Abraham Perez passed the first real test of his burgeoning professional boxing career with flying colors.
After a pair of quick victories in his initial two bouts, Perez proved he could thrive in deep waters, winning a hard-fought unanimous decision over six rounds against Las Vegas, Nevada, resident Mulapi Njani in the flyweight main event of a card entitled “The Battle of Five Points” at Empire Event Center on Friday night.
The former Golden Gloves winner and U.S. Olympic hopeful lost only one round on the scorecards, earning tallies of 60-54 (twice) and 59-55 from the ringside judges.
“It was a lot better. It was exactly what I wanted,” Perez said. “The last two fights were almost nothing. I’m really excited. I’m really happy that I got this fight.”
Njani (9-8-3) looked to pressure Perez (3-0) at every turn, and he was at his best when he could trap the Albuquerque boxer near the ropes and unload with punches to the body. Perez was rarely a stationary target, however, as he consistently angled out of danger and countered effectively. As the bout progressed, Perez appeared to become increasingly more comfortable, working behind his jab, left hook and solid combinations. While Njani’s forward movement never relented, he couldn’t put Perez in any real danger.
Now that he’s gotten a taste of improved competition, Perez is ready for more.
“From now on (the plan is), go back to the gym and training and hope for another call,” he said.
Earlier, former Los Lunas cheerleader Katherine Lindenmuth enjoyed a successful professional debut, taking a unanimous decision over Santa Fe’s Kara Liebowitz in a women’s light flyweight encounter. All three judges submitted scorecards in favor of the Rosales Karate & Kickboxing Academy-trained fighter: 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37.
Roberto E. Rosales/Journal
While Liebowitz (0-1) held the height and reach advantage, she couldn’t match her opponent’s sheer aggression. The combatants brawled willingly at the outset, but Lindenmuth (1-0) maintained her stamina and continued to walk Liebowitz down over all four rounds, often tagging her adversary with punches to the head and body in close quarters.
The 4-foot-11 Lindenmuth punctuated each round with aggressive flurries at the 10-second warning, much to the delight of those in attendance.
In the evening’s official co-main event, Albuquerque-based Russian Leonid Grachev overwhelmed Farmington’s Jonathan “Pizza” Abeyta, winning via knockout 71 seconds into Round 1 of their heavyweight showdown. The 6-foot-6 Grachev certainly looked the part of his “Baby Drago” moniker in abbreviated action against his portly opponent, ultimately dropping him with a body shot that left Abeyta on the canvas for several minutes.
Elsewhere, Albuquerque’s Justice Jiron (1-0) was victorious in his first professional foray, earning a unanimous verdict over well-traveled Mexican veteran Alejandro Moreno (24-49-3) in a super bantamweight bout.
Albuquerque’s Daniel Gonzalez was arguably one of the night’s biggest winners. In addition to putting away Santa Fe’s Manuel Carballo with a pristine left hook to the body 2:59 into the opening round of their super welterweight clash, he also authored a successful proposal to his girlfriend in the ring following his victory.
