A few hundred fans and their families turned out for the inaugural Turn Green into Gold Boxing Championships in Cottonwood on Saturday, July 17, looking to cheer on their favorite fighter for a good cause.
“I thought lots of people showed up for this fight; we had over 200 seats set up and there were still people standing,” Golden Cobra Center of Fitness Manager Richard Williams said.
Edgar Ortiz, a 106-pound fighter out of the Hard Knocks Boxing Club in Phoenix, won Fighter of the Night after defeating 110-pound Efrain Morales out of the Central Boxing Club in Phoenix.
Winning the team trophy was the Fuentes Boxing Club, which also comes from Phoenix.
Saturday’s first two fights were exhibition matches which were highlighted by two up-and-coming Golden Cobra stars: Joe Gomez [190 pounds] and Jordan Gyce [215 pounds].
Each was awarded a belt for his efforts after going toe-to-toe for three two-minute rounds.
In the first official fight of the night, the ladies went to battle with Casandra Tavizon [Fuentes] at 120 pounds defeating Julia Avalos [Central Boxing Club] in exciting three-round action.
If there was a fight of the night award, this one would have taken the cake.
Fourteen-year-old Golden Cobra fighter Mario Varelo would jump into the squared circle next, but he came up short as the referee stopped the contest in the second round, giving Leonardo Millanes from the Fuentes Boxing Club
the victory.
After Ortiz defeated his opponent to earn Fighter of the Night honors in bout three, bout four paired Golden Cobra’s Robert Gonzales and Central’s Luciano Stoica, who was called “Rocky” by his corner coaches.
In the end, Stoica came up with the judges’ decision, but Gonzales hung in there.
Other fights included fan favorite Jesse Duran, who lost to Jesus Juarez of Fuentes, while Arthor Cesena of Golden Cobra lost to Ricardo Carbaja from Central after the referee called the fight in the third round.
The last fight of the night was unfortunately canceled due to an equipment problem as 33-year-old Golden Cobra star Michael Altamirno won by default over Pablo Cebalos, a 181-pound fighter from the Fuentes Boxing Club.
“This was a great event. I just wanted to say thank you to all our sponsors and to everyone else for coming out,” Williams said.
