Kingsville’s Homer Fonseca (right) lands a solid punch to the face of Lenroy Thomas during their six round fight in Tampa, Fla. last Friday. Fonseca - the Texas Heavyweight Boxing Champion - was the recipient of a very unpopular majority decision loss. (Photo provided by Angela Alegria) HOMER FONSECA

Texas State Heavyweight Boxing Champion Homer Fonseca (8-3-2) had many saying he was robbed of a victory through a majority decision by hometown fighter Lenroy Thomas (15- 1) in Tampa, Fla. this past Friday.

Thomas first tried intimidating Fonseca at the weigh-in.

“During the stare off, Thomas put his fist under Homer’s chin and pushed up just a little bit,” Head Trainer Jaime Cantu said. “Homer immediately put his fist under Thomas’ chin and pushed him up in the air and the fighters then had to be separated. They continued their stare off and Thomas tried to sneak in a big growl at Homer who did not even flinch but instead laughed it off; after that, Thomas knew he could not get inside Homer’s head.”

Thomas brought his bravado into the ring but soon switched gears after digesting a hard shot from Fonseca.

“We came out on the opening bell and he tried to be the aggressor, trying to walk me down,” Fonseca said. “I hit him with a big right hook, he had his guard real high, and his gloves absorbed most of the blow but I still managed to punch through them and caught his chin pretty flush. He felt my power and it became a catand mouse game after that.”

Thomas’ punches were more annoying flicks rather than attempts to damage the stalking Fonseca.

“I do not take anything away from the guy and it all depends on how you want to score it,” Fonseca said. “He definitely landed a lot of shots but they did not have any power on them, he did not hurt me at anytime during the fight and I had him wobbled about three times. I worked my game plan which was go in there and fight and he worked his game plan which was survival.”

Cantu added Thomas’ catch-me-if-you-can tactics are nothing new to Fonseca who has been the chaser before.

“During the first round, Homer cracked Thomas with a very big right hook and once the guy felt Homer’s power, he definitely went into reverse mode, basically would pop in one shot and run,” Cantu said. “Later on, Homer caught Thomas with a double left hook that knocked him out of one corner and into an opposite one. Thomas got tired of running in the sixth round and Homer jumped up on him and had his best round catching him even more.

The Tampa crowd booed their local - who sold plenty of tickets - after the judges’ decision was revealed. To counter running-scared opponents in the future, Fonseca may begin chasing chickens in a fenced-in area just as Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky II.

“One of the things we are going to work on now is finding more ways to cut the ring off when Homer’s opponents go into reverse,” Cantu said. “We have to also learn how to work out of these clinches when these guys grab Homer. This is what we need to do because apparently that is the biggest way people have learned to survive against Homer’s power.”

Fonseca may step into the ring once more - possibly against a top heavyweight - before fighting in the main event of Lone Star Promotions’ next show which is tentatively scheduled for May 15.

GOLDEN GLOVES

The Kingsville Boxing Club won the novice team title at the 67th annual Regional Golden Gloves tournament held last week at the American Bank Center Exhibition Hall

Victorious in the Junior Olympic Division were Jesus Carrion (110 lb.) and Jacob Martinez (153 lb.) who both won by decision. Joel Garcia won his match in the 152 lb. sub-novice classification after going unopposed.

Oscar Cantu won by decision in the 114 lb. open division. Cantu - a 2012 Olympic hopeful - will fight at the state tournament in Fort Worth March 3-6.

Losing by decision were Matthew Chavez (141 lb. sub-novice), Jon Quinton McGill-Scott (201-plus lb. open), Angel de la Paz (164 lb. junior olympic). Eric Gonzalez (132 lb. novice), Oscar de la Fuente (132 lb. sub-novice) and Chris Delgado (141 lb. novice).

“I was very proud of winning the team trophy especially because all of our losses came in the semifinals and were very close,” Coach Jaime Cantu said. “Every one of our boxers looked like a highly skilled and trained fighter. This tournament was a true measure of where all of these fighters are at and I am excited about next year’s golden gloves to see how good my guys will be then.”