In a largely tactical fight between two talented young boxers, experience counts.
Albuquerque’s Abraham Perez defeated Californian Isaac Anguiano by unanimous decision Saturday in the six-round super flyweight main event of a Legacy Promotions card at Expo New Mexico’s Lujan Exhibition Hall.
Perez is now 5-0 with two knockouts. Anguiano is 3-1 with one KO.
The judges’ scores, 59-55, 59-55 and 60-54, don’t suggest a close contest. Yet, round by round, the fight was competitive.
Anguiano, 19, fought well — landing some telling punches, in particular some thudding shots to the body.
“He could bring it, that’s for sure,” Perez said of his young opponent. “… He hung in there all the way.”
But, it seemed, Perez consistently came on in the final 30 seconds of each round — the last 10 seconds especially — to sway the judges his way, landing counter shots and attacking as the bell was about to sound..
Perez, 23, has been fighting professionally for less than a year. But before that, he fought for more than a decade as an amateur — winning national titles, competing internationally, gaining a wealth of experience.
In contrast, Anguiano had a brief amateur career and never reached Perez’s level.
The experience he gained over those years in the amateurs, Perez said after the bout, has provided the foundation for his budding pro career — and helped him prevail on Saturday.
“It all plays an important role in what you do now,” he said. “History. You learn from history so you don’t repeat it. I kind of like to think of it like that.
“You live and you learn. I don’t take losses, I take lessons.”
Aaron Perez, Abraham’s father, heads Legacy Promotions. Three of Abraham’s five per bouts have taken place on Legacy cards, but Aaron Perez has said Saturday’s will be the company’s final show of 2022.
That doesn’t mean it will be Abraham’s last. Hobbs’ Isidro Castillo, on whose cards Perez has fought twice, is the state’s busiest promoter. But whether or not on a Castillo card, Perez would like to fight again before the year is out.
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“It would be nice if I could get out of the state, too,” he said.
Perez stayed in the amateurs as long as he did because the Olympics were a real possibility. He in fact won the US Olympic Trials at 114 pounds, but was passed over by USA Boxing for a boxer whom Perez defeated twice en route to the Trials title.
In terms of his future on the pros, he’s patient but eager. The major promoters, he hopes, are watching.
“In two years,” he said, “I want to see myself on national TV. Top Rank, PBC (Premier Boxing Champions), all those fights.
“As long as I just keep on doing what I’m doing, I’m bound to get a call somewhere in the near future.”
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