TUCSON – There were hand signals. There were looks. There were cheers and probably a few prayers.
In the end, there were thumbs up, one from Thomas Valdez and another from his trainer and uncle, Oscar Valdez Sr. on a stage overlooking an outdoor ring on a chilly night Saturday at Casino Del Sol.
Thomas Valdez (18-3-2, 7 KOs), a super-featherweight from Nogales, Mexico, and cousin of featherweight champion Oscar Valdez Jr., won a split decision over Luis Coria (9-2, 4 KOs) with his lead trainer, Valdez Sr., unable to work the corner because of the lingering effects from a food-borne virus he caught in 2011.
“I just can’t climb the steps through the ropes between rounds, because I’ve still got some of that sickness in me,’’ Valdez Sr. said of his ongoing comeback from a long-term fight with a virus he caught while with his son at an international tournament in Rio De Janeiro. “I’m here mostly for the strategy and tactics.’’
But it was also clear he was there because Thomas Valdez needed him for a measure of confidence as well as the tactics. After the fourth round, the fight looked even. It was then that Valdez Sr. stood up and gestured to Thomas that he needed to move forward.
He did so with great effect – repeated uppercuts over the second half of the 8-rounder. Those blows might have been enough to give him an edge on the score cards. Two were in his favor, 79-74 and 77-75. On the third card, it was 79-74 for Coria, an Oxnard, Calif., fighter out of trainer Robert Garcia’s Boxing Academy in the final bout on a 10-fight card that promoter Michelle Rosado dedicated to the memory of Don Chargin, a Hall of Fame matchmaker who died a couple of months ago.
In the co-main event, Christopher Gonzalez (3-0-1) and Judas Estrada (1-1-1, 1 KO), both Tucson welterweights, fought through a ferocious four rounder that ended in a majority draw.
On The Undercard
The Best
Look at Sebastian Fundora and you think basketball. He is 6-foot-6, big enough to be more of a small forward than a welterweight. That’s right, he’s a boxer, just a few pounds between welter and super-welter.
He might be taller than anybody in either division.
He also has some big-boy power.
Fondura (11-0, 7 KOs), a Coachella, Calif., fighter promoted by David Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, flashed it scary fashion, throwing a right that sent a much shorter Jeremiah Wiggins (10-7-1, 6 KOs) of Newport News, VA, into a long fall onto the canvas 31 seconds after opening bell. Wiggins fell face first and twitched while he laid on the canvas. After a few frightening seconds, he was helped up and into a sitting position on top of an overturned bucket. Eventually, he was able to walk out of the ring under his own power.
A relieved crowd applauded. Wiggins was OK.
Then, Fondura ‘s hand was raised and the time of his knockout victory was announced. The crowd roared. He was sensational.
The Rest
It was close in the beginning. It was gutsy in the end. The guts and victory belonged to Tucson junior-welterweight Alfonso Olvera (11-5-1, 4 KOs), who found energy and punches over the final two rounds of a six-rounder to take a unanimous decision over Virgil Green (11-6, 4 KOs) of Vancouver, Wash.
Tucson super-welterweight Nicholas Rhoads (5-0, 2 KOs) floored Hamilton Ash (0-2) of Guadalupe, Ariz., in the second round. Ash was down, but not out. Rhoads had to hold on in the third. Then, regained his energy and edge in the fourth, scoring a unanimous decision over Ash.
Tucson middleweight Arturo Resendiz (2-0, 2 KOs) threw a body shot for a knockdown in the opening seconds and then quickly finished up some easy work, scoring a first-round TKO of Brandon Trujillo (0-5) of Albuquerque.
Heavyweight Edgar Medina (1-0), a Tucson roofer when he isn’t in the ring, won his debut in front of hometown fans, scoring a unanimous decision over David Samore (1-5-3) of Chandler, Ariz.
It’s called blood sport for a reason and those reasons covered super-flyweights Edrick Rosa (1-0, 1 KO) of Florence, Arizona and Richard Mike Martinez (1-2, 1 KO) of Tucson. Blood was everywhere, mostly from a busted-up nose suffered by Martinez early in his loss by a fourth-round TKO. Martinez’ face was bloody-mask when time was called midway through the fourth. The ringside physicians took one look and ended it.
A night of full early stoppages continued with Phoenix lightweight Emmanuel Nieves (5-0, 2 KOs) storming out of his corner at opening bell with punches he threw and landed at will, knocking down Jose Barrera (2-1, 1 KO), also of Phoenix, and finishing him with a TKO at 1:51 of the first.
Middleweight Emmanuel Gallardo (4-0), an emerging favorite for Tucson fans, won over the crowd and the judges, landing one big right after another for a unanimous decision over Daniel Garcia-Flores (0-2) of Albuquerque.