Supporting cast of Friday’s Show at Pechanga might be ShowBOX’s best ever 

The one noticeable difference between this supporting cast and the supporting cast of boxers on Friday’s Boxing show at the Pechanga Resort & Casino? Their more formal attire.

After watching the recent Emmy Award presentations, it brought to light the importance of the supporting cast for each of these Network shows. Sure the lead actors, producers, directors, and writers add much to the mix and receive the actual Emmy, but there would not be an award-winning show without a great supporting cast. While the boxers in Friday’s Main Event at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, Devin “The Dream” Haney, and Juan Carlos Burgos, will no doubt get a lot of the credit for the crowd size and people watching at home on Showtime, you can not discount the other 16 professional fighters who will be competing. They’ll not only be entertaining the fans, but they’ve also put many of their friends, neighbors, and acquaintances in the seats. Several boxers sold as many as 200 tickets. So, it’s only right we take a gander at this supporting cast and hear their stories. How did they get involved in professional boxing? And, if you believe you’re an expert at picking winners in the sport of boxing, let’s see how you do on Friday night.

Such a large, beautiful venue (4 times the size of the previous Convention Hall) and everyone who attends this first show at the brand new 3,300 seat Pechanga Summit automatically becomes part of Boxing history and can tell their grandchildren, “Oh yeah! I was there.”

First up, in Bout #8, they have the second meeting of 28-year-old Thomas “Gunna Man” Mattice (13-0, 10 KOs) from Cleveland, Ohio facing the 22-year-old Zhora Hamazaryan (9-1, 6 KOs) from North Hollywood, Calif. in a rematch of Mattice’s highly disputed, split decision victory in their first meeting on July 20, 2018. The two gents will have had 70 days to prepare for this rematch. And how many of those 70 days have they been thinking about the “what ifs” in that earlier match?

Being from the North Hollywood, Glendale area of Los Angeles, the Armenian fighters in MMA, Muaythai and boxing tend to be a very tight group and it comes as no surprise that they now have so many champions in all three of these disciplines.

How many sleepless nights have both had? How hard has Hamazaryan been hitting that heavy bag with indignation over what he felt was a robbery? Perhaps he taped a photo of Mattice’s mug on that heavy bag. You also had the coaches doing some soul searching, the “what ifs” in that first fight. After getting the nod from two judges, Mattice received a great many boos from the crowd. They were heard loud, and clear, as were the comments from the Showtime announcer Barry Thompkins when Mattice watched a replay of the fight. “Since I’ve been commentating on the fights, that has to be the worst decision ever handed down,” said Thompkins. Steve Farhood backed him up, “I agree.” Then we heard them discussing the backgrounds of the two dissenting judges. After watching the fight over and over again, this reporter can not see how they gave the win to Mattice. 

The only other fight which resembles this travesty was the first Pacquiao vs Bradley bout and to quote HBO’s Harold Lederman, “That decision was a crime.” And it seemed everyone was in agreement. Bob Arum agreed: “When I came up into the ring [after the fight], I said to Tim, ‘You did very well,’ and he said to me, ‘I tried hard but I couldn’t beat the guy.” Even Bradley’s manager had it 8-4 for Pacquiao. They fought twice more and Pacquiao won both times. You would think with the revenge motive that Hamazaryan will prevail in the rematch.

Certainly on the fast track – the undefeated middleweight Cem Kilic from Sherman Oaks, Calif.

As they say, someone’s “O” has got to go. Will it be Cem Kilic (11-0) or the more quiet, reserve DeAndre Ware (12-0) who goes down to defeat?

Next, in Bout #7, you have the 24-year-old Cem Kilic (11-0, 7 KOs) from Sherman Oaks, Calif. by way of Frankfurt, Germany taking on DeAndre Ware (12-0-2) in an 8 round, middleweight contest. Which tale do you want to hear first? Both men are amazing individuals and both are tough as nails. Kilic is so focused as far as where he is headed, he says he doesn’t even feel an opponent’s punches. “My goal is to get to the top 10 this year and hopefully fight for the belt early next year.” And how does he plan to do all this? “You train with the best.” For unbeaten middleweight Cem Kilic, it’s a surreal experience to be doing what he loves not only in the United States but amongst some of the best fighters that boxing has to offer. In his training camp, he had undefeated world champions Errol Spence and Jermell Charlo.

With a name like DeAndre Ware, it goes without saying that you are going to be famous. This two-career (fireman and Professional boxer), multi-sport (boxing, college football, and high school basketball), would end up being so good at so many things. As soon as you hear his name you’re thinking, which of the two famous pro athletes is he related to? The soon to be Hall of Fame Tight End DeMarcus Ware from the Dallas Cowboys who ranks 8th among the NFL sack leaders or that other Pro talking about Pros, Ware has sparred with fellow Toledo, Ohio natives Robert Easter Jr. (the former IBF World Lightweight champion) and Tyler McCreary, the WBA’s No. 4 ranked featherweight.

In Bout #6, you have light heavyweights or perhaps heavyweights, 6’2″ tall Reginald “Reggie” Rouzan going up against the 5’11” Robert “Robbie” Miller. Both live in Los Angeles.

In Bout #5, it will be Darren Cunningham (6-0-0, 3 KOs) from St. Louis, Missouri, the first boxer to sign with the youngest boxing promoter in the history of the sport, Devin Haney. He’ll be taking on Saul “Bebe” Hernandez (10-11-1) from Tijuana, B. C., Mexico.

Bout #4 features Adrian Gutierrez (5-0, 3 KOs) from Chula Vista, Calif. who has been trained by both his grandfather and father David Gutierrez, Esquire who after losing to welterweight Mark Breeland in the finals of the 1984 U. S. Olympic Trials, went on to have a stellar career in the Pros going 17-0-1 until a neck injury ended his career. Gutierrez’s opponent is 26-year-old, 5’8″ tall, orthodox boxer Lennard “Cheetah” Davis (3-1-3 draws, 2 KOs) from Oakland, Calif.

Bout #3 features someone from the neighborhood, super featherweight Roberto “The Ram” Meza (10-1, 6 KOs) who is scheduled to face Gabriel Rodriguez (4-1) from El Paso, Texas.

Bout #2 features Ricardo “The Blessed” Valdovinos from Chula Vista, Calif.’s Bound Boxing Academy. His record is a perfect one (7-0 with 5 KOs). Valdovinos will be facing Kevin Shacks (2-2-3) from 

In the opener, Bout #1, they have another local favorite Anthony Franco from Redlands, Calif. by way of San Diego, who trained locally at The Arena MMA gym in Point Loma, San Diego, Calif. (2-1) while he was finishing up his commitment in the U. S. Marine Corps. Franco will be taking on David Payne (2-1) from Denver, Colorado in a six round middleweight bout.

The talent/fighter interviews with the ShowBox Production Team will begin at 12 noon on Thursday, September 27, 2018. From noon to 12:30 it will be Cem Kilic and DeAndre Ware, then at 12:30 until 1 p.m they have Thomas Mattice and Zhora Hamazaryan followed by the star attractions Devin Haney and Juan Carlos Burgos 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. The boxers’ weigh-ins will take place in the CottonwoodRoom on the second floor of the Summit Event Center beginning at 3 p.m.

Tickets for this event, which is promoted by Devin Haney Promotions and Ringside Tickets Inc., are priced at $19 for General Admission, then $29, $59, $79, $99, and finally $129 for Ringside. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Pechanga Casino Box Office at 1-888-810-8871 or go online at www.ticketmaster.com.