Abraham Perez halts Jeronil Bores, wins IBA inter-continental title

2020 Olympic Trial winner Abraham Perez made a huge statement late Saturday night in Albuquerque, NM. Perez halted Jeronil Borres with a vicious uppercut to the nose, followed by a body shot.

Borres was not able to beat the count. Borres, by way of the Philippines, took the fight on two weeks’ notice, but was in the gym and waiting on a call for a fight when he got word that Perez needed an opponent.

Perez, (7-0, 3ko’s) took the first round to get a feel for Borres power and see how he would attack Borres straightforward attack. Borres came out swinging lead right hands with Perez side-stepping and landing his jab to keep Borres honest. 

In round two Perez found his rhythm and started to land jabs and hard lefts and rights to the body. Borres wasn’t coming forward with the same vengeance as the first round and seemed flustered by the hand speed and counters of Perez. 

Round three saw Perez take the fight to Borres, peppering him more with his jab and right hands to the body.

Borres came in trying to land his lead right, Perez countered with a hard right uppercut and then right to the body. Borres hit the canvas and was not able to beat the count.

In the locker room, when speaking with Perez to get his take on the ending, he mentioned after the first round he had his plan of attack. 

“I knew he was strong and when I saw he would just try to bully me with hit power and lead right, I knew I could box him and still counter him,” stated Perez. I was prepared to go the full 8 rounds, but when I saw him lead with his right and dip. I followed up with the uppercut to the nose. I think it was the nose shot that ended the fight and the body shot just finished the job.”

Borres (12-8), who suffered a broken nose in the bout, didn’t know what to expect from Perez and was impressed. Borres was asked to compare fellow Albuquerque Flyweight Matthew Griego, who Borres dropped a majority decision in 2020.

“They are both good fighters, but Perez is one of the best I’ve ever fought.” Borres stated. “Perez is someone who can go a long way in this sport.”

What’s next for Perez? Perez wants to stay busy and if things go as planned he will fight for the IBA world title in July. 

“All I can do now is keep stepping it up and winning belt by belt, one fight at a time.” Says Perez.

 Undercard action

Heavyweights Leonid Grachev and Chad Davis fought to a draw in an entertaining bout. The two would like a rematch to settle the draw. 

Local favorite Kathrine Lindenmuth had an easy time with over-matched replacement Takilla Long, halting Long with a hard right hand in round two. Long was ok after the fight, but was on the canvas for several minutes before she was able to get up on her own. Lindenmuth is now 4-1.

Martin Armijo defeated Javier Cepeda in a 4-round bout. 

Former New Mexico amateur standout Elija Martinez looked good in his pro debut, defeating Bekhzod Usmonov with a unanimous 4-round decision 

Josh Rodriquez halted Jason Lugo in the 1^st round.

Josh Hatch of El Paso won a unanimous decision over Alexis Saucedo in a great opening bout of the evening. 

The card, with the exception of a few bouts, we evenly matched, and kudos to Legacy Promotions for putting on a good show.