Irvine Boxing : Montes Blisters Martin in 12-Round Decision

John Montes sat in his dressing room, resting his right foot on top of a table, showing off the reason he had so much trouble winning his fight against Eric Martin Monday night at the Irvine Marriott Hotel.

Montes of Whittier had developed a large blister on the instep of his right foot and a smaller one on the sole of his foot in the second round but still managed a 12-round unanimous decision over Martin of San Francisco. The victory in front of 1,400 gives Montes the California Super-Lightweight title, which had been vacant. The judges ruled, 115-114, 116-114 and 117-112 in favor of Montes (37-4).

“With the blisters on my foot I just couldn’t pivot,� Montes said. “Those really hurt. Early on I knew I couldn’t knock him out so I had to just move and keep throwing more counter punches.�

Montes hadn’t had any trouble before with the shoes he wore Monday night and said his socks might have caused the irritation, but he wasn’t sure.

Neither fighter did much punching for the first four rounds, but Montes finally opened with a pair of solid combinations in the fifth. But after that it was more of a boring dance around the ring for both fighters.

Montes used a sharp left to keep the taller Martin (23-8) from being able to move inside.

In the 11th round, he used the same left hand to score the fight’s only knockdown. He landed two left jabs to Martin’s head, and then threw a solid left to the chest, sending Martin to the floor. Martin got right up, though, taking the 10-count standing, and withstood Montes’ attack in the final two minutes of the 11th.

“I really wasn’t pleased with my performance,� Montes said. “The blisters really bothered me but we couldn’t take my shoe off in between rounds so I just had to make the best of it.�

In other fights:

Milford Kemp of Venice overcame a first-round knockdown by Lee Sentinella of Westminster to win a six-round unanimous decision. Sentinella scored a quick knockdown with a combination but Kemp (7-3-2) used a strong jab to set up some solid rights and went on to win the rest of the rounds.

The judges scores were, 58-55, 58-56, 57-56. Sentinella is 10-2.

Manuel Vallejo (3-3) of Los Angeles won a four-round majority decision over Joel Gonzales (0-6) of East Los Angeles. Gonzales knocked Vallejo down early in the fourth round but lost, 39-37, 39-37, 38-38.

Jamie Ocegueda of Baldwin Park won a unanimous four-round decision over Juan Trujillo in Ocegueda’s first professional fight. Trujillo is 0-1-1.

Boxing Notes

Undefeated Genaro Hernandez will be in the featured bout on the next card, July 27th, at the Irvine Marriott. Hernandez (12-1) fights Kenny Wyatt (9-1) . . . The third annual David Hill Fight for the Handicap will be held at the Irvine Marriott, July 26 at 2 p.m. Archie Moore is the scheduled guest of honor.