Results from Monday’s Boxing Show at the Fluxx Nightclub

Monday night, the one of a kind Fluxx Nightclub set up a boxing ring to stage eight fights with the proceeds of the event to go to the National City Community Youth Athletic Association. With the combatants representing the neighboring night spots, this of course had the potential of being a huge draw for the locals.

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As advertised, the shows at this location in the Gaslamp District of San Diego’s Downtown, are for the people who enjoy a constant metamorphosis in their lives, being on the scene of a different experience or maybe they just want to say they were to observe the latest change. You can’t get more different than a boxing show.

As a mini-critique, the competitors performed admirably, as if they were defending their country’s honor. The emcee, Eric “the Worm” Huth, went from merely humorous to rollicking. The crowd was most definitely passionate about each outcome and of course the music was deafening.

Bout #1 featured two big heavyweights, 6’5” Nick Privacas going up against the shorter Mike Suttles, an executive chef.

Early in Round #1, Privacas gained Suttles’ attention after catching him with a mean left hook which sent Suttles to the canvas.

Suttles regained a measure of respect in Round #2 after landing an overhand right followed by several left hooks that caught his opponent flush.

The third and final round featured the best exchanges. Suttles started fast and hit Privacas with a good one, two, until Privacas used his leverage and returned fire to hit Suttles so hard his head gear came off. With the exchanges being so fierce it didn’t take long before Suttles, on the receiving of several unanswered blows, was issued a standing eight count.

Then Suttles landed a few good shots to the face, this sudden resurgence had the crowd cheering and Privacas’ lower lip bleeding.

At the conclusion of this well contested bout, our amiable ring announcer praised the energy level of the fighters, “Let me tell you, if the other fights are half as exciting, we’re going to have one hell of a night of boxing! The winner of Bout #1 is from the red corner, Nick Privacas, winning by unanimous decision.

Bout #2 featured two super middleweights, J. P. Rankin of the Hard Rock going up against Robbie Gullick of Fiesta Cantina. From the looks of these guys, they appeared to be in excellent shape, especially Gullick who looks to be a serious bodybuilder.

In round one, Gullick, a true head hunter, wasted no time and his first overhand right snapped Rankin’s head back. Shortly after, referee Dana Kaplan had to step in and issue Rankin an eight count.

Round two and three featured more of the same, with Gullick stalking his prey and then unleashing more of his furious KO punches. After a second eight count, Kaplan began to watch Rankin very closely for any sign that he was in trouble. Despite all the punishment received, the durable Rankin showed how tough he was and never wavered.

Bout #3 featured middleweights Oscar Avila representing El Vitral going up against Chris Tran representing Bootlegger.

In round one, Tran was issued an eight count after Avila, who appeared to be stronger than his opponent, basically had his way by using some unorthodox strong arm tactics. At the end of round one, Tran surprised everyone by cornering Avila and finishing strong.

In round two, Tran proved his finish to round one was no fluke and that he indeed was the better boxer. After setting his opponent up with the jab, he followed up with the combinations. Before long an eight count was issued to Avila.

The momentum of the fight had changed and Tran was in fact giving Avila an old fashion whooping. After a barrage of unanswered punches, the referee stepped in to call a halt to the bout.

During each break in the action, the night’s emcee, “the Worm” would poke fun, either at the ring card ladies or announce a nonexistent celebrity in the crowd. Usually it was someone in the crowd who bore a resemblance to a celebrity. The announcement of “magician David Copperfield and actor Justin Timberlake” had heads on a swivel. He even called one of the referees, Will White, Mr. Kurt Rambis, a former Laker basketball player.

Later, when he announced Dominick Cruz’s name, an actual guest celebrity, the current UFC World Bantamweight Champion, he had people wondering if it wasn’t just another hoax.

Bout #4 featured middleweights Ralph “Mr. International” Del Agua going up against Bruno Olivera who mentioned he had been training for six weeks.

After an uneventful first round, Olivera began to put together a nice combination which he repeated over and over again – a quick head snapping jab followed by an overhand right. This strategy had Del Agua backing up over 80% of the time. To his credit, Del Agua began to show his boxing savvy and finished strong.

Bout #5 featured Ashley Randall of F6ix going up against Nicole Culbertson representing Isabel’s Cantina and training at Victory MMA in Point Loma.

After watching the men go at it, this was supposed to be a sleeper but au contraire.

In round one, Culbertson loaded up and caught Randall repeatedly in the face. Two eight counts had to be issued and then came the surprising knockdown.

Like a persistent housefly, Randall wouldn’t give up and back she came, often times walking right into the punches. In the meantime, her opponent was started to get tired, tired of hitting Randall.

As they say, these two were too legit to quit. Though running out of gas at the end, it was clear Culbertson had won this nonstop battle – unquestionably, a strong candidate for fight of the night.

During intermission, the Worm announced to the audience, “Steven Cooper was going to fight tonight, but his head didn’t make the weight.”

Bout #6 featured heavyweights, Matt Stern going up against Gibran “Joey” Alvarez a 24 year-old Mixed Martial Artist who trains at Victory MMA.

On three separate occasions, Alvarez took Stern’s best shot and gave him a, “Is- that-all-you-got?” glance. Those rebuffed, pooh-poohed punches were the type that put large holes in a wall.

The more experienced fighter came back at Stern with triple combinations and mostly worked the midsection.

In round two, action had to be stopped after Alvarez ko’d Stern’s mouthpiece. Once again, Alvarez began to belittle his opponent’s skills.

By the final round, Stern had become more comfortable in the ring, and started to give Alvarez the fight he was looking for. The trading of blows at the end had everyone gasping and then applauding their mesmerizing efforts.

Bout #7 featured T. J. Brown going up against Greg Zueg of the Hard Rock Cafe.

In the uneventful first round, Zueg was slightly more active. In round two, the gents merely danced around each other, showed each other too much respect and barely touched gloves.

Then, in round three, after getting accustomed to being in the ring, both boxers opened up and for Zueg that proved disastrous as Brown caught Zueg with a power shot square on the chin that put the big man flat on his back.

The KO by Brown drove the patrons completely bonkers as they charged closer to the ring, ignored the ropes, the guards and the USA Amatuer Boxing officials. Bedlam reigned for several minutes.

After Zueg had been looked after by the fight doctor and T. J. Brown had his arm raised in victory, it was getting dangerously close to the bewitching hour of 12 midnight. With the clamoring of the officials for civility and the pleading of the patrons to have the final bout take place, Chris Martin and Keau Switzer, the boxers in Bout #8 entered the ring for the final bout of the night.

As befitting the circumstances, Bout #8 turned out to be the most lackluster fight of the evening. Both boxers spent the majority of the time in a grappling contest. It’s my understanding that Chris Martin won this MMA match.

And so the grand show came to an abrupt ending. Hopefully, everyone will be able to get up for work in the morning.