Boxing Fans being drawn in many directions this weekend
the San Diego Boxing Scene Draw
Chris Martin of Chula Vista, the California Super Bantamweight Champ, has his sites set on a world championship belt.
Local favorite, Chris “San Diego Kid” Martin (19-0-2, 5 KO’s) is going after win #20 at the Four Points by Sheraton. He‘ll be facing Jose Luis “Tapitas” Araiza of Tijuana (29-2-0, 20 KO’s) in the eight round main event.
This is Martin’s first bout after that spectacular performance August 6th on Showtime: The Next Generation. Martin defeated the much ballyhooed Chris Avalos who was undefeated at the time. Avalos turned out to be a pretender rather than a contender. As Martin predicted prior to the bout, he was able to control the ten rounds with his speed and defensive skills while completely shutting down the aggressive Avalos who hales from Lancaster, CA.
Jose Luis Araiza (29-2-0, 20 KO's)
Martin is now out to prove he can beat a much more experienced boxer in Araiza who is 31. Araiza lost his last bout to William Gonzalez on April 30th in Miami. Prior to that second round TKO loss, Araiza had won 29 straight. Araiza, being the shorter of the two, will want to get inside on Martin, work his midsection and try to catch him with a few uppercuts. Martin, who will enjoy a significant reach advantage, should have no problem outpointing Araiza. Considering their Mexican pedigree, this bout will not go the distance.
Alan Sanchez (5-2-0) of Fairfield, Ca.
In the co-main event, welterweight Luis Grajeda (10-0-0, 7 KO’s) from Chihuahua, Mexico, will be facing Alan Sanchez (5-2-0, 2 KO’s) of Fairfield, Ca. Grajeda and Sanchez are almost identical when it comes to their build and boxing styles.
In the fight game there’s a saying, ‘One of the boxers is going to have to get small.’ Not that I’m into predicting upsets, but I like Sanchez in this match. He’s a banger and I can see him taking the fight to Grajeda.
In Grajeda’s last bout, the two-time National Amateur Champion of Mexico, fought Cristian Favela at this same location and earned a unanimous decision victory. Favela, who has a habit of making everyone look bad, stayed in close and held often. You won’t see that in this match-up.
Luis Grajeda (10-0-0, 7 KO's) of Chihuahua, Mexico
This will be Sanchez’s fourth visit to the Four Points by Sheraton Grand Ballroom where he is undefeated and a crowd pleaser. In his last bout on June 18, 2010 at the Doubletree Hotel, in Ontario, Ca., Sanchez lost a controversial split decision to Artemio “the King” Reyes.
Don Chargin Promotions in association with Jorge Marron Productions, Golden Boy Promotions and Bobby D. Presents are the promoters of this exciting fight card which will be aired live on the Spanish language network, Telefutura, on their popular weekly series “Solo Boxeo Tecate.”
A Pablo "Bronco" Armenta bout is non-stop action.
On the undercard will be the always tough Pablo “Bronco” Armenta (2-0-1) of South San Diego taking on Escondido, CA’s Alejandro Cruz (3-11-2, 2 KO’s) in a featherweight four rounder. I doubt if this bout will get out of the second round. Cruz hasn’t fought since June 24, 2007 when he lost to Chris Martin for the second time.
Then they have the much anticipated pro-debut of Emmanuel Robles of Old School Boxing, a gym in the College Area, just down the street from San Diego State University. Robles, a former National PAL Champion, is trained by widely known trainer Ernie Johnson, who himself was a talented featherweight boxer in the early 80’s.
When Emmanuel Robles (right) last fought on July 10th in a USA Amateur Show he weighed 147 lbs. At the weigh-in on Thursday, it'll be interesting to see if he can make the super-lightweight limit of 140 lbs.
Robles’ opponent will be Luis Sanchez (1-2-0), the brother of Alan Sanchez. At 6’1” Sanchez has tremendous reach and since he’s always sparring with his younger brother, he’s been getting better and better. Luis won his last bout over Martin Gongora at the Gimnasio Sport City in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Their contrasting styles should make for an interesting fight.
Finally they have natural cruiserweight Lamont Williams (1-1-0), who the last time out lost a close fight, a mixed decision, to the undefeated 6’5” giant Garret Simon. This time, Williams will be facing Raul Talamantes (0-2-0) who is making a return to the ring after a six year hiatus.
Cruiser-weight Lamont Williams (1-1)
Talamantes lost his first two bouts, a TKO loss at 2:26 of the first round to Marcus Pernell and a unanimous decision to Joe Bradley. Six years ago, Talamantes fought as a middleweight. If he’s planning to do well against Williams, let’s hope he’s put some weight on since that last fight.
Four Points by Sheraton offers free parking and is located at 8110 Aero Drive, San Diego, CA, 92123. For additional information or tickets you can call the promotions department at (619) 420-8866 or (619) 258-0698, or call Four Points by Sheraton at 858-277-8888.
the Las Vegas Draw
On Saturday in Las Vegas, Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico will be at ringside when Yuriorkis Gamboa and Orlando Salido duke it out on Top Rank’s ‘Battle of the Champions’ at the Palms Resort Casino. Gamboa and Salido are both world featherweight champions who are putting their titles on the line. Gamboa, the WBA champion has a record of 18-0, 15 KO’s. Salido, the IBF champion, is 34-10-2, 22 KO’s. And why would Lopez be interested? Lopez (29-0-0, 26 KO’s) is the WBO featherweight champ.
the European Draw
Wladimir Klitschko (57-3, 48 KO’s) and Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s) the former WBC Champion will face off Saturday at Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany. But you can forget about leaving the country; the fight will be shown on ESPN. As usual the Klitschko brothers are praising their opponent before he is led to slaughter.
“Peter is wonderful. He’s very fast, powerful and a great puncher,” is the quote from Klitschko. “I love to be challenged and I am very much motivated for this fight.”
If he wasn’t motivated, wouldn’t that be a hoot? Once again, one of the Klitschko giants has a host of friends coming to see him toy around with a much shorter foe?
the Padres Draw
The first place San Diego Padres, just getting over their 10 game losing streak, are hosting the second place San Francisco Giants.
the College Football Draw
There will be over 70 College Football games aired this weekend.
the NFL Draw
Sunday, the San Diego Chargers will be in Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. To insure maximum media coverage and guarantee a sell-out crowd, I heard the Chargers are planning to burn one hundred 2010 Kansas City Chief Media Guides at a local church.
