LAS CRUCES, NM – It was a successful night for the El Paso boxers on Saturday at the Pan American Center.
Stephanie Han of El Paso, a decorated amateur boxer who hadn’t fought in 10 years, won her professional boxing debut with a unanimous decision against Isabel Garcia of New Mexico.
Han won the four round match with 40-36 points on all three scorecards.
“I followed my schedule,” said Han. “I felt like I boxed well and it definitely felt good to be back in the ring in a competitive situation. Now I want to build on that win and get back in the ring as soon as possible. I would like to keep going.” fight and see where this takes me. “
Han, an El Paso police officer, is the younger sister of IBF featherweight champion Jennifer Han and Abraham Han, who has won 26 career fights.
“Training with my sister to help her last fight certainly helped and I was able to build on that,” said Stephanie Han. “It helped me get into the right mindset for my debut.”
Jorge Tovar Jr. now 2-0
El Paso super middleweight Jorge Tovar, Jr. improved to 2-0 with a first-round knockout of Philadelphia’s Andre Mack.
Tovar took control early, landed some hard body punches and knocked Mack down for the first time about a minute into the lap. Mack slowly rose from the screen, unsure whether to continue.
Tovar kept pounding on Mack and sending him back to the canvas. After the second knockdown, Mack failed to hit the 10 count and the fight was stopped at 1:45 of the first round.
“I felt like I made the improvements I wanted. I was calmer and did my job,” said Tovar, who won his first fight by knocking out in the first round in July. “I’ll be back to work soon and hopefully be back in the ring soon.”
Tovar’s father and trainer, Jorge Tovar, Sr., said he was pleased with his son’s performance.
“My son works hard, he makes progress every day,” said the older Tovar. “He came out focused and ready to go.”
Bonds impressive in profit
Welterweight El Paso Dewayne Bonds didn’t take the full six rounds to beat New Mexico’s Derek Perez.
Bonds landed a strong left hand on Perez’s jaw towards the end of the first round to end the fight and improve to 11-3-1.
Perez came out quickly and put pressure on Bonds, but Bonds calmed down and started peppering Perez with a powerful two-fisted attack.
According to boxrec.com, Bonds has won seven fights in a row.
Mikey Tovar wins professional debut
Cruiserweight El Paso Mikey Tovar was impressive on his pro debut, stopping Albuquerque’s Freddy Sandoval at 2:28 in the third round.
Tovar injured Sandoval with right and left hooks during the third round before the referee stopped the fight after Sandoval went down for the third time.
“It was a great win to start my professional career,” said Tovar, a 2011 El Paso High graduate, “I’ve been into boxing and MMA for five years and it’s great to see the hard work paying off. As Once I settled in the ring, I felt strong and could bring my punches together. I trained hard for it. ” to fight and move forward, I want to stay as busy as possible. “
Smith-Rodriguez wins six round decision
In a six-round women’s match, Indeya Smith-Rodriguez of Dallas won a split against Amy Salinas of Las Cruces.
With two judges, Smith won 58-56 and one judge with Salinas won 58-56.
The fight was action-packed throughout, but Smith was busier for the first four rounds before Salinas came back to change things. Smith is 2-3-1 and Salinas suffered their first loss in four fights.
Pan Am Center boxing history
The Pan American Center has hosted several memorable fights over the years. Here’s a look at some of them:
• In 1979, former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Ed “Too Tall” Jones fought Yaqui Meneses, the 20-year-old son of a corn and cotton farmer in Obregón, Mexico. It was at the Pan American Center in November 1979.
• In 1984, Charlie “White Lightning” Brown defeated Las Cruces’ Louie Burke in a controversial lightweight decision. Burke fought Hector Camacho and is now a boxing coach. The CBS TV analyst for the fight was former world champion Sugar Ray Leonard.
• George Foreman III, son of legendary heavyweight champion George Foreman, fought in Las Cruces at the Pan American Center in July 2009.
• Rocky Burke of Las Cruces fought on the undercard of the Ed “Too Tall” Jones fight in 1979 and made his professional debut over Pablo Medal via TKO. Burke was a very good amateur and is now a respected referee. On Saturday he was one of two referees.
• Albuquerque’s popular world champion Johnny Tapia, who won the smaller weight division titles, won a match at the Pan Am Center in May 2000 on Showtime cable network by decision.
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at 915-546-6167; [email protected]; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter.
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