Casino news source: Green Valley News - http://www.gvnews.com
Casino Del Sol back in boxing business
By Nick Prevenas
Saturday, May 19, 2007 9:24 PM MDT
After a lengthy layoff from the fight game, Casino Del Sol has thrown its hat back into the boxing ring with Friday night’s eight-bout card at the Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater.
“We’ve been away for a while, but we’re excited to be bringing boxing back,” said Casino Del Sol CEO Wendell Long. “We consider ourselves the premier entertainment destination of Southern Arizona, and scheduling big-time boxing events is a big part of our plan going forward.”
It was almost three and a half years ago when former world titlist Fernando Vargas knocked out Tony Marshall at the casino, with very few live boxing events scheduled in between.
Desert Diamond Casino’s successful partnership with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions over the past two and a half years proved that Southern Arizona is a viable boxing market, so Long looked to Hall-of-Fame promoter Don Chargin to bring boxing back to Casino Del Sol.
“I’ve been in the fight game for almost 50 years,” Chargin said, “and my goal has always been to bring the best action fighters to the table and send everyone home happy.”
Friday night’s event kicked off at 4:30 p.m. with the Telefutura telecast beginning at 5. This created two problems.
First, many of the fans missed the opening fight and the televised co-main event, due to rush-hour traffic and the seemingly endless construction project on Valencia Road.
Second, the temperature hovered in the mid-90s for the first hour of the event, with the setting sun creating a nasty glare for anyone sitting on the east side of the venue—a problem the organizers faced during the last batch of outdoor fights.
“We still have some logistics to work out, but we feel that there’s nothing better than watching a boxing event under the Southern Arizona sky,” Long said.
Peter Yucupico, the president of the Pasqua Yaqui Tribal Council, added, “We’ve taken the time to study the issues from the last fight, but I think we’re getting closer to finding the right combination.”
However, these minor issues did little to stifle the fans’ enthusiasm during what turned out to be an enjoyable night of boxing.
The co-main event featured an all-action brawl between junior lightweights Baudel Cardenas and Miguel Escamilla.
Both men threw a non-stop barrage of punches throughout their 10-round battle, with Cardenas (17-9-2, 6 KOs) coming out with a lopsided unanimous decision.
Escamilla (18-9-1, 14 KOs) tried valiantly to match Cardenas’ efforts, but Cardenas was simply the quicker and more accurate puncher.
In the Solo Boxeo main event, super bantamweight prospect Tomas Villa (18-5-3, 12 KOs) blasted last-minute fill-in Oscar Andrade (36-27-1, 18 KOs) for five rounds before Andrade quit on his stool before answering the bell for round six.
Villa had trouble finding the range on his looping power shots until the third round, when a heavy left hook to Andrade’s midsection just before the bell.
The next two rounds featured dozens of Villa power shots finding their mark. Andrade staged a few minor rallies, but Villa was in total control as he took home the IBA Continental Super Bantamweight title.
“This is what you work for, shots at title belts,” said Villa. “Hopefully, I’ll keep getting more in the future.”
Fight of the night
After Nogales native Adan Leal (4-0, 4 KOs) dispatched Trinidad Marry (0-1) with a flurry of power shots in the third round, the fight of the night was about to take place.
It was 7 p.m. and most of the audience had finally settled into their seats.
Italian welterweight prospect Sven “The White Warrior” Paris (22-2 15 KOs) stepped into the ring against Phoenix journeyman Arturo Brambilla (8-10 4 KOs) for his first fight on American soil.
After making a name for himself with nearly two dozen impressive performances in Italy, Paris came to Tucson ranked in the top 40 by nearly every boxing publication.
Paris showed a tremendous amount of quickness and power in round one when he floored Brambilla with a pair of left hooks 10 seconds before the bell sounded.
Brambilla made it to his feet, but he was in a daze when he walked back to his corner.
However, round two was a much different story.
Brambilla regained his composure and battled back, ducking Paris’ wild knockout attempts and winning over the audience.
By round four, Paris had started to show fatigue after gunning for the early knockout. Brambilla continued picking his spots while the fans chanted “Mexico!” during each of his rallies.
By the eighth and final round, Brambilla was the sharper and more energetic fighter, pummeling the exhausted Paris until the final bell.
The crowd erupted after the scores were announced—76-75, 76-75, 79-73 for Brambilla.
Brambilla’s enormous smile slightly obscured his two black eyes. He walked into the audience to accept congratulations, every bit the conquering hero.
Other fights
After the Brambilla-Paris thriller, the next four-round bout proved to be a dud.
Marcos Torres quit 36 seconds into his first professional fight, giving bantamweight prospect Jose Salazar his fourth win in four bouts.
Lester Gonzalez (6-0, 5 KOs) opened the card by defeating Francisco Maldonado (11-27-4 2 KOs) in a lopsided four-round decision.
In the final bout of the night, highly regarded welterweight prospect Orlando Lora (19-0-1 14 KOs) defeated Roberto Valenzuela (39-31-2, 34 KOs) in a convincing 59-55 decision. |
|
World Casino Directory 
Gambling Forums 
