Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Nothing comes easy for Ricardo “The Dreamer” Lucio-Galvan.
As Congress toils with the fate of nearly a million DACA recipients, the 20-year-old Reno boxer learned this week who he will be facing in his second pro bout: 31-year-old super featherweight Kenny Guzman of Kalispell, Montana.
Lucio-Galvan and Guzman will square off Friday, Feb. 16 at the Grand Sierra Resort on the undercard of Raymundo Beltran vs. Moses Paulus 12-round bout for the vacant WBO World Lightweight Championship. Promoted by Top Rank and Reno’s Let’s Get It On Boxing, the fight card will be televised on ESPN.
Guzman, who has won four of his five professional fights, is a right-handed slugger who doesn’t mind going toe-to-toe or traveling to his opponent’s hometown. His only loss was to Belfast, Ireland’s Michael Conlan, a 2012 Olympic Bronze Medal winner in a bout televised on ESPN.
“I am more than ready for this fight,” Lucio-Galvan told Tahoe Onstage. “I have been studying the fight he had against Conlan. Guzman can definitely take a shot, but I will work smart and make sure that every punch I connect will do damage. My team and I have come up with a Plan A, but we have a few more just in case it doesn’t work. We are prepared to make any necessary adjustments to secure us another win.”
Reno boxing analyst Simon Ruvalcaba weighed in: “(Guzman) is tough; he fights brave. If they brawl, Ricardo is going to make the fight tougher than it has to be. If Ricardo boxes and uses speed, he has an opportunity to be really impressive.”
In his pro debut last November, Lucio-Galvan brawled his way to a 55-second, first-round TKO over Benjamin Amezquita, who also was boxing as a pro for the first time.
“After I moved him with just a jab, I said, ‘OK, I’ve got this. He doesn’t have a chance,’ ” Lucio-Galavan told Tahoe Onstage. “I started to throw bombs. I knew I wasn’t going to gas out.”
When he entered the ring for his first fight, Lucio-Galvan didn’t know if his taller opponent was left- or right-handed. He will know much more about his foe for his second fight.
This time, the 5-foot-7 Lucio-Galvan will be the taller fighter. Both are orthodox (right-handed) boxers.
His hometown newspaper, the Flathead Beacon, reported Guzman is a new father and a full-time carpenter who trains each day before and after work. He had 40 amateur fights and turned pro when he was 29. He has won once by a knockout.
In his biggest win, Guzman scored an upset decision over Roxie Lam, who had a 7-2 record, on April 1, 2017, in Lam’s hometown Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In a nationally televised fight on Sept. 22, Guzman faced Conlan, who lost a disputed decision in the 2016 Olympic Games. (Conlan famously flipped off the judges and declared he would immediately turn pro.) Conlan bloodied and knocked down Guzman in the second round. Although Guzman rose to his feet before the 10-second count, the referee stopped the bout on a TKO.
On Oct. 28, Guzman got back on the winning track, decisioning Gabriel Braxton at the Majestic Valley Arena in his hometown Kalispell.
Lucio-Galvan is ready: “From here on out, each opponent I face will get tougher but I’m prepared at 200 percent,” he said. “For an opponent to beat me he will have to be prepared more than that, and that is not cockiness, it’s self-confidence in my team and preparation.”
Lucio-Galvan, who arrived in Reno when he was just 7-months old, is a sophomore business major at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is among 800,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival – DACA. To qualify, Lucio-Galvan needed to show that he had a clean background and was a full-time student, and he provided his fingerprints, bloodwork and home address. The federal government provided a Social Security card and a false promise. If no action is taken by March 5, DACA recipients can be subject to deportation.
“The day I heard (President) Trump ended (DACA) it was like cup of water on my head,” Lucio-Galvan said. “It’s like I am a dreamer inside the ring and outside the ring. One of my dreams is to represent the Hispanic community.
“My training has been great. My weight is perfect. I feel ready to fight right now. School is going great, as well, having a great semester so far, getting me closer to my other goal of being a first-generation graduate.”
-Tim Parsons
Related stories:
Lucio-Galvan fighting for all Dreamers.
Full details on Feb. 16 boxing card.
- Top Rank Bout Sheet
4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2018
Grand Sierra Resort, Grand Theatre
Reno, Nevada - WBO World Lightweight Championship, 12 rounds
Paulus Moses, Windhoek, Namibia (40-3, 25 KOs vs. Ray Beltran, Pheonix (34-7-1, 21 KOs) - NABF Welterweight Championship, 10 rounds
David Avanesyan, Sadovoye, Russia (23-2-1, 11 KOs) vs. Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Oxnard, California (17-0, 14 KOs) - Featherweights, 8 rounds
Juan Tapia, Brownsville, Texas (8-1, 3 KOs) vs. Shakur Stevenson, Newark, New Jersey (4-0-2 KOs) - Super Featherweights, 8 rounds
Robson Conceicao, Bahia, Brazil (5-0, 4 KOs) vs. Jayro Duran, San Pedro Sula, Honduras (11-4-9 KOs) - Heavyweights, 8 rounds
Bryant Jennings, Philadelphia (21-2, 12 KOs) vs. Ahror Muralimov, Houston (14-3, 11 KOs) - Super Welterweights, 6 rounds
Sagadat Rakhmankul, Oxnard, California (pro debut) vs. Noel Esqueda, Wichita, Kansas (8-4-2) - Featherweights, 4 rounds
Ricardo Lucio-Galvan, Reno (1-0-1 KO) vs. Kenny Guzman, Kalispell, Montana (4-1, 1 KO)
