Holm, Sweet Holm!
Holly Holm pours on the sweet science and makes a clean sweep of the welterweight belts with dominating win over Ann Marie Saccurato; Jeffries hangs on to title with spilt decision over Luna; Chavez loses belt to Brown

Ringside report by and photos by Chris Cozzone
Staking a claim for legitimacy, women’s boxing, last night, with Holly Holm at the helm, scored a major victory at the Isleta Casino & Resort, south of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In front of yet another packed house of 3,000, Holm put on a show of sweet science, in one of three women’s world title fights featured on a card promoted by Fresquez Productions and televised on FOX Sports’ The Best Damn Sports Show Period.

The card, and main event, made history on several levels, first, by marking FOX Sports Network as the first network to air an all-women’s non-pay-per-view show; and second, by Holm becoming the first women’s champion to unify all major belts—the four top titles, currently, being the IFBA, WBA, WBC and WIBA—in addition to the IBA and GBU belts.

Holm’s challenger, Ann Marie Saccurato, of White Plains, New York, never had a chance. Outsized, outhustled, outclassed and outpowered, Saccurato, though game and determined, had no answer for the top New Mexican box-office bombshell.

Saccurato came out punching at Holm, but had a hard time trying to find the fast-moving Holm in the first. When she did catch up with the jabbing-moving Holm, however, Saccurato looked surprised when Holm stood her ground and fired back with superior firepower.

Saccurato was not so eager to find Holm in the first minute of round two, but, in the second half, and in the third, she went at Holm, who popped her repeatedly with jabs and straight lefts from the outside. Clearly unable to box with Holm, Saccurato’s only chance of success was in turning the fight into a street fight—but, after several toe-to-toe exchanges, it was plain to see that Saccurato’s attempts to maul and brawl were no match for Holm’s faster, harder-hitting combinations.

So, Saccurato tried to spoil Holm’s pretty, pugilistic performance with a stanza sullied with several attempts of hitting-and-holding. Tying up Saccurato in close, Holm kept to the outside where she made the fight look easy.

In the fifth and sixth, Holm, making Saccurato miss with reaching overhands and hooks to the body, poured it on with increasing right hooks, at least two of which rocked Saccurato. The White Plains fighter, losing round after round, continued to hit and hold.

In the seventh, Referee Rocky Burke, tired of warning Saccurato, zapped her with a one-point deduction, though she was on her way to possibly winning the round, opening it up with a solid lead right uppercut. A straight right also landed for Saccurato but Holm’s punch output and footwork made it look easy for her.

In the final three rounds, Holm slowed down somewhat but continued to deposit rounds in the bank by catching a growing-desperate Saccurato coming in. To her credit, Saccurato, though looking exasperated, continued to come forward and did not give up—though it was a clearly losing battle.

At the end of ten, the judges ranged from 98-91, twice, to 97-92, all for Holm. NewMexicoBoxing/FightNews (NMB/FN), however, was hard-pressed to give Saccurato a single round, scoring it 99-90 for Holm, with the one-point deduction in round seven.

“I knew she was gonna be wild,” said Holm, who rises to 17-1-2 (5 KOs) and adds the WBC, WIBA, IFBA, IBA and GBU 147-pound belts to a trophy case that already contains the WBA welter, IFBA jr. middle and IBA junior welter belts.

“So, I didn’t want to stand there and brawl with her the whole time. She rang my bell a couple times—not really bad—but I felt I had her hurt at least twice.

“The win feels great. I feel great.  I wanted to win, not only for my family, friends and myself, but for women’s boxing. I think this was a big step for the sport.”

Backstage, Saccurato said she was disappointed with her showing:

“I thought it was a close fight, but I felt I did not perform at my usual high caliber. I wasn’t getting my shots off right and I caught myself thinking too much.

“It wasn’t my night—but the bottom line is, the show was a step forward for women’s boxing. Let’s do it again.”

Saccurato, while dropping a notch to 12-2-2 (5 KOs), still hangs on to a world title—the WBC—at lightweight.

Brown "Bad News" for Chavez

In a rematch and second title fight against each other, Jackie Chavez, of Los Lunas, lost her IFBA junior featherweight belt to Lisa “Bad News” Brown, of Trinidad and Ontario, Canada.

The first fight, over two years ago, had Brown winning a near-shutout in her home country of Trinidad and Tobego. This time, with the bout on Chavez’s home turf, saw a much different fight, but the New Mexican, once again, came up short on points.

Chavez won the opening round, taking the fight to Brown with big right hands straight up the middle. Brown warmed up in the second minute, and, through the second round, started to land the harder punches. Big straight lefts and right hooks to the body from the Canadian southpaw scored an easy round in the second, while Chavez, while willingly trading, started to throw sloppy and wide, leaving her head exposed.

With more composure and continual forward motion, Brown kept up the pressure in the third, losing only when Chavez through caution to the wind to brawl, which wasn’t often enough.

The first half of round four saw close exchanges, but Brown started to hammer away at the wide-open Chavez, landing body shots and never backing up. Brown continued to outgeneral Chavez until the final ten seconds of round five when Chavez let loose again, landing what would be her best shots of the night in a possible round-stealer.

Pressure from Chavez gave the champion her best round yet in the sixth—making it an even fight, going into the seventh, at least on this writer’s card.

But, that’s when Brown took over, making a clean sweep of the remaining rounds. Big right hooks, top and bottom, mixed up with straight lefts landed for Brown while Chavez was, simply, not busy enough—and too wide open for Brown’s big shots not to land.

After ten, all three judges scored it for Brown: 99-91, 97-94 and 97-93. NMB/FN was in agreement: 97-93.

“Jackie’s a good, tough fighter,” said Brown, the new IFBA jr. feather champ, now 13-4-3 (4 KOs).

“It was a tougher fight than the first, but I was able to hide and execute.”

What’s next for Brown?

“I want to fight Kelsey Jeffries,” said Brown.

Chavez suffers her third straight loss, falling to 9-3 (3 KOs).

“I fought better than the first time,” said Chavez. “I had trouble putting together my combinations and wasn’t getting off. But I feel I’m improving still—that’s what’s most important to me.”

Jeffries defends belt in thriller with Luna

In the opening televised bout, IFBA feather champ Kelsey Jeffries, of Gilroy, Calif., defended her belt with a split decision over undefeated challenger Rhonda Luna, of Rowland Heights, Calif., who, at least until the later rounds, gave Jeffries all she could handle.

Luna came out strong, winning the opening round with jabs and hard, straight right hands. Jeffries had a tentative round, but warmed up in round two—though Luna continued to land big rights and at least one on-the-mark left hook upstairs. Jeffries stayed at the end of Luna’s range, until the final ten seconds when the two started to exchange heavily.

The two willingly mixed it in the third, but Jeffries started to find a home for her straight right, past Luna’s guard. Showing versatility and superior footwork, Jeffries worked in and out, changing angles and moving to Luna’s right, while landing rights.

The fourth and fifth were flip-a-coin rounds, with Luna, the aggressor, landing punches—the right—with more impact but Jeffries landing more often. Jeffries’ mixed up her rights with left hooks, upstairs and down, possibly edging the fifth while losing the preceding round to Luna’s pressure.

Luna came out for the sixth with a big mouse—the result of an accidental headbutt—on her forehead. In a somewhat slower round for her, Luna lost out to Jeffries, who was double-jabbing and landing straights, beating Luna to the punch and showing her experience.

Jeffries outgeneraled Luna in the seventh heat, but the challenger from Rowland Heights might’ve stolen the round in the final ten seconds, outbombing Jeffries in a furious exchange.

In the eighth, Jeffries stayed on Luna, having her best moments yet, but lost momentum in the second minute with Luna’s blasts to the body. Round nine was won by Jeffries’ double jabs. The best moments in the fight occurred in the final ten seconds when Luna stormed in and slammed Jeffries with lefts and rights against the ropes—but Jeffries bombed back and Referee Lorenzo Saiz had to separate the two when the bell sounded.

In the best round of the fight, the tenth and final, Jeffries and Luna fought bell-to-bell, Luna’s big rights up against the champion’s higher punch rate.

After ten, the judges were split in their verdicts. Judge Levi Martinez scored it quality vs. quantity, for Luna, 96-94, while judges Rocky Burke and Russ Mora had Jeffries ahead, 96-94 and 97-93. NMB/FN also saw it for Jeffries, 97-93.

“I thought two of the scores were about right,” said Jeffries, whose record of 37-9-1 (3 KOs) marks her as one of women’s boxing’s most accomplished veterans.

“I won by being the smarter fighter. But she was tough and I felt those rights of hers. By listening to Buddy [McGirt, her trainer], I continually moved to the right and that made a big, big difference.

“It was a great atmosphere to fight in. I hope they do it again here in Albuquerque.”

Gomez stops Soberanis

In the second, and final, undercard bout, Bloomfield welter Joe “Ironman” Gomez (10-1-1, 4 KOs) scored a third-round TKO over tough San Antone scrapper Michael “Mad Dog” Soberanis (7-13-2) in an eight-round jr. middle bout.

Before injuring his right paw late in round one, Soberanis landed a couple of potentially dangerous left hands—but, otherwise, it was Gomez’s show. The Bloomfield boxer popped away with his jab and right hand down the middle, keeping Soberanis on his bike.

Gomez stepped up the pace in the second heat, pressuring Soberanis with big left hooks and occasional uppercuts, while slipping and ducking the San Antonian’s wild swings. By the end of the round, however, Soberanis was shaking his right hand and, when the third bell rang, he did not answer it.

“I saw him retreating in the second and knew he was gone so I kept on the pressure,” said Gomez. “I knew his game plan had gone right out the window.”

Villanueva picks up first kayo

In the opening bout, Albuquerque junior lightweight Willie Villanueva (5-0, 1 KO) picked up his first kayo win over unknown Las Cruces debuter Derek Lopez (0-1).

Lopez was on the retreat for most of the round, with Villanueva on the pursuit, jabbing and measuring his long right hand. Lopez attempted a couple wild, loopy overhands but they fell short of the mark.

In the second, Villanueva upped the pressure, battering Lopez to the canvas twice, once from a right hand, the second from a body shot. The bell rang just after Lopez stood up at nine.

The third was short, Villanueva chopping down Lopez a third and final time. Lopez sank to his knees where he was counted out by Referee Rocky Burke at :31.