Albuquerque's Griego-Ortega overwhelms Sabillo, wins NABA title

Merlito Sabillo might be old enough to get this reference, even if Matt Griego-Ortega isn’t.

On a torrid Saturday night at Expo New Mexico, Griego-Ortega was fighting at 78 rpms, Sabillo at 33 1/3.

The predictable result: Albuquerque’s Griego-Ortega overwhelmed the Philippines’ Sabillo, a former world champion, winning by second-round TKO in the main event of a five-bout professional boxing card.

The victory earned Griego-Ortega (14-0, 10 knockouts) the previously vacant North American Boxing Association flyweight title.

Griego-Ortega was pleased with the outcome, as were the some 900 fans that populated the stands at the Expo’s Villa Hispana exhibit despite temperatures in the high 90s.

“(Sabillo) wasn’t the Merlito that he was 10 years ago, but he still has some experience and some good wins under his belt,” Griego said. “… I just felt like I was the stronger man and the faster man, so I think that’s what got it done.”

Sabillo (27-9, 13 KOs), an awkward southpaw, fought hesitantly from the opening bell. Griego-Ortega said he was wondering if the 39-year-old former WBO minimum-weight (105-pound) champion was studying him, looking for openings he could exploit as the fight wore on.

Griego-Ortega, 27 and just entering his prime, didn’t let the fight wear on. “I didn’t let him get started,” he said.

After dominating the first round, Griego-Ortega trapped Sabillo in the Filipino’s own corner and landed unanswered shots until referee Roberto Reyes called a halt to the one-sided contest at 1 minute, 14 seconds of the second.

In the evening’s semi-main event, Albuquerque welterweight Matthew Baca triumphantly returned from a nine-year hiatus with a victory by second-round TKO over Dallas’ Ashton Royal.

Baca (5-2-1, three KOs) dropped Royal (1-7, one KO) with a body shot in the first round. He felled the awkward Texas fighter with a combination early in the second.

“I think it was a right uppercut, left hook,” he said. “I’m not sure, honestly. My adrenaline was pumping so much, I kind of just let it go. My instincts kicked in and I took him out."

Family concerns, the birth of his son Malachi and the illness of his late father, David Baca, had interrupted Baca’s promising career as a 20-year-old in 2014.

Now, he’s back.

“I’m ready for whatever, whoever,” he said.

In other bouts:

Popular Albuquerque light heavyweight Lorenzo Benavidez (4-5-2, one KO) banged out a victory by four-round unanimous decision over Texan Gabriel Rodriguez (0-2).

Benavidez recently changed trainers, leaving Steve Garcia to work with Manuel Anaya, but Saturday’s performance was simply Lorenzo being Lorenzo — pressuring, banging to the body and the head, depriving a taller opponent of punching room.

Rodriguez gave almost as good as he got, but he simply couldn’t match Benavidez’s work level.

All three judges scored the bout 39-37, as did the Journal.

“(Rodriguez) was tough, tough as nails for sure,” Benavidez said afterward. “I tried to get him out of there, but he did what he did to survive.”

Throughout the four rounds, Benavidez found consistent success digging to the body with the right, following with a left hook to the head.

“I felt like I was landing that left hook perfect every time,” he said.

In perhaps a mild upset, junior-lightweight boxer-puncher Andres Rey (2-0, 0 knockouts) defeated fellow Albuquerquean Maximus Moya (3-1, two KOs) by four-round unanimous decision.

Throughout, Moya struggled to see the faster-handed Rey’s punches coming. Rey skillfully varied his attack, landing clean shots downstairs and up.

The judges’ scores were 39-37, 39-37, 40-36 for Rey. The Journal scored it 40-36.

“I didn’t win this alone,” Rey said, nodding to his team from Albuquerque’s Grizzly Boxing.

Super flyweight Quentin DeLeon made it clear through word and deed that he’s a boxer and no longer a Muay Thai fighter, defeating fellow Albuquerquean Jose Vialpando by first-round TKO.

Seconds into the bout, DeLeon dropped Vialpando with a right hand. Urged by his corner to stay disciplined, he patiently — sort of — took apart Vialpando with a two-handed attack until the referee stopped the onslaught at the 1:04 mark.

“Beautiful,” he said. “I worked so damn hard for it, and I didn’t expect it to go any other way.”

The temperature was at near 100 degrees when the card began shortly after 7 p.m. Most of the seating area was covered by a canopy, however, and there were large misters on each side.

The ring was on the stage, with all the seating — theater-style — on one side.

After sunset, the temperature remained in the mid-90s, but a mild breeze helped cool off the some 900 spectators.

Brian Mendoza, the WBC interim junior middleweight champion and a Cleveland High graduate, made an appearance in the ring between fights. Albuquerque rapper Jandro entertained the crowd before the main event.