Before Memorial Day weekend, it had been some time since big-name heavyweight top world contenders have come to Reno.
However during the recent Blame It On Reno bill, big name promoter Gossen Tuter, brought in Chris Arreola and Tony "The Tiger" Thompson.
Both Arreola and Thompson have fought against Vitali Klitschko for the real undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. I've seen them both fight and their good, that made me even more excited for the card.
Opening the card was 119-pounder Micheal Ruiz Jr., (7-0-1, 3 knockouts), against Jonathan Alcantara (120 pounds, 4-3-2 of Navato, Calif.) Ruiz won the bout, the scores were 60-54, 60-54, 59-55. Ruiz won every round on two of the judges cards, 5 out of 6 on the other judges cards. It also means boring.
Bout number saw a pair of 148-pounders lock up. Ricardo Williams, Jr., (17-2, 10 KOs,) defeated Chris Gray (13-14 1 KO). The scores were 58-56, 60-54, 60-54 in favor of the 2000 U.S. Olympian.
I expected more out of Williams. Gray was game on and tough and a lefty which made problems for Williams.
The third bout was Tony "The Tiger" Thompson (35-2, 27 KOs) destroy Maurice Harris (24-14-2). This was billed as a 12-round IBF Title elimination bout, big deal, another title fight, imagine that. The fight was over in 151 seconds of the third round as the 255-pound Thompson was dominate. Maurice Harris, a 244-pounder, was down in the second round and down and out in the third. Maurice Harris who's nickname is Sugar Mo must have been on a sugar low, he gets tomato can of the night and for the sake of all of us boxing fans please quit boxing and get a job.
The fight of the night was between two 149-pounders. Javier Molina (5-0, 4 KOs) outlasted David Lopez (3-5-3). The judges had it 59-54, 59-54, 58-55. Molina, a 2008 U.S. Olympian from Norwalk, Calif., had all the tools with only one problem a tough David Lopez from Nampa, Idaho, who went down in the first round and fought like a true champion.
Molina kept up the pressure but Lopez just fought harder, it was a great fight.
Next came Chris Arreola (31-2, 27 KOs) dominate performance over Kendrick Releford (22-14-2, 10Ks). The Riverside, Calif., native won by KO in the seventh round. Releford is a tough guy and he fought hard, but he shouldn't have been in the ring with Arreola. Arreola looked good. Let's hope someday he can bring home the heavyweight title.
The last bout featured 128-pounder Guy Robb (3-0, 1 KO) from Sacramento, defeated Noe Lopez Jr. (8-7, 5 KOs). Robb looked good in defeating the Mexico native.
The card, which was on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, didn't sell out the venue, and one of the reasons was the lack of local fighters. We have some good young pro's in Reno, dying to fight and a star boxer. Carson City's Jose "Chuey" Elizondo is one of them. These boxers would have helped fill the arena and bring the hometown crowd. Another question, why didn't Arreola box Thompson, and Releford box Harris? With the lack of excitement in boxing, especially in Reno, it is no wonder people are losing interest in boxing. Well you can't blame it on Reno, so who can you blame it on?
