SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- It was late in the 10th and final round. Joaquin Zamora had Josh Renteria backed into a corner and was pummeling him in the face.

Zamora turned away, looked at referee Rocky Burke and thought (these are his words), “Man, when are you going to stop this fight?”

The referee did just that a few seconds after Zamora returned to unloading on the Tucson boxer, calling a technical knockout Saturday at Sky City Casino in Acoma. It was Zamora’s 13th consecutive victory.

“He came in the second time, I buzzed him and they stopped the fight,” Zamora said. “I was throwing caution to the wind and letting everything go.”



The native of Luna is now 18-2-1 with a dozen knockouts. He doesn’t know when his next fight will be, but he may get a rematch against the last boxer who managed to beat him. Elco Garcia scored a technical knockout over Zamora on Nov. 13, 2004, in Bernalillo.

According to a fight recap on newmexicoboxing.com, Garcia watched Saturday’s fight at Sky City and said he would be “more than happy to oblige Joaquin Zamora, should he wish for a rematch.”

“It just depends on the business part of it,” Zamora said after Saturday’s fight, on the prospect of facing Garcia again. “I have all the respect in the world for him … he did beat me up the last time.”

Zamora started off slowly against Renteria (15-3), testing him out and landing a few jabs to the body and face in the opening round. He knocked Renteria down in the second round and the crowd, which heavily favored Zamora, began to chant his first name.

“I started getting cramps on my calves about the second round, so I wasn’t able to be as mobile as I wanted to be,” Zamora said. “My legs were cramping up and I kind of stopped and was taking my time. … But in the second round I said, ‘you know what, I’m going to rest tomorrow. I’m going to leave it all out in the ring.’”

Zamora became gradually more aggressive throughout the match until he ended it with a devastating grand finale of combos that had the crowd on its feet and roaring. Renteria struggled to make much contact with Zamora, who continually backed Renteria into the ropes throughout and stayed on the attack.

“I had control of the fight pretty much the whole way … but you can never discredit or look past a guy like Josh Renteria. That guy has power. He can just hit you at any time and knock you out,” Zamora said.

Zamora had bloodied Renteria’s nose by the third round, and was clearly dominating by the sixth. In the seventh, Zamora’s face started dripping with blood after receiving a head-butt from Renteria.

“We both started coming in and landing some hard shots,” Zamora said. “I think it’s just what happens when righties fight lefties (Zamora is a southpaw) … You see it all the time. It’s unfortunate I got cut, but that’s just part of the game.”

Zamora made Renteria stumble at three different times during the eighth round, when Renteria’s face really started taking a beating. Renteria managed to land a few good punches in the ninth, but Zamora again dominated the round.

Going into the 10th round, Ramon De la Cruz of the New Mexico Athletic Commission loudly made the comment, “You guys can fight now.” They did, knowing it was the last round, and Zamora’s furious assault ended the long, grueling bout.

“Last November, I went the 10-round distance and then this one, almost the 10-round distance,” Zamora said. “I was still feeling good in the last round because I was pacing myself. I was doing what my trainer, Albert Lovato, told me to do.”

Zamora said Lovato told him to pace himself and take it slow in the early going. Zamora was in top condition for the fight.

“Having a full-time manual-labor job makes me stronger,” he said. “I run, I go to work then I go train with Al Lovato, and he works long too, so we make each other tough. I work for the city of Santa Fe trails and open space crew.”

Zamora, 31, gave himself a grade of “C” for Saturday’s fight. He said his next goal is “to get bigger fights” and to start getting some monetary benefits. He currently trains in Santa Fe, but has a large fan base that is scattered across the state.

“I live in Santa Fe and I represent Santa Fe to the fullest right now, but that’s my tierra down there, in Catron and Socorro counties,” Zamora said. “I mean, that’s my home. I want to say hello to everybody out there.”

Zamora is engaged to be married to Micah Clokey of Santa Fe, and there will be a bridal shower July 11 at Macey Center.

“She knows what this life is,” Zamora said of his bride-to-be.