Thompson Boxing’s first show of 2011

For Southern California boxing fans, Friday night means fight night–especially for those near the Inland Empire as Thompson Boxing Promotions presented “New Blood,” their first event of the year at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario.

Their popular fight series always makes good on the promise of thrilling non-stop action from promoter Ken Thompson and matchmaker/general manager Alex Camponovo’s talent-laden stable of champions, contenders and hot prospects.

While a heavy downpour came down from the clouds, the pouring rain did not stop the fans for making Thompson’s event a consecutive sell out. The venue was literally standing room only as the crowd anticipated six bouts scheduled in this latest infusion of “New Blood.” And preparing for combat, the 12 fighters on the card planned to “rain” down bombs of their own while facing their worthy foes.

The main event of the evening was the tough Jose Reynoso from nearby Riverside. Nicknamed “El Niño,” the junior welter took on Spokane’s Santos “The Maori Warrior” Pakau (27-7-2, 10 KOs) in an eight-round contest. With former junior welterweight Andy Nance is his corner, the veteran challenger from Washington took some hard body shots early on and was knocked down in the third stanza. The hard-hitting Reynoso continued to control the fight showcasing his heavy hands while the game and courageous Pakau stood toe to toe, refusing to go down.

It was also a battle of tattoos with the two heavily-inked athletes going at it for 24 minutes with Reynoso unable to completely dispatch of his brave opponent. With the area code of “951” patched proudly on the seat of his trunks, local favorite “El Niño” added one more victory when the bell sounded. Official scores announced by Jimmy Lennon Jr. were 79-72 and 80-71 twice for the Riverside southpaw who improves to 14-3-1.

In the co-main attraction of the night featured another popular local fighter, Efrain Esquivias Jr. The Carson product faced Denver slugger Shawn “Bones” Nichol, who had scored five knockouts in his five victories. This was Esquivias’ second bout stepping up to eight rounds and with Freddie Roach as his coach, the unbeaten boxer had a lot riding on this fight. His immense fan base continues to expand as supporters of the SoCal boxer rapidly snatched up over 120 tickets to see their favorite fighter go after his twelfth victory.

This former Golden Gloves champ has cultivated such a huge following that his walkout has to be seen–and heard–to be believed. Forming a very vocal human tunnel of support, a spirited line of family, friends and fans anticipated Efrain’s walk to the ring. It’s quite a sight. Chanting his name, the super bantamweight (with his mom’s name of “Martha” embroidered on his brown trunks) made his way to the corner for what would be eight frames of competitive action with the rugged southpaw (5-3, 5 KOs) from Colorado. This fight went back and forth with Esquivias ultimately asserting his will over Nichol, who made it a competitive fight against the crowd favorite. Although the hard-punching Nichol was no slouch in the fan department either; he had his own share of support from many visitors who traveled from Denver to root for the up-and-coming “Bones.”

Esquivias and Nichol traded punches right up until the final round. The challenger from out of state fought back with combinations of his own and stayed in the game. But Esquivias, bolstered by the outpouring of support with “Let’s go, Efrain” chants began to pour it on in the late rounds. And with Esquivias landing the more telling blows heading into the eighth and final round, referee Ray Corona decided he had seen enough and halted the contest at 1:07 before the final bell rang. After the ending, Nichol’s camp still proudly lifted their fighter on their shoulders anyway, and along with many in the crowd, instantly shouted, “Rematch! Rematch! Rematch!” after witnessing what they thought was an early stoppage.

With this latest test and TKO, Esquivias continues his quick ascent to the top, keeping his 12 and 0 record perfect. The ambitious boxer is also the face of “Adrenaline Fiends,” a sports apparel company; trainer Freddie Roach even seen in the corner sporting the “cross arm” logo of Efrain’s line of shirts. Look for this bantam’s fan base to continue to grow with each and every victory.

In the undercard action, Artemio “The King” Reyes (10-1, 9 KOs) stopped Francisco “Panchito” Rios Gill (11-15, 7 KOs) with a vicious body shot in the opening frame of a scheduled six rounder. The end came at 1:36 in this junior welterweight bout. As referee Jerry Cantu tended to the fallen fighter, the pride of Colton jumped up on the ropes as the fans went wild.

Jonathan Arellano (7-0-1, 1 KO) squared off against Francis Ruiz (9-3, 4 KOs) for six rounds of action. For “Lil Thunder” Arellano, this all-important fight included two “firsts” for the fighter–his first bout stepping up to six rounds and his first bout as an official Thompson signee. After going the distance, Arellano prevailed with scores of 59-55 from judge Max De Luca and 60-54 twice from judges Gwen Adair and Daniel Hernandez.

After a seven-month layoff, 23-year-old Abraham Lopez returned to the ring in a six-round featherweight battle against Colombia’s Felipe Almanza. Working off any ring rust, Lopez got a shutout with scores of 60-54 from all three judges. The La Puente fighter received a small cut over his left eye from a headbutt in the last round. After the fight, Abe told me that he was happy to be back and looks forward to making an even bigger impression in the next go round. With this victory, he adds to his undefeated 13-0, 10 KO record.

And the “New Blood” card got off to a scintillating start in the opening matchup between New Hampshire’s Jhon Ortega and Tucson’s Rudy Gamez. After scoring knockdowns in rounds two and three, powerhouse Ortega struck again, impressing the crowd in the fourth as referee Ray Corona stepped in to wave off the bout at 1:19.

Seen taking in the fights were champions and fighters Josesito Lopez, Mauricio Herrera, Miguel Diaz, Danny “El Travieso” Hernandez, Bobby Chacon, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Juan Vladimir Hernandez Campos, trainers Freddie Roach, Jack Mosley, Bennie Georgino, Willy Silva, World Boxing Hall of Fame’s Dr. Joe Noriega and Josie Arrey-Mejia, among many other boxing luminaries in attendance.

You can check out this gallery of pics from the newest team member of MyBoxingFans.

Meet Maria Hedrick, an associate of MBF Founder/Publisher Edgar Gonzalez. Maria, who earned her degree in photography at Cal State Long Beach, is a professional photographer who’s covered various sports during her career. The young shutterbug’s current travels have also included portrait work, location shoots and sports photography as well.

After recently shooting live fights and boxing press conferences, she is now transfixed by both the beauty–and brutality–of the sweet science. Getting her feet wet, so to speak, she first aimed her lens from the risers at a few live fights around the Southland. On Friday night, Maria was on the frontline, right at ringside–and right by the notorious spit bucket. Welcome to boxing, Maria!

The veteran lensmen at the front ranks gave her a warm welcome while they all waited for the wars on the canvas to begin. I had advised her to not wear white or any favorite clothing she was attached to since being near the corner assures one that you will be covered in the blood, sweat and tears from the gutsy warriors. I also reminded her to wear comfortable shoes as these dedicated photographers are on their feet for hours on end. Maria immediately learned to step back–and away–from this “danger zone” by the corners.

And fortunately (or maybe unfortunately for Maria’s clothes), the rough-and-tough “New Blood” card lived up to its name with fists a-flyin’ with the boxers seeing bright red. The female photog collected ring shrapnel on her face and clothes as the night progressed, “baptized by boxing” while holding steadfast at her position on the ring apron!

Aiming through the ropes, Maria was a quick study as she captured these intense images you see here.

“You can really capture a lot of emotion out of the boxers,” she explained about shooting through the ropes. “I really liked the level in intensity you get in boxing while up close!”

After the fights and the bloodshed ceased, I was curious to see the photographer’s reaction after all the bouts ended. Boxing isn’t for everyone. You either love it or you don’t. There doesn’t seem to be an in-between. As Maria packed up her camera equipment, I noticed she had a big smile on her face. Although it was a long night for all of us, she said she loved it–and was ready for more. “When’s the next fight?” Maria asked, as she calmly dabbed at the light pink blood that dotted her pretty face.

Another one hooked on boxing. Welcome to the club, girl!

And congratulations to all the “New Blood” fighters.

All Photos by Maria Hedrick.com