Thirteen years ago, Jorge Abiague Jr. walked into the Portland Boxing Club for the first time. He was 23.
He had no formal boxing training, but Abiague lived in Cuba until he was 17. In Cuba, boys learn to box.
SATURDAY'S BOXING CARD
WHERE: Portland Expo
WHEN: Doors open at 6 p.m.; fights start at 7:30
ON THE CARD: Six pro bouts featuring North American middleweight champion Russell Lamour Jr. and New England super bantamweight champ Jorge Abiague Jr., both of Portland, Casey “The Buzzsaw” Kramlich of Raymond, Jimmy “Marine Sargent” Smith of Biddeford and Jason “The Fighting Fireman” Quirk of Scarborough.
SPECIAL GUEST: Boxing Hall of Famer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini will pose for photos and sign autographs from 6 to 8 p.m.
TICKETS: Available at Bruno’s Restaurant or PortTIX.com (box office at Merrill Auditorium)
“It’s a natural thing. It’s like baseball. I never played in the major leagues, but I know how to play baseball. And I knew how to box,” Abiague said.
Bobby Russo, the owner and soul of Portland Boxing Club, didn’t know Abiague’s back story but quickly spotted his natural talent.
“He came in with an instinctive radar, a slickness,” Russo said.
Now 35 and a father of two young daughters and stepfather to two sons, Abiague is still boxing.
“I’m just trying to make it. I’m just trying to be somebody,” he said.
Saturday night, Abiague will make his first championship defense. He’s putting his New England super bantamweight (122 pounds) title on the line against Josh Crespo of New Haven, Connecticut, in a scheduled eight-round bout as part of the Portland Boxing Club’s card at the Portland Expo.
Abiague, 9-1 as a professional, claimed the vacant title when he beat Crespo (5-2-3) via split decision in January at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“I was hitting him and not getting hurt and doing it well,” Abiague said. “At one point I was like, ‘This is too easy.’ I got a little comfortable and I was doing a little clowning and he caught me. He wobbled me.”
The main event is also a rematch, one that has generated some bad blood. Portland middleweight Russell Lamour (12-1) will be out to avenge his only professional loss when he takes on Thomas Falowo (13-3) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in an eight-round middleweight fight for the IBA North American and New England titles.
Russo, the fight promoter who also trains Lamour and Abiague, said Falowo has been talking trash since beating Lamour. It could be a case of familiarity breeding contempt. Counting amateur bouts, this will be the seventh meeting between Lamour and Falowo. Lamour won the first four times they met as an amateur. Falowo won the last two, including the final amateur bout.
“I’ll win just because I’m the much better technical boxer,” Lamour said. “The last fight I started slow and fought his fight.”
Four other pro fights are on the card. Three feature Portland Boxing Club fighters Jimmy “Marine Sargent” Smith, Casey “Buzzsaw” Kramlich and Jason “The Fighting Fireman” Quirk. Their professions served as Russo’s nickname inspiration.
Abiague supervises movie theater maintenance, cleaning several locations early each morning.
“Carpets, floors, everything,” he said.
It’s an honest job, just not very nickname friendly.
Russo looked to Abiague’s heritage and settled on “Mantequilla,” Spanish for butter.
“A famous Cuban welterweight named Jose Napoles, who was a great fighter, that was his nickname and Jorge liked it,” Russo said.
It also fits. Abiague is smooth and slippery in the ring.
“His speed is tremendous,” said Lamour, who has trained alongside Abiague for years. “He’ll hit a guy five, six times and by the time the guy’s ready to punch, Jorge has moved on. He’s on target and he’s busy.”
Nine of Abiague’s 10 bouts have gone the distance, including his only loss to Nate Green.
Abiague came to Portland with his grandfather and father, and several other family members as political refugees. Abiague’s grandfather was critical of Fidel Castro’s government and was told to leave.
The family flew to Portland, arriving late on a winter evening. They faced climate shock.
“We came straight to Portland,” Abiague said. “The next day I looked out the window and everything was white.”
The Portland Boxing Club eventually became a comfortable place and Abiague quickly built an impressive amateur resume, capped with his 2008 national Golden Gloves flyweight championship. Abiague is the only male boxer from Maine to win a national Golden Gloves title, Russo said, noting that Joey Gamache of Lewiston was a Junior Golden Gloves champ.
Professional fights have been harder to come by. “There just aren’t very many little guys,” Russo said. Most of those haven’t challenged Abiague, who acknowledges that other than Crespo and Green his opponents have been underwhelming.
So what keeps him coming back to the gym?
It’s not the money. His largest payday has been $2,500.
But boxing has become a family affair. Abiague is accompanied to the gym by stepsons Tito Morales, 16, and Barry Wilson, 11, both junior New England amateur title holders.
Abiague also still has goals for himself.
“I just want to be a world champion,” he said.
But he’s 35 and hasn’t fought any well-known boxers.
“I know where you’re going with that,” Abiague says, ducking his head slightly, as if he can dodge the doubts. “I know. But it’s happened before and it will happen again.”
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