Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Fight Night at The Row. If the title doesn’t ring a bell, it soon will. The first of what could be numerous events is set for Friday, Oct. 25.
Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions has teamed up with Eldorado Group and Joey Gilbert Productions to present boxing and MMA cards at The Row – the three downtown Reno casino-hotels: Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus.
“We will put on no fewer than two events this year, and one might roll into the first quarter of next year, but they’ve got a five-fight option,” Gilbert said. “I am just excited to bring boxing back to the local fight fans who have been starved of it.”
The first card will be held in the Silver Legacy’s 1,600 seat Grande Exposition Hall.
The main event will be super lightweights Kendo “Tremendo” Castaneda of San Antonio, Texas, 16-0 with 7 knockouts, meets Stan “The Man” Martyniouk of Belmont, California, 20-2, 6 KOs. In what is dubbed the eight-round co-main event, cruiserweights Blake McKernan of Sacramento, 13-0, 6 KOs, faces Francisco Rivas of Allende, Coahuila de Saragoza, Mexico, 15-2, 5 KOs.
The undercard will feature a featherweight bout that will have local intrigue. Ricardo Lucio-Galvan, 2-0, 2 KOs, is scheduled to fight for the first time in 20 months. A junior business major at University of Nevada, Lucio-Galvan missed a bout due to an injured hand and had another fight called off when his opponent failed to make weight. His management team also has been cautious about who he will face.
More local fighters could be added to the card.
Jones won numerous world championships from the middleweight to cruiserweight classes, posting a career record of 66-9 with 47 KOs. He’s proven to be a successful businessman, too. RJJ Promotions teamed with Keith Veltre in Las Vegas and UFC Fight Pass, which streams the events online. The companies have expanded outside of Vegas and are setting up on The Row.
“We have Eldorado Resorts International acquiring Caesars and becoming one of the biggest, if not the biggest, gaming corporations in the world and we are seeing this digital side,” Gilbert said.
“These fights are events. There are DJs, there’s entertainment, there’s food and the fights are good fights. That’s the thing about Roy. He brings in that boxing pedigree. You can have losses on your record and if you’re putting out a good performance that’s entertaining, people want to see you. It’s not just about keeping one guy undefeated. It’s about matching guys against each other who are going to give the fans something to see and provide that entertainment value. We have the whole package.”
Another boxing card could be held in Reno on the following night, Oct. 26, however, is has not been confirmed.
Cameron Church fights on Saturday
Escobar Training Grounds’s Cameron Church is set to make his second professional MMA appearance Saturday in Laughlin, Nevada’s Avi Resort. After a winning his pro debut, Church, who never lost as an amateur, has found it tough to get fights. A scheduled bout for the Cow Palace in San Francisco was scratched after the opponent was able to see film on Church and decided to pull out 24 hours before the bout. The WFC event in Laughlin should go through this time and Church should finally see action again.
–– Simon Ruvalcaba contributed to this story.
