Photo: Chris Suchánek
The main and co-main events of the inaugural boxing event at the Acrisure Arena delivered action bouts as Raul Curiel defeated Jordan Panthen in a middleweight bout and Jorge Chavez became the California State champion with his win over Manuel Flores on Golden Boy Promotions first event of 2026.
“First of all, I want to thank God, the people of Palm Springs, and all the fans who came out. I hope you enjoyed the fight… For my former opponent, Alexis Rocha, I hope he gets better and I wish him the best. For me, it’s a dream come true to fight this year—my first fight at middleweight. Panthen is a warrior and gave the people a tremendous fight,” said Curiel, (17-0-1, 13 KOs) in victory by the scores of 97-93, 98-92, and 97-93 for a unanimous decision win over late replacement opponent Panthen.
The California State title made its return to the sport of boxing as Jorge Chavez was triumphant over Manuel Flores in a junior featherweight shootout that had the crowd roaring inside the arena in Palm Desert.
“I just realized I could beat him to the punch,” said Chavez, (15-0-1)… I took it to him. Going forward was a lot easier.”
Scrappy Ramirez (16-1, 9 KOs) was featured on the preliminary YouTube broadcast and won a 10 round super flyweight fight against Byron Rojas.
