Fighting before his supportive local fan base for the third time this year, Paul Nave scored a six-round unanimous decision win over Daniel Schlienz to cap a night of professional boxing at the Marin Center Exhibit Hall in San Rafael, California on Friday night.
The 49-year-old Nave (18-8-2, 7 KOs) of San Anselmo, California ended a nine-year hiatus from the sport in March of this year in hopes of gradually working his way back to relevance. Schlienz (7-17-1, 4 KOs) of Duluth, Minnesota represented a modest step up in competition from Nave’s first two opponents this year, as well as a return to the 147-pound welterweight class he last competed at in 1999.
Nave entered the ring with his trademark intensity, and fought a determined fight from the outset. Schlienz on the other hand fought a cautious and defensive fight at the start and seemed to over think his attack rather than pressure Nave for any great length. Nave landed in combination early on, willing to risk leaving himself open to a counter in order to land his shots. Luckily for Nave, Schlienz, a 40-year-old himself, could not or would not pull the trigger when the opportunities presented themselves.
By the second round, Nave continually found a home for his overhand right. Nave wobbled Schlienz with the right in the fourth and closed the round with a solid left hook, short right combination. After Nave controlled most of the fifth, Schlienz came out of his shell a bit in an even exchange to end the round. Nave came out aggressively in the sixth, landing several combinations that appeared to stun Schlienz. A left hook staggered Schlienz, but the Duluth native regrouped and traded with Nave to close the fight. In the end, two judges scored the fight 60-54 and the third scored it 58-56, all for Nave.
While he looked to be in great shape in the ring, Nave revealed after the fight that he did have some trouble getting back down to welterweight. “It came off good for a while, than all of a sudden it stagnated,” stated Nave, who said he had to lose eleven-and-a-half pounds over the last three days. “It was hard the last few days to get the last few pounds off, but I will start a little earlier next time.”
While getting down to the weight may have been difficult, Nave felt better once in than ring as a welterweight than he did heavier in his last two bouts. “It felt a lot better,” said Nave. “In the first fight, [Mikhall] Lyubarsky came in a few pounds overweight, so I was fighting a middleweight. Next fight, I fought a guy that had knocked him out. So from a publicity standpoint, he had knocked out the guy that I didn’t, so we took that fight. I felt I wanted to get back to welterweight so I could box a little more. It felt good and I felt I was outboxing my opponent. So I decided to do enough. A couple times I had him hurt, but I didn’t follow up right away. But I felt I was outscoring him every round, so there was no reason to keep pushing and pushing. I did what I had to do to outbox my opponent, get out of there and go on to the next fight.”
While no decisions have been made about his next fight, the goal remains the same for Nave. Despite his advancing age, Nave hopes to get one last shot at a world title. “Absolutely,” answered Nave resoundingly when asked. “Any given day, any fighter can beat another fighter. I am proof of that. I beat [Greg] Haugen who is in the Hall of Fame.”
Despite the nine-year layoff and his 50th birthday looming around the corner, Nave does not seem too worried about how many ticks are left on his boxing clock. “You never know. I could let it all go now and go for it. If I get a shot at [a title] you will see someone that really, really trained,” vowed Nave. “I know what it takes to do it. The only thing is for a fight like that, I won’t be able to get away with being the promoter too. With a big fight like that I will have to get a lot of help promoting the fight. But it is one fight at a time. I will sit down with my advisors and the people I work with and decide what is next.”
In a pairing of tough luck, but capable journeymen lightweights, Jaime Rodriguez (5-6-3, 2 KOs) of Reno, Nevada took a close six-round unanimous decision over Jose Alfredo Lugo (10-12-1, 5 KOs) of Richmond, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Action began to heat up late in the second round, as each fighter began to land telling blows, but a Rodriguez uppercut to close the round may have given the judges reason to score it for him. Lugo became the aggressor in the third, continually landing sweeping lefts on the retreating Rodriguez. Lugo continued to press the fight in the fourth and seemed to have gained a foothold in the fight.
The momentum of the fight moved again, as Rodriguez changed his approach, getting on his toes and giving Lugo problems with his movement. The sixth was a highly competitive round which could have gone either way. In the end, all three judges scored the bout for Rodriguez, 58-56. Throughout their careers, both Lugo and Rodriguez have been matched with one prospect after another, in most cases giving their opponents a tough fight.
Undefeated light welterweight Aris Ambriz (13-0, 8 KOs) of Azusa, California scored a sixth-round stoppage over always game journeyman Michaelangelo Lynks (7-13-2, 2 KOs) of Los Angeles, California. Lynks was in trouble early, as Ambriz landed hard shots in combination. Ambriz dropped Lynks the following round with a clubbing shot along the ropes. Lynks made it back up to his feet and out of the round, but was clearly the worse for wear.
At times in the fight, Ambriz would get Lynks in trouble, but let him off of the hook. When given the opportunity, Lynks would land a series of jabs or one-two combinations, but his punches seemed to have little steam on them. Eventually Ambriz would change the momentum with one hard shot, or a flurry. It looked as though the referee would stop the fight midway through the fourth, with Lynks absorbing punches along the ropes, but the fight continued into the sixth. Again, with Lynks languishing on the ropes, Ambriz flailed away until the referee leaped in to stop the fight at 1:14 of round six. Lynks protested the official’s decision, but the stoppage was just.
In the super bantamweight opener, Juan Tepoz (2-2-1) of Santa Rosa, California and Sean Solomon (0-0-1) of Los Angeles, California fought to a technical draw. The first round was even until Tepoz rocked Solomon late in the round. Tepoz followed up with a flurry, but Solomon covered up well enough to make it out of the round without absorbing much more punishment.
What looked to be an entertaining fight ended prematurely early in the second, as a bad cut opened up over the left eye of Tepoz. After inspection from the ringside doctor the referee called a halt to the bout at the 1:20 mark. In the state of California, a four-round bout stopped before the fight’s conclusion on a cut caused by a headbutt, which was the referee’s call, is ruled a technical draw.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.
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