By Francisco Salazar
Promotional companies come and go in the sport of boxing. Some want to make a quick buck, but do not understand the business economics of the sport. Others are clueless about the operational aspect behind the sport, losing more money than expected.
Whatever the reasons may be, some of these promotional companies are overwhelmed, cutting their losses and quitting while they are ahead.
The larger and well-known companies that exist today seem to do just fine on a bigger scale. While there is no set formula that promoters follow in the sport, one company seems to be doing just fine, putting out a product that boxing fans in the area enjoy and keep coming back.
Thompson Boxing Promotions will celebrate 15 years in the sport tonight with another of their 'Path to Glory' cards at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif. In the main event, junior featherweights Daniel Roman (14-2-1, 5 KOs) will fight former fringe contender Chris Martin (28-5-3, 9 KOs) in an eight round bout.
It was May of 2000 when Ken Thompson, a lifelong boxing fan who built who runs a successful building materials business in Southern California, threw his hat into the sport. Working alongside Thompson was Alex Camponovo, who worked at Thompson's building materials business. Born in San Francisco, he grew up in Bolivia with his parents before eventually deciding to study broadcasting in college in the United States.
Thompson became involved in the World Boxing Hall of Fame, which is based in Southern California, in 1998, becoming the organization's vice president. Camponovo became the organization's executive coordinator and the education in the sport began.
While promoting boxing in Southern California may be a slam dunk, given the amount of fans the sport has in the region, it is not that easy. Promoters are smacked with reality when they realize the long hours may end with fighters who pull out of fights, injuries fighters sustain, and operational issues that throw organizers for a loop.
In fact, it almost led to a one and done for Thompson and Camponovo.
"We did our first show in May of 2000 at the Doubletree," said Camponovo, who is Thompson Boxing's General Manager and Matchmaker. "We hired a bunch of people that (did) the show for us. It almost didn't take place. It was a nightmare. Nobody knew about it. The crowd didn't know about it. It was tough to have it done."
While Thompson Boxing continued with more shows and trying to find an identity, Camponovo was lucky enough to be able to gain more experience and the business behind it. In 2003, he received a phone call from Steve Brenner, one of Don King’s main publicists. Camponovo was offered a job to work within their public relations group, which he accepted.
At that time, King was promoting multiple fighters in different weight classes. It was not uncommon for a Don King show to have 11-12 fights on the card with half of those being world title fights. A lot of these title fights would be fought before a handful of hardcore boxing fans in the mid-afternoon.
It was during his time with Don King when Camponovo decided Thompson Boxing should promote more shows and sign local fighters from the Inland Empire, a valley region east of Los Angeles.
“I was able to expand my wings and meet a lot of great people in the sport. Then in 2004, I approached Ken about what I thought our scope should be, which was signing kids. The first kid we signed was Josesito Lopez. The second fighter we signed was Timothy Bradley.”
Lopez and Bradley were ideal fighters to fight on these Thompson Boxing cards, whether in Ontario or in nearby Corona. Lopez built a significant fan base, especially since he lived in Riverside, which is a 15-20 minute drive east on Interstate 10. Bradley built his foundation of becoming Thompson’s first world title holder (who was also co-promoted by Gary Shaw) before now being promoted by Top Rank.
Other young fighters fought on those cards including Chris Arreola, Yonnhy Perez, and Dominic Salcido, all residing or training within the area.
Aside from watching these fighters go from prospects to contenders, Thompson Boxing cards would become known for putting on competitive shows, ones where brutal and evenly-watched bouts would be the norm. It is not uncommon to attend a Thompson Boxing card in Ontario and a standing-room only crowd in attendance, especially with fans ponying up $20 to stand against the back wall and watch the action.
With each passing show, the Thompson Boxing brand was becoming well-known amongst boxing circles in the United States and eventually abroad.
Bradley would win his world title belt in England over Junior Witter, while Perez a world title bantamweight eliminator in South Africa over Silence Mabuza.
“(Watching) our company grow … (is) very exciting and a great learning experience.”
But there have been a few hiccups along the way. Some fighters never pan out to meet the expectations of the company, becoming a journeyman or quitting the sport.
While there may be a few fighters like that or there are operational issues that are unforeseen, Thompson Boxing has remained a constant in Southern California, especially with the current pool of talent they promote.
“This is a (bittersweet) sport. You have your ups and downs. You learn as you go. At the beginning, you're purely overly excited doing something new. You think you have a great fighter or you invest a great amount of time in a talented guy and something doesn't pan out. It could be frustrating. That could be very frustrating to a fighter. It's not on them, it's up to them. They're the ones who are the driving force.”
“In Josesito's case, it was a normal road to get to where he is. That victory over Victor Ortiz was huge for him because it changed his life completely. From that point on, he became a name in the sport and to see that happening with the first guy that we ever signed, a kid that I took to Spain when he only had a few fights to get him into the rankings with the WBC, was great. The great thing about our sport is that those fights, those great wins, all those accomplishments completely outweigh the bad stuff.”
The high-profile fighters such as Josesito Lopez, Darley Perez, Juan Carlos Burgos, Jhonatan Romero, and Artemio Reyes are promoted by Thompson Boxing along with prospects Cesar Villaraga, Carlos Carlson, Giovani Santillan, and LaRon Mitchell.
Camponovo has an astute eye as a matchmaker, mostly putting together fights that are fan-friendly. Boxing fans keep coming back to these Thompson Boxing cards or create new fans that are curious to check out a show.
Thompson Boxing puts on about 10-11 shows a year. Fight fans from across Southern California attend these shows and come back for more.
There is not a bad seat inside the Events Center at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario. Even the house nachos are given rave reviews from the boxing fans who cheer on a four round fighter to one of the house fighters.
All this has been accomplished through the hard work of the Thompson Boxing staff, led by Ken Thompson and Camponovo. A dream almost did not become a reality 15 years ago, but boxing fans in Southern California are grateful it did.
“It has been a great experience for me,” said Camponovo.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing