By Glen Rosales
Special to the SUN

More than six years is a long time to wait to deal with an itch that just wouldn’t quite go away.

But Saturday, Española’s Antonio “Tone” Martinez thrilled his fans while also breaking out the back scratcher.

He won a unanimous decision in his return to the boxing ring in a six-round bout with Raymond Chacon out of Northridge, California, in the 145 lb. class in the main event of the “Redemption” card at the Ohkay Hotel Casino.

It’s the third card that promoter Pat Holmes has produced at the casino since last year and each one has been a sellout.

For the 39-year-old Martinez, there was no better way to get back in the ring than to do so at home.

“It felt amazing, the love and support,” he said of the experience. “The fans showed up in Española, the Valley. It felt great to be back in the ring. I felt rusty still, but that’s to be expected after 6½ years away.”

COVID, then injuries, kept Martinez away, since his last fight in November 2019, from the sport he loves.

Now, he plans on one more fight and perhaps two, if he can squeeze them in this year and if he feels he wants to do more than one.

“At this point, I feel like I’ve got at least one more fight in me,” Martinez said Sunday afternoon. “I will be honest, I think it will be one more. I want everyone to get a chance to see me if they haven’t. I’ll label it as my final fight. That’s what I want to do. One more and call it, then it’s a wrap. I don’t want to be going out there with lackluster performances. I have one more good one in me and then hang it up.”

As for his fight with Chacon, well, Martinez gives it a passing grade, but not a whole lot better than that.

“It’s always great to get the win but I’m my biggest critic,” he said. “I could have, I expected more of myself. So I rate myself a C minus, but I have yet to see the whole fight.”

Given the layoff, not being sharp was fairly normal, Martinez said.

“I felt like I wasn’t as fluid as I was once was,” he said. “I know that’s ring rust. But the hard work definitely paid off. I’m in shape. I was able to go all the rounds and perform and do what I needed to do to go get the win.”

The biggest thing for Martinez was not so much taking shots meant to do harm, but trying to keep calm while stalking Chacon across the ring.

“It wasn’t that bad at all,” he said of being hit. “I’m not knocking the guy at all, but I’ve always had a good chin. It was good. It woke me up and made me remember, we’re here and this is real. You don’t play boxing. It’s a sport but you don’t play at boxing.”

So trying to get in the right flow was important.

“I would say the biggest thing was probably just trying to relax,” he said. “I wanted to put on a great performance for the fans in the Valley. So I was just trying to stay relaxed and calm and not just hunt for the knockout.”

Of course, that’s not so easy after being greeted with a monumental ovation that filled his body with adrenaline.

“Just hearing the fans roar, it’s special,” Martinez said. “That amps me up. That adrenaline, I get so pumped up, I just want to go out there and knock this guy out. But I had to stay calm and composed but it was amazing, such a great feeling. I love it. I can’t say it enough, we have the best fans here in the Valley, the most supportive fans.”

As far as the post-fight fallout, “I feel good,” he said. “My knuckles are really sore. They were swollen (Saturday) night and bruised. They were a little purple (Sunday) morning.”

In other fights on the card, Santa Fe’s Eduardo Piñon, who appears to be on the rising fast track, went four rounds for the first time in his young career, taking a unanimous decision over Albuquerque’s Quentin DeLeon at the 115 lb. weight division.

This was a fight that was essentially handed to Holmes after Piñon’s previous fight in January. Even as he was celebrating that victory, DeLeon climbed into the ring and challenged Piñon in an in-your-face moment that any promoter loves to see.

Aiseah Achesah, also out of Santa Fe, took a four round decision over Yhorhighness Rezaq of Hobbs in a 175 lb. bout.

Santa Fe’s Jerome Rivera at 135 lbs. took out Albuquerque’s Javier Saenz on a TKO in the second round.

And rising star Rolyn Nez of Bloomfield at 147 lbs. also needed a decision to turn away Ephraim Martinez of Lubbock.

Jorge Villaruel of Albuquerque knocked Joe Moralez, of Englewood, Colorado, midway through the third round at 115 lbs.

Albuquerque’s Mark Morgenstern made his pro debut a good one, knocking out George Roybal in the second round.