Anthony Salcido and Javier Mora are going to be separated this evening by about 75 miles and 100 pounds. Their ambitions, however, are the same – to advance their boxing careers.
At Blanca's Fiesta Hall in Imperial Beach, Salcido (8-0, with five knockouts), a junior welterweight from Chula Vista, is the featured fighter on a card offered by promoter Jorge Marron. Salcido is to box Francisco Maldonado of El Cajon (19-22) in a scheduled eight-round bout.
At the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Mora (20-2-1, 18 KOs), a heavyweight from Anaheim known as “The Monster” – he has boxed at as much as 266 pounds – is to engage Fres Oquendo of Puerto Rico (25-3, 16 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder.
Mora is returning to the site where in March he came away with a victory over Kirk Johnson, like Oquendo once a heavyweight of prominence, when Johnson fell in the seventh round and dislocated a knee. Johnson was leading on the cards of two of three judges when he was injured, but Mora appeared to be coming on.
Mora weighed 246 for that appearance. His two defeats came when he was considerably heavier. One occurred in a bout stopped after an accidental head butt.
Oquendo has fought just once in the past two years. In April 2004, he opposed John Ruiz at Madison Square Garden for the WBC heavyweight title, Ruiz stopping him in the 11th round. The only other heavyweight holding victories over Oquendo, known as “the Big O,” are Chris Byrd and David Tua.
The Pechanga program is another in a series the Fox Network has televised on its “Best Damn Sports Show Period.” On this card are matches involving Julio Gonzalez of Huntington Beach, formerly a ranking light heavyweight, and the Dirrell brothers of Flint, Mich., both undefeated super middleweights. Andre Dirrell, a silver medalist at the Athens Olympics, is 6-0 (4 KOs); Anthony Dirrell is 7-0 (7 KOs), all in the first or second rounds.
Marron hopes Salcido can develop a following strong enough so that promotions can be built around him.
“He couldn't have a better guy,” longtime promoter Don Chargin said. “That guy is tough.”
Salcido, 23, is handled by San Diego attorney David Gutierrez, who has been training him since Salcido was 12 years old. Gutierrez said Golden Boy Promotions has expressed an interest in a promotional tie with Salcido, and that he could be spotted on the July 15 Fernando Vargas-Sugar Shane Mosley card in Las Vegas.
Five bouts form the Imperial Beach program, with the first bout at 7 p.m. The first bout at Pechanga is at 6:30.
Jerry Magee: (619) 293-1830; jerry.magee@uniontrib.com
