Román really risked his life and had plenty of merit to open the dreamed-of Puerta Grande. The Plaza de Las Ventas surrendered to a very exciting display of dedication, pride, race, courage and good taste before two very different bulls, but equally demanding and well-matched.
The bullfighter left the ring on his own because the two thrusts were defective, and the late death of the bulls cooled things down. But there remained the brave feat of a bullfighter who came to Madrid as one should come: to triumph or die, and that bet deserved unanimous recognition.
After cutting off his first ear with force, he came out ready for anything against the complicated fifth, pure greed, who had pushed the horse, and spared the life of the banderillero César Fernández, whom he chased and skewered without luck at the exit of a couple . The dull danger of the animal was evident, with a short trip, untimely glances and scrounging in the air. But Román, instead of grieving, faced the fight with unusual determination, always crossed, in a serious challenge to the doubts of his opponent, and the whole task, a truly all-out fight, resulted in a dazzling intensity. There were no great blows of crutches – a natural length remains in memory at the end of the task – but the vibration was chewed up in the lines.
Meritorious and artistic was their work before the second of the afternoon, whose fight was experienced with all five senses ready. After some dull slaps on a bull with astute defenses, like the entire bullfight, the bull quickly went to the horse, picked it up as if it were a rug and turned it upside down, and more than complied with the second blow. He persecuted and humiliated them with banderillas, and the square already smelled of triumph when Román toasted the public.
From the middle he called with his right hand, and the animal, which was resting next to the boards, galloped as if it glimpsed the gate to the pasture; but when he found out that he was wrong, he threatened to quit. Then, Román called him again with the deception in his left hand, and Proud, that’s his name, decided to go quickly to the meeting again. A gust of wind appeared, the animal calmed down with the fresh air, and he decided to really charge, with aggressiveness, promptness, fixity and joy. And Román was transfigured into a great bullfighter, and, well positioned, he drew powerful muletazos on both sides, all tight, intense and deep due to the mutual dedication of an emboldened bullfighter and a bull overflowing with greed and class. Some elegant help from the bass gave way to that rear lunge and a long wait that left the victory in a single ear.
Leo Valadez suffered two somersaults, the first when attempting a pass from behind with the muleta, and another, more serious one, when he fell over the shoulder of his first bull. He came out caught and with obvious signs of pain in his right shoulder, and was unable to kill the sixth. Before he had shown himself seen and varied with the cape, in a remove for caleserinas before the second of the afternoon, and another for chicuelinas in his. And he overcame the commitment solvently and with skill in the face of the many difficulties that the third party posed to him, with his face always in the clouds.
Fandi is a character: an athletic bullfighter, a posh banderillero, as effective as he is hardly orthodox, and a superficial and crude muletero. But he has been an alternative for 24 years, which has great merit. He had three bulls to really open the Great Gate, but he settled for three noisy silences. He overcame the three with determination – with long knees in the third he received the fourth and the sixth -, he flagged them with relief, and he crumpled them without a hint of grace. With rhythm and fixity he attacked the first, repetitive and with class he was the second and collaborative the last. He muttered all of them loosely and without rushing, on all three occasions below the quality of his opponents. One thing is clear: El Fandi does not deceive.
And the Fuente Ymbro bullfight, top class. Brave, classy, fitted and noble in a diverse range of colors, but very interesting.
Source Ymbro/El Fandi, Román, Valadez
Bulls of Font Ymbro, very well presented, fine, brave, well-fitted and noble, with the exception of the lackluster third and fifth. The others were applauded in the drag.
The Fandi: half lying _notice_ (silence); very low thrust _warning_ and a madness (silence); fallen lunge (silence).
Romanian: rear lunge _notice_ (ear); rear lunge _warning_ a madness _second warning_ (turn).
Leo Valadez: very rear lunge (ovation). He was caught going in to kill, and the medical report indicates that he suffers a dislocation in his right shoulder and multiple erosions. He was transferred to a health center for a radiological study. Reserved forecast.
Plaza de las Ventas. May 11. Second run of the San Isidro Fair. More than three quarters of admission (18,497 spectators, according to the company).
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