The undercard for the May 14 World Championship event at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA will feature a Southern California flavor with 2008 LA-area Olympic U.S. teammates Shawn “Manos De Oro” Estrada and Javier “El Intocable” Molina in separate bouts.
Estrada (11-0, 10 KOs), from East Los Angeles, will be seeking his 12th straight win to start his pro career when he takes on Joseph Gardner (7-2-1, 1 KO), of Woonsocket, RI in a scheduled six-round super middleweight contest.
“It’s great to be back at the Home Depot Center in front of my fans, family and friends,” said the 26-year old Estrada, who demolished Jon Schmidt in less than two minutes back in late January in Temecula prior to making an ill-fated political run at a city council position.
“I have been training extremely hard and am ready to show what I have to be a super middleweight title contender. I am done with political campaigning and am focused solely on boxing and eventually becoming a world champion.”
Molina (5-0, 4 KOs), is a 21-year old junior middleweight from Norwalk, CA, who has been battling a hand injury which kept him out of action for almost a year before he came back to stop Antonio Arauz in :39 in October, 2010 in Lemoore, CA. In his most recent appearance back in late November, Molina recorded a unanimous-decision victory over Francisco Rios Gil but in the process reinjured his hand. Saturday, Molina will take the last six months of extreme hand therapy into the ring when he battles Danny Figueroa (3-1, 2 KOs), of Hastings, MN, in a scheduled four-rounder.
“I am very excited to be back 100% healthy and fighting near my hometown,” Molina shared. “I have a new physical therapist, who has done a great job on rehabbing my hand, as well as a new trainer in Clemente Medina. I feel that my hand injury is totally behind me and I am ready to let my hands go with full confidence, so I can get my career back on track.”
Also slated to see action in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout will be Bakersfield, CA native Manny “El Toro” Quezada (29-6, 18 KOs). Coming off consecutive hard-fought setbacks most recently against Chris Arreola, Quezada will face a stern-tough challenge in L.A.’s Bowie Tupou (19-1, 15 KOs) who is looking to fight his way into the top 10 in the world.
“I am coming off two losses which is kind of rare for me,” Quezada acknowledged. “I had a long winning streak for awhile and everything was great. Then I lost two fights, and everything kind of changed. But it was all my fault and I’ve made some changes going back to my old trainer and I feel great and will be ready for this fight.”
“I’m ready to stop Quezada and jump into the heavyweight picture with the other champions,” Tupou stated. “I’m just happy Quezada took this challenge.”
“We have a very competitive undercard leading up to the main bouts and suggest to the fans they arrive early to see the hope-to-be stars of tomorrow fighting,” Dan Goossen of Goossen Tutor Promotions said.
The evening will be headlined by the Semi-Final Tournament bout of the Super Six World Boxing Classic between WBA Super Middleweight Champion Andre “S.O.G.” Ward and “King” Arthur Abraham, in which Ward’s world title will also be at stake. The co-feature pits Riverside’s world heavyweight contender Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola vs. Nagy “Dominican Dynamite” Aguilera.
Tickets for this May 14 action-packed, world championship boxing card are priced at $25, $50, $100 and $200 (VIP floor seats). Fans can purchase tickets now at all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.Ticketmaster.com as well as The Home Depot Center Box Office (open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).
