RESULTS FROM LAREDO
By Christian Schmidt

It was an exciting evening that included both Martial Arts and Boxing at the Life Downs Pavilion in Laredo, TX in a event billed as "Battleat the Border 5."  The event was put on by Triple A Promotions.  The evening kicked off by Laredo's John Montes(2-2) over coming a cut over his left eye to score a TKO at 2:56 of the first round over Jorge Balboa(1-7) with a solid left hook to Balboa's head.  The second fight was definitely one that the fans in attendance will remember for quite sometime.  Nuevo Laredo's Victor Rojas(2-0) scored a devastating TKO over Laredo's Fransisco Chavez(1-3) at 1:37 of the first round in a battle of lightweights.  The match up started off pretty intense as both fighters showed aggression.  This all stopped when Rojas landed a
devastating right to the jaw of his opponent.  Referee Ellis Johnson did not even begin the count, he quickly called for the medics.

Chavez was carried off in a stretcher.  Ringside judge Ruben Carrionn did mention that Chavez was responsive though.  The first MMA match of the evening included a battle of San Antonians.  Daniel Pinheiro made quick work of Terry Jo Vliet as he made his opponent tap at 1:10 of the first round with a rear naked choke.  The next contest was another MMA battle that featured two 300 lbs+ competitors going at it.  George Trujillio of Lubbock, TX made Michael Rosenberg of McAllen tap in his own corner with a standing guillotine choke at :26 of the second round.  Then back to boxing as Reyes Esqueda(4-2) pounded out a split decision over Nuevo Laredo's Sergio Gonzales.  Reyes knocked Esqueda down in the second round proving to be the deciding factor in his victory.  In a spirited fight, Pedro Martinez(3-1-1) scored a majority decision over Miguel Piarro with scores of 39-37, 38-38, and 39-37.

Going back to MMA Brian Kanneally took on Christopher Lopez in a match up that had fans at their feet.  The first round was pretty wild as both fighters showed their fine tuned grappling skills.  Kanneally seemed to get the best of the two in the first round, but Lopez battled back to execute a guillotine choke that had referee Jacob Montalvo halt the contest at 2:14 of the second round.  After this came another MMA match up.  Laredo's Jorge Garza took on Austin's Travonne Hobbs.  Hobbs was able to capitalize on a error Garza made by throwing a kick and landing on his back.  Hobbs quickly got his opponent in a stiff guillotine to end the contest at 1:50 of the first round.  The next fight pit boxers Edgar "La Bestia" Cantu(2-0-1) of
Laredo against Jesse Anguiano(0-2-1) of San Antonio in a battle of featherweights.  Both fighters had their moments as it appeared Cantu got the better of it, but in the end judges scored it a draw with scores of 39-37 for Cantu, 39-37 for Anguiano, and 38-38.

The main event had boxer Rodolfo "La Cobrita" Gomez Jr.(7-1-1) of
Laredo, TX coming off his first defeat taking on Alberto Espinoza(1-3) also of Laredo.  The first round had Espinoza being the aggressor and beating his much taller opponent to the punch.  Espinoza proved to be successful in the second round as well by getting inside and scoring with some effective combinations.  In the third round Gomez Jr. changed up his strategy, most likely from advice from his corner, that included former fighters Rodolfo Gomez, his father, and Manuel "Shotgun" Gomez, his Uncle.  Gomez Jr. began to use his reach more and saw a weakness in his opponents body.  Espinoza went down in the third due to a right, left hook combo to the body.  Espinoza beat the count,but never fully recovered.  La Cobrita finally scored with a solid right uppercut to the face of his opponent that prompted the referee
to start his count.  Espinoza, bent over in his corner, just could not raise up. 

Gomez Jr. was successful in his comeback fight.  "I feel great, this is exactly what we trained for.  I am work in progress,
there are places for me to improve, the people of Laredo deserve
better."  Gomez Jr. is set to get back in the ring September 8th. in Robstown, TX.  "So this means Monday, it is back in the gym." the fighter said with a smile on his face.

In the MMA co-main Laredo's Rick Guerra(3-0) took on San Antonio's Marcelo Lumakang(5-8) in one of the most thrilling MMA events ever in the city's history.  Even though Guerra was the hometown fighter, Lumakang had many supporters make the trip to cheer him on along with other competitors from his dojo that fought earlier on the card.  That made for one intense crowd.  After the bell rang, neither man showed any signs of fear as they both went right at it, and showed phenomenal grappling skills.  The atmosphere was electric as both fighter's had their moments.  A break in the action was called when Lumakang complained of a knee to the groin.  The second round got underway with Lumakang sending Guerra down with a looping right hook to the face that sent the Laredoan on his back.  Guerra showed signs of recovery and began to grapple.  The contest was going back in forth until Guerra got Lumakang on his back and landed a series of long harping hammer fists that Lumakang was trying to roll out of.  Guerra had the advantage of having his opponent in a corner.  After a long series of stiff blows referee Jacob Montalvo determined Lumakang could not longer get out of the position, and stepped in at 2:46 of the second round much to the delight of the hometown crowd.