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Combat sports: Chavez had plenty to fight for; Condit back in action
Clinton Chavez, scheduled to fight the main event on a Legacy Promotions card on Nov. 9, fights for his family and for his Native American community.
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No one is more deserving of a main-event fight than Clinton Chavez, says the man who makes those decisions for Albuquerque’s Legacy Promotions.
“I’m not gonna put a guy who’s not gonna entertain you as a main event,” Aaron Perez said in a phone interview. “(Chavez) gives fight fans what they want to see, for sure.”
Chavez plans to make the most of the opportunity — his first main event as a professional boxer — but not only for himself.
He has a girlfriend and two kids, but there’s more.
His Native American heritage “is something I cherish,” Chavez, a native of San Felipe Pueblo, said in a phone interview. “The main reason I got into boxing was just to inspire the native youth. That was one of my biggest goals.
“Even if I just inspire one kid from the reservation, it’s all worth it in the end.”
There’s more still, though, from Perez’s perspective. Chavez didn’t turn pro until he was 29. Now, at 35, he has a 7-2 record with four knockouts, having had just those nine bouts in six years.
Perez, aware that time is undefeated, would like to help Chavez make the most of the years he has left as a boxer.
“Obviously he’s on a fast track because of his age,” Perez said. “… Just trying to get him a little shine before he can’t do it no more.”
That’s why Chavez is matched against Hobbs’ Mario Gonzales (5-0, four KOs) in the eight-round super welterweight main event of Legacy’s Nov. 9 card at the Marriott Pyramid.
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The vacant United Boxing Organization super welterweight (154-pound) title will be at stake. Though the UBO is not among the sport’s universally recognized sanctioning bodies, Perez believes a title could be a springboard to bigger and better things for Chavez (or, of course, Gonzales).
Chavez likes the idea, but will take the future as it comes.
“(His age) is in the back of my mind, but I just thank God every day that He gives me the strength to have another fight,” he said. “I’m not really in a rush.
“… Whatever God has planned for me is what He has planned for me … So I’m just gonna play it by ear and (see) how my body feels, and how I feel, and that’s just as far as I’m gonna go.”
Chavez and Gonzales are not complete strangers, having fought in separate bouts on a February 2020 card at Isleta Resort & Casino. They both won that night.
“I know he’s tough,” Chavez said. “… I know his style. I know he’s a come-forward fighter, a heavy hitter. But that’s what we’re getting ready for, and that’s what we’re training for.
“So it should be a good night.”
UNRETIRED (SORT OF): Foundational Albuquerque MMA fighter Carlos Condit, who announced his retirement from the cage in 2021, never actually said he was done competing.
He wasn’t, and isn’t. Condit (32-14 MMA) is scheduled to face Michael Page (21-3 MMA) on Saturday in the main event of Polaris 30, a grappling event to be staged in Page’s hometown of London.
This is Condit’s second Polaris fight. He lost to Ashley Page by first-round stoppage (heel hook) on Nov. 5, 2022 in Southampton, England.
Condit, 40, announced his retirement from MMA after a loss by unanimous decision to Max Griffin in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 10, 2021. He told combat-sports journalist Ariel Helwani that he knew it was time to step away when he wasn’t as upset by a defeat as he’d been in the past.
Nonetheless, it appears the competitive fires are still burning.
Polaris 30 is scheduled to be streamed on UFC Fight Pass, starting at 1:30 MDT.
MADRID VS. IRIARTE: Albuquerque’s Xavier Madrid (5-5, two KOs), who dealt Chavez one of his two defeats, is scheduled to face unbeaten prospect Joel Iriarte (4-0, four KOs) Saturday on a Golden Boy Promotions card in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The card is scheduled to streamed on DAZN, a subscription service, starting at 6 p.m. It’s not guaranteed that Madrid’s bout, scheduled to open the card, will appear on the stream.
