Broken foot sidelines Durango grad
Jesse Magdaleno was ready for a big spring inside the ring. But the recent Durango High School graduate will be out of action for at least two months after sustaining an injury while training.
Magdaleno, the reigning 119-pound national Golden Gloves champion, was scheduled to compete at 123 pounds in the Golden Gloves Western Regionals on March 20 and 21. But days before the competition at the South Point, he broke a bone in his left foot while on a training run with his older brother Diego at Mount Charleston.
Not only was Magdaleno unable to compete in the Golden Gloves, he also was scratched from Saturday’s dual meet between USA Boxing and Italy in Reno. His foot will be in a cast for at least eight weeks, and he probably won’t return to the ring until early June.
“I was looking forward to Reno,” Magdaleno said. “It’s really disappointing. But at least it wasn’t during an Olympic year.”
Magdaleno plans to return at the USA Boxing national championships July 12 in Colorado Springs, Colo. He said he won’t rush back and will listen to his doctors.
“I don’t want to have any setbacks,” he said. “When I come back, I want to make sure I’m 100 percent.”
■ GOLDEN GLOVES WINNERS — Two Las Vegans were victorious at the Golden Gloves Western Regionals on March 21 at the South Point and have advanced to the national Golden Gloves championships, scheduled for May 3 to 9 in Little Rock, Ark.
Andrew Tabiti took the 201-pound division, and Rydell Gipson won the 201-plus division.
Also, brothers Santos and Oscar Vasquez of Reno advanced. Santos won the 108-pound title, and Oscar claimed the 114-pound class.
Fighters from Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington competed in the regionals, with Nevada and Arizona producing four champions apiece in the 10 weight divisions. Washington and Oregon each had one champion.
■ DUELING CARDS — Two local fight cards are set for Friday, one at the Hard Rock Hotel and the other at the Rio.
Golden Boy will host the Hard Rock Hotel show, which will feature junior middleweight Erislandy Lara (10-0) in the main event against Danny Perez in a 10-round bout. The card, to be televised by Showtime, is the prelude to Golden Boy’s pay-per-view light heavyweight event Saturday featuring Bernard Hopkins against Roy Jones Jr. at Mandalay Bay.
The first bell for the Hard Rock card is scheduled for 6 p.m.
At the Rio, Guilty Boxing and TKO Boxing will host a card featuring Sharif Bogere against Carlos Claudio in an eight-round lightweight main event.
Also on the card will be junior featherweights Leo Santa Cruz and Johnathan Arias in an eight-round co-feature. Las Vegas’ Bradley Blankenship will make his pro debut in a four-round super middleweight bout against Abraham Espinoza.
The first bell is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
■ HOPKINS-JONES UNDERCARD — Three fights have been announced to support the Hopkins-Jones Jr. rematch.
Rocky Juarez (28-5-1, 20 knockouts) will face Jason Litzau (26-2, 21 KOs) for Litzau’s NABF super featherweight title. Former junior middleweight world champion Sergio Mora (21-1-1, five KOs) will meet Calvin Green (21-4-1, 13 KOs), and the third fight will pit Daniel Judah (23-4-3, 10 KOs) against Ismayl Sillakh (11-0, 10 KOs) for the vacant NABF light heavyweight title. All three bouts are scheduled for 10 rounds.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.