10 DECEMBER 1, 2002
Smoke Signals
Fight Night II Brings Five Fights To Portland's Rose Garden
Spirit Mountain Casino teams up with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy
Productions for a night of knockouts and hometown heroes.
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Tagged Sweat flies as Ricardo Medina takes a heavy shot from former NABF champion Marcos Licona during their 10 round prizefight in Portland. The Grand Ronde
Tribe - through their showcase Spirit Mountain Casino - sponsored "Fight Night II at the Rose Garden" in association with World Champion Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy
Productions. Licona defeated Medina and won the fight on the judge's scorecards.
By James Buxman
Management Trainee,
Tribal Mentorship Program
The atmosphere Thursday night, November 14
was that of excitement, excitement for Fight Night
at The Rose Garden. The event brought profes
sional boxing back to the area by popular de
mand. The night was sponsored by Spirit Moun
tain Casino and Golden Boy Promotions, which
was started by Oscar De La Hoya. With a five
card night and 2,769 spectators in attendance,
this night has everything to equal a great time.
Fight night started with two bouts that were
over in a matter of seconds. Jeff Simmons, of
Portland, and Mike Sams, of Seattle, started the
night with a win by Sams on a 32 second Tech
nical Knockout. The second fight was just as
quick, when in the third round Conal McPhee of
Las Vegas beat Joshwea Cielos of Seattle, by a
referee's call 30 seconds into the round.
The third bout raised the crowd's intensity
matching Joe Guzman of Portland, against Brad
McPeake of Vancouver, B.C. The "Toughman
Award" for the night should be given to McPeake
for the beating he endured, but he stayed on his
feet for the entire fight. The crowd favorite
Guzman, won the match by a unanimous deci
sion. The main under card event was the most ex
citing of the evening. This was the only girl fight
on the schedule and pinned former women's
champions Bridget "Baby Doll" Riley and Para
Draine against each other. The explosive na
ture of both fighters made this contest enjoyable
for the Rose Garden's guests. As the fight went
back and forth it looked like the judges had a
tough decision on their hands. The results of
their scoring gave Para Draine the victory in
the six round battle.
"VIVA MEXICO," filled the air in the Rose Gar
den as the main event is getting started. In the
red corner, former NABF champion, Marcos
Licona takes on out of the blue corner, Ricardo
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Medina. This was an all out dogfight from the
first ding of the bell. Licona and Medina went
punch for punch until the ninth round when you
could see Licona gain control. The bout went all
ten rounds and to the judges decision. It was a
unanimous decision in favor of the red corner,
Marcos Licona.
In light of the recent Roy Jones Jr. fight that
was held in the Rose Garden, the demand
for professional boxing in this state is ap
parent. I had a chance to speak with Roy
Englebrecht, Chief Operating Officer for
Golden Boy Promotions, and asked him,
"How does it feel to help bring back profes
sional boxing to Portland?" Englebrecht told
me, "Golden Boy Promotions was thrilled to
bring back pro boxing on a regular basis to
Portland. It was a team effort, as it took
Spirit Mountain Casino to step up as the title
sponsor, and Jim McCue and the Rose Gar
den to make a decision that boxing would
play well at their venue. With the great
crowd on opening night in July, the big Roy
Jones crowd in September, we are building
a foundation for success in 2003." People
like Oscar De La Hoya, his promotion com
pany Golden Boy, the Rose Garden, and
Spirit Mountain Casino make it possible for
this state to be a place where pro boxers want
to fight and most importantly where fans can
enjoy the sport. D
Brutal Professional
Heavyweight Joe Guzman, a
Portland Native, won the
crowd and then the fight as
he systematically destroyed
the very game Brad McPeake
to win a unanimous decision.
0 V " J
Girl Fight Former world champion Bridgett"Baby Doll"
Riley (left in red) lost in her entertaining bout with the explo
sive Para Draine.