Robust Enough to Give and Take Punishment
Fight Nights at the Tank 

9/12/2009
By Larry Garcia: Bay Area Sports Drive
 

On Saturday night, 9/12/2009, at the HP, there was a hurricane destroying and moving everything on-sight on the main road called “Road Warrior”.  (left) Kelsey "Road Warrior" Jeffries vs. (right) Ana, “The Hurricane” Julaton

It was Fight Night at the Tank on Saturday night, Sept 12, 2009 at the HP Pavilion downtown San Jose California.  Seven fights of competitors were ready to rumble whether it was their first debut or 40^th came for battle.  Fight Night had plenty of prizes, free T-shirts, one hundred dollars given away between each bout, autographs and boxing teams boxing for prize money….Fight fans even had the chance to judge fighters after the 6^th bout. Oh yes, and indeed applauds to the attractive shapely ring girls.

The fans wanted a fight and they got every pennies worth.

1^st Fight-160lbs: Mike Alexander (1-3-2) vs. Pedro Rios (0-1)

1^st of 4rounds Rios wins unanimous decision over Alexander in a 4 round bout.  Rios knocked Alexander down with a left to the head and right to the jaw at the end of the 1^st; however Alexander recovered by the ring of the bell and went on to fight to finish four rounds. Rios the winner, now with a record of 1-1 and Alexander with a record of 1-4-2.

2^{nd bout}: Jason Montgomery vs. Bouaziz 160 lb bout: 4 rounds 40-36 unanimous decision Montgomery wins.

3^rd bout: Clint Cornel from San Jose Ca vs. Herman Scott (blk trunks) from LA Ca. 154 lbs.

In the 2^nd nd and 3^rd rounds Scott hit Coronel with a barrage of punches that sent his mouth piece flying for a momentary timeout.  End of the 3^rd round, Coronel continued the momentum by keeping cornered against the ropes and punished Scott with head and body shots. In the 4^th Coronel came out like a little raging bull and continued with heart and determination to trade with Scott but gave the better punishment and when it was all said and done Coronel won by a split decision.

4^th bout: 122 lbs Juan Topaz from Santa Rosa, Ca  Jonathan Alcantara from Novato, Ca:

 This fight was a no fear factor.  Both fighters not know the meaning of step back and back down and both wanting to give that last hurt so good punch was one of the best fights of the night.

 3^rd round, Topoz open a cut over Alcantara’s right eye.   Both fighters fought hard to the end as the crowd stood to give a matador and a bull a standing ovation. For the winner by unanimous decision “El Toritio” Alcantara over Topoz. 

5^th bout: 144 lbs- Oscar Godoy 1^st fight from Watsonville, Ca.  Vs. Eduardo Herrera Bakersfield, Ca.  This fight was a fight with a slow pace in comparison to the rest of fight night. Oscar Godoy was the winner by split decission.

6^th bout-192 lbs: Tony Johnson 2-0 from San Jose, Ca vs. Artis Walker 1^st debut Las Vegas, NV.

1:17 seconds for Johnson to win with a TKO by knocking Walker down twice and a third knockdown and finished off Walker by a left-right to the head as trainers and doctor ran into the ring to assist Walker as referee stopped the fight.

 Walker, welcome the professional boxing at the HP Pavilion San Jose, California!  Better luck next time.

7^th fight- 122 -lb10 rounder: Kelsey Jefferies 3 time world champ “The Road Warrior” 41-9-1 from Gilroy, Ca. vs. Ana Julaton “Fighting Crime of the Philippines (4-1-1) Daly City, Ca.

1^st round: Ana initiated the fight-came out hitting and put the pressure on Kelsey by throwing to the body –face and head.  Kelsey did very little.

2^nd round: Both fighters showed respect but again Ana seemed to have no fear by using her jab with success.

3^rd: Kelsey decided to come in at close range, held her ground and body shots and head shots but Ana did not back down, however a better round for Kelsey.

4^th: Kelsey showed signs of frustration. Ana just would not back down and moved forward using the jab with a combination of body and head blows showing Kelsey no respect as Kelsey continued to hold.

5^th: Kelsey had a better round by connecting to the body and this time it was Ana holding and throwing very little but Ana still showed lots of heart and a desiring hunger for the title more than Kelsey.

6^th: Both Kelsey and Ana were about equal at this point and both looked as if to tire.

7^th:  This 7^th round could have gone either way as both fighters kept tight at close rang yet at times both let lose exchanging but very little.  A difficult round to judge

8^th: Not much during the 8^th round.  If anything, it was the ref who kept busy by constantly separating both fighters.

9^th: Both fighters kept tight at close range with plenty of head butting. At point Ana Julaton gringed as Kelsey Jeffries head butted Ana so hard on the mouth that Ana turned her back from Kelsey to take her mouth piece off but the ref ordered both fighters to continue.

10^th: Ana came out of her corner of the beginning of the 10^th round looking tired and wore down; you can see it on her face. Kelsey looked stronger during the 10^th as she went down stairs-upstairs to the body and head.  Ana threw very little but enough to persuade the judges for a 96-94, 95-95, 98-92 decision score for a victory over Kelsey “Road Warrior” Jeffries to become the new IBA Super Bantam Weight Champion of the World.

As the ref raised her arm, Ana Julaton (left) smiled and then broke out in tears of joy as the IBA championship belt was put around her waist.  Ana momentarily looked down at her new championship belt in disbelief, looking proudly as a matador would when defeating a raging bull that kept coming forward all through the battle.

Ana, “The Hurricane” Julaton beating a heavily favored Kelsey “Road Warrior” Jeffries was the first Filipino-American woman to ever win a title belt. It's an historic event and the story should reflect it.

On Saturday night, at the HP, there was a hurricane destroying and moving everything on-sight on the main road called “Road Warrior”.  The road was built robust enough to give and take punishment-with a little constructive assembly, that road will be waiting for another shot at the “Hurricane”.