This past Friday, Thompson Boxing Promotions celebrated its 20th Anniversary in boxing with their signature “Path to Glory" event from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif. In the main event, fan favorite Ruben “Ace” Torres (12-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated with a spectacular 4th round knockout over Gabino Cota (19-11-2, 17 KOs).
From the opening bell, Torres came out firing his jab while applying pressure. A looping overhand right followed by a left hook to the head, sent Cota to the canvas in round one. Torres stayed poised and controlled the action in rounds two and three. In round four, Torres landed a straight right to the body and Cota could not continue. Torres scored the knockout at the 52 mark of round four.
“My opponent was a warrior and showed a lot of heart,” said Torres. “I’m gaining a lot of experience with each fight. I know he was getting uncomfortable in there when I was going to the body. Eventually I ended the bout with a powerful shot to his ribs. I want to thank Thompson Boxing Promotion’s for giving me another opportunity to fight in front of my fans. I’m ready to step up and fight the best guys in my division. I believe I’ll become a world champion when the opportunity presents itself. I’m just going to keep working hard. My time will come soon enough.”
“Our 20th Year Anniversary show was a major success to start off 2020,” said Ken Thompson, president of Thompson Boxing Promotions. “Ruben Torres is a world class fighter and I see him in big fights with all the top fighters at 135 pounds.”
“Torres showed he’s one of the brightest prospects in the lightweight division,” said Alex Camponovo, Vice President and matchmaker for Thompson Boxing. “His height and reach, along with his punching power will give anyone problems. He will soon be in a meaningful fight with a ranked opponent.
Lightweight George Acosta (9-1, 1 KO) outworked Ivan Benitez (14-4, 6 KO) over six rounds. Acosta used superior boxing skills and got the unanimous decision victory. Scorecards read 59-55, 60-54, 58-56.
Bantamweight Saul Sanchez (12-1, 7 KOs) routed Victor Trejo (17-12-2, 8 KOs) for eight full rounds winning a unanimous decision. Sanchez took the fight inside slugged out a hard fought win. Scorecards read 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Sanchez.
Featherweight Jose Sanchez (6-0, 4 KOs) battered Luis Montellano (1-7-2, 1 KO) for four rounds. Sanchez applied a tremendous amount of pressure from the opening bell. Scorecards read 40-36 by all three judges in favor of Sanchez.
Super Middleweight Richard Brewart (7-0, 3 KOs) scored a third-round knockout against Erick Martinez (14-16-1, 8 KOs). After landing some powerful combinations, Brewart ended the bout at the 1:36 mark of round three with a strong uppercut to the head.
Super Bantamweight Ivan Zarate (2-0) defeated Ulises Gabriel (0-2) by way of unanimous decision. Zarate displayed a great body attach throughout the fight. Score cards read 40-36 across the board.
Heavyweight Jeremiah Milton, who recently signed a managerial agreement with Victory Sports & Entertainment, is now in Las Vegas, Nevada, sparring 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist Joe Joyce (10-0, 9 KOs), as he prepares for his bout with Daniel DuBois (14-0, 13 KOs).
“It feels good sparring someone of such a high caliber like Joe Joyce,” said Milton after training. “I came in second at the Olympic Trials, which gave me a ton of confidence. Now that I’m working with a fighter like Joe Joyce, I am learning a lot, and we are going hard rounds. Not a lot of fighters get this much experience prior to turning pro.”
Milton, a 25-year-old amateur stand-out from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was a silver medalist at the Olympic Trials and won the Western Qualifiers in 2019, is ready to take his career to the next level.
“I made sacrifices last year, I moved to Oakland to train and get better,” stated Milton. “Now I am training in Las Vegas and I want to be the best I can be. I have to go where there’s world championship level sparring, it doesn’t get better than this. Helping Joe Joyce with his camp is just the start of many great things for me.”
Milton, who is fresh out of the amateurs, is more focused than ever on making a statement as a professional. His manager Mike Leanardì is thrilled with this opportunity.
“Milton has only been boxing for three years, but is able to give Joe Joyce quality work, which speaks to Milton’s attributes,” said Mike Leanardì, CEO of Victory Sports & Entertainment. “Milton is a person with strong character and a lot of integrity as well as talent. Learning from a decorated amateur and rising pro like Joe Joyce will only improve Jeremiah, and his quest to become a world champion.”
Last Friday, Russian heavyweight slugger Apti Davtaev remained undefeated with a two-round demolition of formerly undefeated John Napari of Accra, Ghana at the Dynamo Palace of Sports in Krylatskoye, Moscow.
Despite a confident and flamboyant ring entrance, Napari (now 21-1, 15 KOs) had no answers for the incredible power of Davtaev (20-0-1, 19 KOs) once the action started. The big Russian dropped Napari twice with counter right hands, the second time for good in round two.
Davtaev has been steadily improving under the tutelage of SugarHill Steward at Kronk Gym in Detroit. The already freakishly strong Davtaev has been developing outstanding boxing skills working with Steward and the difference is obvious with each passing performance.
“Apti has gained world-class skills since we’ve been working together,” said SugarHill Steward. “He is definitely ready to become a force in the heavyweight division in 2020.”
Davtaev agrees with Steward’s assessment that his time at Kronk has made him an even more formidable force.
“I am happy that my training at the Kronk Gym has been paying off,” said the 6’ 5” slugger from Mayrtup, Russia. “The goal is to continue to score knockouts and that is what I plan to do as I continue my march to the world title.”
Davtaev’s promoter Dmitriy Salita says he was also impressed with Davtaev’s latest beat down. “Apti showed impressive power and skills in dominating his undefeated foe. He is ready to beat the big names and will be a new star in the heavyweight division.”
In just his 14th fight, Tommy Frank will get the opportunity of a lifetime when he challenges for the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) World Flyweight Title on March 27th in his home city of Sheffield.
Promoter Dennis Hobson has produced a masterstroke by persuading Mexican champion Maximino Flores to make the first defence of his belt against ‘Super’ Tommy at the Ponds Forge Arena, and the huge Sheffield United fan couldn’t be happier.
Frank, 13-0 (3), picked up the IBO Inter-Continental Flyweight crown in November with a dominant win over another Mexican fighter, Martin Tecuaetla. That title was another addition to his burgeoning collection, alongside the Commonwealth and World Boxing Council (WBC) International Silver Super Flyweight belts.
The 26-year-old knows that he faces a real battle to achieve his dream of ‘world champion’ status against Flores, though. The South American, 28, is vastly more experienced, with just four defeats from 33 bouts and, having just won the belt in August last year with an ‘away’ win in the Philippines, will be confident of upsetting the home support.
“I’m absolutely over the moon,” said Frank. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of, fighting for a world title, since I first started boxing at 12. When you pick up titles like the Central Area, Commonwealth and WBC ranking titles, it’s brilliant – but to be fighting for a belt that says ‘world champion’ on the front, it’s unreal.
“As always I can’t thank my training and management team of Dennis [Hobson], Steve [Crump] and Glyn [Rhodes] enough for pulling this together. Obviously, at the moment I’ve got my head down and am fully focused on Flores. Hopefully though this is just the start of something massive, and it’ll open the floodgates to even bigger things.”
Dennis Hobson Promotions presents an evening of boxing on March 27 at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge Arena. Headlining will be Sheffield’s Tommy Frank challenging Mexico’s Maximino Flores for his International Boxing Organisation (IBO) World Flyweight Title.