April 23 Fight Night Promises Fireworks

Fists will fly at the Forum on April 23 as a championship doubleheader is set to ignite in Inglewood, California.

This “UNDEFEATED” show will feature Gennady “GGG” Golovkin vs. Dominic “Lights Out” Wade in the main event with Nicaraguan puncher Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (44-0, 38 KOs) going toe to toe against Puerto Rican world-ranked pro McWilliams Arroyo (16-2, 14 KOs) in the co-feature.

The coast to coast kickoff press conference began in Los Angeles on Tuesday followed by a New York presser today. I attended the L.A. event held at the Conga Room at LA LIVE as the fighters and their teams assembled on stage. Team Wade wasn’t able to attend this L.A. news conference due to flight delays from Washington, D.C. but Team GGG was represented with Gennady along with his trainer Abel Sanchez, K2 Promotions’ Managing Director Tom Loeffler, manager Oleg Hermann, and more seated on the dais.

Kazakhstan’s GGG vs. Maryland’s Wade will be for the world middleweight belts (WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO). This April 23 showdown is presented by K2 Promotions, GGG Promotions in association with TGB Promotions, Teiken Promotions and PR Best Boxing Promotions and will air live on HBO World Championship Boxing. The co-main for this event was also introduced to the media in attendance; “Chocolatito” vs. Arroyo will be for the WBC Flyweight championship.

Tickets are on sale now and the show is expected to be a sell out as Loeffler mentioned a whopping 6,000 tickets have already been pre-sold. The promoter also announced there will be two female bouts showcased on the bill with one of the female fighters (Seniesa Estrada) introduced during the presser. HBO’s Tony Walker, manager Carlos Blandon, boxing’s Sam Watson, pro boxer Walter “School Boy” Sarnoi (who is also fighting on the undercard) and amateur star Lisa Porter were also at this SoCal press conference. It was a full crowd in the Conga Room at this “UNDEFEATED” cross-country press tour got underway.

The trio of Golovkin, Chocolatito and Seniesa will all make their return to the “Fabulous Forum” once again. In May 2015, the prizefighters all scored victories on the same Forum card.

And what will April 23 bring?

Will the Golovkin-Wade battle end in a knockout? Will Chocolatito score another KO in his clash against Arroyo? And will Estrada bring more attention to the world of female boxing?

It promises to be one exciting night. Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) and Wade (18-0, 12 KOs) will lock horns in the championship headliner for multiple titles.

At the mic, Gennady (speaking in English) thanked everyone for their support and says he wants to deliver another “Big Drama Show” in his second home here. Tom Loeffler explained that they reached out to various champs but Wade as the opponent makes sense as he is the IBF mandatory challenger. Loeffler added this match will be 33-year-old GGG’s 16th title defense. I’ve witnessed Triple G’s fan base grow worldwide and his KO streak continues to gain momentum. We will see if Wade, 25, will be the underdog that shocks the boxing world come Saturday, April 23?

During the day, I also had the chance to catch up with the undercard fighters McWilliams Arroyo and Seniesa Estrada. McWilliams is a Puerto Rican contender who welcomes the challenge in what will be his second chance at a title when he trades leather with Chocolatito. Arroyo is a gold medal amateur champ and trained in the U.S. for several years. The flyweight and his twin brother McJoe Arroyo were 2008 Olympians proudly representing their country in the Beijing Olympic Games. The flyeweight told me he will return to Puerto Rico for this current training camp against pound-for-pound superstar Chocolatito. Gonzales vs. Arroyo promises to be a firefight as K2’s Loeffler said he thinks this matchup will be even more exciting than the Gonzalez-Brian Viloria war that took place this past October.

I also chatted with Team Estrada as hometown girl Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada gets ready to lace up on April 23. The young boxer was a longtime amateur champ and is now 5-0 as a pro. Her father Joe Estrada said the plans are for her to fight Los Mochis warrior Selene Lopez (3-4-3, 1 KO). Joe will be in her corner at the Forum along with chief second Dean Campos. Seniesa said she is honored and excited to be featured at the Forum once again. The petite powerhouse will once again be a fan favorite who wows the crowd with her boxing skills.

Fight fans, don’t miss it!

“UNDEFEATED” is set to ignite on April 23 at the Forum.

Tickets: 800-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com

Photos by Michele Chong