Thompson Boxing brings out the crowd!
Boxing in Southern California continues to thrive as witnessed during last Friday night’s live pro boxing show at Thompson Boxing Promotions’
Locked ‘N Loaded IV card held at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario. The seven-bout card featured many top local heroes along with some rising stars in the game.
Greeting guests at the entrance was President Ken Thompson. Before I made my way into the venue, I ran into the promoter as he came out to the parking lot near the main entrance to meet a busload of people. Colton fighter Artemio Reyes always draws a huge 
wave of supporters, literally busloads of fans who traveled to the fight in a vehicle decorated with posters from his upcoming matchup. Reyes is a brand new Thompson signee. Ken said an exciting announcement was made at their Thursday weigh-in introducing this “Magnificent Seven” set of seven boxers. He and General Manager and Matchmaker Alex Camponovo have signed these young guns to their brimming stable of talent. Joining Artemio Reyes in the Lucky 7 are Jonathan Arellano, Miguel Diaz, Jhon Ortega, Daniel Roman, Manuel Roman and Sergio Nuñez (co-promoted with Gary Shaw Productions).
“We had over 1,000 people come out to the new building at Thompson Construction Supply in Corona,” relays the affable promoter. “The crowd was incredible and hundreds stayed for the weigh-in too.” The grand opening festivities and weigh-in that followed took place near the site of Omega Products International where their outdoor boxing shows are held. Already boasting a full stable of world champions, top contenders and hot prospects, the company continues to expand. Thompson commented that this newest crop of seven fighters fit right into the mix. “This is the first time in history that we’ve signed seven fighters at once!” he enthused. “And ALL of these young fighters are guaranteed potential World Champs!” As “King” Reyes’ mother and sister posed with the former World Boxing Hall of Fame President and promoter, the sold-out crowd continued to stream in.
Loyal boxing enthusiasts made sure to be at this show–the final Doubletree promotion for 2010. Where did this year go? As we all know, time flies by too fast so the Inland Empire fans may have “boxing withdrawals” for three and a half months as the busy promoter and his matchmaker gear up for a busy holiday schedule with their Thompson Boxing champions: Juan Carlos Burgos will be facing Hosemi Hasegawa in Japan November 26 for the vacant WBC Featherweight title; IBF Bantam Champ Yonnhy Perez (co-promoted by Gary Shaw) will be rematching Joseph Agbeko in the Showtime tournament (in Seattle, Washington according to BoxRec); and WBO Light Welter champion Timothy Bradley (also co-promoted by Gary Shaw) is set to square off against WBC titlist Devon Alexander. And in between these three high-profile matches, several of Thompson’s other sluggers may also be fighting in mid-January.
In attendance this past weekend were several SoCal fighters including heavyweight Chris Arreola, who will return to the ring on January 28 against Minnesota southpaw Joey Abell. The big guy remains a crowd pleaser and had tons of fans waiting to meet him. After injuring his hands in his last bout against Manuel Quezada, Arreola will be ready to lace up again in his January bout.
I also caught up with NABA Middleweight Champ Kassim Ouma. The always-cheerful puncher says he’s looking to step back into the 
ring very soon too. After his stunning victory over Joey Gilbert in September, there’s been a lot of talk about Ouma taking on WBA middleweight titlist Felix Sturm. Talks continue and Kassim says there should be some news very soon about his next fight.
Also taking in the action were former World Boxing Hall of Fame President Dr. Joe Noriega, trainer Bennie Georgino, former WBC Lightweight Champ Rodolfo “Gato” Gonzalez, boxers Abraham Lopez, Danny Hernandez, and Antonio Diaz, among many others. There were also two special little guests called up into the ring–Silver Gloves Champions 8-year-old Blane Serna and his brother Dominic Serna Jr. The boys are trained by Antonio Diaz and are from the Indio Boys & Girls Club Boxing Team. The club had more than a dozen of young amateurs plus their new pro fighter Diego Madrigal watching stablemate Alfredo Madrigal make his debut–and fighting to his first pro victory. Antonio’s brother Joel Diaz was in Madrigal’s corner and also had another special guest in tow himself–and maybe a future second generation fighter too? His wife is pregnant and looks ready to deliver the newest Diaz member any minute now. Boxing’s in the blood as their unborn baby has already been to its first pro boxing show!
During a break between bouts, I chatted with WBO Bantamweight Champ Kaliesha West. The fierce female is known for her own career on the canvas; she fought Angel Gladney for the title this past September on the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora undercard. Kaliesha, the reigning WBO female bantam champion, has fought around the world, including Peru and Denmark and continues in her quest for ring glory. But she is also able to multi-task quite well too. The prizefighters works at a local medical center and in her free time, also enjoys photojournalism. On this night, you could catch the champ ringside, lined on the apron along with the other professional shutterbugs capturing the action. West already knows exactly what it’s like to give and take in the ring, so she keeps an extra keen eye while pointing her lens at the two warriors. But don’t worry fight fans, the talented young boxer will be fighting again soon.
And this coming year promises plenty of action to look forward to even though Southland boxing fans will have to wait in anticipation for the next live fight at the Doubletree–in 2011. Before ring announcer Sonny Franco exclaimed “Let the battles begin!” he told the packed audience to circle February 25, 2011 in their calendars, the date of Thompson Boxing’s next scheduled promotion 
in Ontario. And they certainly closed out their series of shows like “Path to Glory,” “New Blood” and “Locked ‘N Loaded” series with a bang. Friday night’s bash gave the crowd reason to cheer as the fans saw plenty of action inside the ropes.
Local fave Artemio Reyes battled Jesus Vallejo, and after being down himself in the first round came back with a vengeance, adding another KO in just two minutes and 16 seconds in round one of a scheduled six. His legion of supporters roared their approval as Reyes was king in the ring.
Another immensely popular fighter was former amateur star Efrain Esquivias, who is now a rising pro star with an unbeaten record. The power puncher really received a hero’s welcome fueled by the huge crowd. In an entrance worthy of any rock star, his fans made a human tunnel from the dressing room to the ring as they awaited the Carson boxer’s walk out. Holding handmade signs, chanting his name and pumping their fists in unison to the music, Esquivias’ energetic fans built a “mosh pit” of support as their fighter walked through an impressive show of support.
Going toe to toe with Vicente Alfaro, the tough Esquivias handed his game foe defeat by TKO in the fifth round. With his 11th victory as a pro, the super bantamweight adds another KO win to his ledger. His sister was visibly moved by all the support–and his convincing victory as she stood by the steps crying a few tears of joy. “Wow!” remarked someone nearby. “With that performance and all those fans–he’s ready to take on Vegas!”
And in the main event, Riverside’s Jose Lopez took on Sergio Rivera in a scheduled eight rounder. After a barrage of punches by Lopez, Rivera was defeated in a third round stoppage. Trained by Henry Ramirez, Lopez adds one more KO to his now 28-3, 16 KO record. Look for the junior welterweight to return to the ring soon as his string of wins continue.
As Thompson Boxing Promotions string of successful shows continue, Ken Thompson is looking ahead as his seven new boxers are added into their championship stable. He showed me an 8×10 taken by official photographer Carlos Baeza of the talented bunch of newly-signed boxers right after the contract signing. While he shares more about the exciting news of their chock-full schedule with us, somebody jokes to Thompson, “When do you sleep?”
With all his boxing plans going on, Ken smiles and says with a laugh, “Why would you sleep?”
Boxing fans will keep their eyes open too as they watch many Thompson fighters showcased in the coming months. And for local fans, the live shows will be back in Ontario after the holidays.
See you at the fights!
Photos by Michele Chong/ Ring photo of Team Esquivias by Marlene Marquez