PHOTO: Boxer Josh Torres reacts to knocking out Jesus Alvarez Rodriguez on Saturday night. (Photo/Andy Rivera)
By Andy Rivera
For Enchantment Sports
Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Josh Torres had an easy time with Jesus Alvarez Rodriquez (15-6) Saturday night (Dec. 1) with a first-round knockout, ending it with a left-right combo that ended the night at :76 of the first stanza.
Torres 19-6-2, took his time to set up the over-matched and heavier Alvarez. Alvarez outweighed Torres by almost nine pounds, yet Torres wanted to fight no matter what and got his wish after the NMAC gave it thumbs to have the fight go as planned.
“We didn’t care too much about his weight, we just stuck to the plan and it all worked out,.” Torres said.
Torres seems to be the one welterweight in New Mexico that everyone wants to fight, and has been called out several times by other 147 pounders. Fidel Maldonado Jr., Brian Mendoza and most recently Jose Luis Sanchez (8-1 3 KOs), who captured a unanimous decision over 1-26 — really, 1-26 — Anthony Hill on the undercard.
Of the three, Maldonado Jr. is the only one who is seasoned enough for Torres, having been in with top opposition. Mendoza and Sanchez have defeated the “bum-of-the-month-club” opponents.
Hopefully Torres will get bigger fights against bigger names, but for now he does just well being Albuquerque’s top draw.
In other bouts of the night:
Joe Gomez (22-7-1) defeated Morris Rodriquez (7-12-1) with a unanimous decision.
Jose Luis Sanchez scored a first-round knockdown against Anthony Hill and coasted to a six-round unanimous decision win.
Welterweight Matthew Esquibel (11-0-1 5 KOs) remained unbeaten with a decision win over Ricardo Fernandez (3-12-4).
Lorenzo Benevidez (1-1), a 5-foot-4, 195-pounder, got in the winners’ circle with a majority decision over Micheal Sanchez (2-3).
In the opening bout of the night, Jaime Aguilera def. Levi Lucero by TKO 1:16 in round one.
Andrew Rivera is a contributor for Enchantment Sports. He is a former state Golden Gloves champion who has covered some of the biggest fights in the state and the world for decades. Email enchantmentsportsNM@gmail.com to provide tip or story ideas for Andrew.
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