Thompson Boxing Promotions bring out the big guns!
It was a real shootout in Ontario, California as Thompson Boxing Promotions held a special “Locked ‘N Loaded II” show last weekend at the Doubletree Hotel.
The card made history since both Promoter Ken Thompson and General Manager/Matchmaker Alex Camponovo both told me right before the fights got underway that it was their very first Saturday fight night at this location. Thompson Boxing is known for their Friday night fights at the same venue. But since their champion Timothy Bradley (co-promoted by Thompson and Gary Shaw) fought on July 17, they were able to offer Southland fans an opportunity to take in some great bouts in the Inland Empire on a rare Saturday card at the Doubletree.
Here’s a wrap up from the “Chatter Box” of what took place in and around the ring:
Between breaks in the action, we were all getting updates from the Juan Diaz-Juan Manuel Marquez fight in Vegas, but once the bell rang the lucky fans in attendance were treated to some all-out wars on the canvas. With an energetic crowd watching on, four high-octane bouts took place featuring constant back-and-forth action and gutsy performances between all eight combatants. The evening featured 
showdowns aplenty in gritty bouts with non-stop action that, as they say, could’ve been fought in a phone booth.
The opening bout between Manuel Del Cid and Carlos Hernandez gave the sold-out audience a taste of what was to come. Hernandez was knocked down twice and had a point deducted during the scheduled six rounder, but the brawl was a real crowd pleaser. Del Cid was awarded a TKO in the fourth round of a rather sloppy but entertaining fight.
Super Bantamweights Jonathan Arellano and Hugo Ramos continued to give the 
crowd their money’s worth in a great give and take contest. Ramos, trained by Steve Quinonez Sr., and Arellano, trained by Henry Ramirez, were both full of firepower–and full of heart in their rematch. Offering blistering attacks, the two warriors went at it for four rounds. When the final bell rang, Ontario’s Arellano (nicknamed “Lil Thunder”) added to his perfect record with a 39-37 unanimous decision. But his fight versus Palm Springs’ Ramos was so exciting ticket holders were heard saying they wished it had been a six rounder.
In the co-main, newest Thompson signee Efrain Esquivias took on the tough Jonathan Alcantara for six rounds. It was bombs away from the two as Efrain had his hands full from the challenger from Novato. Keeping on the attack, Esquivias, who now has Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, was the victor as scores of 58-56 and 60-54 twice were announced.
In the main event, it was the competing cities of Riverside vs. 
Chino who went head to head as Alberto “Baby Dynamite” Herrera and Sammy “Desmadre” Gonzalez laced up for their six-round battle. Calling it a battle is really an understatement. While the “coaches” in the crowd lent their loud vocal support to their fighter of choice, both Herrera and Gonzalez earned the respect of everyone. As Gonzalez constantly backed up Herrera in his own corner, Alberto would cover up and then counter attack. In their frenzied pace, you really couldn’t look away for one second. If you sneezed, you might have just missed an uppercut or two. The pair of pugs had everyone on their feet as they continued to slug it out right up until literally the final second of the very last round. At the completion of their six stanzas, the decision was read with scorecard tallies of 59-55 for Gonzalez, and dual scores of 57-57 for a majority draw. Sammy’s camp, who had a big corp of fans in the seats, made their voices heard with a chorus of boos.
It may sound like a cliché but they were both winners in this all-out war. Should the two local warriors ever meet in a rematch, it would surely be another exciting clash between both the boxers–and further ignite their heated crosstown rivalry.
By the way, I’ve seen the young and ambitious trio of Arellano, Herrera and Esquivias fight in the past, but this past weekend these local “boys” really became even more a true warrior in the ring. Given excellent challenges, all three went mano y mano against their worthy foes as cheers from the fans confirmed. And Arellano has the next generation of champs already covered. His little son, Josiah (“Mini Thunder”), is already a famous attraction at the fights. The toddler always 
emulates daddy–complete with matching outfits, Mohawk and of course, boxing gloves! His mom, Selina, laughs and says fighter Jose Lopez had told them, “Your son’s in the ring ‘stealing your thunder’!” She also said her husband was given the “Lil Thunder” nickname by the press. “Everyone started calling Jonathan that,” explains Selina. “They said he reminded them of Arturo Gatti, with his style and the way he looks too. So that’s how he got the nickname.” Jonathan recently became a free agent and is a top prospect to watch. His wife says she’s proud of his last performance inside the ropes. “There was another opponent before Jonathan found out he was fighting Hugo again,” she comments. “We had even been sparring with Hugo and then we found out we were fighting him.
“Jonathan did have to dig deep in this fight; it’s been a tough six months for him. But I was glad to see him back in the ring.”
Also seated around the ring were tons of champions, contenders and boxing luminaries seen in the audience. Ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. called a long list of VIP guests to the canvas including Chris Arreola, Greg Haugen, Albert Davila, Freddie Roach, Bobby Chacon, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Jonte Willis, Francisco Vargas, Danny Hernandez, Jose Lopez, Mauricio Herrera, Hector Serrano, Gabino Saenz, Alexander Flores, Paula Cortez and more.
Former WBC Bantamweight Champ Albert Davila was one of the crowd favorites. This was his very first time at the Ontario event. Thompson Boxing photographer Carlos Baeza has stayed in contact with the slugger and Davila knows he always has an open invitation to the fights. “I was blown out of the saddle that he came to the fights,” Carlos told me. “It was an honor to have him here; he was a master of boxing! Dr. James Jen Kin told me the same thing that night. He was one of the greatest boxers ever.”
Baeza hopes to have Davila back on August 20, which is the next Thompson fight at the outdoor Omega Products International in Corona. “Albert said he really enjoyed himself last weekend so he may be back on the 20th too,” Carlos adds, while I caught up with him today. The busy lensman left directly after Saturday’s fight to gear up for a 12-day road trip across the U.S. Beginning at 5 a.m. right after the fight night, the Harley rider headed to Sturgis for the big biker rally. But the boxing aficionado tells me he’ll be back in town on August 12–right in time to shoot the Jose Lopez vs. Martin Cordova bout on the undercard of the Chris Arreola-Manuel Quezada matchup.
On Saturday night, former World Boxing Hall of Fame (WBHF) and World Boxing Council’s Dr. Joe Noriega, WBHF’s Executive Sergeant-at-Arms Gwen Adair and Treasurer Josie Arrey-Mejia were also introduced to the crowd. A presentation was made to boxing judge Dr. James Jen Kin, as he was presented with a bronze statue by Adair and Mejia for his recent Hall of Fame induction.
Here are some snapshots from the night. And in an upcoming column, you’ll also see a unique pictorial from “Locked ‘N Loaded II” by my special guest photographer, Amy Opoka, so stay tuned for that!
Photos courtesy of Ray Flores and Michele Chong