It has been said that there is nothing like the atmosphere of a major prize fight. However, the majority of boxing cards domestically tend to be smaller shows, run by small time promoters or a show of prospects by major promoters such as Kathy Duva’s Main Events and Bob Arum’s Nevada based Top Rank. In San Antonio, on the night of February 10, 2006, Top Rank held a card in the Roseland Ballroom in San Antonio, TX. It’s main feature was to be a fight between former world lightweight champion Cesar “Elegante” Bazan and Elezear Contreras, who at best could be described as a fringe contender. Before the card even took place, events began to stew that changed the entire face of the card. Three days before the fight, Contreras pulled out of the fight due to illness. That brought in the veteran Marteze Logan, the definition of a true professional, a record that a rebuilding professional basketball team envies (22-20-2, 5 KO). This author had not attended a fight in San Antonio since the annihilation of Marco Antonio Barrera in November 2003 by the fists of Manny “The Destroyer” Pacquiao. While the atmosphere of that night was thick and exciting, the Roseland Ballroom was something of an old western, a saloon filled with cartoon-like characters in every corner. The opening bout staged the undefeated Nester Rosas against “Vicious” Victor Ortiz. Rosas entered the ring first, in a black robe with a look of high confidence, almost arrogance. The crowd applauded, as Rosas hails from nearby Eagle Pass, TX. Ortiz entered last, with a Mexican flag in one glove and an American one in the other, with the smile of a child. Alas, he could be considered a child, he is only 18 years of age. He was raised in the same city as fellow boxers Rolando Reyes and the former light middleweight world champion “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas. The first round was back and forth action, Rosas showing flashes of speed and power, while Ortiz showed patience and picked his shots, with thudding punches. As the fight wore on, so did Rosas’s stamina. After the second round, Ortiz began to dominate, showing remarkable accuracy and a left hand something like that of Pacquiao’s which slammed Barrera’s body 27 months before in the same city. In the fifth round, Ortiz landed a dazzling punch, a straight left to the face of Rosas. The impact was immediate, Rosas hit the canvas like a redwood tree chopped down, a spectacular but brutal knockout. As his trainer helped him up, Rosas still looked lost, as if he woke up in another continent after a long night. Ortiz circled the ring to cheers and applause, well deserved. Ortiz will move on, the same may not be the case for Rosas. After the aftermath of the first fight, a young Caucasian male entered the ring. He was in fact, a 27 year old Canadian who goes by the nickname “Pitbull,” Lasalle, Ontario native Mike Pare. One of the odd facets of boxing is that there are matches in which the victor is known. As a prospect is in the process of development, the rhetorical “tomato can” description rings true. The opponent entered the ring, a toned, tanned Mexican by the name of Eduardo Escobedo. He had a look of confidence, but he was not to make the same mistake that his fellow prospect Rosas had made earlier. In the opening round, Escobedo dropped Pare with a beautiful left hook. The audience roared, assuming the fight was over, but Pare got up and fought back. Though Pare displayed heart, fighting through a beating and a grotesque cut above his left eyebrow, he was simply beat up by the better fighter. Escobedo attempted but could not finish off Pare, and ended up winning the match via unanimous decision. As the main event began, a buzz began about the crowd. This was the first major show for a local promoter, and it was his test. The original main even was scheduled to be a battle of two Mexican fighters, but as stated before, Contreras pulled out days before, three to be exact. In this situation, there are those fighters who train for the opportunity to spoil. Marteze Logan is one of those fighters, coming into this bout with a (22-20-2) record. His record is full of name fighters, such as former world champions Steve Forbes, James Leija, Vivian Harris, prospects Emmanuel Clottey and Mike Arnaoutis, and former rising prospects Hector Camacho Jr. and Victoriano Sosa. An impressive list of names to be sure, but unfortunately that’s all it was worth to Logan, as he lost each of those matches. Logan entered the ring with only his trainer, Malcolm Terry. His opponent was the former lightweight world champion, Cesar Bazan. That he was once a world champion is impressive, but that was 1998, eight years have passed since then. Bazan also has seven losses, including losing a technical decision to unheralded Ernesto Zepeda in his last fight twelve months earlier. His last two notable opponents, current WBO Junior Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto and former lightweight world champion Jose Luis Castillo both defeated Bazan by technical knockout. Still, in the largely Hispanic market of San Antonio, Bazan’s name still has value, similar to Zab Judah’s popularity in New York City. Bazan entered the ring after Logan, to raucous applause, adorned in a red robe that proclaimed Bazan as “Elegante.” The first round was somewhat surprising, as Logan came out firing on all cylinders, landing combinations to a hesitant Bazan. The crowd was stunned. In the second, the show continued, as Logan landed combinations one after another to the almost disinterested Bazan. Then, something strange happened. As if Logan transformed into John Ruiz in between rounds two and three, he began to implement the same strategy as the Quiet Man. One punch at a time followed by a clinch. Was this a main event of a boxing card, or the last dance at the high school prom? Perhaps Logan thought he was scheduled for a wrestling match in the squared circle, as the pattern continued for the remainder of the fight, punch-clinch, punch-clinch. The crowd began to show to show their displeasure, booing, but to no avail. The frustration was also visible on the face of Bazan. In the few exchanges that took place, Bazan landed the effective, accurate blows. However, throughout the majority of the fight, Logan would not be denied in his strategy. Logan was suddenly deducted a point in the closing rounds, though the referee Ruben Carrion gave no reason. Though he didn’t know it then, this point cost Logan more than he could ever guess. The tenth round had some action, but only in small spurts. Mercifully, the fight ended. For some odd reason, Logan raised in hands in victory. The frustrated crowd sneered and insulted Logan. Bazan looked understandably embarrassed, unable to fight because of an opponent who refused to trade. Thus, the result of the bout was in the hands of the judges, who at times seem af they suffer from blindness. Their integrity is similar to that of a used car salesman, their results are as consistent as the global stock market. The decision was split. One judge ruled for 96-93 for Logan, one 96-93 for Bazan, and the final judge also ruled in favor of Bazan, by the closest of margins, 95-94. The point deduction was the difference between a Bazan victory and a draw. Logan’s trainer threw his hands in the air in disgust, the crowd roared in approval (those who remained), and Bazan smiled. A cast of characters showing a diverse set of emotions after a controversial decision. Some things in boxing never change.
Congrats on the article! Nice read. Love the lin: "Their integrity is similar to that of a used car salesman, their results are as consistent as the global stock market. "
In the third paragraph, "It's" should be "Its" to denote possession, not a contraction of "It is." In the fourth paragraph, the first sentence has many verbs, when there should be ONE main verb with auxiliary verbs. The sentence "... events began to stew that changed the entire face..." could be re-written as "... events began to stew the entire face..." or "events that began to stew changed the entire face...". In the same paragraph, you need a conjunction or a verb to start the clause "a record". You can use "having a record" or "with a record." You're not an "author" since this is not a book. You can be a "reporter" or a "boxing enthusiast." If you introduce the saloon with "an old western", use a colon, like this: "... something of an old western: a saloon filled..." You need a conjunction or something that introduces the independant clause such as "a child, since he is only 18 years old", or use a semicolon to separate the thoughts if independant. No need to say "in the same city" for mentioning the bout of Barrera and Pacquiao, just the time frame or the city. As I kept reading, I noticed that you leave conjunctions and propositions out (and, or, but, since, even though, etc.). You need these to group actions in the same thought, or use semicolons or start other sentences. This is most notable in the seventh and 14th paragraphs. Perhaps an explanation of what "Elegante" means could help captivate your audience. In the second-to-last paragraph, you may have accidentally written an extra "for" before the first judge's scores. Also, in the same paragraph, you refer to the judges as "one", then "one", when you may want to say "one ruled... another ruled... and the last one ruled..." to denote three. The "final one" is good, also. In the last paragraph, the sentence starting with "A cast of..." is a sentence fragment without a verb. You only describe the people, but there is no action. Above all, this is a great story. I don't even know much about boxing, so I thought you did a good describing it well.
alright, since Swoly did his editing job...i'll add in mine. overall, i really enjoyed the article, but here's a few things i noticed: Before the card even took place, events began to stew that changed the entire face of the card. be careful with your language - "card" and "card" in the same sentence isn't effective. get a thesaurus. While the atmosphere of that night was thick and exciting, the Roseland Ballroom was something of an old western, a saloon filled with cartoon-like characters in every corner. loved this description! while Ortiz showed patience and picked his shots, with thudding punches. don't need a comma - it kind of disrupts the read IMO. As the fight wore on, so did Rosas’s stamina. After the second round, Ortiz began to dominate, showing remarkable accuracy and a left hand something like that of Pacquiao’s which slammed Barrera’s body 27 months before in the same city. i really enjoyed this description and the allusion to Pacquiao/Barrera...and unlike Swoly-D...i like the way you say "in the same city." In the fifth round, Ortiz landed a dazzling punch, a straight left to the face of Rosas. The impact was immediate, Rosas hit the canvas like a redwood tree chopped down, a spectacular but brutal knockout. nice simile. After the aftermath easy there...i don't like reading the same word twice in a row...again, thesaurus time. The audience roared, assuming the fight was over, but Pare got up and fought back. Though Pare displayed heart, fighting through a beating and a grotesque cut above his left eyebrow, he was simply beat up by the better fighter. be careful with your word choice. again...thesaurus. you'll notice this in other areas as well... That he was once a world champion is impressive, but that was 1998, eight years have passed since then. awkward start to a paragraph. Logan’s trainer threw his hands in the air in disgust, the crowd roared in approval (those who remained), and Bazan smiled. instad of using brackets to say "(those who remained)," you should have used a verb to describe the crowd earlier in the sentence. ex: the sparsed crowd or the depleted crowd. A cast of characters showing a diverse set of emotions after a controversial decision. Some things in boxing never change. a great ending to a very solid article. great descriptions and great overall flow. some minor adjustments need to be made if you want to make yourself an established writer...but you have a great way of describing things.
