TOMMY CORDOVA

Nickname: EL TORITO

   Albuquerque's Tommy Cordova turned professional in August of 1983 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.  He scored a 3rd round knockout over Rafael Renas to get his pro campaign going.

   Cordova returned to his hometown of Albuquerque, NM for his 2nd pro fight, and delighted the enthusiastic crowd scoring a unanimous 4 round decision over Salvador Dominguez in front of a packed house at the Civic Arena.

   Tommy now had a record of 9-0, 6 ko's and had fought in 6 different states to compile that flashy record.  He was gaining a reputation as a "road warrior" who would face anyone, anytime, anywhere!

   Just 8 months after his professional debut, Tommy was called for a battle with undefeated prospect Kenny Baysmore (13-0) in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a wild affair, but Baysmore slick movement carried the night as he was awarded an 8 round decision win over the New Mexican warrior.

   From that point on, Tommy would be pitted against some of the top names in his division(s). His next fight would see him travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to square off with local hot prospect Jimmy "School Boy" Jackson (12-1-1) in a 10-round bout.  This time it was the pressure and non-stop offense of Cordova that was too much for Jackson and it was Cordova scoring the unanimous decision victory over the local favorite.

   With his record now standing at 10-1, Tommy Cordova was named as the man to face the experienced contender Freddie Roach (34-5) for a shot at the vacant ESPN Jr. Lightweight title.  The bout was a can't miss war between two offensive machines. The fight went all 12 rounds, and in the end it was Cordova whose hand was raised via split decision. Judge Duane Ford saw it 114-113 for Cordova, Hal Miller had it 115-113 for Roach, and it was Paul Smith that cast the deciding scorecard 117-111 in favor of Tommy Cordova.

A HUGE night for Tommy Cordova against Freddie Roach for the ESPN title!

   

   

   Tommy's offensive style earned him the nickname "El Torito" and he returned to Albuquerque to treat the local fans with a shutout win over 10 rounds against 58 fight veteran Jose Resendez.

   Next, it was off to Phoenix, Arizona where Tommy challenged local favorite Ronnie Gary for the Arizona State Featherweight Title. The local fighter got the 12 round decision win in another brutal slugfest.

   He ran into a rough customer named Rocky Garcia who fought out of Los Angeles, California.  After 22 rounds of war, nothing was settled! The first meeting ended in a 10 round draw, and 2 months later they did it again, this time it was a 12 rounder, with the SAME RESULT - a DRAW! The long anticipated 3rd meeting to settle it never happened.

   Cordova ran off 5 straight wins including Herbie Bivalacqua (13-1-1), Kelvin Seabrooks (17-10), and Gary Gamble (18-12-1) building his record to 17-2-2 and earning him a shot at the vacant NABF Featherweight Championship against California's "Baby Joe" Joe Ruelaz (17-2). The fight took place at The Showboat Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV and it was another bruiser. It went the full 12 brutal rounds, and it was Ruelaz winning the Majority Decision victory on scores of 114-114, 116-112, and 115-113 for "Baby Joe".

   Tommy took an easy tune-up fight before facing future WBA World Featherweight Champion Steve Cruz (23-1) in another of Tommy's classic wars. Cordova was stopped in round 9 by Cruz.

   Tommy would go 2-12-1 from that point.  Being put in the ring with some of the biggest names of that time. Lupe Miranda (9-0), Joey Medina (9-1), Javier Marquez (28-3-2), Andy Minsker (9-1), Shane Knox (7-0), Tony Lopez (23-0), traveling to Australia to face Lester Ellis (24-2), and then traveling to Corpus Christi, TX to face the local hero Lupe Suarez (23-1) where Cordova was stopped in round 9 after being dropped twice.

   The wars were wearing on El Torito. Hard fight after hard fight, war after war, the losses were starting to mount and he took some time off from the ring.

   Two years later he returned with a 1:48 destruction of Mexico's Alfredo Torres in Albuquerque, and followed that with an 8 round unanimous win over Jesus Muniz.  That win would be the final victory of  Cordova's nearly 10 year journey. 

   Cordova finished his career with losses to Javier Marquez (39-8-3), Colorado's Bobby Brewer (11-3) in Colorado, Back-to-Back losses to Jaime "Rocky" Balboa, and he finished with a spirited battle being stopped in 5 rounds against Detroit's Courtney Hooper, that final battle being waged in Tampa, Florida.

   It was a hard 10-year-long journey, but Tommy Cordova enjoyed every minute of  it!  The offensive war machine became a favorite among boxing fans everywhere, his non-stop attacking style made him a promoter's dream, and a fight fan's fighter!  Tommy is still active in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He trains younger members of his fighting family.

Check out Tommy's amazing record on boxrec: TOMMY'S RECORD ON BOXREC

 

 If you would like to see TOMMY CORDOVA in action, I have these bouts available for trade on DVD:

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      JIMMY JACKSON [w-10]

FREDDIE ROACH [w-12] {ESPN Jr. Light Title}

KELVIN SEABROOKS  [w-10]

STEVE CRUZ [tko-by-9] (*1st round ONLY)

ROBERT ANDERSON [w-dq-4]

ANDY MINSKER [L-10]

LESTER ELLIS   [tko-by-10]

LUPE SUAREZ  [tko-by-9]

ALFREDO TORRES  [ko-1]

Amateur:

Steve Hindi

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KELCIE BANKS

Nickname: "Mr. Mix" 

   Kelcie had an extensive and very successful amateur career that saw him win numerous national and international tournaments including a silver medal in the 1985 World Cup, and gold medals in the 1986 World Amateur Championships, and the 1987 Pan American Games, and a berth on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team.  His amateur record is reported at 480-86.

   He turned pro in April of 1989 with a 6 round decision win over Daniel Flores at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. He was then defeated by Leonardo Moreno in the next fight - being ko'd in round 3.

   Banks learned a lesson in that upset loss and ran off a string of victories that included a mix of different styles and different levels of competition, he won them all, 15 in a row, among those 15 were Benji Vigil (8-0), Bobby Brewer (7-1), Terry Southerland (8-0), Rodney Wilson (9-0-2), Felix Gonzalez (16-7-1), and scoring a near shutout unanimous decision win over former California State Featherweight Champion Benny Lopez (16-8).

  

   Feb. 1991 saw Banks step up into a test against highly regarded Mexican fighter Oscar Lopez (16-4), it was a hard fought 8 rounder that ended in a split draw.  Patricia Morse Jarman saw it as a near shutout for Banks at 79-73, Paul Smith had it close for Lopez at 77-75, and Al Siciliano scored it 76-76.  Kelcie's record now stood at 16-1-1, and he was still a closely watched prospect.

   His level of competition was stepped up and he scored wins over Marco Antonio Ramirez, and Tim Brooks.  Those two unanimous decision wins came as part of the Forum's Lightweight Tournament, which put him into the championship bout against world ranked Fidel Avendano (30-1).  

   August 26, 1991 was the big night as Banks faced his biggest test to date.  For Avendano it was the same story, his toughest test to that point. It was a great matchup of young prospects looking to step onto the world title stage. The fight lived up to all expectations and after 12 grueling rounds including Banks missing with a right hand punch that caused him to fall off balance, which was scored a knockdown by the referee, it came down to the scorecards. The judges saw the fight 115-113, 116-114, and 119-111 all in favor of Avendano.

   It was a disappointing loss for Banks, but at 18-2-1 he still had a solid record, and had shown his self to be competitive against top notch fighters. From that point on his career took a roller-coaster course.

   His next fight was an easy 2nd round tko win over Juan Jose Castaneda followed by a half-division move up in weight class to face an unbeaten contender in Ike Quartey (14-0) that saw Banks get ko'd in round 7 by the man who would go on to become WBA Welterweight world champion.

   A bounce-back unanimous 6-round win over journeyman Leo Mancillas tuned him up for a huge showdown match-up against fellow 1988 U.S. Olympic Team member Todd Foster (25-2)

Todd Foster had everything going his way against Banks

It was a very tough challenge faced by Banks who fought in the Featherweight division in those Olympic games, while Foster fought in the Light Welterweight division. There was no doubt that Foster was the naturally bigger fighter. And to make it even a steeper mountain to climb, the fight took place in Foster's home state of Montana! There were too many factors against Kelcie Banks, and it showed in the fight as Foster was just too strong and sharp that night for Banks. It was a lopsided unanimous 10-round win for Todd Foster on scores of 97-92, 99-92, and 100-87 on the official scorecards.

   Kelcie "Mr. Mix" Banks continued on and after a nice bounce-back win over 1-7 Jose Herrera, he won a rough-tough 10-round battle as he moved up into the welterweight division against Ray Collins (8-3-1) - climbing off of the deck in the final round to get the split decision victory. It would be his last.

   5 months later he took on another huge challenge as he faced off with a man who would go on to win the USBA Jr. Middleweight, and WBC World Middleweight titles - Keith Holmes (20-1), and it was another fight against a naturally bigger fighter in the opponent's home town!  Just like the Todd Foster fight, it was too much to overcome, and Banks was dropped in the opening round before being stopped at 1:48 of round 3. 

   Banks came back nearly a year-and-a-half later to fight a 6 round draw against Reno, Nevada's John Bryant (8-10-2), and then 2+ years later traveled to Denmark where he was stopped in the opening round against IBC Jr. Welterweight king Soren Sondergaard (32-1) in a non-title 8-round bout.

   It was an amazing journey for a man who lived and breathed boxing.  After an amazing amateur career that spanned nearly 550 fights, and a challenging professional career of  30 fights that never saw him challenge for a world title, but did see him pitted against fighters that woulds become champions, Kelcie Banks name is remembered fondly by boxing fans across the globe with great respect for his skills and heart.  He achieved much glory in the amateur ranks, and headlined some great shows that were broadcast on espn and other networks.

   Kelcie Banks finished up his Professional campaign with a nice record of 22-6-2, winning 11 by knockout.  Check out his complete pro ledger on boxrec: KELCIE BANKS Pro Record

   If you would like to see Kelcie Banks in action, I have these bouts available for trade on DVD. Contact me for information:

BENJI VIGIL   [tko-2]
BOBBY BREWER [w-4]
RAY GARCIA  [tko-2]
MARTIN GALVAN   [tko-1]
RAMON OCHOA     [tko-3]
ADOLFO ALDANA    [tko-4]
GABE CASTRO     [w-6]
FELIX GONZALEZ   [w-10]
OSCAR LOPEZ   [Draw-8]
FIDEL AVENDANO  [L-12] {Forum Lightweight Tournament Final)
TODD FOSTER  [L-10]

AMATEUR:
Ed Hopson #1
Ed Hopson #2
Ed Hopson #3
Lindell Walker   [rsc-2] (Final Round ONLY)
Arnoldo Mesa   (1987 Pan Am)
Arnoldo Mesa  (1987 Dual Meet)
Regilio Tuur  (1988 Olympics)
David Moreno  (1986 U.S. Olympic Festival)
John John Molina (Puerto Rico)    [rsc-by-1] (World Amateur Championships)
Robert Gonczi (Hungary)  [w-3] (1985 USA vs Hunary Dual Meet)
Jamie Pagendam (Canada)  [w-3]

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