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The Life and Mysterious Death of World Title Challenger Eloy Perez

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Eloy Perez had 27 pro fights and lost only one. That came in his final bout when he challenged Adrien Broner for the WBO world super featherweight title. The bout aired on HBO from the big hockey arena in St. Louis. Deontay Wilder and Keith Thurman appeared on the undercard.

A week ago, Oct. 11, Perez was found dead in Tijuana. When he was remanded to the Mexican border town, it was like being packed off to a foreign country. Perez was born in Mexico but came to the U.S. as a toddler. He wasn’t fluent in Spanish.

Eloy Perez grew up in Rochester, Washington, a place where there were relatively few people who identify as Hispanic or Latino. He grew up poor. The family lived in a trailer that was eventually moved to the property of Eloy’s boxing coach, Jim Douglas, who let the Perez family live there rent free. With the money they saved, Eloy’s parents were able to purchase a house in the neighboring town of Rainier where Eloy spent his last two years of high school.

The best way to become popular with the Anglo crowd was through the medium of sports and Eloy was very good at it. He excelled at soccer and as a running back on the football field although he stood only five-foot-five. Where he really excelled, however, was in boxing, a sport he took up at the age of 13.

The highlight of Perez’s amateur career came in an international tournament in Kansas City. There were 32 fighters in his weight class. Perez came out on top, defeating a 27-year-old man in the finals.

Cameron Dunkin, a scout for Bob Arum, was in attendance. Dunkin encouraged Arum to sign him, but Arum backed off, ostensibly because Perez was still in high school. In recent years, the Top Rank honcho has signed boxers as young as 16 to professional contracts, but back in those days Arum drew a harder line in the sand.

As an amateur, Perez could only go so far. The governing body of amateur boxing in the United States had a rule that once a boxer reached the age of 17, he had to prove citizenship. The process, from application to acceptance (or denial), was tedious. Pursuing it would have meant a substantial gap in Eloy Perez’s amateur timeline.

When Perez turned pro, he didn’t have to leave home. Rochester was home to an Indian casino, the Lucky Eagle, which ran club fights on a regular basis. The promoter and matchmaker there was none other than Bennie Georgino. (A fabled fight character in Los Angeles during the glory days of the Olympic Auditorium, Georgino, who died in 2016 at age 95, had managed or co-managed three world champions: Albert Davila, Jaime Garza, and Danny “Little Red” Lopez.)

There were very few pro boxers residing in the vicinity of the Lucky Eagle. Georgino filled his cards with fighters from California and Canada. Eloy Perez was a godsend. Georgino didn’t have to dip into his thin budget to feed him or pay his travel expenses. More importantly, Eloy was a big draw right out of the box. For a grassroots promoter, there is no commodity more prized than a hometown hero.

Perez was a junior in high school when he made his pro debut. To be on the safe side, Georgino made him fudge his I.D., making a year older than his actual age.

At this early stage of his career, boxing didn’t pay the bills. Perez took a job working at a warehouse owned by the Fred Meyer company, the operator of a chain of Walmart-like stores in the Northwest. It was there that he had his first brush with the law.

Security caught him leaving work with a packet of batteries in his pocket, an $11 item, and turned him over to the police. He pled guilty to a charge of third-degree theft, receiving a fine and a suspended sentence.

There came a day when Perez had to fly the coop, go somewhere where he could refine his skills with world-class trainers and good sparring partners. He hooked up with Max Garcia, a prominent Northern California trainer and small-time promoter whose base was in Salinas. Garcia had good contacts and it wasn’t long before Eloy was fighting under Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy umbrella.

In September of 2009, Perez won a regional belt with a 10-round decision over fellow unbeaten Dannie Williams at the Playboy Club in Beverly Hills. (The photo shows Perez displaying the belt shortly after winning the fight.) He was 23-0-2 with 1 NC entering his title fight with Adrien Broner and riding a 15-fight winning streak.

Broner was too quick for him. In the fourth round of the one-sided fight, Perez was knocked down and the referee waived it off as Eloy was struggling to get back on his feet.

Things got worse for him. His post-fight urine test revealed the presence of cocaine. His California handlers were so disgusted they wanted nothing more to do with him. With only one defeat blemishing his record, it would seem that Eloy Perez had a lot of boxing left in him, that maybe he could claw his way back to another title fight, but he would never fight again. He drifted back to the state of Washington and got in more trouble.

His second arrest for driving while intoxicated landed him at an immigrant detention center in Tacoma where he languished for more than a year. Purportedly given the choice of prison or deportation, he chose the latter so that his girlfriend in California could visit him unfettered by prison constraints. ICE dumped him in Tijuana.

The authorities say that Eloy Perez took his own life. His sister Emma will never believe it. She is certain that he was murdered.

Her theory is actually more plausible. Back in the days of Prohibition and even before, Tijuana was a popular playground for American tourists looking to let their hair down. In those days, words like “dusty” and “sleepy” were invariably used in descriptions of Tijuana by travel writers.

That place doesn’t exist anymore. Tijuana has grown into a city of nearly 2 million people, many of whom migrated here from other parts of Mexico. It is also one of the most violence-plagued places on the planet. In 2018 there were 2,519 homicides, the highest number per capita of any city in the world, the bulk of it attributed to turf wars between low-level drug dealers.

It’s likely that the true cause of Eloy Perez’s death will never be known. Whatever the cause, these bare facts won’t change: He was a high school sports hero in a small town in Washington, was a professional boxer good enough to fight for a world title, had legal problems that caused him to be evicted from the country where he had resided since he was scarcely old enough to walk, and he drew his last breath in Tijuana.

Upon learning of his death, fight publicist Rachel Charles wrote that Perez might be one of the greatest “what if” stories in boxing. There are a whole lot of “what ifs” here.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel  

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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

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LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.

Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.

Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.

The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.

In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.

Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.

Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.

From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.

“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”

Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.

Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”

Other Bouts

Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.

A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.

The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.

San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

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At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.

Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.

Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.

With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.

Co-Feature

Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.

Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.

Other Bouts of Note

New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.

In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.

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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

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Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.

It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.

Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.

In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.

The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.

As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) —  has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.

Other Bouts of Note

In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.

Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.

A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.

It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.

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