Loews Santa Monica Hosts the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation Fight Card

Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the great icons of boxing, remains a powerful figure in the sports world.

Though he has not fought in 20 years the former great remains an ambassador for prizefighting and as a fighter for a great cause.

Riley & Co. presents its eighth annual “Big Fighters, Big Cause” charity boxing night in Santa Monica, Calif. on Wednesday May 24. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation for raising awareness of Type 1 diabetes.

Several fighters from Golden Boy Promotions stable will be performing at The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Will any of them follow the footsteps of Leonard or Oscar De La Hoya?

You never know.

Of course both Leonard and De La Hoya captured Olympic gold medals before entering professional boxing so the boxing world was well aware of their abilities. Leonard was a captivating star during the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. De La Hoya had his moment in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Both went on to superstardom.

Entering the boxing ring on Wednesday will be Luis Coria, 18, a super featherweight from Moreno Valley, Calif. He trains with Joel Diaz in Indio, Calif. and has proven to have extremely quick hands and power in the few fights he’s participated in so far. He’ll be facing rugged Mexican veteran Jose Antonio Martinez who’s fought several other Golden Boy prospects. He’s the litmus test for rookies. He recently went the distance against Manny Robles Jr. but was stopped cold by Ryan Garcia. This is Coria’s moment.

Mexican middleweight Marvin Cabrera is a southpaw now living in L.A. who has only three fights, but three knockouts in that trio of engagements. Except for his pro debut, Golden Boy Promotions has not given him slam dunks. For the second time he meets an undefeated opponent in Quantavious Green out of Louisiana. Whoever wins this fight can probably expect more work from Golden Boy.

Two other bouts are planned on the boxing card.

It’s an event that will draw out numerous celebrities especially from the sports world like Bo Jackson, Laila Ali, Magic Johnson, Rodney Peete and Sergio Mora. And others from the music and entertainment world such as Cindy Crawford, Usher and Bill Bellamy who will serve as the host once again.

Of course Leonard will be there to present En Vogue who will be performing.

An auction will be held to raise money for the foundation through the event that is presented by B. Riley & Co.

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