Diego Magdaleno relishes fight at Forum
Diego Magdaleno never got to fight at the old Forum in Inglewood, Calif., but he is excited about being part of boxing’s return to the refurbished Forum on Saturday.
The Las Vegan will meet Oscar Bravo in a 10-round super featherweight bout that is part of the undercard of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Mike Alvarado welterweight main event. It is the first fight card at the venue since 1999.
“I remember as a kid watching the fights from the Forum on TV with my dad,” Magdaleno said. “There always seemed to be a lot of excitement in the building. One night, we were watching Julio Cesar Chavez fight, I forgot who he was fighting, and the place was going crazy. I was just starting in boxing, and I said to my dad, ‘One day, I’m going to fight in the Forum,’ and here we are. I’m super excited about this opportunity.”
The Forum underwent a complete face-lift after Madison Square Garden took control of the building. Close to $100 million was spent in acquisition and renovation of the facility, and Top Rank, which has a longstanding relationship with the Garden, will be the first boxing promotional company to host a card in the new Forum, which seats 16,000 for boxing.
Magdaleno (25-1, 10 knockouts) is trying to get another crack at the super featherweight title and needs to defeat Bravo (21-3, 9 KOs) and look good doing so.
“We watched tape of this guy, and he likes to stay low, so we’ve got some things planned for him,” Magdaleno said.
Magdaleno is 2-0 since hiring Frank Espinoza as his manager and Joel Diaz as his trainer last summer. Espinoza said a win over Bravo and another one this summer could put Magdaleno in a position to fight for a title.
Magdaleno’s fight will not be part of an HBO telecast. But Top Rank will stream live video from its website — toprank.com. The card begins at 3:15 p.m.
■ BRONER’S PROBLEMS — Adrien Broner calls himself “The Problem.” And the former world welterweight champion has a lot of problems.
Broner has been suspended by the World Boxing Council for racially insensitive remarks after his win over Carlos Molina on May 3 at the MGM Grand Garden. He’s also being sued by a Las Vegas woman who allegedly was part of Broner’s infamous sex tape from a year ago.
After winning a unanimous decision against Molina, Broner said to interviewer Jim Gray on the Showtime Pay Per View telecast: “I just beat a (expletive) Mexican.”
The WBC acted Wednesday, issuing a statement that read, in part: “The World Boxing Council holds human equality as its banner and will not accept a former WBC champion to maker racially offensive statements. Since words have different meanings and can be interpreted in different ways, the WBC is issuing this open letter to Adrien Broner to either clarify what he meant with his words or to issue a public apology if those words were intended to be disrespectful or offensive.”
The sex-tape lawsuit, filed May 1 in Clark County District Court by Andrea Reyes and first reported by boxingscene.com, said Broner promised her participation would remain private. The tape made its way into the public’s eye, and Reyes seeks $10,000 for general damages, $10,000 for special damages, and a minimum of $10,000 in exemplary and punitive damages, plus legal fees.
Attempts to reach Broner for comment on both matters were unsuccessful.
■ READY TO WORK — Bob Bennett’s first day on the job as the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission is Monday. He’ll attend the commission’s monthly meeting Tuesday, and while no major items are on the agenda, he said he’s ready to get to work.
“It’s an exciting time for me,” Bennett said. “I think it’s important that I listen, observe and use the resources around me — the commissioners and the staff — and learn from them. I want to do my best, and I want to do what’s right.”
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.