Catching Up With The Champs!
As summer is quickly fading away, boxing fans in the Southland witnessed many sizzling bouts at Thompson Boxing Promotions’ live shows held at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario and Omega Products Event Center in Corona in June, July, August and September. The “dog days” of summer remained hot at these action-packed fight nights that featured some fresh talent and new prospects entering the ring.
Thompson Boxing (with founder and President Ken Thompson and matchmaker and General Manager Alex Camponovo) had their outdoor show on August 23 at Omega and will also be hosting a show at the Doubletree on September 27 with Riverside warrior Mauricio Herrera in the main event. They will also be ringside when Efrain Esquivias takes on Rafael Marquez this Saturday at Fantasy Springs (on the Chris Arreola vs. Seth Mitchell undercard).
The “Chatter Box” made the rounds at the Omega show to catch up with some of the fighters taking in the action at the “New Blood” show featuring an all-out war between Juanito “El Pochito” Reyes and Jonathan Arellano in the headlining bout.
In attendance were many Thompson boxers that emcee Sonny Franco announced including Josesito Lopez, Mauricio Herrera, Artemio Reyes Jr., Richard Contreras, Danny Hernandez, and Cesar Villarraga (Thompson’s newest signee), Colombian fighter Oscar Torres, Israel “El Magnifico” Vazquez, Bobby “Schoolboy” Chacon, Mando Muniz, ring veteran Bennie Georgino (with over 60 years in the biz), announcer Carlos Avilas and more. All the current fighters told me they’re hoping to fight soon.
And before the Corona battles got underway, I chatted with trainer Joe Angel Zamora, brother of boxing coach Danny Zamora. He was with the Colombian boxers Cesar Villarraga and Oscar Torres. Both of the young boxers are eager to make a splash in the U.S. and are enjoying their time training here. The team was there to cheer on their fellow fighter, Alex Theran, who won his match that night.
I also caught up with some of boxing’s best officials in Jack Reiss, Max DeLuca and Ray Corona. All three have been busy in and out of the ring. DeLuca attended the recent NABF Convention in Reno and Reiss has been busy working in Macao and attending the WBO Convention in Hungary.
Before the main event began, I spoke to junior welterweight Mauricio Herrera and welterweight Artemio Reyes Jr. who were sitting next to each. Both are from the Inland Empire and have sparred each other before. Herrera’s trainer Willy Silva is also the trainer of Riverside’s Juan Reyes, who fought to a majority draw in his gritty war versus Ontario’s Jonathan Arellano.
Artemio (who fought on July 26) has a five-fight win streak going and hopes to back in the ring soon. Mauricio also said he can’t wait to lace up on September 27. An opponent will be announced soon. Herrera was victorious in his May battle against Ji-Hoon Kim and his next fight will give his local fans another chance to see him trade leather.
Check out the scene at Omega! A sizzling night of boxing in which the sold out crowd were greeted by Thompson beauties Nikki, Ashley and Lindsi, got to meet some local champs and witness the live wars up on the canvas.
Next show for Thompson Boxing Promotions will be September 27th!
“We have some fantastic fights coming up,” President Ken Thompson says with a smile. “You won’t want to miss the action!”
Photos by Michele Chong
