Brandi Montoya hopes to make the most of her opportunity

Los Lunas’ Brandi Montoya was supposed to make her professional boxing debut at the Hard Rock in February 2011. Oops; the entire card was canceled because of slow ticket sales.

She was supposed to fight on the Holly Holm-Victoria Cisneros undercard at Route 66 last June – only to see her scheduled opponent arrested for a probation violation at the weigh-in and hauled off to jail. No fight.

As long as boxing exists, fights will fall through. But the more boxing cards there are, the more action there is for young fighters like Montoya, 19.

	Friday Pro Boxing, YDI Wool Warehouse: Yoel Gonzalez vs. John Herrera, six other fights. Tickets: $30-$100. Call 505-362-7428.

That’s what first-time promoter Joe Chavez has in mind.

“I want to promote every two months, or every month-and-a-half,” Chavez said on Monday in formally announcing his first card, scheduled for Friday at the YDI Wool Warehouse on 1st Street NW.

The card consists of seven fights, all scheduled for four rounds. Chavez said he sees his company, for now, as sort of a farm system.

“We don’t want to start (promoting) in the casinos,” he said. “What we want to start doing is get (young fighters) ready to fight in the casinos.”

Chavez is new to promoting but not to the sport; he was a member of the New Mexico Athletic Commission for nine years. His matchmaker, Martín Narro, worked at the NMAC for 15 years, most recently as event coordinator.

Last year, four professional boxing cards were staged in the Albuquerque area. Chavez would like to help double that number, at least, this year.

“We have a lot of kids that want to go to the next level,” he said, “and it’s our job as promoters to make sure they get matched right and that we have good, quality fights for the audience.”

Montoya (1-2) is scheduled to face Albuquerque’s Amber Brown, who defeated her in a September 2010 amateur bout. Brown will make her pro debut on Friday after struggling to find fights in the amateur ranks.

Brown, like Montoya, hopes to find a home on future cards promoted by Chavez.

“I’ve only had three amateur fights since (her victory over Montoya) and won them all, but it’s just been really hard for me to find a fight,” Brown said. “I’m really excited for (this opportunity).”

Albuquerque boxing manager Jacob Maes, who has two fighters on Friday’s card, said he’s as excited as the boxers about Chavez’s venture.

“We’re building a foundation, and this is our building block right here,” Maes said. “We’ve got to take advantage of these opportunities.

We’re honored to be on this show. It’s old-school boxing.”

The Wool Warehouse seats about 430 people for boxing. Chavez said he might look for a larger building at some point but is happy with the smaller venue for now.

“Hopefully someday we will have bigger fights,” he said. “That’s our goal. But right now, we’re gonna stick to our plan.”

Friday’s main event matches lightweights Yoel Gonzalez (1-0) of Albuquerque against John Herrera (1-1-1) of Roswell.

MAES STILL WITH MARQUEZ: Maes is still managing Albuquerque lightweight Archie Ray Marquez.

Marquez (12-2, eight knockouts), who’s scheduled to fight fellow Albuquerquean Willie Villanueva at the Hard Rock on March 31, recently left trainer Sergio Chavez (no relation to the promoter) and began working with former world champion Johnny Tapia.

But Maes said the switch has affected neither his status with Marquez nor his relationship with Sergio Chavez.

“People have been asking me if I’m still with Archie,” Maes said. “I am, but I’m also still working with Sergio.

“I’m just glad we’ve all been able to handle this like professionals.”

Maes also manages bantamweight Leonardo Sanchez and super bantamweight Eric Henson. Sanchez is trained by Chavez, Henson by Tony Rosales.

Sanchez (2-0) and Henson (0-2) are scheduled to fight on Friday’s card.
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal