PALM DESERT, California – The distinguished history of bantamweight and featherweight fighters who have made so many memorable nights in this state added a throwback affair when the California State Title was reborn in a thrilling junior featherweight battle.
In the first boxing event at Acrisure Arena, Jorge Chavez defeated Manuel Flores by unanimous decision scores of 96-94 (Jack Reiss), 97-93 (Rudy Barragan) and 98-92 (Fernando Villarreal) to win the California junior featherweight belt, remain unbeaten and avenge a draw from the summer of 2025.
“I just realized I could beat him to the punch,” Chavez, 15-0-1, said in the ring afterward. “I took it to him. Going forward was a lot easier.”
The bout marked the return of California State Title fights after the state commission’s executive officer Andy Foster learned his state formerly awarded such a belt in the 1990s.
The legion of greats around the weight class is immense, including Lupe Pintor, Danny “Little Red” Lopez and others who formerly filled the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles Sports Arena and the Hollywood Legion Stadium.
Since California boasts the most fights and boxers in the nation, Foster moved to bring the belt back and started with this pair of action fighters who both train in Southern California.
Chavez hails from Tijuana, Mexico, and trains in Orange County.
He and Coachella’s Flores fought to a draw in July at nearby Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio.
In this rematch, Flores, 20-2-1, started aggressively and impressively, gaining roars of support at the new Coachella Valley arena.
Chavez answered with an effective combination of body blows in the fourth. Instead of backing in surprise as he did in the first match, Flores retaliated with his own series of blows as the back and forth escalated in the fifth.
The action continued in the sixth, as Chavez found Flores with rights while Flores positioned himself to land hard counters that effectively christened the state’s newest boxing destination.
Working off his jab from a southpaw stance, Flores was piling up scoring blows in the seventh before Chavez caught him in the waning moments with a right and jaw-rattling left.
Multiple barrages by Chavez in the eighth allowed him to unleash vicious uppercuts that theatrically jarred Flores’ head back as referee Thomas Taylor studied intently.
Flores remained active enough to allow the bout to continue.
Chavez reserved energy in the ninth until the final 40 seconds, when he again belted Flores with the defining punches to set up the 10th.
“My muscle twitch [decided the fight],” Chavez said. “Even though I was tired, I beat him to the punch.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
