Story and photos by David Finger

By Fightnews.com

In what has emerged as one of the most popular boxing series in the Southwest, Holmes Boxing and Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino hosted another sellout on Saturday as local boy Brandon Holmes extended his undefeated record with a tough unanimous decision over Belen’s Gene Perez. Casual fans might have expected Holmes, who weighed in at 132.6, to be in for an easy night. Perez, who weighed in at 131.9, was visibly smaller, slower, and clearly lacked the skill set of the undefeated prospect from Santa Fe. But anyone who saw the first Holmes-Perez fight back in September knew that Perez was a fighter who could give the prospect fits.

Perez didn’t disappoint and picked up where the last fight left off as he bullied Holmes and pressured him into the ropes firing wild shots. Holmes easily timed most of the shots, but his New Mexico “Rope-a-dope” came with risks as he let Perez seemingly steal the opening round based on aggression and activity. Holmes picked up the pace in the second, firing a hard right cross that had Perez backing up briefly. But the gritty Belen native refused to fold, even as Holmes unloaded on him after a right hand sent the southpaw covering up in the neutral corner. Holmes continued to try and pick apart Perez, who continued to pressure Holmes with some effectiveness.

Holmes showed some signs of wilting in the fourth round as Perez continued to move forward, but a hard three-punch combination to the body turned the tide in the round and seemed to derail the relentless Perez in the second half of the round. But Perez seemed to make a breakthrough in round five. Holmes, firing hard shots upstairs, was unable to put away Perez and in turn ate a solid right to the chin. Although the punch did little serious damage to Holmes it did bloody the nose of the undefeated prospect and by the end of the round it was Perez who had Holmes backing up.

By the start of the final round the unthinkable seemed a distinct possibility: Perez seemed to be in striking distance of winning the fight in the stretch. But a picture perfect right cross from Holmes in the opening minute of the sixth round sealed Perez’s fate. Perez quickly rose after being sent to his knees but although he was not seriously hurt, it was a point that he could ill afford to lose. Although Perez fought well to close out the final round it was not enough to erase the damage the one knockdown did on the scorecards.

Although Fightnews scored the fight 58-56 for Holmes all three judges ultimately had the fight for Holmes by a wider margin. Juan Nunez scored the fight 60-53 while Chris Tellez and Ester Lopez both scored the fight 59-54. With the win Holmes improves to 10-0, 6 KOs. Perez drops to 1-8-1, 0 KOs. The referee was Rocky Burke.

In the co-main event Espanola’s Antonio Martinez, 152, survived a scary first round to win a unanimous decision over southpaw Brian Castillo, 155, in a junior middleweight fight. Castillo of El Paso nearly scored the New Mexico upset of the year when he rattled Martinez with a hard right hand. Martinez stumbled into the ropes and seemed lucky that it wasn’t ruled a knockdown. But as the New Mexican tried to fight back it was clear that he was troubled by the southpaw’s power. Martinez was cut over his left eye by the shot and seemed finished when a perfect left cross dropped him hard moments later. Martinez rose but was clearly hurt. However the underdog made what would be the biggest mistake of the night as he failed to jump on his wounded prey. By the end of the round Martinez was fighting back and even flurried to finish the round at 2:50. For the next three rounds Martinez outworked the suddenly passive Texan. Although the fight often was fought in the phone booth, Martinez continued to outwork Castillo and clearly swept the final three rounds, and capturing a fight that was Castillo’s to lose after a big first round. All three judges scored the fight 38-37 for the local boy, a score that Fightnews concurred with. With the win Martinez improves to 7-2-4, 5 KOs. Castillo drops to 0-3. The referee was Ray Chavez.

In the opening fight of the night Hobbs, New Mexico’s 20-year old junior middleweight prospect Isidro Castillo Jr. impressed the Santa Fe fight crowd as he improved to 3-0, 2 KOs with an impressive second round technical knockout over Belen’s Derek Perez. Although Perez came in with a less than stellar 0-4 record, the surprisingly gritty Perez gave as good as he got in the first round. The 24-year old Perez jumped all over Castillo early before a counter left hook sent Perez to the canvas. Although it was ruled a slip few would have blamed the winless Perez if he elected to play it safe for the remainder of the fight. But he gamely continued to try and brawl with Castillo. By the end of the first round it was apparent that although Castillo clearly won the round Perez had made the Hobbs native work for it. But the relentless pressure of Perez came with risks and in the opening minute of the second round Castillo capitalized on the recklessness of Perez. A picture perfect counter right landed flush on the chin of Perez and sent him down hard. Although Perez was up at seven he was unable to fully recover, something Castillo recognized immediately. Castillo unloaded a series of heavy punches on Perez who covered up on the ropes, sending him crashing to the canvas a second time. Referee Ray Chavez wisely waved the fight off at 1:11 of the second round. Castillo weighed in at 150.7 while Perez weighed in at 149.7.

“He did good,” Castillo said of his tough opponent. “He’s a fighter who comes forward in the ring.”

Rounding off the card, undefeated Bryant McClain, son of the former cruiserweight contender Sean McClain, won a sloppy but unanimous decision over Albuquerque’s Jordan Gregory. McClain, 164.4, jumped on Jordan early and tried to overwhelm the smaller man but Gregory, 166, was able to weather the storm. By the end of the round it appeared that neither Gregory nor McClain had the stamina to fight four hard rounds. But McClain showed more grit in working through his fatigue, always rallying in the final ten seconds of the round and visibly pushing himself despite his fatigue. Fightnews scored the fight 39-37 for McClain, a score that was shared by Judge Chris Tellez. Judges Ester Lopez and Juan Nunez both scored the fight 40-36 for the Irish-New Mexican boxer from Rio Rancho. With the win McClain improves to 4-0, 1 KO while Gregory drops to 0-2.

In a four round junior lightweight fight Albuquerque’s Alex Holguin dominated undefeated Aaron Martinez over four rounds in a battle of southpaws. Holguin was aggressive and was able to frustrate Martinez, who was unable to find a home for his jab. The right hand proved to be an effective weapon for Holguin and at the end of the final round Holguin closed out Martinez’s desperate rally with a perfect right hand as Martinez rushed in. All three judges scored the fight 40-35 for Holguin who improves to 10-1, 6 KOs. Martinez drops to 3-1, 2 KOs.