The Carson City Boxing Club will send two fighters to the Nevada State Golden Gloves tournament in Las Vegas on Feb. 25-27.
"I'm sending head coach Frank Peralta with boxers Dwayne Pope and Mike Peralta," said CCBC Director Chuck Williams. "Pope will fight in the 156-pound class and Peralta in the 139-pound class. If they win, they will advance to the Western Regional Golden Gloves tournament the weekend of April 1 in Las Vegas."
Because of the regional Golden Gloves tournament, the local boxing club had to change the date they will host an amateur card here in Carson City at the Ormsby House. The club was going to host their invitational tournament on April 1 at Ormsby House, but due to the conflict the card has been pushed back a week to April 8.
"It was not possible for us to go on April 1, so we made the change," added Williams."We hope to do well at the state Golden Gloves and have our fighters advance to the regionals. If that happens and they win at the regionals, they will next go to the National Golden Gloves that are held at the end of April in Kentucky."
Also due to the Golden Gloves action, there won't be any Northern Nevada amateur cards for awhile. The next area card takes place March 23 at Harrah's in Reno.
"We'll have five boxers on that card," said Williams. "We're still looking for fighters, male or female. Our gym is open from 6-8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. We're located at the National Guard Armory. Check us out!"
Chuck noted that "all are welcome" at the gym and you can come and watch or call Chuck for information at 882-4620.
- More amateur news - The UNR collegiate boxing team hosted a meet Saturday at the El Dorado in Reno. In addition to UNR boxers, the University of California, Michigan, Lock Haven, Air Force Academy and Navy had boxers on the card.
I'm not going to tell you the results of the college bouts because you can see the card for yourself this Saturday on KAME (Channel 21 in CC) at 8 p.m. Former Reno sportscaster and Sparks Mayor Bruce Breslow and television commentator Judge Mills Lane will do the ringside commentary.
- In pro news, some good fights coming in the next two weeks. The biggest fight is on Feb. 26 on HBO. It features Oscar De La Hoya fighting Derrick Coley. This is Oscar's first fight since his questionable "loss" to Felix Trinidad and Oscar needs an impressive win in this spot.
That may not be as easy as it appears. The practically unknown Coley can fight a little and it may be hard for De La Hoya to get motivated after the Trinidad fight. This is a prime spot for an upset. Coley is 34-1-1 with 24 KO's. Oscar is 31-1 with 25 KO's. No odds posted locally on the fight but I had Noel at the Ormsby House sportsbook check the computer and they have De La Hoya listed as an 8-1 favorite. Coley is at +5.50. And even though it's not on the board, you can wager on it at the Ormsby House.
At those odds, I'd have to take a flyer on Coley. He could win this welterweight (148-pound limit) and betting on De la Hoya at that price seems a bit foolish.
The fight, which comes from Madison Square Garden in New York, will be shown live at 7 p.m.
- This Saturday HBO also has a same-day tape card for their "Boxing After Dark" series that begins at 11 p.m. The main event has Eric Morales defending his WBC super bantamweight (122-limit) title against Marco Antonio Barrera at the Mandalay Bay hotel/casino in Las Vegas. The two-hour telelcast also features Cory Spinks in action and another fight is scheduled to be shown as well.
Local sportsbooks have Morales listed as a 3 1/2-1 favorite over Barrera, who is at +3-1. I'm not a favorite player, but I like Morales to score a knockout win over an over-the-hill Barrera.
- Last Friday, ESPN2 had a live all-women's card that didn't live up to the hype. The main event was OK as Margaret Sidoroff won a 10-round decision from Jolene Blackshear to win the IFBA flyweight title. Sidoroff, from Canada, is now 7-0 with 3 KO's. Blackshear falls to 4-2 with 2 KO's.
The two other women's fights they showed were boring and suffered from a lack of action. Not a card many will remember, I might add.
Hopefully, this Friday the ESPN2 live fight card, which begins a half-hour later than usual at 6:30 p.m., will be better. The main event has tough Angel Manfredy (28-4-1, 22 KO's) taking on Sean Fletcher (24-2, 18 KO's, in the a scheduled 10-round lightweight fight.
- Do want to note that on last Fridays ESPN2 telecast, they interviewed undisputed heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis. He fights undefeated Michael Grant on April 29 and Lewis started the hype for the fight, but it won't sell.
They plan to have it on pay-per-view and other than some diehard fans, I don't see this fight selling a lot of tickets at the gate or through PPV. This fight is more than a tough sell - it's a very tough sell.
Lewis is probably aware of that, too, and he said after he beats Grant - that's no cinch - he (Lewis) wants to fight Mike Tyson. At least he knows who can still sell tickets, and if Tyson beats up on a few more stiffs, they should have no problem putting on a Tyson-Lewis fight and that one will sell easily.
That's the plan, anyway.
ALAN ROGERS is the Nevada Appeal boxing writer.