Combat notes: Visa woes lead to change atop boxing card
Gilberto Mendoza, left, loses his mouthpiece while taking a hit from Nico Hernandez during a Feb. 23 bout. Mendoza gets another shot Saturday on a card at Expo New Mexico.
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Boxing promoters in the United States, especially in the Southwest, often look to Mexico for lower-weight fighters to populate their cards since such fighters are plentiful south of the border.
But there are problems with that, too.
Jose Angel Perez Diaz is out and Gilbert Mendoza is in as the opponent for sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Abraham Perez in Saturday鈥檚 Legacy Promotions main event at Expo New Mexico after Perez Diaz鈥檚 visa problems forced the change.
The vacant WBC Youth world title at flyweight (112 pounds) remains at stake.
Mendoza, a California native, is no stranger to New Mexico. On Feb. 24, he lost by unanimous decision to Kansan Nico Hernandez on a Tapia Promotions card at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
In June 2022, Mendoza (19-13-4) lost by six-round unanimous decision to sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Matt Griego-Ortega on a previous Tapia Promotions card in Paradise Hills.
Mendoza is actually 0-2-2 in New Mexico, twice having fought to draws with Espa帽ola鈥檚 Tony Valdez on Legacy cards in 2015.
His durability 鈥� Mendoza has been stopped short of the prescribed distance in only three of his 36 fights 鈥� will test the power the unbeaten Perez (7-0, three KOs) displayed in his third-round stoppage of the Philippines鈥� Jeronil Borres on April 8 at the Embassy Suites.
BKFC: To no one鈥檚 surprise, sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 fighting Dodson brothers will be together again when the BKFC returns to Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 11.
For the BKFC, it鈥檚 part of a winning formula. The bare-knuckle fighting promotion, which staged a highly successful card at Tingley on Feb. 17, is again populating the card with local fighters.
As announced earlier, sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 John Dodson (2-0 bare-knuckle) is scheduled to face Joshua Ridge (3-1) of the Philippines in the Aug. 11 main event. The vacant BKFC flyweight title belt will be at stake.
Dodson鈥檚 younger brother Eric (2-0) again will join his sibling on the card. He鈥檚 matched against Stevo Morris (2-1) of Tampa, Florida.
According to the BKFC website, another set of brothers, Los Lunas鈥� Gene and Derek Perez, also are scheduled to perform on the August card.
Derek Perez (1-0), who KO鈥檇 sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Anthony Sanchez in his bare-knuckle debut in February, is scheduled to face Keith Richardson (2-0) of Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Gene Perez (0-1) is matched against Sanchez, his brother鈥檚 KO victim in February. Gene Perez lost his BKFC debut to Eric Dodson by TKO.
sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Wil Santiago (2-0), like the Dodson brothers, won his first two BKFC fights on home turf 鈥� the first at the Rio Rancho Events Center on Aug. 27 2022, then in February with a first-round stoppage of Noah Cutter at Tingley.
Santiago is matched against Jeremie Holloway (BKFC debut) on Aug. 11.
This being combat sports, all matches are subject to change.
Paid attendance at the Feb. 17 card at Tingley was 6,792, which remains the highest in the BKFC鈥檚 five-year history.
COWBOY RIDING HIGH: Donald 鈥淐owboy鈥� Cerrone never won a UFC title. He lost his last four fights. He retired with a good but not great win percentage of .680 (36-17).
Yet, the longtime New Mexico resident鈥檚 longevity, popularity, toughness and anytime, anyplace attitude made him a no-doubt UFC Hall of Famer 鈥� an honor accorded him last week in Las Vegas, Nevada.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a wild journey,鈥� Cerrone said of his long MMA career.
During a post-ceremony news conference Cerrone said he鈥檚 happy in retirement and more than comfortable financially 鈥� claiming he made $10 million during his 18 years in the sport.
Only a monstrous payday, he said, could lure him back into the Octagon at age 40.
鈥淚鈥檇 fight my grandmother for $5 million,鈥� he said.
MORE NM TIES: It might be a stretch to call Bo Nickal a New Mexican. Then again, it might not be too much of one.
Nickal, a fast-rising UFC middleweight, lived in the state for for some five years 鈥� long enough to have wrestled for Rio Rancho High School as an eighth-grader in 2009-10.
His father, Jason Nickal, was the Rams鈥� head wrestling coach from 2006-10. He led RRHS to four consecutive big-school state titles before the family moved to Texas.
Bo Nickal went on to win three NCAA wrestling titles at Penn State before eventually entering the MMA ranks. He鈥檚 5-0 after his victory over Val Woodburn on Saturday in a main-card fight on UFC 290 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
