The Chatter Box Strikes Again!

Boxing events around the Southland

Living in L.A. is a great advantage if you are a big boxing buff. While Vegas will always be the mecca of the sweet science, a pro fight, an amateur show or a boxing event of some sort is just around the corner in Southern California.

It’s an active circuit; at times, I wish I could attend everything! But unless I clone myself, I can’t be everywhere.

Recently we attended the fight night at the Commerce Casino promoted by All Star Boxing. Their fights are usually held at the Quiet Cannon, but these summer boxing shows at the casino have proven to be a huge hit. All Star’s Ed Holmes and Pete Hironaka are now planning to add an October 22 event at the casino since the fans have come out in droves for their two previous Commerce shows.

The local crowd is always fun, always friendly with a chance to meet up with friends from the boxing community, and last week’s fight was no different.

While entering the Crowne Ballroom where the bouts were held, we ran into the always-enthusiastic Bobby “Schoolboy” Chacon and Rosie Legaspi. The two enjoy attending boxing events, and Bobby is always a crowd pleaser with his joking around and mugging for the camera.

Also had a chance to chat with popular L.A. trainer Clemente Medina from the Maywood gym. The trainer turns out rough, tough customers in the ring; his star protégé is Alfredo “Perro” Angulo. On this night, Medina is besieged by well-wishers who stopped to congratulate the coach on his recent concert. When he’s not in the gym, the trainer takes the mike as a singer–and a very good one at that–according to all who came by.

Cornerman Gil “Candyman” Nieves shows me a photo of Clemente’s stage performance. Decked out in a hat and suit, it takes me a while to recognize the trainer. He laughs and tells me he goes by “El Duque” when he’s singing. “Practically the whole room was there to hear Clemente sing,” says Nieves. “And a lot of boxers and trainers came out to support him. There were eight welterweights there, it was great. I was in heaven there.”

“Mighty” Mike Anchondo stopped to greet Medina, a former trainer of the boxer. Anchondo put on his fiercest “game face” for a snapshot before breaking into laughter. He fought last on July 30, winning a six-round battle against Octavio Narvaez.

Before the fights began, I had time to say hello to Gwen Adair, a pioneer in boxing and one of the few women referees and judges to be working in the fight game. The effervescent Gwen is a class act, in and out of the ring. The Commerce fights had some of the best in the business in place, with Jack Reiss, Pat Russell and Vince Delgado also working that night.

Spoke with fighter Aron Martinez, whose younger brother Alan was fighting that night. Aron recently defeated Santiago Perez, and his advisor Willie Torres says his boxer is in great shape and will be back on the canvas soon.

Trainer Ronnie Rivota came by to say hi and give us an update about his top pupil, Frankie Gomez. The 17-year-old amateur standout is heading to Italy with a U.S. boxing team. Remember that name Frankie Gomez…you will be seeing more of him in the future!

I was also happy to see Alfonso Gomez at the fights. The “Contender” star is busy with his boxing and music career, and will be saying “Aloha” to the fans this weekend. The welterweight is heading to Hawaii for a boxing match on Saturday. Who is your opponent? I ask. “The first opponent’s been changed, so we’re still waiting to find out,” Gomez replies. “But the fight in Hawaii will be great.”

I sat with corner woman Dolores Schunke, whose husband is “Indian” Willie Schunke. Dolores and her two fighting assistants Anthony and “Shaq” were busy throughout the night retrieving the gloves from the combatants. The Schunke couple are fight promoters through their II Feathers Promotions, and also glove suppliers at local fights. And Willie is a premier cutman who works with heavyweight Chris Arreola, contender Jose Lopez, up-and-comer Jonathan Arellano, and Hector “Teco” Serrano, among many others. Serrano was the main event at the Commerce show.

Dolores just happened to be wearing her “Team Arreola” shirt which made the heavyweight happy. Arreola will be facing Vitali Klitschko on September 26 at the Staples Center in downtown L.A. and the city is really revving up for this. The friendly Mexican-American superstar was surrounded by friends and fans, and he always takes time for photos or autographs for all who ask.

Chris was also there to support his trainer Henry Ramirez and “Team Teco,” and later in the night cheered on his stablemate Hector Serrano. “Teco” had a tough fight against the talented Steve Gonzalez, but the skillful boxer was awarded the decision at the end of six rounds. This was Serrano’s first fight in over a year and in this strong performance showed he’s back in action.

It was a long, but exciting evening of boxing with seven bouts showcased at the Commerce Casino.

During the night, super bantamweight Walter Sarnoi sat with us a while to catch his friend Alan Martinez’s fight. “We grew up together,” he comments. “I’ve known Alan and Aron for a while.” Sarnoi is training hard and working out with 2008 Olympian Shawn Estrada, who is on the undercard of the Arreola-Klitschko card. Walter is currently attending Azusa Pacific University, but will still be pursuing his boxing career as well.

In the Commerce crowd, heavyweight Seth Colebrook brought out a big fan section rooting for him. After his third-round knockout of challenger Danny Gonzalez, Colebrook stuck around to watch the other bouts while celebrating with friends and family.

Chad Yarvitz, trained by Oscar “The Boxer” Muñiz, also had a huge cheering section with him and got a W in his pro debut against Anthony Wheaton.

And while the victories were celebrated, there is always that flip side of the coin.

While heading out of the arena, we crossed paths with trainer Steve Quinonez and his fighter Hugo Ramos. The 19-year-old has a lot of talent, but didn’t get the win against Alan Martinez. For Ramos, it’s another lesson learned; his team will regroup, train hard and get another chance for victory in the future. Well regarded Quinonez was stoic about the loss and hopes to add a victory to Ramos’ ledger in his next bout.

After the Commerce fight night, it was time for a weekend road trip to San Diego. I traveled down south to get together with some non-boxing friends, but on the way down I just had to stop at Pala Casino for “The Brawl For It All” weigh-in.

I got a chance to wish good luck to San Diego’s KJ Noons. The middleweight has had a successful career in both boxing and MMA and is a former EliteXC lightweight champion. The 26-year-old is trained by Rob Garcia, whom I first met up in Big Bear. Garcia is a longtime member of the Oscar De La Hoya camp and also worked with UFC star Diego Sanchez. Both Garcia and Noons attended the Commerce fights but left early in preparation for KJ’s battle this past weekend.

Wondering how the MMA fighter is balancing both sports, Noons says it’s been working out fine. “The commission is the same,” he explains. “I enjoy both sports, and I’ll be fighting in December in MMA.”

The following night, the combo boxer scored a victory against Randy Pogue.

After the quick weigh-in visit, joined some pals for some R & R and no more live boxing in person…although I did sneak away from my friends to watch the Paulie Malignaggi-Juan Diaz brawl that aired on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark.” “The Magic Man” was sharp (just like he promised), but with the controversial judging did not get the win. But that’s a whole ‘nother column!

Anyway, back in L.A. the boxing buzz is already starting about the next local fights coming up–it’s never-ending here in the Southland!

We are lucky to have plenty of bouts just around the corner…See you at the fights!

(For a full report of the Pala fights by MyBoxingFans’ Felipe Leon: Click Here )

Photos by Michele Chong: Commerce scene: Bobby Chacon, Mike Anchondo, Willie Torres and Alan Martinez, Alfonso Gomez, Chris Arreola, Dolores Schunke, Anthony and Shaq, Gwen Adair, Seth Colebrook, Chad Yarvitz; Walter Sarnoi, Team Teco, Hugo Ramos with Steve Quinonez, MMA fighter and pro boxer KJ Noons at Pala Weigh-In