Southern California Notebook By Doug Fischer (Jan 3, 2008) Send this page to friend Give us your feedback Since the start of December my wife had been bugging me about having a New Year’s Day “get together” at our humble Inglewood abode. Although I’m a loud and proud recluse who would rather read comic books on the crapper for hours than host a party with friends and neighbors, seeing how I spent last year’s New Year’s Day flying over the Pacific Ocean en route to an Edwin Valero title fight in Tokyo I felt I owed it to her to play the good husband and pretend to be a well-adjusted member of society. Of course, that meant making the house presentable and doing something I dreaded throughout 2007 – cleaning up and organizing my desk area, which had become a mountain of worn-out notebooks and old press packets, seldom-used grammar guides and over-used boxing record books, unopened bills and strange business cards from people I don’t remember meeting, and unwatched tapes and DVDs of fights from around the globe. In all seriousness, I hadn’t seen the surface of my desk or my desk calendar since mid-May. While going through and tossing out (literally) pounds of paper, I came across a 1998 schedule of events from Forum Boxing, Inc. that I had dug up in early ‘07 for research on the Marco Antonio Barrera-Juan Manuel Marquez showdown that took place last March (Barrera fought three times on Forum Boxing cards in ‘98; Marquez fought twice). As I paused to notice the names of the has-beens (Oba Carr) and never-wases (Ed Mahone) that were on the schedule, I noticed that Forum Boxing often put on three shows a month, at least two of which took place in Southern California (either at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood or at The Pond of Anaheim). With Top Rank doing monthly shows at downtown L.A.’s Grand Olympic Auditorium at the time, it’s no wonder that the HouseofBoxing.com (the first online boxing publication I was involved with which basically became MaxBoxing in 2001) and my fledging career as a fight scribe got off the ground in the late ‘90s. Aside from having a vibrant gym scene to cover on a daily basis, there were at least three semi-major shows held every month in the area for young Dougie to cut his teeth on as a cub boxing writer. Attending and writing up local shows was also a lot of fun, which is why I’m hoping tomorrow night’s Telefutura-televised card from the Alameda Swap Meet does well enough for the network and Top Rank (or a local promoter) to return to the same site (or another Los Angeles locale) next month. There is too much local talent and there are too many fight fans in the greater L.A. area for there NOT to be at least one basic cable-level boxing card put on EVERY month. Tomorrow night’s Top Rank-promoted “Solo Boxeo” card will be held in a giant tent set-up in the parking lot area of the Alameda Swap Meet. The tent will only hold around 800 spectators, but filling the place up won’t be easy. Because Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo” begins at 8 p.m. ET, the first fight has to start at 4:15 p.m. with the first televised bout beginning at 5 p.m. That makes it hard for fans working a 9-to-5 to find a parking spot and settle in on their seats in time to catch most of the action. Also, what was an attractive main event (Mexico’s once-beaten Michel Rosales vs. Cuban boxer-puncher Antonio Izquierdo) has turned into a showcase bout for the heavy handed Mexican prospect. The 16-1-1 (13) Izquierdo has pulled out and been replaced by 30-10 (24) Colombian journeyman Dario Esalas. However, the card is still worth attending if you are a hardcore fight fan living in Southern California. Like the old Forum and Top Rank shows that I used to cover 10 years ago, tomorrow night’s card is stacked with local prospects and talented young contenders. I had the pleasure of watching a U.S. amateur standout and sure-fire future star like Floyd Mayweather Jr. develop on the Top Rank shows at the Olympic, and promising Mexican talents like Israel Vazquez the Marquez brothers come up on the Forum cards at the Forum and the Pond. You never know, some of the boxers in action at the Alameda Swap Meet may emerge as major players in a few years. Flyweight standout Brian Viloria, who takes on veteran Jose Bernal in the televised co-feature, is not ready to throw in the towel on his once-promising career. The 27-year-old former WBC 108-pound titlist – who is coming off a disappointing title bout loss last April (his only fight in ’07), eight months of inactivity and almost two years without a win – will try to get his career back on track with a victory over the rugged two-time world title challenger from Colombia. Bernal, who holds a 27-9-1 (18) record, is 10 years older than Viloria but the Colombian fought four times last year and he’s been in with quality 105- and 108-pound fighters, including three former world title holders. In other words, Viloria’s comeback bout is not against a softie. Undefeated junior middleweight prospect Vanes Martirosyan, who like Viloria is a former U.S. Olympian that used to train out of Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym, is also on the televised portion of the card. The 21-year-old Glendale, California resident who looked sensational in his last outing – a vicious first-round stoppage of Dan Wallace on a Versus-televised card in Las Vegas last month – will take on Clarence Taylor in a scheduled eight-round bout. Taylor’s .500 record (12-12) may not look as good as the ledgers of some of Martirosyan’s previous opponents like Wallace, who was 9-2, but the Delaware journeyman is a gatekeeper in the junior middleweight division. He’s obviously beatable but to defeat him in impressive fashion takes talent and skill, which Martirosyan, who now trains with Ronnie Shields in Houston, has in abundance. Knocking out Taylor (who has only been stopped in three of his 12 losses) takes real power or relentless pressure from a physically strong fighter. We’ll see if Martirosyan, who has 12 KOs in his 17 victories, has matured enough to take out the 36-year-old veteran. One thing is for certain, Martirosyan will have fans in attendance cheering him on as he goes for the KO. Martirosyan, who was born in Armenia but raised in Glendale (a suburb town of the greater L.A. area that boasts the largest Armenian population in the U.S.) sells tickets. So far, 200 tickets to tomorrow night’s card have been bought by Martirosyan’s loyal fans, and more are likely to be sold by Friday evening. His obvious talent and box office appeal ensure a busy ’08. Martirosyan fought six times in ’07 and his manger Shelly Finkel says that he has the 2004 U.S. Olympian booked to fight every month through May of this year. Finkel plans to move the Top Rank-promoted prospect into a headliner sometime in March, perhaps on a Versus-televised card. You don’t have to be Armenian to appreciate Martirosyan. The 6-foot speedster has got a crowd pleasing style and he’s not the only entertaining prospect on tomorrow’s show. Also on the card is Juan Garcia. I haven’t seen the undefeated (13-0) lightweight from Phoenix, Arizona yet but I’ve only heard and read good things about the 21 year old from respected scribes like fellow MaxBoxing writer Steve Kim and Phoenix-based boxing columnist Bart Barry (whose excellent work can be found on 15rounds.com). Garcia is in tough (on paper, at least) as he’s scheduled to take on Puerto Rico’s Gamalier Rodriguez, 5-0-2 (2), in a six-round bout. A young fighter on the card who I am familiar with from the Southern Cali. gym scene is featherweight Charles Huerta. I’ve watched Huerta train at the Maywood Boxing Club, which is run by his father (and trainer/manager) Mando, for many years and I’ve always noted his aggressive professional style. Huerta, who just turned 21, fought so much like a pro that I thought he was ready to leave the amateur ranks two or three years ago. In fact, I thought it was probably a good idea for him to turn pro when he was 18 or 19 years old. Over the years, I’ve seen dynamite amateur boxers like Carlos Navarro and Larry Mosley – both national champs who held their own on the international scene and also handled veteran professional fighters in the gym – go on to have disappointing pro careers after stagnating in the unpaid ranks. Huerta, who was ranked as high as no. 2 in the U.S. as a 119-pound amateur, has been a regular sparring partner with the likes of hard-hitting flyweight contender Giovanni Segura, 122-pound prospect Nestor Rocha and former 115-pound title holder Martin Castillo since he was teenager. I wondered if the daily grind of training at a tough gym like the Maywood Boxing Club combined with his international amateur schedule would take its toll on his young body, but it looks like Huerta, who had over 100 amateur bouts and won two Under-19 U.S. Championships titles (in ’03 and ’04 when he was 17 and 18), left the amateur ranks just in time. He has looked exceptionally sharp and strong in his two pro outings, which took place late last year. “There’s always that fear that a young fighter will burnout in the amateurs but Charles hasn’t shown any of those signs in his pro bouts,” said Ray Alcorta, a Maywood-based promoter and matchmaker who regularly assists Top Rank and helped put together tomorrow night’s card. Alcorta, who has watched Huerta grow up in the gym, is cautiously high on the youth. “He’s tall for a featherweight, he’s got good reach, he can box and he can bang,” Alcorta said of Huerta, who is promoted by Top Rank. “He’s got the tools and the right people behind him to advance as a pro; it’s all a question of how disciplined he is. Top Rank can develop him, give him guidance and exposure, but they can’t make him a responsible fighter. Discipline has to come from the fighter. “But so far, Huerta’s attitude tells me that he’s special. He’s ready and willing to fight anyone we put in front of him, no questions asked. He’ll probably be 10-0 by the end of this year.” Joining Huerta on the non-televised undercard are three local youngsters: 115-pounder Leo Santa Cruz (the 19-year-old younger brother of lightweight contender Jose Armando Santa Cruz), 130 pounder Jonathan Bobadilla, and 140 pounder Anthony Mosqueda. Alcorta says Mosqueda, a 1-0 native of Mexico who grew up in Bell, California, is a prospect worth keeping an eye on. Mosqueda, who trains out of East L.A., qualified for last year’s Pan-Am Games in Brazil as well the ’08 Mexican Olympic team but decided to skip the amateur politics and go directly into the pro game. For tickets to tomorrow’s show (priced at $25, $50, and $75) please call 323-603-9005. The Alameda Swap Meet is located at 4501 S. Alameda in L.A. Doors open at 3 p.m. and the first bell rings at 4:15 p.m. Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums For Questions or Comments E-Mail Doug Fischer at dougie@maxboxing.com