They paraded around the ring, arm in arm, trophies hoisted high in triumph, in one final show of respect.
To the crowd and to each other.
After three high-action, high-level rounds, Ethan Perez won a unanimous decision over Santiago Vazquez to capture the male senior open 125-pound title Sunday at the San Antonio Regional Golden Gloves tournament, held for the second straight year at the Second Baptist Church Community Center on the East Side.
But it was hard to call Vazquez a loser in this battle of 18-year-old southpaws. After Perez dominated his first two opponents, the welder from Poteet gave the champion a hard fight despite giving away several inches in height and reach, not to mention considerable experience.
“There was no bad blood. It was more of a friend-to-friend fight. It was all love,” said Perez, a senior at Stevens High School. “We’ve sparred with each other in the past. I knew he was a strong fighter. I expected a tough fight.”
Thirty-three championship and runner-up trophies were awarded to men and women in senior open and novice and youth open and novice divisions.
Male and female winners in the senior open divisions are eligible to advance to the Texas State Golden Gloves Tournament, March 15-18, in Fort Worth.
Perez, fighting unattached, will be making his first appearance at state after winning the regional 125-pound youth open title a year ago.
Perez rallied Sunday after Vazquez dropped him in the first round courtesy of a solid left hook. Perez said he tripped, but the punch woke him up.
“I knew they were going to count it as a knockdown the second I touched the canvas,” Perez said. “That’s why I tried to finish strong.”
Perez understood he was in for a tough fight, but he lost only one round on one judge’s scorecard, winning all the rest.
He now has more than 80 outs under his belt to just 10 for Vazquez.
“I did everything I could to win,” said Vazquez, who trains at Castillo’s Boxing Gym on San Antonio’s South Side. “Unfortunately, the judges didn’t (agree). I’ve got to work harder now.”
If Perez-Vazquez was the fight of the night, the punch and knockout of the evening went to Aden Jacks of Box Beat Gym.
The 21-year-old super heavyweight, in just his 11th bout, needed all of 29 seconds to end the night for Emiliano Ortiz of Ortiz Boxing Club in Uvalde and win the male senior open super heavyweight title.
After a left jab to the midsection, the 220-pound Jacks connected with an overhand right to the chin that sent the 274-pound Ortiz down in a heap. He sat on a stool in the middle of the ring for 5 minutes recovering.
“I didn’t think I threw it that hard,” Jacks said of the punch. “I guess I hit him just right and he went down.”
Jacks will be making his second straight trip to Fort Worth after winning state and advancing to nationals a year ago as a heavyweight.
Two-time national amateur champion David Cardenas, 18, of Pure Technik Boxing defeated Amarione Holloman of Austin 3-0 to win the male senior open 112-pound title.
Amanda Sendejo, Cardenas’ stablemate, won her second consecutive regional Golden Gloves title with a 3-0 victory over Lizette Ramos of Team No Love Boxing at 110 pounds in the female division.
Sendejo beat Ramos at 106 a year ago to advance to state.
Other boxers winning senior open titles were Cassie Parsley of Austin at female 125 pounds; Neko Deleon of Austin at 132; Anthony Serrano of Round Rock at 139; Isaac Bermea of Cardona’s Boxing Gym at 147; Solwazi Graves of Austin at 165; and Jorrian Moses of Randazzo Brothers Boxing at 203.
Twitter: @johnfwhisler