Boxing card in the Pit takes a hit; 4 more fighters withdraw

The status of Saturday’s pro boxing card in the Pit was unclear Monday evening after four Albuquerque athletes scheduled to fight announced earlier in the day that they’d opted out.

Josh Torres, Diego Sanchez and the sons of the late world champion Johnny Tapia, Nicco and Johnny Jr., said they decided to withdraw due to concerns about the financial viability of the Florida-based promotional company in charge of the event.

On Friday, erstwhile main-event fighters Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson announced on Instagram that they had withdrawn from the card because of what they characterized as a failure on the part of Signature Punch Promotions to meet contractual obligations.

Nick Wheeler, a spokesman for Teresa Tapia Promotions, voiced similar concerns at a news conference held Monday at the Tapia gym on Montgomery NE.

“Signature Punch has left most fighters, coaches and sponsors in the wind about when or how they will be paid,“ Wheeler said.

“Fighters have not received flights or hotel reservations and they’ve had little to no communication that has been truthful.”

Co-promoter Jody Lewis, who runs Signature Punch with her husband, Gary, said in a phone interview that she’d just been informed of the four fighters’ decision to withdraw. She’d been in the process of trying to find a new opponent for Evans to salvage the main event, she said, and would call the Journal back.

She did not, but Signature Punch later posted the following on Instagram:

“April 12th is on. These posts and rumors are not of our doing. We have several fighters coming to town to compete. Whatever is being said is not our doing. Rashad has a new opponent. Announcing today.”

Evans, as of Monday evening, had given no indication on social media he was reconsidering his decision to opt out of the card.

Albuquerque boxing promoter Teresa Tapia, who’d been working with Signature Punch, said she’d lost confidence in the company’s ability to meet its financial obligations. Knowing her late husband Johnny Tapia’s history with the Pit — he won his first world title there in 1994 and celebrated his 31st birthday with a victory there in 1998 — she was excited to be a part of the promotion.

She’s the mother of sons Nicco and Johnny Jr., is married to Sanchez and has had a long personal and business relationship with Torres.

“I cannot allow with a clear conscience any fighter to fight for free, especially mine,” she said at the news conference. “And I’m not going to taint what Johnny accomplished at the Pit.”

Sanchez, an Albuquerque MMA legend, had been scheduled to make his professional boxing debut on Saturday against fellow MMA fighter John Mackdessi.

Having fought MMA all over the United States and in foreign countries, Sanchez said opting out of a chance to fight at the Pit was difficult but necessary under the circumstances.

“It’s truly heartbreaking,” he said. “... (But) I believe we’ve all made the right decision.”

Torres, one of New Mexico’s most accomplished and popular boxers, said when he was a kid he watched Johnny Tapia fight at the Pit.

Tapia later became his trainer and mentor. Torres attended Tapia’s memorial service at the Pit in 2012 and was a pallbearer.

“I put my blood, sweat and tears into this camp,” said Torres who was scheduled to face fellow veteran Harold Calderon. “I trained very hard, harder than ever before just knowing that it was going to be at such a historic venue.

“I came (to the Tapia gym) for clarity (from the promoter), and we haven’t gotten that.”

Two other New Mexico boxers, Albuquerque’s Matt Griego-Ortega and Cleveland High School graduate Brian Mendoza, were still planning to fight on Saturday pending further developments.

“I’m still in unless it get cancelled officially, I’m ready to fight,” Griego-Ortega said in a message on social media. He said he’d heard from Mendoza, whose plans were the same. With five bouts apparently gone, eight remained on the card as of Monday evening.