The Squared Circle

Golden Boy Boxing
Commerce Casino & Hotel

December 17, 2022

Golden Boy Promotions last event of 2022 making their debut at the Commerce Casino was an absolute hit. The venue itself is certainly more local and accessible for the SoCal boxing  fans looking to catch the sweet science live. As for the 8 fight card that took place, major kudos to the matchmakers who didn’t the line it up with significant mismatches that pitted a prospect against the proverbial fighter from south of the border that has as much a chance as winning as trying to successfully unsubscribe from all of your junk email. This card was filled with matches that had the both the Blue and the Red Corner coming out with victories. Also, the “First Lady of Boxing” Cecilia Braekhus was in the house making her comeback right here in Commerce! Gregory Morales started the action with a win against a  very game Diuhl Olguin. Ricardo Quiroz from Oxnard then pulled off the first “upset” by besting Martin Leon. Both fighters came in with a lone defeat on their records. Cecilia Braekhus then outboxed here opponent Marisa Portilla easily in 6 rounds. Next was a battle of undefeated fighters with Angel Vasquez coming out on top against Nick Sullivan .Jousce Gonzalez was next, who headlined the 7/28 GBP card in Indio, going the distance for the first time essentially in earning a hard fought contest. The performance of the night goes to Aaron Silva, making his GB debut blasted Alan Campa in 5 rounds, watch for Silva making noise at 168. The Co-main event featured Diego De La Hoya who scored multiple knockdowns to finish off Jose Gonzalez in round 8 in what turned out to be a technical draw that was a foregone conclusion as to victor. The main event featured Raul Curiel finishing off journeyman Brad Solomon in round 2. Solomon has played the role of gatekeeper for all of GB’s welterweight prospects having previously been beaten, by Vergil Ortiz Jr., Blair Cobb, and Alexis Ochoa. It’s still too early to say how high Curie can go, but for this night, he took care of business quicker than his stablemates. 

Golden Boy Boxing
Omega Fantasy Springs Casino 
Thursday October 20, 2022

Main event and California debut for Golden Boy’s new fighter Floyd “Kid Austin’ Schofield.  Kid Austin did not disappoint as he made short work of his opponent Daniel Rosas in just 97 seconds of Round 1. Schofield came out hot hitting Rosas with a series of combinations that ended with a left hook that prompted referee Ray Corona to step in and count Rosas out. It was an impressive debut as both Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins were both in attendance for an up-close look at GB’s latest prospect. The fight took place at Fantasy Springs where current stablemates Ryan Garcia and Vergil Ortiz Jr. established themselves as top prize fighters. 

In perhaps the best fight of the night, Joshua Garcia from Morena Valley, CA pulled out a unanimous decision that was anything but unanimous. Fight should have been a draw at 2 – 2, or 3 – 1 at worst, one judge had it 4 – 0 that really discredited the effort of Lorenzo who landed more punches 66 – 661 than Garcia. In the Co-main event, Anabel Ortiz easily outpointed Mario Santizo. 

Angel Beltran earned a hard fought decision against Rance Ward. Eric Tudor ripped body shots to easily take out Ramon Marquez in round 1. Mexicali’s Jorge Estrada starts slow but builds momentum in the 3rd round of a 4 round fight to outpoint Sergio Gonzalez in a tougher fight than it should have been. It was a majority decision only, although one judge had it a draw

Thompson Boxing
Path to Glory
Omega Products International
Saturday August 20, 2022

There was a sold out crowd to watch an exciting night of fights. In the main event Ruben Ace Torres from South Central LA improved to 19-0 with 16 KOs with a 7 th round knockout of Cristian Baez of Venezuela. In a great back and forth war both fighters scored knockdowns in the second round. Torres scored the knockout in the 7th when
Baez disputed a knockdown earlier in the round and was caught with a tremendous left hook that knocked him out cold. Protect yourself at all times.
In the co-main event Louie Lopez from Corona, CA improved to 12-1-1 scored a unanimous decision victory over a tough and previously undefeated Elias Diaz. Most of the crowd was there to see the local fighter in his hometown.
In a battle of two unbeaten fighters Pedro Valencia from Pacoima, CA improved to 11-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Adrian Corona. Valencia used a lot of switching to the southpaw stance to get the decision. Nelson Oliva from Fontana, CA improved to 4-0 with 4 Kos with a 2 nd round knockout of Eduardo Reyes from Mexico. Ioannis Manoullidis originally from Athens, Greece improved to 2-0 with a split decision victory over Edgar Palacios
of Mexico. Anthony Saldivar from Ontario, CA opened the night with a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Duarte of Mexico.

Ryan Garcia returns in dramatic fashion overpowering Javier Fortuna. The fight was really never close as Garcia hit Fortuna early and often. Garcia was very gracious in victory, thanking God, and asking the audience to find their purpose in life. His purpose of course, is a pugilist at the highest level in boxing, where he destroys competition. The next chapter is what remains to be seen as Garcia called out Tank Davis in what presumably will have challenges to make, but one can only hope…..