Boxing immortals Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns were present in Temecula, California, serving as special guests as Fernando Vargas Jr. continues his ascent in the sport.
Leonard and Hearns have a shtick type act in which the Hall of Fame fighters reminiscence on their two fights against each other, ribbing each other on who won which fight, and even challenging each other all these years later for a third bout.
The ‘Ray and Tommy Show’ preceded the night of fights at the Pechanga Resort Casino, which has a rich history of hosting boxing events going back several decades, including numerous ‘Friday Night Fights’ on ESPN.
MarvNation Promotions presented Vargas Jr., (9-0, 9KO) who notched a super middleweight win after two rounds over Heber Rondon, who withdrew citing injury to his shoulder, and interim WBC superflyweight champion Adelaida Ruiz, (14-0-1, 8KO) who also recorded a knockout victory in her bout against Cecilia Roman after eight entertaining rounds in front of an appreciative crowd of several thousand.
A few other rock em’ sock em’ type fights rounded out the night at the Pechanga Resort Casino, including an impressive professional debut loss by super welterweight Squire Redfern, who refused to be stopped in the first round and continued to put forth his own offense against Orlando Salgado in the nights Fight of the Night, as well as one of the best belted National Anthems in sometime in the sport, in what was overall a successful promotion from start to finish.
Leonard and Hearns remained in attendance following the VIP Meet and Greet, taking in the nights fights and heading into the ring at one point during an intermission, going nose to nose to the delight of the crowd.
A memorable exchange occurred between the two during the question and answer session in which Hearns stated that the only thing he likes about Sugar Ray Leonard is that he beat him every time they fought.
Leonard incredulously replied, “You did what Tommy?”
