Casarez captures state title belt in main event at Casa de Amistad
HARLINGEN - Edinburg middleweight Raul "El Tigre" Casarez pounded Vance Garvey into submission and won by a technical knockout in the main event of Julio Marines Promotions' "Fight Night Challenge" on Friday before 1,500 at Casa de Amistad.
The fight was stopped at the 1:36 mark of the eighth round, and Casarez (14-2, seven knockouts) threw up his arms in victory as he claimed a state title belt. Garvey (8-30-5, three KOs) of Indianapolis, Ind., protested the decision, but the referee didn't budge.
Casarez said it was frustrating trying to fight Garvey because he was in a defensive posture for much of the bout. Garvey started to attack a little bit in the fifth round, but it didn't amount to much. With Garvey's hands covering his face most of the time, Casarez repeatedly delivered brutal body shots that eventually took their toll.
"It was hard fighting him with the style that he had," Casarez said. "It's hard to knock those guys out when they fight like that. ‘La Amenaza' (Roberto Garcia of Weslaco) couldn't do it (in an eight-round September 2007 fight in Edinburg), and I wanted to make a point tonight that 'Amenaza' didn't do it, but I did. For the past two months, we've worked on a game plan to go to the body for this fight. This guy had a hard head."
In the co-main event, Brownsville bantamweight Sergio Perales (8-0, five KOs) prevailed over Jose Vasquez (12-3, six KOs) of Diaz Ordas, Mexico, on a four-round unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36, 40-36).
Perales dominated the fight from the outset and appeared to stun Vasquez with a series of punches to the head in the third round. Vasquez righted himself, stayed on his feet and made the fight go the distance.
"I'll give this guy credit because he can take a punch," Perales said. "I hit him with lefts, rights, body shots and everything. He stood there and then kept coming forward for more. That was OK because I need the experience. I congratulate him for having a good chin, but what counts the most is I came out with the victory, and that's what happened."
In a five-round rematch between middleweights Isidro Arreola of Brownsville and Julio Perez of Mission, Arreola (5-2) prevailed on a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46). The two met last November at Casa de Amistad, and Arreola won with a four-round split decision.
The fighters respectfully touched gloves numerous times during their bout and hugged a couple times after it was over.
"We go back quite awhile," Arreola said. "I've known him since we trained together when I was an amateur. I think my endurance was the difference tonight. It feels pretty good to beat him again."
The shortest fight of the evening came when Edinburg welterweight Tito Ramos (9-0, six KOs) stopped Arturo Herrera (5-14, three KOs) of Monterrey, Mexico, with a TKO at the 2:59 mark of the first round.
Also Friday, Maria Salinas (2-0-1) of Pharr and Emily Kelly (2-3-1) of Houston fought to a four-round draw, while Puerto Rican featherweight Gabriel Garcia (1-0) won by unanimous decision in four rounds (40-34, 40-34, 40-34) over Hector Jimenez (0-1) of Brownsville. Super middleweight Alan Rubio (1-0) of McAllen also won by four-round unanimous decision (39-37, 40-36, 40-36) over Alfonzo Castillo (0-1) of Brownsville in the opening bout.
Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.
