Fight fans in a predicament, far too many choices on Friday, July 25th
This is it. Two splendid boxers, both signed by the same promoter, Thompson Boxing Promotions, go head to head on Friday, July 25, 2014, to see who’s career is on the wane and who’s career still has the potential to carry on for a title shot.
With five shows in one night, all featuring local fighters, San Diego fight fans have found themselves in a Catch 22 – no win situation. Where do they go? Who do they support? What can they do? The Supreme Court of the fighting sports has mandated that each family must send at least one representative to each of the following shows.
1) At the Crowne Plaza in Mission Valley, San Diego, CA, you have the latest Bobby D Presents Boxing Show featuring Aaron “Gavilan” Garcia of San Diego in the main event going up against Daniel “Huracan” Ramirez of Tijuana, plus fellow San Diegan Smokin’ Joe Perez of The Boxing Club in La Jolla, the NABF Light Flyweight Champion Kenia Enriquez of Tijuana and Riccy Hood of the San Diego Combat Academy all fighting on the same fight card.
2) Bellator MMA returns to the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula and they have three local fighters on their fight card. Joe Duarte from The Arena MMA of Point Loma, Temecula’s Virgil Zwicker and the Explode Fight Series Heavyweight Champion Matt Frembling who hails from Menifee, CA. They’re also featuring the Finals of their welterweight tournament featuring Andrey Koreshkov (16-1) versus Adam McDonough (11-0).
3) The Epic Fighting 25 MMA Show is at San Diego’s Four Points By Sheraton Hotel in Kearny Mesa. That show is loaded with the top local MMA Amateurs from The Arena MMA, Victory MMA, Team Quest, Alliance, etc.
At the end of another grueling sparring session, we see Christopher Martin (r) joking around with Aaron Garcia. The two gents have been helping each other get ready for their fights on July 25th, Martin vs. Esquivias and Garcia vs. Ramirez.
4) At the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA, Chula Vista’s super bantamweight Chris Martin (27-3-3, 9 KOs) will be facing Efrain Esquivias (17-3-1, 10 KOs) in a very important crossroads match between in-house Thompson Boxing Promotions’ fighters. Martin, who has been waylaid ever since his unanimous decision loss to Enrique Quevedo, needs this victory. If he doesn’t win, the Thompson people could end up scuttling, deep-sixing his career. In the cofeature, they have the undefeated Carlos “Memin” Carlson (14-0, 10 KOs) from Tijuana going for win #15 against Jose Cen-Torres of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico (13-4-0, 1 KO) for the WBC Latino Bantamweight Title.
Oscar Godoy (c) and his support staff pose for photos after his big win in Corona, CA. Photo: Jim Wyatt
5) That same night, another local favorite, welterweight Oscar Godoy (13-2-0, 6 KOs) of Watsonville, CA (a Jorge Marron/Don Chargin fighter) will be in New York at the Turning Stone Resort Casino to fight a fellow by the name of Cecil McCalla (18-0-0, 6 KOs) on Showtime’s acclaimed series, Sho Box: The New Generation.
In the main event, they have Antoine “Action” Douglas (14-0, 9 KOs) and former world title challenger Michel Soro (23-1, 13 KOs) squaring off in a 10 round middleweight bout for the WBA International title.
Exceptional show – the combined record of the fighters on that fight card is a staggering 115-5-1 with 61 knockouts. Get your DVD or VHS player ready and you can record it.
Remembering that the San Diego Convention Center will be hosting the five days of Comic-Con International (July 23—27), you should take that into consideration and go there on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.
We don’t want to overwhelm you or get you in trouble with your girlfriend or spouse but the following night, July 26, also has a full line-up of fights. You’ve got that Dereck “Del Boy” Chisora vs. Tyson Fury II heavyweight bout airing on AWE TV which broadcasts in both 3D & High Definition. AWE, which airs many of boxing’s top fights, stands for A Wealth of Entertainment. AWE is a privately owned company by San Diego’s Herring Broadcasting.
The two gents on that show are not only mentality deranged, rare birds, but they really and truly hate each other. You’re guaranteed to see some innovative, dirty tactics.
Not to say Fury has been an altar boy, but Chisora has to be at the top of the rankings when listing the bad guys in the sport. In 2009, he was suspended for four months and fined for biting his opponent’s ear. In 2010, he was given a suspended sentence after being found guilty of submitting his former girlfriend to a “humiliating” assault. In 2012, he was suspended and fined for slapping Vitali Klitschko at the weigh-in for their bout. He was suspended again for a brawl with David Haye which occurred during the post-fight interview for his bout with Klitschko.
The infamous Hannibal Lecter is shown wearing the required head gear.
I’m surprised Fury hasn’t asked the boxing commission to require Chisora to wear one of those Hannibal Lecter masks.
On HBO they have that Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Geale 12 rounder for Golovkin’s WBA middleweight title; Bryant Jennings vs. Mike Perez, 12 rounds, WBC heavyweight eliminator and the Anthony Caputo Smith vs. Ola Afolabi, 12 round IBF cruiserweight eliminator. Dusty Hernandez-Harrison, Glen Tapia and Julian Rodriguez are also fighting.
Or, for those of you who can’t sit still, you could hop on a plane for Latvia to see Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney in action.
If you’re more into MMA, the Johnson versus Nogueira and Matt Brown versus “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler might be more to your liking. They are featured on the UFC fight card being aired from San Jose, CA.
That my friends, is what you’d call a full slate of action.
