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Avila Perspective, Chap. 245: Farewell to the Thompson Promotions Era and More
It’s the end of the Thompson Boxing era.
Many boxing promotions tested the waters in the Southern California area known as the Inland Empire, but only Thompson Boxing Promotions established roots and proved to be the small promotion company that could produce champions.
That reign is over.
Thompson Boxing Promotions will be shutting its doors for good on Friday, July 21, when it presents its final boxing show at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California. The death of its president Ken Thompson was the main reason for the closure.
The main event features George Acosta (15-1) meeting Edy Valencia (20-11-6) in a super featherweight clash set for eight rounds.
“We are deeply grateful to our loyal fans, who have been the driving force behind Thompson Boxing’s success over the years,” said Alex Camponovo, the matchmaker and operations manager for Thompson Boxing from its inception in 2000.
For more than two decades Thompson heralded the sport of boxing, not just with his promotion company; he also was a strong part in establishing the World Boxing Hall of Fame. Though that organization no longer exists, it strongly aided the sport of professional prizefighting in the USA.
Later in 2000, Thompson Boxing staged their first card featuring Carlos “El Elegante” Bojorquez and Rosember Palacios in a venue in Ontario, California. It wasn’t supposed to be a regular event, just a one-and-done show. It succeeded. They decided to do another and see how it goes.
On June 18, 2001, the first Thompson Boxing show at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario took place and featured Jaime De La Torre and Juan Carlos Barreto. They fought to a split draw after 10 rounds.
That launched Thompson Boxing for good in the club show circuit.
From that point on, fighters from all destinations arrived to perform in front of Inland Empire audiences. Many of the fighters gave their heart and souls inside the prize ring and some of them made it to the top.
Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley was recently voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was a Thompson Boxing fighter for several years before moving on to Top Rank and fights against Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez and Ruslan Provodnikov.
Others who fought under the Thompson Boxing banner were Josesito “Riverside Rocky” Lopez, Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera, Dominic Salcido, Ronny Rios, Luis Ramos Jr., Kevin Hoskins, Artemio Reyes, Efrain Esquivias, Cleotis Pendarvis, Alberto Herrera, Joshua Conley, Brandon Adams, and Colombian world champs Jonatan Romero, Darleys Perez and Yonnhy Perez.
In the beginning, excitement soared as this new promotion company picked the Inland Empire to stage its boxing shows. The “I.E.” is the acronym for the area that combines San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. It spans from Pomona to the Palm Desert area. When Thompson Boxing first arrived, the total population was about 3 million. Twenty years later the population is about 5 million.
The Inland Empire consists geographically of low and high desert areas and several mountain ranges. The center is roughly 80 miles from downtown Los Angeles which is running out of room, so the overflow population is moving east toward the I.E.
One thing about the I.E. is sports are the ticket to entertainment.
Thompson Boxing banked on the population’s thirst for boxing and it hit the mother lode. Boxing is extremely popular in the I.E. and they have he gyms to prove it. Big Bear, Indio, Coachella, Riverside, Ontario, Chino and Pomona are all strongholds for boxing gyms.
Out of those many gyms world champions Sugar Shane Mosley, Julio Diaz, Kaliesha West and Randy Caballero were produced.
Though those fighters never fought on Thompson shows, boxing has always been big in the area and Ken Thompson and his operations manager and matchmaker Alex Camponovo proved it over the past two decades by discovering hidden talent in the Inland Empire and beyond.
“It has been an honor to work with such exceptional talent for the past 23 years, and we take pride in the role we played in their careers,” Camponovo said.
Sadly, it is all coming to an end on Friday July 21.
Oscar De La Hoya Documentary
A two-part documentary called “The Golden Boy” on the life of Oscar De La Hoya will premiere on HBO this coming Monday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 25
De La Hoya was a six-division world titlist and one of the most successful prizefighters in history. He amassed between $700 million and $1 billion in purse money depending on which source.
Born and raised in East Los Angeles, an area known for violence and brutality, he rose to win Olympic fame by winning the only Olympic gold medal for boxing by an American in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.
The documentary, headed by Mark Wahlberg, Mario Lopez and others, supposedly depicts the untold stories behind his rise to fame and glory from 1992 to the present.
Inoue vs Fulton
Next Tuesday, July 25, the super bantamweight unification battle between Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) and Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) takes place in Tokyo, Japan at Ariake Arena. ESPN+ will stream the fight live.
“Monster” Inoue, 30, is a three-division and undisputed bantamweight world champion moving up a weight division to challenge Fulton for the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles. It will be his fourth division world title if he succeeds.
Fulton, 29, hails from Philadelphia, Pa. and holds the WBC and WBO super bantamweight world titles. He successfully defended both titles against former unified world titlist Danny Roman in his last fight a year ago.
It figures to be Inoue’s greatest challenge.
Fights to Watch
Fri. DAZN 11 a.m. Lee McGregor (12-0-1) vs Erik Robles (13-1).
Sat. UFC Fight Pass 5:15 p.m. Serhii Bohachuk (22-1) vs Patrick Allotey (42-4).
Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. George Kambosos Jr. (20-2) vs Maxie Hughes (26-5-2); Giovani Santillan (30-0) vs Erick Bone (27-6).
Tues. ESPN+ 1:45 a.m. Naoya Inoue (24-0) vs Stephen Fulton (21-0).
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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 least 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, delivered the coup-de-gras, 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 the winner of the Feb. 2 match between Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa/Fulton 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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