Matt Griego stops Bryan Aquino, but the result is in question

Sub Lead06-Feb-23by Andy Rivera

Weekend boxing in New Mexico

Boxing in NM

Late Saturday night in Albuquerque NM, hometown flyweight Matt Griego stopped Bryan Aquino in the 4th round. Although the bout goes into the books as a TKO, it may end up being a no-contest due to the drama that occurred at the time of the stoppage.

The first three rounds lacked action. Things heated up in the 4th.

Griego threw a right hand coming in on the southpaw Aquino. Their heads cracked together with a sickening thud. Aquino went to the canvas, rubbing his head, grimacing on the ground.

Griego looked at referee Rocky Burke and pointed at his head.

Burke, looking a little confused, went to Aquino and started counting him out. Burke halted the fight and proclaimed Griego the winner at the 55 mark of round four.

Once Aquino was able to go to his corner, you could see a welt the size of a 50-cent piece bubbling on his head, no doubt caused by a head butt.

After the fight, Griego did tell the crowd it was a head butt and that he would welcome a rematch with Aquino.

“We clashed heads as I was trying to throw my right hand. It wasn’t intentional on either part. It’s boxing and things like this happen.” Said, Griego.

The humble Aquino thought he was going to get a chance to recover and then continue but was shocked when Burke ruled it a punch.

“We both came in and clashed. As I got up, I thought the referee was coming to tell me how much time I had to recover, then I see him waive off the fight. “stated Aquino. “It happened. I’m not mad. I hope maybe I can come back and we can rematch.”

Speaking after the fight with one of the commissioners, they told this writer they will rule the bout a TKO. "If Aquino’s corner protests, and once we review the film, we will get a better chance to see what happened."

Aquino’s camp did state they would look into protesting.

As it stands now, Griego raises his record to 13-0, 9 KOs, and Aquino falls to 12-3.

In the co-main event, Josh Torres won a six-round unanimous decision over Todd Manuel. In defeating Manuel, Torres escaped the bout with no injuries or marks as he set to fight the main event on February 24th in Rio Rancho, NM.

Torres used a good body attack on the 6’ 2" inch, Manuel, trying to break him down. Manuel withstood the attack and managed to land a few hard right hands on Torres.

In fighting Manuel, Torres knew he would be a rough opponent.

“He was tough, and we expected that, but man was he awkward. He surprised me when he came out in the first round left-handed," said Torres.

Torres will now face 7-0 Shariff Rahman, son of former Heavyweight Champion Hassem Rahman. Torres captured his 25th win by scorers of 60-55 and 59-55 on the other two cards, raising his record to 25-7-2, while Manuel falls to 21-22.

Undercard action:

In the two undercard outs, Steve Trujeque came off the canvas in the first round to halt the game but over-matched Jose Vialpondo.

Trujeque was in control of the opening minutes of the first round. He fired a combination while Vialpondo threw a haymaker right. Trujeque was more surprised than hurt, got up and went back to work on Vilapondo.

Maximus Moya raised his record to 3-0, capturing a four-round unanimous decision over veteran Jazmaa Houge.

The card was promoted by Wrecking Crew Promotions.

They hope to be back with another card soon.