SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA – After over a year away from the ring, 52-year-old local favorite Paul Nave claimed an eight-round unanimous decision over Justin Danforth to achieve the personal milestone of career win number 20 at Albert Park Field on Friday night.
Nave (20-9-2, 8 KOs) of San Anselmo, California took a couple rounds to adjust to the unexpectedly southpaw stance of Danforth (6-19, 1 KO) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Danforth, who came out to the ring in a Hannibal Lecter mask, landed the first clean punch of the fight, a solid left hand in the first, but was never able to hurt California’s oldest licensed fighter.
Both fighters struggled at times with their footing in the fight, as the moist October air left the red ring mat damp. Danforth, 146 ½, was the first to taste the canvas as a result, which was correctly ruled a slip by referee Ray Balewicz in the second round. Both fighters looked to overcome the awkward lefty-righty stance problem by throwing whenever they could. Sometimes the punches were wide or coming from odd angles as both Nave and Danforth aimed to land something clean.
Each fighter landed some of their best shots in the fourth. Nave, 146 ½, landed a clean left hook with Danforth backing up early in the round. Danforth eventually landed back with a hard left of his own before the close of the round. Since Danforth routinely kept his right held low, the wide left would land consistently for Nave throughout the fight.
Nave pressed the action a bit harder in the fifth, again finding Danforth with his left hand. Nave looked to have clipped Danforth with a moderately low blow that the Milwaukee native milked to either gain some time or work the referee for a warning on Nave. Danforth’s acting was not good enough to earn either from Balewicz, who instructed him to box without any timeout. In a somewhat sloppy sixth, Nave was eventually warned for a low blow, but none of his punches ever seemed to stray with any sort of intent.
The most heated round would be the seventh. After some encouraging in his corner, Nave seemed amped at the start and quickly landed his best combination of the fight. The wet conditions came into play again as a Danforth left grazed Nave and the fighter-promoter’s gloved touched the canvas as one of his legs slipped from under him. After Balewicz ruled it a slip, Nave bounced back up and charged back at Danforth, who weathered the rush and eventually fired back. The exchanges lasted a bit after the bell to end the round and Danforth would return to his corner with blood over his right eye.
Nave landed a clean right that rocked Danforth early in the eighth that brought his loud home supporters to their feet, encouraging the old warrior to press for something big. Danforth was awkward enough to evade some of the follow-up and eventually battle back. Helping Danforth’s cause was another Nave slip in the midst of an exchange. Once Nave got back up, both fighters threw until the sound of the bell, much to the delight of the crowd. In the end the scores were all wide for Nave, 79-73 and 80-72 twice.
“It was a personal I had, to get 20 wins,” said Nave after the bout. “He was awkward. He was tough, I give him credit. He was in good shape and he fought back hard. I had no idea he was left handed. I saw one picture where he was posed left handed, but everywhere you looked it said he was orthodox. I asked some people, but it’s not a good idea I guess to ask his trainer/manager. It was just difficult. I didn’t prepare whatsoever for a southpaw. It’s no excuse. You have to adjust like against anyone else and I did.”
Not only did Nave have to combat the natural effects of his advancing age, but Friday’s bout ended a second consecutive layoff of a year or more. However Nave felt better prepared physically this time around, as opposed to last year when he would eventually drop a majority decision to previously unbeaten Brandon Hoskins. “I had to lose eleven pounds in one day last year, and I didn’t give myself the best opportunity to win,” said Nave. “I swore to myself I would never do that again and I didn’t.”
With win number 20 secured, Nave could walk away satisfied, but the “Marin County Assassin” has designs on continuing. “I plan on fighting once or twice more,” says Nave. “With my resume, I think I have a chance for a decent money fight and maybe something will pop up. I don’t plan to wait it out until another year. Either I am going to stay more active or I am going to hang them up. I don’t have a timetable just yet, but I am going to take a look and see what options are out there and what opportunities I get. I can push for something now, coming off a win, so we’ll see what happens.”
Local ticket seller Laura Deanovic (1-3) of San Francisco, California earned her first pro win and avenged an earlier defeat at the same time with a hard-fought four-round unanimous decision over Claudia Amaro (1-3) of Fresno, California.
It was a free-swinging affair from the get go, as both Amaro, 127, and Deanovic, 122 ½, showed some limitations defensively but a ton of heart at the same time. Amaro opened well and cut Deanvoic over her left eye in the early going. Deanovic closed the round the aggressor and possibly took the round with a late rally. Deanovic, who presents a much more muscular, imposing figure, exercised her edge in power beginning in the second. Amaro was rocked several times, first by a solid right and later in a combination. Late in the round, Deanovic backed off, which gave Amaro a chance to press and eventually open up the cut.
After a back-and-forth third, Deanovic rushed out for the fourth and pounded Amaro throughout the round. Amaro threw back enough off the ropes to avoid a possible stoppage, but ended up on the losing end 39-37 on all three cards. Amaro took a four-round majority decision over Deanovic in May of last year.
Marquita Lee (2-0) of Novato, California withstood constant pressure throughout, but outpointed determined veteran Lisa Lewis (7-15, 3 KOs) of Fresno over four. Lewis, 127, pressed Lee, 129 ½, in the first, forcing the local fighter to the ropes for much of the opening round. Lee bounced back with a solid second round as she found a better range to start the round. Lewis eventually forced Lee back to the ropes with a clean series, before the Novato fighter brought the action back to center ring.
Outside of brief moments, Lee controlled the distance the last two rounds and thus the fight. Lee did not stand behind many of her shots in the second half, but did fight out at a range that the shorter and slower Lewis could not land at all. Closing the fight as a mover, Lee took all three cards 39-37. Moments after the fight, Lewis had to attended to by the on-hand EMTs for an asthma attack. Lewis was eventually taken by the fire department as a precaution.
Using his speed and athleticism, Aldwayne Simpson (3-0, 2 KOs) of Richmond, California thwarted the onrushing attack of Jovanni Rubio (7-16, 4 KOs) of Santa Rosa, California en route to a wide four-round unanimous decision.
Simpson, 144 ½, switched seamlessly from the southpaw stance to orthodox and back throughout the fight. The shorter Rubio, 146, had to sell out and rush in on Simpson to get into punching range, a technique that found mixed results at best.
Rubio tried to make it a dirty fight at times, perhaps to untrack Simpson. After a second round in which Simpson rocked Rubio in at least two instances, while Rubio’s moments consisted of lifting his opponent and hitting on breaks, referee Dan Stell warned both fighters for their infractions. Simpson kept his range more consistently in the third, catching Rubio at a distance.
Simpson had Rubio in trouble again in the fourth as he feinted with a right and landed clean with a left. Rubio looked to hold, eventually getting his arms around Simpson. When Stell demanded a break, Rubio continued to punch with his free hand. Stell took Rubio aside and signaled for a point deduction. Rubio kept up his dirty tactics until the end, as he initiated an exchange well after the final bell, before Stell leaped in to end the conflict. Scores were academic, as Simpson won unanimously 39-36 and 40-35 twice.
Opening the event was an amateur contest between local star Rudy Macedo of Novato and David Lopez of San Francisco. Despite downing Lopez twice, Macedo was defeated by scores 29-28 across the board. There was some confusion at the start of the fight, as the fighters were forced to switch corners after their announcement. Some ringside felt that the judges may have scored rounds for the wrong fighter, but in amateur scoring knockdowns do not lead to a 10-8 round.
Photos by Stephanie Trapp
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.
