Weekend of August 26, 2016: Boxers of interest with important fights
LaRon Mitchell defends unbeaten mark vs. Mario Heredia
On Friday evening, August 26, at the Omega Products Events Center in Corona, Calif., Thompson Boxing has an undefeated, in-house favorite, heavyweight LaRon Mitchell (13-0, 13 KOs) who hails from the San Francisco Bay Area going up against Mario “Chabelo” Heredia (13-2-11 KOs) from Mexico City, Mexico. Heredia has trained here in San Diego with Jorge Marron at his Lakeside Training Camp. While the 36-year-old Mitchell is ranked #39 in the world, the 23-year-old Heredia has dropped to #152.
Both boxers had an outstanding amateur career. In the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, Mitchell got past four boxers to include Dominic Breazeale but in the end lost to Lenroy Thompson. Before looking at this match-up, you’d have to agree the edge goes to Mitchell if Heredia is still struggling with his weight problem. Between fights, Heredia has been known to put on as many as 50+ pounds. If at Thursday’s weigh-in, Heredia were to weigh-in between 225 and 235 lbs., we’d have ourselves a winner. If Heredia is still up in weight, we’ll have to pass until he gets serious about the sport.
Will we ever see either gentleman in a world title fight? While both men are 6’3” tall, they’re still considerably shorter than the current contenders like 6’6” Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) from Kiev, Ukraine, 6’9” Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) from Wilmslow, Cheshire, United Kingdom, 6’6” Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) from Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom and finally 6’7” Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Make note, Mr. Wilder has a reach that is an inch shy of seven foot. That’s an inch shy of having the availability of hitting someone (your opponent) with a punch that’s coming from a distance of an inch shy of a 7-foot ladder.
It’s not often you see a Mexican heavyweight being touted as a hot prospect. Their height and weight will usually rule them out. At 23-years of age and 6’3″ tall, Heredia is still just a youngster with great potential. Heredia made his way to Corona after losing to the 6’1” Andrey Fedosov, TKO 1:33 of round six at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York where the two were fighting for the WBA Fedelatin heavyweight title. Fedosov is also the winner of that 2014 Boxcino Tournament which aired on ESPN. For that major undertaking (a title belt) Heredia weighed in over 280 pounds which demonstrated that he still lacks the perseverance to become a champion.
On Thursday evening, we received the results from the weigh-ins. Mario Heredia (r) weighed-in at 274.2 pounds while his opponent LaRon Mitchell weighed 244.8 lbs. Photos: Carlos Baeza/Thompson Boxing Promotions.
What does this match-up remind you of? How about the day when the biggest kid in the schoolyard went looking for the smallest to pick on. When you weigh in at 199 lbs. that makes you a cruiserweight, not a heavyweight.
Here’s a match-up where it looks like Michael Norato (l), the older brother, ended up bringing his younger brother, Eder Amaro, to school.
The San Francisco-based Mitchell, who is fighting for the fourth time this year, was asked a series of questions ahead of Friday’s showdown against Heredia. Below is that transcript:
What do you know about your opponent, Mario Heredia?
“He’s a hell of a fighter. He’s a natural boxer, which means he can adapt and make changes on the fly. He probably would have been more competitive against Andrey Fedosov had he maintained his weight a bit better. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s got real talent. I’m expecting a tough fight from him.”
Your full-time job takes you to St. Elizabeth’s Elementary in Oakland where you teach physical education. What kind of support do you get from the students, teachers, and staff at St. Elizabeth’s?
“They love it when I have a fight coming up. Nothing will make me happier than to win a world title and bring that belt to the school and my gym. It will show the kids that you can go against all odds and still accomplish what you want. You’re not given anything in the sport of boxing; you have to earn it. That message can be applied to any industry or career. You want something bad enough; you have to be willing to work for it.”
What do you make of your KO winning streak, which has swelled to thirteen?
“I never look passed the fight that I have. You never know what can happen. The heavyweight division in boxing is not fair. You can dominate the majority of a fight, but if you get caught, your night is over. Every fight gets tougher and this one follows that pattern. I prepare the same for every opponent. We plan on going the full eight rounds. We don’t say to ourselves that we’re going to win by knockout.”
In the main event, NABA Champion Danny “The Baby Faced Assassin” Roman (19-2-1, 7 KOs) will be defending his 122-pound title for the fourth time. His opponent is Enrique Quevedo (16-7-1, 10 KOs) from Los Algodones, B. C., Mexico. The 33-year-old Quevedo hasn’t fought in over two years and from the looks of his new hairdo he seems to be a lot looser.
Check out the difference in these photos (bottom photos are the older photos) and the photo up top was just taken on Thursday afternoon.
Tickets for “New Blood” are still available on the day of the event starting at 5:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the first bell at approximately 7:45 p.m. The Omega Products Events Center is located at 1681 California Ave., Corona, Calif. 92881 and can be reached at 951-737-7447.
For all the trivia fans: So, who is the current, tallest person in the world? That would be Sultan Kosen (born December 10, 1982, in Mardin, Turkey). Kosen’s height was recorded at 8 ft. 1.047 inches. He is one of only twelve individuals in medical history to be confirmed at a height of eight feet or more. Despite his height he claims to enjoy a normal lifestyle and describes the advantages of being tall as seeing from a great distance, being able to help others with domestic chores such as changing a light bulb and hanging curtains. The disadvantages are finding clothes or shoes that fit or finding it extremely difficult to fit into a regular size car.
Can you imagine trying to fight this guy? This is Robert Pershing Wadlow from Alton, Illinois, the tallest man in recorded history. As far as advice when fighting a giant this size? As fast as you can, get him on the ground.
The tallest person in recorded history was Robert Pershing Wadlow, 8 foot 11.1 inches, born February 22, 1918, in Alton, Illinois. More trivia: Can you name the tallest NBA players in the history of the game? That would be Manute Bol from Sudan and the Roumanian Gheorghe Muresan. They were both exactly 7’7″ tall when they played in the NBA. The tallest, current player in the NBA is 7’6” Yao Ming who is almost a foot and a half shorter than Robert Wadlow.
Also on the docket this weekend: 
Over in Costa Mesa, Calif. at The Hangar, the 30-year-old Trent Rawlins (3-0-1, 3 KOs) from San Diego, who hails from Australia, will be facing the 30-year-old Enrique “Enfermero” Gastellum (4-1, 2 KOs) of Golfo De St. Clara, Sonora, Mexico. Unlike Rawlins, Gastellum has yet to face a legit opponent.
Five times lightweight Kevin “The Dream” Haney and his entourage came to Tijuana to do battle and as a result, Mr. Haney earned himself five wins.
More boxers with local ties: On Saturday night, lightweight Devin Haney (8-0) is set to face Carlos Castillo (4-3) at the Meadows Race Track & Casino in Washington, Pennsylvania.
The bad night Yazmin Rivas will remember for the rest of her life. It was the night she got cut open by a punch thrown by Catherine Phiri at the brand new convention center in Rosarito, B. C., Mexico. As a result of this nasty gash, the presiding ring doctor was forced to stop the championship bout and at that time, Rivas’ opponent was ahead on the scorecards to earn herself not only the victory but the WBC Female World Championship belt.
Under the heading of coincidence: On Saturday night, WBC Female Bantamweight world champ Catherine Phiri (11-1, 5 KOs) will be defending her title against Gabisile Tshabalala (9-1-1) at the Government Complex, Lusaka, Zambia. Back on January 30, 2016, Phiri had come our way to Southern California/Baja California to upset the WBC Champion Yazmin Rivas (34-8, 10 KOs) of Torreon, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico after Rivas had defended her crown for over two years.
On the same, August 27, 2016, Saturday evening, the former WBC champion, Yazmin Rivas (now 34-9-1, 10 KOs), will be facing 28-year-old Jessica Gonzalez (7-2-1, 1 KO) at the Palenque de la Feria, Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. In June of this year, Liliana Palmera (27-11-3) defeated Gonzalez to win the WBA crown.
On Saturday night, the 6’4” Stephan Shaw (7-0, 5 KOs) from Saint Louis, Missouri, who trains at The Arena in Point Loma, San Diego, Calif. will be going for win number eight when he faces the 29-year-old, 6’5” Jonathan Rice (4-1-1, 2 KOs) from Los Angeles, Calif. They’ll be on the undercard of that popular Robert Guerrero vs. David Emanuel Peralta and Alfredo Angulo vs. Freddy Hernandez fight card. In Shaw’s last outing, the former amateur standout had to go the distance against the 6’3” Danny “Smooth” Kelly from Washington, D. C. That being said, Shaw took every round on all three of the judges’ scorecards except for one.
On Saturday night, we see welterweight Sean Gee is scheduled to fight – so soon after getting whooped by Malik Hawkins on August 5, 2016 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. Gee lost every round and took quite beating. You would have thought his trainer/adviser would at least held him out for 30 days before going right back into battle. After losing five of his last six bouts, the fight on Friday night will be his 1oth in less than a year and a half.
Featherweight Isaac “Brave Son” Dogboe (14-0, 9 KOs) from Los Angeles, Calif. by way of Accra, Ghana will be fighting Neil John Tabanao on Saturday night in Accra at the Police Officer’s Social and Fitness Centre for the vacant WBC Youth World Featherweight title. After fighting just his third professional fight right here at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Fashion Valley on October 24, 2014, Dogboe went on to win an additional 11 bouts to build up his record to 14-0 and eventually gain this opportunity to fight for the title.
