Tapia boxing card: Sanchez beats Harris Jr. by majority decision

Feb. 24—It was, perhaps, not Jose Luis Sanchez's previous 11 victories but his two most recent losses that helped him endure a rugged challenge on Friday — and win.

Albuquerque's Sanchez defeated Reggie Harris Jr. by six-round majority decision in a junior-middleweight bout on a pro boxing card at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

Sanchez, nicknamed Guero, is now 12-3-1 with four knockouts. Harris, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is 7-3 with three KOs.

One official scorecard read 57-57, a draw.

The other two cards favored Sanchez, 58-56.

The Journal also scored the bout 58-56 for Sanchez.

The night's main event, a junior lightweight bout between Jason Sanchez (Jose Luis' brother) and Mexico native and Clovis resident Rafael Reyes, began after the Journal's print deadline.

A welterweight bout between Albuquerque's Josh Torres and Denver's Donovan Estrella also began late.

Jose Luis Sanchez entered Friday's bout having lost his previous two fights — but against two of the sport's rising stars in Xander Zayas (now 15-0) and Jahi Tucker (9-0). Sanchez went the distance against both men, acquitting himself well in defeat.

And Friday, when Harris appeared to be taking the fight away from him in the middle rounds, Sanchez found the answer.

"I felt like I boxed him. I was hitting him pretty good," Sanchez said. "I was catching him when I wanted to. I was moving and slipping a lot of his punches."

Sanchez won the first two rounds on the Journal's scorecard, but Harris took rounds three and four with aggression and heavier blows.

The answer in the final two rounds? Winning exchanges, movement, winning exchanges.

"He was strong, but I could see his shots," Sanchez said. "... I'd slip a lot of his punches and then I'd try to counter."

In other bouts:

—Sonya Dreiling (6-3, 2 KOs), Albertville, Alabama, 164.4, defeated Albuquerque's. Jordanne Garcia (4-2-2, 0 KOs), 163.8, over four rounds by unanimous decision.

—Jordan Gregory (2-3-3, 0 KOs), Albuquerque, 164.2, and Lorenzo Benavidez (3-5-2, 1 KO), Albuquerque, 168.8, fought to a four-round majority draw.

—Taos' Andres Rey (pro debut), 129, defeated El Paso's Jesus Marin (0-2), 128.8, by four-round unanimous decision.

—In a featured amateur bout, Nicco Tapia, the son of the late, legendary Albuquerque boxer Johnny Tapia, defeated Belen's Christopher Lucero by unanimous decision.

Though the Gregory-Benavidez draw was popular with no one — not the fighters, not the fans — the outcome didn't appear unreasonable.

The tall, muscular Gregory had defeated the short (5-foot-2) and (shall we say) roly-poly Benavidez by unanimous decision in August by catching his opponent coming in and moving laterally before Benavidez could apply pressure.

Friday, however, the same tactic was less successful, and Gregory was more stationary as the bout proceeded — leading to a four-round back-and-forth with Gregory landing more punches, Benavidez the more telling ones.

One judge scored it 39-37 for Gregory, two scored it even at 38. The Journal scored it 39-37 for Benavidez.

Rey made an impressive pro debut, flashing the skills that won him a state Golden Gloves amateur title in 2022.

"I wanted to get the knockout, but I still got the win," Rey said. "A win is a win. ... (Marin) was a tough dude; he can take a shot."

Dreiling, who had defeated Garcia by majority decision in 2019, made it unanimous this time. The judges' scores were 39-37, 39-37 and 40-36.

Garcia might have secured another draw with a big fourth round, but it was Dreiling, the stronger of the two, who dominated the final two minutes.