First Fight of 2014 Draws a Crowd
It was a full house at Thompson Boxing Promotions’ “New Blood” show, the first card of 2014 for the Inland Empire company known through the decade for raising homegrown heroes such as Josesito Lopez, Timothy Bradley, Mauricio Herrera, Efrain Esquivias, and more.
Their Friday night series (held at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif.) gives local boxing fans and beyond a chance to see rising stars and hungry contenders sharpen their skills in the ring. Heavyweight slugger Chris Arreola fought at this same venue many times early in his career and longtime fans have seen many champs rise up through these SoCal shows.
Before any champion triumphantly hoists his or her title belt in the air, they must hone their talents at house fights such as the popular Thompson Boxing installments “New Blood,” “Locked ‘N Loaded” and “Path to Glory” events. And Friday’s bash brought out a hard-hitting lineup of past and present champs, future contenders, amateur stars and others catching the action in this highly-anticipated first show of the year presented by Ken Thompson (Founder and President of Thompson Boxing Promotions) and General Manager/Matchmaker Alex Camponovo.
Ring announcer Sonny Franco introduced the fighters including the “Riverside Rocky” Josesito Lopez, Efrain Esquivias, Randy Caballero, Israel Vazquez, Artemio “King” Reyes, Albert Davila, Carlos Bojorquez, Petr Petrov (“Boxcino” semi-finalist), Juan “Pochito” Reyes, Oscar Godoy, Danny “El Travieso” Hernandez, Richard “El Terminador” Contreras, Victor Lopez, promoter Antonio Leonard, WBC Supervisors Rudy Tellez and Joe Noriega who were ringside.
During the evening, a dozen warriors laced up, going toe to toe–hoping to add one more victory to their record. From bantamweight bouts to heavyweight hits, the standing-room only crowd were treated to six matches featuring new prospects jabbing their way up the ranks. Spectators watched Los Angeles fighter Isaac “Dinamita” Zarate take on the tough Christian Torres hailing from Guadalajara, Mexico. The flurry of punches had the crowd enthralled and at the end of six rounds, Zarate earned a unanimous decision from the ringside judges.
Fans also witnessed one intense war of attrition between bantams Carlos Carlos and Javier Gallo in the main event. The two slugged it out for the WBC Latino title in this aggressive, bomb-throwing rivalry in the ring. The cheers got louder as each round passed during an all-out collision between two courageous fighters. The much shorter Javier “El Girito” Gallo showed heart and a steel chin as Carlos “Memin” Carlson battered his hard-nosed opponent, who never gave in.
At the end of the eight-round contest, Tijuana’s Carlson remained undefeated with 14 pro victories and a brand new WBC strap to boot. Official scores of 78-74, 78-74 and 77-75 gave Carlos the unanimous decision win.
With nonstop fisticuffs, the audience got their money’s worth during Friday night’s action. During the breaks, there were T-shirt giveaways by the ring card girls, a special birthday announcement for Riverside fighter Richard Contreras and a moving “Ten Count” tribute led by WBC’s Rudy Tellez in honor of WBC President Jose Sulaiman, who recently passed away.
With this sold-out “New Blood” show in the books, 2014 will offer a packed schedule for Southern California fight fans. Thompson Boxing’s next show at the Doubletree will be on April 25 so don’t miss the action!
Photos by Michele Chong
