Are there any doubts about the Inland Empire becoming the newest boxing powerhouse in the
world?
Mauricio ?El Maestro? Herrera put on an impressive performance when he seemingly out-
fought WBC and WBA junior welterweight champion Danny ?Swift? Garcia after 12 rounds last
Saturday in Puerto Rico. The boxing world was abuzz with the Riverside boxer?s abilities.
Though Herrera lost by majority decision, he let the world know that the Inland Empire has real
talent in prizefighting.
?I thought Herrera fought a terrific fight last night and should be walking around today a junior
welterweight world champion,? said Paul Malignaggi, a former world champion, by phone on
Sunday.
There?s a lot more talent. Palm Spring?s Tim ?Desert Storm? Bradley defeated the great Manny
?Pacman? Pacquiao by unanimous decision and shocked the boxing world in 2012. His win set
off a firestorm of controversy from those that felt it was a bad decision. Most of those detractors
have refrained from further deriding Bradley?s talent, especially after hard fought wins over
Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez last year.
Bradley returns to face Pacquiao again on April 12 in Las Vegas and once again he?s the
underdog despite his first win over the Filipino superstar.
Because cities like Riverside, San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Pomona, Palm Springs, Indio and
Big Bear Lake are not major cities like Los Angeles, the boxing talent that pours out of those
areas is often overlooked.
Fighters like Sugar Shane Mosley, Alberto Davila, Richard Sandoval, Mike Weaver and the
great Manuel Ortiz are world champions that were bred in the boxing gyms of Pomona and
Corona.
Corona?s Ortiz is considered perhaps the greatest bantamweight prizefighter of all time and
reigned supreme during the 1940s. But after he retired Corona stopped producing boxing talent.
Around the 1970s talent slowly spread to Riverside and San Bernardino. Now talent stretches all
the way to the desert regions as far as Blythe.
Herrera is a product of that surge in boxing talent that also includes Josesito Lopez, Chris ?The
Nightmare? Arreola, Randy Caballero and many others. That doesn?t include the many who live
and train in Big Bear such as WBA middleweight champion Gennady ?GGG? Golovkin.
Moreno Valley boasts two current world champions with female junior featherweight titlist
Kaliesha ?Wild? West and WBO junior lightweight titlist Mikey Garcia. There?s more coming
from that region in a few years. Riverside?s lone world champion is Sindy Amador who holds
the junior flyweight title.
Fight haven
Since the late 1990s, boxing began its grip as a major entertainment sport with the emergence of
the Indian casinos that are situated throughout the Inland Empire. Prizefights are common and
have led to the I.E. staging more boxing matches than any other region in the country.
Thompson Boxing Promotions led the charge for scooping up boxing talent in the region and
currently has Josesito Lopez under contract and formerly promoted Bradley and Herrera. Based
in Orange, the boxing group stages almost monthly fight cards in Ontario, Corona and Orange.
Fans attend without fail.
Because of the abundance of fight cards in the Inland Empire, many of the most talented
prizefighters in the world can be seen on cards from Coachella to Pomona.
This past weekend Herrera showed off some of that talent.
?Herrera should keep his head high regardless of the official result,? said Malignaggi, who
served as a television analyst for Herrera?s world title bid in Puerto Rico.
Morongo Casino fight card
World title challenger Vanes Martirosyan (31-1-1, 21 Kos) meets Mexico?s hard-hitting Mario
Lozano (28-4, 22 Kos) in a junior middleweight battle for the WBO Inter-Continental title on
Friday March 21. The bout takes place at Morongo Casino in Cabazon and is promoted by
Goossen-Tutor Promotions. ESPN2 will televise.
?We believe Vanes will be not just a world champion, but a great world champion,? said Dan
Goossen, president of Goossen-Tutor Promotions. ?We see something very special in him.?
Martirosyan?s last fight took place in November when he lost a bid for the WBO junior
middleweight title by decision to Demetrius Andrade.
?I?m excited about fighting again and working with a new team,? said Martirosyan, 27, a former
U.S. Olympian in 2004. ?I just needed the right people around me. I feel so free and everybody is
going to see.?
Arreola
Goossen-Tutor Promotions announced that Riverside heavyweight Chris Arreola will fight
Bermane Stiverne on May 10. No site has been determined at the moment.
Arreola won an elimination bout last September against Seth Mitchell by first round knockout.
That win set him for a rematch against Stiverne who handed the Riverside boxer a loss by
decision on May 2013. However, when WBC champion Vitali Klitschko retired, the belt became
vacant. Arreola is ranked number two and Stiverne number one.
?I?m excited about fighting for the title but I don?t want to get too excited,? said Stiverne. ?I
can?t wait to fight Chris.?
Fights on television
Fri. ESPN2, 6 p.m., Vanes Martirosyan (31-1-1) vs. Mario Lozano (28-4).
Fri. Telemundo, 11:35 p.m., Matt Villanueva (11-0-1) vs. David Carmona (16-2-4).
Sat. Televisa, 10 p.m., Humberto Soto (62-8-2) vs. Juan Abreu (16-0-1).
Sat. UniMas,11 p.m., Felix Verdejo (10-0) vs. Juan Santiago (14-11-1).
Sun. Fox Sports 1, 4 p.m., Dan Henderson (29-11) vs. Mauricio Rua (22-8).
