Sanchez-Gomez #1 In Rivalry
MEXICO VS. PUERTO RICO “MUCHO MAS”
San Juan, Puerto Rico– There must be a thousand articles about this boxing rivalry and it still will never get old because when the most popular division in boxing, the heavyweights are not producing great fights, the small guys always stand up for the sport. But what I am talking about today is “Latino vs. Latino” boxing and three upcoming bouts involving this rivalry, three fights that in their own way have some history behind them.
RIVALRY RESUMES SATURDAY NIGHT
Jonathan Gonzales (13-0, 11 KOs) of Puerto Rico meets vs. Mexican Giovani Segura (29-3-1, 25 KOs) this weekend. Three years ago Segura came to Puerto Rico to challenge Ivan Calderon (35-3-1, 6 KOs) for his 105 lb. WBO belt. A heavy underdog, Segura KO’d Calderon in eight rounds and ended Calderon’s seven year reign as champ. In a rematch one year later, Segura stopped Ivan in three rounds.
SEGURA THOUGHT TO BE LESS THAN BEFORE
Although Segura been in some battles after that, leading some to think he’s not what he us to be, the Mexican warrior has experience and good power. His return to the Island is to take the undefeated record away from a Gonzales, who has developed into quite a young prospect. Giovani will be Gonzales’ biggest and toughest challenge to date. As a side note, Calderon has been going to the gym with Gonzales hoping to share some of his knowledge, all the while Gonzales is hoping to get revenge for Calderon.
PIONEER GAY FIGHTER IN ORLANDO VS. ORLANDO BATTLE!
The island’s Orlando Cruz (20-2-1, 10 KOs) takes on Mexican warhorse Orlando Salido (39-12-2, 27 KOs) in Las Vegas on Oct 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The pair will be fighting for the vacant WBO 126 lb. title, the belt that Mikey Garcia lost at the scale when he couldn’t make weight for Juan Manuel Lopez. Even though Salido got beaten from pillar to post by Garcia last January in Madison Square Garden, losing his WBO belt in the massacre, he’ll be fighting for the title again against the first openly gay male boxer Orlando Cruz.
MIKEY GARCIA COMING BACK AT 130 LBS.
Unbeaten Mexican-American Mikey Garcia (32-0, 27 KOs) of Oxnard, CA takes on Puerto Rican Rocky Martinez (26-1-2, 15 KOs). Word going around was that Martinez was trying to negotiate a bigger money fight that failed to materialize, thus he was forced to take the fight with Garcia, who after loosing his WBO belt on the scale decided to move up in weight and challenge the lone Puerto Rican born champion this fight does not have a date yet but it will soon. If Martinez loses this scheduled for November 9, in Texas, the country of Puerto Rico would be without an island born champion, something that has not happened since Sixto Escobar (39-23, 17 KOs) had to abandon his bantamweight (118) title due to weight issues in 1939. It wasn’t until 1959 that another native islander became champion emerged in Carlos Ortiz (61-7-1, 30 KOs).
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
So in a way all three bouts have some sort of history. Gonzales is seeking revenge for Calderon, in addition to putting his name next to Wilfred Benitez as the youngest boxer ever to win a title at 17. And of course, Orlando Cruz wants to be the first openly gay world champion.
“Mad Manny” Caballero