RingSide Report

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Boxing and MMA Comes to California Tonight

By Gina L. Caliboso

Tonight, yours truly will be sitting ringside to watch “Battle in the Ballroom” showcasing up and coming fighters in both boxing and MMA. Promoted by Roy Engelbrecht Events/Promotions, the event is part of a series of fight nights held at the Irvine Marriott Grand Ballroom in Irvine, California.

Expected to be a sellout crowd, combat sports fans will be watching a fight card to include both boxing matches and MMA fights. To date, the hybrid boxing and MMA fight card have scheduled the following bouts:

Demetrio Soto, 5-1, 4 KO’s, will go up against Yakub Shidaev, 3-1, 1 KO, in a scheduled 4 round fight at 140 pounds. Local fighter Arquimendez Garcia, 4-1-1, 2 KO’s, from nearby Santa Ana will meet Manuel Delcid, 2-0, of East Los Angeles at 136 pounds.

In one heavyweight bout scheduled for 6 rounds, Joe “The Future” Hanks, 10-0, 6 KO’s, will fight against 35 year old Shannon Miller, 16-4, 9 KO’s. In a second heavyweight contest going for a scheduled 4 rounds, Chris Davis, 1-0, will go up against Kourtney Boden, 1-0. You remember Chris Davis right? He fought in the last event I covered – “Glendale Glory 2” so I’m excited to see him fight one month later. As both heavyweight fighters are off to 1-0 records, someone has to lose.

In the first MMA bout of the night, Markus Kowal, 1-0, will fight against Titus Holmes, 0-3 in a scheduled 3 round fight at 136 poudns. Following Kowal – Holmes, I am looking forward to a women’s boxing match. Chika Nakamura, 9-1, 3 KO’s will go up against Jennifer Barber, 9-1, 4 KO’s. Even though Nakamura suffered a hard fought loss to Gloria Ramirez, 11-16, 1 KO, in December, she makes a return to the “Battle in the Ballroom” as a fan favorite and will deliver a strong and entertaining fight.

Finally, the evening will conclude with an MMA matchup. Chris Saunders, 3-1, fights Andy Morales, 2-0, at 156 pounds in a scheduled 3 round fight.

Just so you know, I normally train on Wednesday nights in boxing and kickboxing, so I’m taking the night off. But not really because I’ll be ringside – and, I’m sure it’s a night that won’t disappoint! Stay tuned!

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