A Knockout Night at Outdoor Arena!

There were fireworks in the ring and fireworks lighting up the sky at the 2015 Boxcino Championship Tournament held last Friday night at the Omega Products Outdoor Arena in Corona, Calif. This was a historic night since the event (promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions and Banner Promotions) was the final farewell ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights.”

This grand finale featured seven fights culminating in a thrilling show for the fans in attendance.

SoCal’s Isaac Zarate got the TV bouts going with his unanimous victory over Hemet’s Fernando Fuentes while the co-main and main attraction offered the crowd exciting knockouts. In the heavyweight battle, it was a KO night with Andrey Fedosov scoring an eighth-round technical knockout over Donovan Dennis.

And in the super welterweight division, it was Brandon Adams vs. John Thompson scrap that saw Adams knocking down Thompson in the first frame with Thompson bouncing back and shocking the crowd with a knockout win in the second stanza. After the rumble, Team Thompson gathered around the new champ who proudly showed off his shiny new belt.

Both Fedosov and Thompson celebrated their big victories with their respective camps in this final show for “Friday Night Fights.” ESPN will begin their Saturday night boxing shows in July with a new format. The championship metal for the 2015 Boxcino victors was a white belt with the with a green and yellow “X” Boxcino logo in the center.

Thompson Boxing’s Founder/President Ken Thompson, General Manager/Matchmaker Alex Camponovo and Banner Promotions’ Artie Pelullo sat ringside as this epic fight night had the spectators on the edge of their seats with several knockouts and a couple of upsets. This “Boxing Under the Stars” show comes at a busy time for Thompson Boxing, who is celebrating their 15th anniversary this month. The promotional company is presenting back-to-back Friday night shows on May 22 and May 29 (at the Doubletree Ontario) and continues to draw boxing fans to their popular “Path to Glory,” “Locked N’ Loaded,” and “New Blood” series.

And Friday’s show had many special guests in the audience including actors, beauty queens, prizefighters and a trio of Corona ring card girls. Actor and boxing aficionado Holt McCallany (“Lights Out”) sat with the ESPN team, Miss Anaheim Hills Missy Mendoza sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem and pro fighters Danny Roman, Cesar Villarraga, Gerald Washington, Danny Hernandez and more were there to take in the sights and sounds in the venue.

With the final bell clanging, it was goodbye to ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” who closed their long-running production with an exciting card at Omega.

Congrats to the new champions who rose to the challenge in this knockout night!

Photos by Michele Chong