The second week in August will be a busy one for boxing in the Sacramento area.
Coupled with the recent announcement by the River Cats that Aug. 10 will be the first in a series of matches at Raley Field, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions has scheduled two world title fights Aug. 11 at Arco Arena.
It remains to be seen how supportive local fight fans will be to back-to-back shows. The participants for the outdoor card at West Sacramento’s Raley Field, in which former world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier will be a celebrity host, have yet to be assembled by Santa Rosa-based promoter Patrick Ortiz.
Arco’s headliners, however, appear set with defending World Boxing Organization champions from Mexico facing challengers from the Philippines. The event will be televised as part of HBO’s Boxing After Dark series.
Defending his super-bantamweight title (122 pounds) will be Daniel Ponce de Leon (31-1, 28 KOs) against Rey Bautista (23-0, 17 KOs). Also featured will be Jhonny Gonzalez (34-5, 29 KOs) defending his bantamweight (118 pounds) belt against Gerry Penalosa (51-6-2, 34 KOs).
The card, to include several other bouts, will be the second installment of Boxing World Cup competition. The first World Cup was two years ago in Tucson, Ariz., where fighters from Mexico and Thailand battled for world titles.
Golden Boy officials in Los Angeles said De La Hoya, the company president, intends to make a Cup presentation to the winners at Arco, site of the area’s last major championship fight, in 2002 when West Sacramento’s Willie Jorrin lost his World Boxing Council super-bantamweight title to Oscar Larios. De La Hoya appeared at Arco in 2004 when Golden Boy promoted its first show in Sacramento.
Tickets for the Golden Boy Promotions event can be purchased at Arco Arena. Tickets for the Raley Field matches are available through its box office and Ticketmaster.
Griffin hits road
Sacramento light heavyweight Otis Griffin (18-1-2, 7 KOs), who defeated a previously unbeaten opponent in April for the North American Boxing Organization title and breezed to a tuneup win last week at the Radisson Hotel, has accepted a July 18 fight against top-10 world contender Danny Green (23-3, 21 KOs) in the latter’s hometown of Perth, Australia.
Griffin, according to his manager Nasser Niavaroni, will receive a $50,000 purse for the 12-rounder, which will be for the International Boxing Federation’s Continental title and a potential shot at the IBF’s 175-pound championship.
