Almost too surreal for words, four days, six local boxing shows

On Monday, August 24, the Tijuana Suzuki Dealership hosted the Borizteca Boxing Management Groups’ Press Conference which featured (bottom, l to r) boxers Amaris Quintana of San Diego and Kenia Enriquez of Tijuana, both jr. Flyweights, next Saul Rios, CEO of Borizteca Boxing Promotions followed by the President of the Tijuana Boxing & Wrestling Commission Juan Carlos Pelayo. Photo: Jim Wyatt

You heard me right, this week, San Diego Boxing Fans will be treated to four straight days in which they can go to a Professional boxing show, one after another, and end up watching a USA Amateur Boxing show on Sunday. Six separate shows that will feature close to 20 local boxing standouts.

Thursday, August 27th at the Show Palace in Oceanside, Calif. local boxing promoter Jorge Marron in association with A & T Promotions and Paco Presents has an exciting lineup on their boxing card featuring Dashon Johnson of Escondido taking on Elias Espadas of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico for the California State Welterweight Title; super middleweight Ulises Sierra (8-0-2) of San Diego taking on hard hitting Alfredo Contreras (13-18-2) of Lakeside; super featherweight Alex Vargas (0-1) of National City going up against Emmanuel Ruiz who is making his debut and heavyweight Michael “Coach” Robinson (0-1) of Encinitas Boxing & Fitness taking on Jose Hermosillo (0-2) of Canoga Park.

The following night, Friday, August 28th, just across the border at the elegant Salon Mezzanine in Tijuana, B. C., Mexico, we have another local promoter, the Borizteca Boxing Management Group showcasing Kenia Enriquez of Tijuana, plus Amaris Quintana, Jorge Escalante, Armando Tovar in his debut plus Jorge “Tito” Ruiz from the San Diego area.

A Press Conference is not a Press Conference unless you have the beautiful women present like these top, local models. All photos: Jim Wyatt

The President of the local Tijuana Boxing Commission, Juan Carlos Pelayo appears    to be hard at it, perhaps texting a colleague during Monday’s Press Conference.

Saul Rios (c), CEO of the Borizteca Boxing Management Group has several of the boxers and their coach Chino Velasquez (l) of Velasquez Boxing pose for photos.

Even though Amaris “Diamond Girl” Quintana (c), shown here with coaches Edgar Sandoval (l) and Juan Medina Jr. (r) has been sparring with some top people, this will be her first bout since June 27, 2014. She had been derailed six months after an operation on her knee.

Kenia Enriquez (r) didn’t come to Monday’s Press Conference alone, she had the support of stablemate Sandra Robles (11-1, 5 KOs ) and her daughter Paulette.

In all seriousness, several of the boxers said they’d prefer to take home one of these brand new Suzuki motor cars in lieu of their fighter’s purse. The Suzuki has a reputation for safety, affordability, dependability, plus they have every luxury item imaginable, all of the “bells and whistles.”

August 29th, another outstanding show headlined by Shane Mosley vs. Ricardo Mayorga II, will take place at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. On this fight card, Maureen “The Real Million Dollar Baby” Shea (24-2, 12 KOs) will be battling Yulihan Avila (12-2, 1 KO) for the female world featherweight title in a 10 rounder.

It was also announced unbeaten featherweight Joel Diaz Jr. (19-0, 15 KOs) of Palmdale, Calif. will be facing Luis Arceo (28-13-4, 18 KOs) in the co-main event. Mosley is bankrolling this $49.95 pay-per-view event.

If you enjoy the fascinating story-lines of boxing and it’s characters like Mayorga, you’ll certainly like today’s shenanigans. In front of the Fans and Press Mayorga began: “I’ll fight him for three rounds if he’s valiant enough to make it three rounds. If not I’ll knock him out in the first, so that his son can pick him up after the fight. He’s not going to have a daddy anymore.” 

Mayorga later ripped off his shirt, vowing to weigh in at 158 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in, proclaiming “I’m going to kill him.” 

Then, it was Mosley’s turn. He politely began, “I’m happy that Mayorga accepted the challenge. He called me and wanted to fight. We agreed and made the fight. Now it’s a problem for him to get down to the weight. I don’t know if they’re gonna make weight or not. There is a limit. You gotta be within seven pounds of the weight, so I’m trying to keep my weight up. I’m actually trying to make weight by getting heavier, not to lose weight. We’re gonna see what happens with ‘fat boy’ here. I can’t see him lasting with me. I’m too fast, I punch too hard and I have too many advantages. I can’t wait till Saturday night. He can’t wait till the weigh-in…it’s been two years. I’m just ready to fight. I just want to knock someone out right now.” 

After he concluded, the two men approached the center of the stage for their face-off. This is when Mosley’s girlfriend Trista Pisani bent over in front of Mayorga. As if on cue, the aging boxer then slapped Mosley’s girlfriend in the butt and as expected the pandemonium ensued. It all went down at the pre-fight Press Conference in Los Angeles. As you might expect Mayorga delivered this smack while the cameras were rolling. Within seconds Mosley was trying to get at Mayorga to strangle him while his girlfriend kept screaming, “Kill him!”

The comic relief continued when Shane’s girlfriend offered Mayorga $10,000 to let her punch him in the face. Mayorga made a counter offer of $25,000 to let him slap her butt again. Later that evening, Mayorga told the press that Sugar Shane Mosley had asked him to do what he did at the Press conference. He said Mosley told him his girlfriend would bend over and at that point he would like Mayorga to tap her on the butt.

If you prefer the Staples Center over The Forum, they have that great featherweight matchup of Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17 KOs) of Rosemead, Calif. versus Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs) of Montebello, Calif. for the WBC Diamond Featherweight Title. This show has a ton of talent on the undercard, Hugo Ruiz (35-2) is taking on Julio Ceja (29-1) for an Interim WBC World Super Bantamweight Title; Alejandro Luna (18-0), Alfredo Angulo (23-5), Jessie Roman (19-2), Min Wook Kim (13-1), and super middleweight Paul Mendez (18-2-2).   

Also on the 29th, you have the Gonzalez Boxing Promotions’ show at Billares Perro Salado in Tijuana featuring Prince “Tiger” Smalls (7-0-1) taking on Christian Viscarra (0-4).

On Sunday, August 30, our local USA Amateur LBC 44 boxers head to Brawley in Imperial County, to take part in the La Gente Boxing Show being held at the Brawley Lions Center, 225 “A” Street, Brawley, Calif. 92227.