Pro Boxing Par Excellence, September 28th at the Pechanga Resort & Casino

On Friday, September 28, 2018, Showtime’s ShoBox: The New Generation will be at the newly remodeled Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula hosting another of boxing sensational shows. ShowBox has become boxing’s premier proving grounds for top prospects determined to fight for a world title, matching young talent competitively against their toughest opponent to date. At this point in time, more than 75 ShoBox fighters have gone on to become world champions. On Friday, starting at 5:30 p.m. the newly remodeled Casino will be hosting one of these grand events and by doing so introduce the public to their brand new Pechanga Summit which has an opportunity to become the new Mecca of the Fighting Sports on the West Coast.                                                                                                                       

It will have been 4 years, 4 months and 13 days since Bobby D Presents, the last known local boxing promoter, hosted his final show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on May 15, 2014, featuring the Antonio Orozco versus Martin Honorio matchup. The only other local show since that time was promoted by Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the Pechanga Resort and Casino which is technically in the most southern reaches of Riverside County at the tip of North San Diego County, a 57-minute drive from San Diego.

Here are some photos of the newly remodeled, dreamy location, the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula.

Without a local boxing promoter, local fans have had to endure the bothersome travel south to Tijuana or the even longer stretches north to Anaheim, Carson, Los Angeles, Indio or even further to Las Vegas to witness a live show. It’s a grind unbecoming a boxing fan from a major metropolis where you have 60 plus gyms dedicated to teaching the sport. Still fresh in the memory of local fans are the Amaris Quintana, Kenia Enriquez, Jolene Blackshear, Melissa McMorrow, Denis Grachev, Chris Chatman, Pablo Armenta, Jorge Ruiz, Johnny Boy Quiroz, Genaro Gamez, Danny Garcia, Benji Garcia, Rodney Toney, Paul “The Ultimate” Vaden, Gilbert Baptist, Eddie Sanchez, Alan Sanchez, Giovani Santillan,“Mighty Mo” Hooker, Chris Martin, Isaac Dogboe, Gary Russell, Jr., Keith Thurman, Marco Antonio Periban, James Kinchen, David Gutierrez, James Parison, Lester Gonzalez, Emmanuel Robles, Adrian Vargas, Archie Moore, David Love, Tony Deluca, Ramzi Hassan, Lupe Aquino, Orlin and Terry Norris and Tiger Smalls fights. It’s obvious we don’t have total recall of all the boxers because there were so many. Wouldn’t it be something if many of these great fighters were to show up on September 28, 2018, for this special occasion? In retrospect, we should also mention the lesser-known pugilists, like Kenny Norton, the ex-Marine, who fought someone by the name of Muhammad Ali at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Pechanga to the rescue: As mentioned, on Friday, September 28th, 2018, the newly remodeled Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula will host the latest Showtime Showbox show featuring the 19-year-old sensation Devin Haney (19-0, 13 KOs) from Las Vegas, Nevada taking on Juan Carlos Burgos (33-2-2, KOs) the former Lightweight Champion from Tijuana who no doubt wants to make amends for his recent loss to the current champion Mikey Garcia. 

And what an exciting Undercard. In addition to the Haney vs Burgos match, they’re featuring five local standouts. Ricardo “The Blessed” Valdovinos, Adrian Gutierrez, Roberto Meza, Anthony Franco and Saul “Bebe” Hernandez. All will be getting their opportunity to compete in front of family, friends, and neighbors inside the brand new 3,300 seat Pechanga Summit starting at 5:30 p.m. With the success of this show, surely Showtime will want to return and more promoters will consider investing in a local show, and most importantly, local boxers won’t have to be running all over the planet to compete in this demanding sport. In other words, Pro Boxing will once again have a home in San Diego.  

Your over the top September 28, 2018 line-up features Devin Haney of Las Vegas taking on Juan Carlos Burgos of Tijuana:
                                                                         

versus

Talking strategy: With Devin Haney being the younger fighter by 11 years, it’s likely he’ll have an edge in stamina to go along with his incredible hand speed. While both are right there at 5’9″ tall, Haney will have a slight advantage in reach. The Burgos camp believes their fighter will win based on accuracy and his wealth of experience. Surely he’ll be better at measuring distance, and he’ll have the savvy to steal the close rounds. After all, Burgos has had more fights and battled better competitors, such as Mikey Garcia, southpaw Hozumi Hasegawa, Roman “Rocky” Martinez, Cristóbal Cruz, Yakubu Amidu and Luis “El Artesano” Cruz.

That being said, how will Haney be able to handle those wide lefts hooks that Burgos will be winging at him? The two-punch combination of a left hook followed by a straight right could lead to a Haney knockdown. If the more energetic Haney is willing to follow Mikey Garcia’s formula, he’ll win. That means staying in close to negate those looping left hooks. The most important, often puzzling query? Which of these two great boxers will be the first to throw their whole body into a punch and go for broke? Many believe that fighter will be Haney. Without a doubt, this fight has the potential of being a classic.

 Storylines galore in regards to this intriguing line-up:

• Main Event Bout #9: 19-year-old, 5’9″ tall, 71″ reach Devin “The Dream” Haney (19-0, 13 KOs) lightweight sensation from Las Vegas, Nevada vs. 30-year-old, 5’9½” tall, 68½” reach Juan Carlos Burgos (33-2-2, 21 KOs) from Tijuana, B. C., Mexico, 10 rounds, battling for the vacant IBF North American Lightweight Title
• Co-Main event Bout #8: 28-year-old, 5’9″ tall, 73″ reach, Thomas “Gunna Man” Mattice (13-0, 10 KOs) from Cleveland, Ohio vs. 22-year-old, 5’5″ tall Zhora Hamazaryan (9-1, 6 KOs) of Los Angeles, Calif. by way of Gyumri, Armenia in a rematch of a highly disputed, split decision victory that went to Mattice in their first meeting on July 20, 2018, 8 rounds, lightweights
• Bout #7 24-year-old, 6′ tall, 71½” reach Cem “Champ” Kilic (11-0, 7 KOs) from Sherman Oaks, Calif. by way of Frankfurt, Germany vs. 30-year-old, 5’9″ tall DeAndre Ware (12-0-2, 8 KOs) from Toledo, Ohio, 8 rounds, middleweights
• Bout #6 41-year-old, 6’2″ tall Reginald Rouzan from Los Angeles, Calif. is making his Pro Debut vs. fellow debutant 32-year-old, 5’11” tall Robert Miller from Los Angeles, Calif., 4 rounds, light heavyweights 
• Bout #5 Darren “DC3” Cunningham (6-0, 3 KOs) from St. Louis, Missouri vs 22-year-old Saul “Bebe” Hernandez (10-11-1) from Tijuana, B. C., Mexico, 4 rounds, featherweights
• Bout #4 23-year-old Adrian Gutierrez (5-0, 3 KOs) from Chula Vista, Calif. who has been trained by both his grandfather and father David Gutierrez, Esquire who lost to welterweight Mark Breeland in the finals of the 1984 U. S. Olympic Trials and went on to have a most creditable career in the Pros with a record of 17-0-1. Gutierrez’s opponent will be 26-year-old, 5’8″ tall, orthodox boxer Lennard “Cheetah” Davis (3-1-3 draws, 2 KOs) from Oakland, Calif., 4 rounds lightweights.
• Bout #3 22-year-old, 5’7″ tall features Roberto “The Ram” Meza from Temecula, Calif. (10-1, 6 KOs) will be taking on 23-year-old, 5 ‘4″ tall Gabriel Rodriguez (4-1) from El Paso, Texas, 4 rounds super featherweights.
• Bout #2 25-year-old Ricardo “The Blessed” Valdovinos from Chula Vista, Calif.’s Bound Boxing Academy (7-0, 5 KOs) will be facing 27-year-old, 5’8″ tall Kevin Shacks from Haslett, Michigan (2-2-3, 2 KOs), 6 rounds welterweights
• Bout #1 23-year-old Anthony Franco from Temecula, Calif. by way of San Diego, a U. S. Marine who trains at The Arena gym in Point Loma, San Diego, Calif. (2-1, 1 KO) vs David Payne (2-1, 1 KO) from Denver, Colorado, 6 rounds middleweights