(Oscar Godoy, left, and San Francisco’s Richard Hargraves, right, weighed in Wednesday for their fight in San Diego on Thursday at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel; photo courtesy Mario Ortega Jr., 15rounds.com)
San Francisco’s Hargraves Ready For Godoy in Stiff Four-Rounder in San Diego
San Francisco welterweight Richard Hargraves (3-0-1, 2 KOs) steps up his opposition a notch Thursday night in San Diego as he takes on Watsonville, Calif.’s Oscar Godoy (7-2, 3 KOs) in an intriguing four-round bout at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on a card topped by Jonathan Garcia against Pedro Arcos on a card promoted by Don Chargin Productions, Jorge Marron Productions, and A&T Promotions.
This will mark the first time in the young pro career of Hargraves that he has been able to secure multiple fights in a calendar year, and he hopes the fight with Godoy isn’t all that is in store for him for the remainder of 2012.
“If I could get another two fights after this one, that would be good,” Hargraves told TQBR on Wednesday afternoon. “That is another reason I accepted this fight, it was an opportunity to build off of my last fight with those experiences and lap it on top of the next instead of waiting a year and a half and having to work from ground zero. I didn’t understand how ring rust can affect you until I started getting all these layoffs.”
Hargraves is coming off a win on the road in late June when he traveled to Carlton, Minn. to decision Michael Faulk in his first six-round bout. Hargraves made it clear he wished this fight were going six as well.
“I always told people that I felt I had a style more suited to the pro game,” said Hargraves. “I was lobbying for a six-rounder as I feel my style is better suited for them, but hey, I am undefeated in four-rounders too.”
Godoy has won three straight against modest opposition and will be Hargrave’s most experienced opponent thus far.
“He is a pretty decent opponent and I wanted to challenge myself,” said Hargraves. “He has experience, and this is going to be my toughest fight to date. I plan on making a statement.”
Hargraves was a standout amateur as a three-time local and state Golden Gloves champion and P.A.L. 2006 bronze medalist at 165 pounds. Hargraves was also a 2009 US national champion at 152 pounds with a #3 ranking in the country.
Don Chargin Adds Two Solo Boxeo Dates to NorCal, Jorge Linares Projected
Tuesday evening, Hall of Fame promoter Don Chargin told TQBR that he has two TeleFutura Solo Boxeo dates planned for Northern California with the headline fighters tentatively set.
Sept. 22, Chargin, along with Paco Presents and Jorge Marron will return to Woodland, Calif. at the Woodland Community Senior Center and will likely feature Fairfield, Calif. junior featherweight Manuel Avila (9-0, 3 KOs) and Delano, Calif. middleweight Paul Mendez (9-2-1, 3 KOs) in separate eight-round attractions atop the card.
Both Avila and Mendez scored victories this past Saturday on Solo Boxeo in Fairfield. Avila stopped Vicente Alfaro in the 3rd round in front of his many local fans while Mendez stopped Loren Myers in the 3rd round of their rematch. The full report of that card can be read here as TQBR was ringside.
Chargin also told TQBR that it looks promising that on Oct. 6, a comebacking Jorge Linares (31-3, 20 KOs) will likely fight career-long gatekeeper Hector Velazquez (52-17-3, 35 KOs) according to matchmaker Jorge Marron on Wednesday. Chargin is in talks with San Francisco’s Longshoremen’s Hall. Linares would be looking to rebound from a couple defeats, most recently in a huge upset against then unheralded Sergio Thompson this past March.
OPP Presents Inaugural Show a Hit, Return Planned for October
New promoter to the Northern California fold OPP Presents headed by Mark Nanney wrapped up their first show last Friday as local favorite Otis Griffin (24-10-2, 10 KOs) scored a 2nd round knockout of Ironton, Ohio’s Adam Collins in front of a nearly full house at the DoubleTree by Hilton on a card that also featured a variety of locally based four-rounders.
Griffin put a stop to a four fight losing streak as he looks to make one last run at a world title. The show did well enough at the gate that they plan on moving ahead with doing another show, which is tentatively slated for October with the tagline, “Monster’s Brawl.”
Griffin last was on the verge of a title opportunity last March as he lost a 12-round split decision to former stablemate and sparring partner Yusaf Mack in southern California. Mack went on to challenge Tavoris Cloud for his alphabet strap, ultimately getting stopped late in a fight he was competitive in. Mack was just recently announced as the Nov. 17 opponent for Carl Froch at 168 pounds.
Tough Journeyman Hirsch Gets Andre Ward Undercard Slot, Ward-Dawson Undercard Info
Anyone who is familiar with Oakland based journeyman Tony Hirsch (12-5-2, 6 KOs) knows he is much tougher than his modest record would indicate. Over his five year pro career, Hirsch, who trains out of the famed King’s Gym in Oakland, has rarely had it easy.
It looks as though Hirsch has finally caught a break as he will fight the unheralded Roberto Yong (5-5-1, 4 KOs) of Phoenix, Ariz. in a six-round bout on the off-television undercard of Sept. 8’s important bout between hometown hero Andre Ward and Chad Dawson.
One wonders whether Ward himself had a hand in getting Hirsch on the card. The day after it was confirmed by TQBR that Ward-Dawson was headed to Oakland, Ward and trainer Virgil Hunter worked out at King’s Gym. After talking about bringing the fight home with TQBR, Ward went over to Hirsch and told him he would do what he could to get him on the card.
Not only is Hirsch on the card, but he is in a fight where the deck isn’t stacked against him for the first time in what seems like forever. In his last three, Hirsch is 0-2-1 but it came against three opponents who were a combined 24-1 heading in.
In his last fight, Hirsch took a fight on a few days notice against 5-0 Dmitry Chudinov, losing a six-round majority decision that was loudly booed last December. Hirsch, whose best weight is 154 pounds, came into that fight a career high 180 pounds and still gave Chudinov all he could handle.
It will be a nice change of scenery for Hirsch to finally be in against someone he is expected to beat.
Ward-Dawson sits atop a seven bout card featuring a number of interesting matchups, most notable the televised co-feature, a sleeper candidate for Fight of the Year in the 135 pound fight between Antonio DeMarco (27-2-1, 20 KOs) and John Molina (24-1, 19 KOs). On the non-televised portion are a couple of heavyweight scraps with world ranked Franklin Lawrence (17-2-2, 12 KOs) fighting Homero Fonseca (9-5-3, 2 KOs) and Malik Scott against Bowie Tupou (22-1, 16 KOs), both eight-round attractions. Scott has been given the moniker Malik “80-72” Scott as he is known for notching shutout wins with only 11 KOs among his 34-0 record.
2000 Olympic Silver medalist Ricardo Williams Jr. (19-3, 10 KOs) looks to bounce back from his December TKO defeat to Carson Jones with his first fight in 2012, a tough assignment against Anthony Lenk (14-1, 7 KOs) in a six-round junior welterweight bout.
Rounding out the card is the professional debut of Randy Guerrero, the featherweight younger brother of multi-weight conqueror Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero.
Projected NorCal Boxing Schedule, Remainder of 2012
9/8, Oakland, Calif., Oracle Arena, HBO, Andre Ward vs. Chad Dawson, Antonio DeMarco vs. John Molina (Promoter: Goossen-Tutor Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions)
9/14, Sacramento, Calif., Woodlake Hotel, Stan Martyniouk vs. Javier Garcia (Promoter: Uppercut Promotions)
9/22, Woodland, Calif., Woodland Senior Community Center, TeleFutura, Manuel Avila vs. TBA, Paul Mendez vs. TBA (Promoter: Don Chargin, Paco Presents, Jorge Marron)
10/6, San Francisco, Calif., Longshoremen’s Hall, TeleFutura, Jorge Linares vs. TBA (Promoter: Don Chargin, Paco Presents, Jorge Marron)
10/19, San Rafael, Calif., Albert Park, Paul Nave vs. TBA (Promoter: Liberty Boxing)
10/??, Sacramento, Calif., DoubleTree by Hilton, Otis Griffin vs. TBA (Promoter: OPP Presents)
