-1-2, 5 KOs. Martinez fell to 6-4-1, 1 KO.
"I don't take anything from Angel," Holm said after the bout. "She's tough. Her right hands are no joke."
Likewise, Martinez was all praise: "She's an awesome fighter, the best in the world at welter. What can I say? I don't have excuses. It just wasn't my night.
"But If she wants to do it again, let's get it on."
After three wins and a draw - all hard-fought - Holm said: "This is it with Angel. If she wants to train, I'd love to do it, but no more fights."
With Holm's latest fight over, Fresquez's fight has just begun - again.
"We wanted Mary Jo Sanders," Fresquez said.
The undefeated Detroit fighter (24-0, 7 KOs) has been offered a shot at Holm several times. She attended Holm's last fight, and a showdown between the two appeared likely, at least for a time.
"We're willing to pay her more than she's ever been paid to come here, or we'll go to her hometown if the price is right," Fresquez said.
Fresquez says that Holm's next opponent will likely come from abroad, where there are a handful of contenders, weights ranging from 140 to 154 pounds.
"We'll make one more offer to Sanders," he said. "I don't think it'll happen, though. They're afraid of Holly."
Archuleta returns: In the co-main event, former featherweight contender Frankie Archuleta (25-5-1, 14 KOs) of Las Vegas, N.M., ended a 2 1/2-year layoff. He opened and closed his bout with Panama's Armando Cordoba (23-29-2, 17 KOs) impressively, though he looked rusty in the six rounds in between.
Cordoba survive a big right hand from Archuleta halfway through round one, and nearly evened the scorecards by the final round until another big right put him down for the count at 1:18.
"Those middle rounds were close," admitted Archuleta. "But I was pacing myself.
"It feels good to be back."
In other results:
Albuquerque super bantamweight David Martinez (18-3-1, 3 KOs) bounced back from his loss early this summer to former world champ Bones Adams, with a lopsided unanimous decision over Mexican Paulino Villalobos (26-38-2, 16 KOs). All three cards read 80-72.
Albuquerque featherweight Willie Villanueva (7-0, 1 KO) won a six-round split decision over Denver's Cuauhtemoc Mendoza (3-3-1, 1 KO), who was floored in round one. Scores were 58-55 twice and 57-56 for Mendoza.
Former world super bantamweight champ Jackie Chavez (9-4, 3 KOs) of Los Lunas lost a six-round decision to Ada Velez (15-3-2, 6 KOs) of Hollywood, Fla. Scores were 58-56 twice and 57-57.
Rio Rancho welterweight Lucas Galle (1-1) won a four-round unanimous decision over El Paso's Cornelius Shuler (1-1). Scores were 39-37 on all three cards.
