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The Avila Perspective Chap. 34: Boxing Crowds Braved Bad Weather in Cali
It was a remarkable weekend in February as two massive fight cards scarcely 130 miles apart drew large crowds on the same night despite television and streaming. And one more thing; it was raining and that’s enough to shut down anyone’s plans in California.
Wake up newspaper editors. You are losing readers by the hundreds every day. Boxing can save you. I’ll explain later.
Rival promotion giants Premier Boxing Champions and Golden Boy Promotions slugged it out in Southern California with shows near the ocean at Carson and in the desert town of Indio. Fans by the thousands showed up at both venues despite the threat of bad weather.
Fantasy Springs Casino hosted the Golden Boy show that featured its strongest fight card in years. WBC super bantamweight titlist Rey Vargas was floored by virtually unknown Venezuelan slugger Franklin Manzanilla in a frustrating fight for fans. Vargas turned MMA fighter and clinched his way to victory with the aid of point deductions against Manzanilla. In the other world title fight Andrew “Chango” Cancio upset Puerto Rico’s Alberto “Explosivo” Machado for the WBA super featherweight world title.
Cancio floored Machado three times after first hitting the deck himself. The crowd erupted in hysteria after his surprise win.
“I don’t know why people underestimate me,” said Cancio calmly with a shrug.
I met Cancio around 2005. His trainer called up the sports editor and asked if there was any interest in a story about his gym located in remote Blythe, California. Decades earlier I had passed by the small town in the 80s with my family on our way to Arizona. I also met twin brothers from Blythe while attending UCLA. It caught my interest so I told the trainer over the phone to expect us.
My photographer at the time had just bought a PT Cruiser and we packed up and drove the 180 miles to the small agricultural town that borders Arizona and the Colorado River. It was not just hot, it was flaming hot like one of those commercials about canned chili beans.
In the center of town was the gymnasium where basketball along with boxing took place. Kids were venturing into the sweltering heat and didn’t seem to mind the 100 degree heat at all. The trainer introduced us to a number of youth but seemed extremely high on one teen and that was Andrew Cancio.
Cancio was either nervous or a very serious-minded teen at the time. He spoke one sentence at a time and had that steely-eyed look of determination. Of course he had the odds stacked against him because small towns don’t offer much competition for sparring. He would soon depart for bigger desert towns like Coachella and Indio.
Over the years whenever Cancio would fight I’d make it a point to cover his fights. Some fighters just have that certain something you need to get to the elite level; whether it’s speed, power, height, stamina or just plain grit. You have to have one of these ingredients to make it through that championship doorway.
It took 14 years but Cancio finally burst that door open like one of those L.A.P.D. Crash vehicles and snatched the world title from a worthy champion like Machado.
After the fight Cancio was rather numb for words.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do next,” he said while in deep thought.
What a journey it’s been for the fighter from Blythe after all these years.
Tank
Despite the threat of rain more than 7800 fans showed up last Saturday at the formerly named StubHub Center now called the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. a small suburban city that serves as the temporary home of the LA (formerly San Diego) Chargers and the home of LA Galaxy.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis defended a version of the WBA super featherweight world title and demolished Mexico’s Hugo “Cuatito” Ruiz in a mere round.
Davis, a southpaw with power, was scheduled to face multi-division world champ Abner Mares in a match between an upstart youth and veteran champion. That was an intriguing matchup that disappeared when Mares suffered another eye injury and was forced to pull out.
Kudos to Mares’ wife who forced the Huntington Beach resident to get his eye checked when he complained of not being able to see in certain directions. When a prizefighter can’t see properly that’s a recipe for doom.
Boxing doesn’t need another champion fighting for his life like Adonis Stevenson who was moved from Quebec City to Montreal on Tuesday according to his spokesperson Meg Sethi.
Mares pulled out and Ruiz signed in and was roughhoused by a wicked right hook from the lefty Davis around the Mexican’s guard.
“I wanted to go more rounds, but I knew if I got him out of there early I could fight again sooner,” said Davis who is a former IBF titlist and now owner of one of the WBA super featherweight belts. The other WBA version is now possessed by Cancio. A fight between Davis, who is with Mayweather Promotions, and Cancio who is backed by Golden Boy would be a long shot. The companies do not do business with each other.
Davis has an electric punch and an aggressive style that most boxing fans love. Plus he just doesn’t care who he fights and where, though the Baltimore native’s next fight will probably be close to his residence.
Because I was in Indio, I watched the replay of the Davis fight on Showtime and saw the large crowd brave the cold weather in the outdoor stadium that can be cold even on a July summer night.
The emphatic knockout win by Davis over the veteran Ruiz was not as much as shock as it was pure theater, especially with his walk-in dance troupe performing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Fans are still talking about the walk-in production and Davis’s knockout.
Only boxing can bring that combination to life.
Fresno
On Sunday the final punch was thrown with Top Rank televising and streaming its very strong fight card that featured WBC super lightweight titlist Jose Carlos Ramirez making a second defense. More than 14,000 showed up at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno.
That’s an army of fans showing up on a Sunday afternoon.
A number of fights were shown and streamed on ESPN and ESPN+ but the one fight I wanted to watch aside from the world title fight was missing.
Saul “Neno” Rodriguez who recently re-signed with Top Rank after leaving another promotion company blazed his way to a fifth round obliteration over Brazil’s Aelio Mesquita. Both super featherweights boasted knockout ratios that would make any fighter proud.
Rodriguez charged to the forefront and dropped Mesquita several times before electrocuting the Brazilian with a right cross blast that ended the fight. One thing boxing fans like is knockouts. Heck, even MMA fans like knockouts, let’s be honest.
Dismissing Rodriguez to the unseen portion of the card was a crying sin.
Newspapers
Getting back to newspapers, the declining number of readers buying papers can be stopped. It’s been proven time and again that Latinos and Blacks like boxing. You can bring them back into the fold if you give them what they want to read and that’s boxing coverage.
Many Blacks and Latinos do not walk around looking at their phones and scouring the various boxing web sites. There are a large percentage of readers that still read newspapers and would buy them if they could read about boxing.
It’s been proven many times by yours truly.
I’ve actually owned a newspaper and know a lot about the advertisement portion of the business. Ads on the web don’t pay as much as ads in a newspaper. It’s worth a try. Don’t listen to the millennials with their stats; they can’t reach the real backbone of boxing who still read newspapers.
Look at the facts. Despite scant newspaper coverage we saw thousands flock to boxing events from Indio to Fresno in a two day span. That’s hard proof.
If you need more proof give me a call.
Photo credit: Alonzo Coston
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Najee Lopez Steps up in Class and Wins Impressively at Plant City
Garry Jonas’ ProBox series returned to its regular home in Plant City, Florida, tonight with a card topped by a 10-round light heavyweight match between fast-rising Najee Lopez and former world title challenger Lenin Castillo. This was considered a step-up fight for the 25-year-old Lopez, an Atlanta-born-fighter of Puerto Rican heritage. Although the 36-year-old Castillo had lost two of his last three heading in, he had gone the distance with Dimitry Bivol and Marcus Browne and been stopped only once (by Callum Smith).
Lopez landed the cleaner punches throughout. Although Castillo seemed unfazed during the first half of the fight, he returned to his corner at the end of round five exhibiting signs of a fractured jaw.
In the next round, Lopez cornered him against the ropes and knocked him through the ropes with a left-right combination. Referee Emil Lombardo could have stopped the fight right there, but he allowed the courageous Castillo to carry on for a bit longer, finally stopping the fight as Castillo’s corner and a Florida commissioner were signaling that it was over.
The official time was 2:36 of round six. Bigger fights await the talented Lopez who improved to 13-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Castillo declined to 25-7-1.
Co-Feature
In a stinker of a heavyweight fight, Stanley Wright, a paunchy, 34-year-old North Carolina journeyman, scored a big upset with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jeremiah Milton.
Wright carried 280 pounds, 100 pounds more than in his pro debut 11 years ago. Although he was undefeated (13-0, 11 KOs), he had never defeated an opponent with a winning record and his last four opponents were a miserable 19-48-2. Moreover, he took the fight on short notice.
What Wright had going for him was fast hands and, in the opening round, he put Milton on the canvas with a straight right hand. From that point, Milton fought tentatively and Wright, looking fatigued as early as the fourth round, fought only in spurts. It seemed doubtful that he could last the distance, but Milton, the subject of a 2021 profile in these pages, was wary of Wright’s power and unable to capitalize. “It’s almost as if Milton is afraid to win,” said ringside commentator Chris Algieri during the ninth stanza when the bout had devolved into a hugfest.
The judges had it 96-93 and 97-92 twice for the victorious Wright who boosted his record to 14-0 without improving his stature.
Also
In the TV opener, a 10-round contest in the junior middleweight division, Najee Lopez stablemate Darrelle Valsaint (12-0, 10 KOs) scored his career-best win with a second-round knockout of 35-year-old Dutch globetrotter Stephen Danyo (23-7-3).
A native Floridian of Haitian descent, the 22-year-old Valsaint was making his eighth start in Plant City. He rocked Danyo with a chopping right hand high on the temple and then, as Danyo slumped forward, applied the exclamation point, a short left uppercut. The official time was 2:17 of round two.
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Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue is Headed to Vegas after KOing Ye Joon Kim
Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11th straight stoppage tonight while successfully defending his unified super bantamweight title, advancing his record to 29-0 (26 KOs) at the expense of Ye Joon Kim. The match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came to an end at the 2:25 mark of round four when U.S. referee Mark Nelson tolled “10” over the brave but overmatched Korean.
Kim, raised in a Seoul orphanage, had a few good moments, but the “Monster” found his rhythm in the third round, leaving Kim with a purplish welt under his left eye. In the next frame, he brought the match to a conclusion, staggering the Korean with a left and then finishing matters with an overhand right that put Kim on the seat of his pants, dazed and wincing in pain.
Kim, who brought a 21-2-2 record, took the fight on 10 days’ notice, replacing Australia’s Sam Goodman who suffered an eye injury in sparring that never healed properly, forcing him to withdraw twice.
Co-promoter Bob Arum, who was in the building, announced that Inoue’s next fight would happen in Las Vegas in the Spring. Speculation centers on Mexico City’s Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) who is ranked #1 by the WBC. However, there’s also speculation that the 31-year-old Inoue may move up to featherweight and seek to win a title in a fifth weight class, in which case a potential opponent is Brandon Figueroa should he defeat former Inoue foe Stephen Fulton next weekend. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa have different promoters, but the arrival of Turki Alalshikh, the sport’s Daddy Warbucks, has changed the dynamic. Tonight, Naoya Inoue made his first start as a brand ambassador for Riyadh Season.
Simmering on the backburner is a megafight with countryman Junto Nakatani, an easy fight to make as Arum has ties to both. However, the powers-that-be would prefer more “marination.”
Inoue has appeared twice in Las Vegas, scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Jason Moloney in October of 2020 at the MGM Bubble and a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels in June of 2021.
Semi-wind-up
In a 12-round bout for a regional welterweight title, Jin Sasaki improved to 19-1-1 (17) with a unanimous decision over Shoki Sakai (29-15-3). The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.
Also
In a bout in which both contestants were on the canvas, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3) edged out Misaki Hirano (11-2), winning a majority decision. A 28-year-old Osaka southpaw with a fan-friendly style, the lanky Shimomachi, unbeaten in his last 22 starts, competes as a super bantamweight. A match with Inoue may be in his future.
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Eric Priest Wins Handily on Thursday’s Golden Boy card at the Commerce Casino
Model turned fighter Eric Priest jabbed and jolted his way into the super middleweight rankings with a shutout decision win over veteran Tyler Howard on Thursday.
In his first main event Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) proved ready for contender status by defusing every attack Tennessee’s Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) could muster at Commerce Casino, the second fight in six days at the LA County venue.
All ticket monies collected on the Folden Boy Promotions card were contributed to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as they battle wildfires sprouting all over Los Angeles County due to high winds.
Priest, 26, had never fought anyone near Howard’s caliber but used a ramrod jab to keep the veteran off-balance and unable to muster a forceful counter-attack. Round after round the Korean-American fighter pumped left jabs while circling his opposition.
Though hit with power shots, none seemed to faze Howard but his own blows were unable to put a dent in Priest. After 10 rounds of the same repetitive action all three judges scored the fight 100-90 for Priest who now wins a regional super middleweight title.
Priest also joins the top 15 rankings of the WBA organization.
In a fight between evenly matched middleweights, Jordan Panthen (11-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated after 10 rounds versus DeAundre Pettus (12-4, 7 KOs). Though equally skilled, Panthen simply out-worked the South Caroliina fighter to win by unanimous decision. No knockdowns were scored.
Other Bouts
Grant Flores (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Costa Rica’s David Lobo Ramirez (17-4, 12 KOs) with two successive right uppercuts at 2:59 of the second round of the super welterweight fight.
Cayden Griffith (3-0, 3 KOs) used a left hook to the body to stop Mark Misiura at 1:43 of the second round in a super welterweight bout.
Jordan Fuentes (3-0) floored Brandon Badillo (0-3-1) in the third round and proceeded to win by decision after four rounds in a super bantamweight fight.
A super featherweight match saw Leonardo Sanchez (8-0) win by decision over Joseph Cruz Brown (10-12) after six rounds.
Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
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