Colorado's Border War Soldiers came under heavy fire this weekend and took a beating at the hands of New Mexico going 1-4 in five Colorado vs New Mexico bouts.  The fights were put on by Prize Fight Promotions and Alisha Sanchez at the Albuquerque Convention Center in front of a near sell out crowd off  2200 rabid New Mexican boxing fans.  They love their boxing and more importantly they love and support fighters down there.  Colorado boxing fans take note, please.

The main event featured Richard 'Bam-Bam' Conchas taking on "The Pride of Albuquerque" Ray Sanchez the III.  Conchas had definitely been 'talking the talk' but could he 'walk the walk'?  He had promised to knock Sanchez out, to anyone who would listen.  One newspaper in Albuquerque wrote "Conchas is a world class talker from Denver"...."If Conchas can fight as well as he talks, Sanchez is in a lot of trouble tonight".  Conchas was unable to back up the big talk as he was stopped at 2:32 of the very first round.  Sanchez, who is a southpaw,  came out flicking the jab and a quick 1-2 while being very cautious.  Conchas hardly through a punch and went down on the first significant blow of the bout, a sharp left hand to the chin,  to the delight of the New Mexico faithful.  Conchas threw a total of six jabs in the bout and never even threw the right hand bomb he is known for.  Conchas' stock will drop as he has always been known a tough brawler with a chin who also comes to fight.  Not to mention having lost 4 of his last 5 fights.  Sanchez on the other hand looked very sharp and will benefit from stopping him early as Conchas had gone the distance with prospect Cristian Bejarano Benitez and four action packed rounds with Top Rank prospect Dmitry Salita before being put away. 

The co main was over in a hurry as well as Holly Holm rushed across the ring and caught Janae Archuleta with a hard straight left hand.  She then smothered her with combinations of power punches.  Archuleta was never really able to recover and the bout was mercifully stopped at the one minute mark.  Holm was furious about being made to make weight and it showed.  At the weigh-ins the day before Holm had come in 2 pounds over.  Her manager, Mike Winkeljohn, had offered to give up $100 a pound, two big ones to let it slide.  Archuleta's manager, Aurelio Martinez, refused to be treated like an opponent and forced Holm to shed the pounds and make weight.  Winkeljohn told me in the parking lot that 'Holly will knock her out, she could have at least went home with an extra 200 bucks in her pocket, oh well.'  He was right.  Archuleta has gone the distance with some of the very best including Belinda Laracuente and the ever sexy Mia St. John.  I believe Holm is for real and will soon be making some real 'national level noise'.  Archuleta will take some time off but has said that this may have been her last fight.  If so, thank you so much for the memories and being a great representative for Colorado boxing, you will surely be missed.

'Hurricane' Hector Munoz looked good against Ignacio's Robert Manore stopping him late in last round of a scheduled 6 rounder.  Early on Munoz established his jab and the 1-2.  He threw the jab with pin point accuracy and constantly snapped Manore's head back. Manore was game and used an awkward style and plenty of lateral movement to keep Munoz from landing a flush shot.  In the third Munoz hurt him with an overhand right, but was unable to finish the job.  The fifth round saw Manore making his last stand as he landed his best punches of the fight and earned an even round on the RMB score card.  Munoz came out in the sixth looking to close the show and he did just that, stopping him at 2:30 of the round.  Manore I believe broke his hand somewhere along the way but showed what a true journeyman fighter is all about, toughness and grit.  Munoz showed real ring intelligence in being patient and not frustrated despite easily outclassing his opponent and it paid off.  'Hurricane' Hector Munoz is a name to remember.

Carlos Condit got a not so warm welcome to professional boxing as Donnell 'Donamite' Wade won a 4 round split decision over the crowd favorite.  Condit is a 'cross-over' fighter from the world of mixed martial arts, a growing trend in boxing.  Wade used heavy hooks to the body and head to pound out the win.  Ring announcer Mike Adams was in fine form as he built the suspense in announcing the split decision verdict.  You see this was the only bout that didn't pit a New Mexico Fighter against and Colorado fighter.  When he read the cards and said 'and your winner, from Albuquerque, New Mexico" the crowd went crazy thinking Condit won.  Then he dropped the bomb, announcing  'Donnell 'Donamite' Wade' as the winner, putting the crowd in silent disbelief. Wade improves to 2-1-1 and Condit begins his professional boxing career at 0-1, despite an 11-0 MMA record.

Speaking of mixed martial arts, there were two MMA bouts on the card as well, another growing trend in professional boxing which has helped to widen the fan base.  'Big', 6'9"-270+ pound, Dan Christison made quick work of Jimmy Westfall.  Westfall was able to get him to the floor but Christison was able to get the advantage and ended up sitting square on Westfalls chest, pounding him into submission.

The other bout was quick also as New Mexico's favorite 'The Nightmare' Diego Sanchez took care of very last minute replacement Travis Beachler in a mere 35 seconds.  Sanchez picked him up high in the air, while Beachler let out a scream of sorts, and slammed him to the canvas, hard.  He then got on top and let his hands fly until Beachler tapped out.  Sanchez and Christison will be fighting significant bouts in Brazil next month against world class opponents.  Got give it to Beachler, he has some huge cojones getting in there on just two days notice with a monster like Sanchez.

The highlight of the night, for Colorado boxing fans,  was Larry 'The Pitt Bull' Gonzalez' 1:15 annihilation of New Mexico's version of 'Bam-Bam' Conchas, Joey Brixx, a tough, loud mouth brawler.  Gonzalez timed a perfect right hand on the chin of Brixx and he went down.  Like a ton of Brixx.  There was a bit of a scare as Brixx lay motionless for about 20 seconds, before coming to.  Gonzalez showed his true colors as he quickly said a prayer for Brixx and checked to be sure he was OK, true professional in every sense of the word.  Gonzalez is a five time national runner up (silver medal) and the 2002 National Golden Gloves Champion. He is coming off of a little layoff having last fought in September but will be looking to 'get on the fast track' with several bouts all ready lined up or 'in the works'.  He has fought 9 professional rounds thus far and has 5 knock downs and a knock out, very impressive.  Gonzalez is 'the real deal with skills' and I predict he will become a world champion before his boxing career comes to a close.  Maybe he can close the mouth of Brixx's Colorado counter part, Bam-Bam Conchas in the near future.

The last bout I want to talk about was truly a shame.  Mercedes Mercury fought a perfect fight with a perfect plan.  She kicked Chavez' ass the entire bout and lost a bullshit split-decision.  Absolutely no disrespect to Jackie Chavez, because she fought her heart out and gave 100% of herself in that ring, unlike the hated 'look for a soft spot on the canvass, payday fighters.'  She gave a great showing of herself and will undoubtedly come back a much better fighter.  As she said in the locker rooms later 'This was a real learning experience for me.' 

M&M dominated the fight as you will see when we post the fight for your viewing pleasure.  This fight tape be making its way into the hands of Senator John McCain as fuel for his fire in trying to establish a long over due national boxing commission. 

On to the actual fight report.

The first stanza sees M&M using her very best asset, movement, to her advantage.  She keeps Chavez off balance, never giving her a chance to 'set and throw'.  Whenever Chavez gets into range she gets blitzed with quick 3-4 punch combos.  In the second it is more of the same and M&M hurts her with a straight left at the end of the round.  Chavez just doesn't seem to be able to figure out the southpaw stance not to mention M&M's unique style.  She is able to land her shots and be 'gone like a ghost' before Chavez can retaliate, leaving her swinging at air.  Chavez lands a nice right hand late in the round, her only significant punch of the bout thus far.  In the fourth M&M continues taking Chavez to school despite her landing a few good blows.  I must see the judges scorecards (the e-mail is in to the commission) because anyone who scored any of the first four rounds for Chavez should be suspended and held accountable for their score.  She is honestly out landing Chavez 4 or 5 to one.  I felt at this point that if M&M stayed on her feet for the remainder of the bout she would cruise to an easy decision victory.  In the fifth Chavez gets going lands a hard left hook but M&M is always quick to fire back with four or five punches, finishing the exchanges.  Mid round M&M hurts her and goes in for the kill, but is unable to get the gutsy Chavez out of there.  Chavez looks frustrated and battered as she headed to her corner.  In the sixth Chavez comes out looking for the knock-out as her corner had to have told her she needed to win.  She has her best round of the fight landing hard shots and rocking M&M on more than one occasion, but it is just too little too late.  She wins the round but loses the fight on the RMB scorecard 59-55. 

Judges saw it 58-56 for Mercedes Mercury and 58-56x2 for Chavez. 

The card was a first class production from start to finish.  I want to thank Prize Fight Promotions and Alisha Sanchez for their hospitality and great fight card.

The Border War Score Board has taken a serious swing in New Mexico's favor but we will look to even up the score on the next few fight cards, namely the Cinco De Mayo card at the Radisson Greystone Castle on May 5th.

We will have video interviews with, Ray Sanchez III, Bam-Bam Conchas, Holly Holm and Vicente 'El Picosito' with Robert Padilla later this week.  We also shot an RMB Video Session with the beautiful but deadly Stephanie 'Golden Girl' Jaramillo, it will be great, I promise.  Be sure to visit her website, www.Teamgoldengirl.com.