Mitchell Defends Title; Aguirre Is KO’d : San Diego Boxers Put Their Dreams on Line in Stadium Parking Lot

In the background, San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium was casting an impressive shadow over Friday night at the fights.

In the stadium’s northeast parking lot, where the ring was raised, boxers were attempting to escape the shadows on their way to the limelight.

In an event entitled “Living A Dream,” two California state championships were on the line in front of 2,300 fans.

“Sweet” Irving Mitchell of San Diego defended his featherweight championship when Adrian Arreola of Los Angeles could not begin the 10th round because of a swollen left eye. Felipe Canela of Colton defended his welterweight championship against San Diego’s Richard “The Warrior” Aguirre by winning on a knockout at 2:47 of the first round.

This was a night when each match featured a fighter from San Diego. This was supposed to be a night featuring the biggest card in San Diego since Muhammad Ali fought Ken Norton at the Sports Arena in 1973.

Though some fighters were impressive, the night’s logistics suffered a couple of technical knockouts.

First, the 7 p.m. card began 40 minutes late, then the ring lights went out three times during the first bout.

“Let’s go inside the stadium,” one ringside fan yelled. “The lights work there.”

The ringside lights were flawless thereafter.

“There are always bugs in doing something like this for the first time,” promoter Mike Altinger said. “I think we’ll work them out.”

Altinger said he would like to work out details for another outdoor card.

“If this one is successful, we’re looking at September,” Altinger said midway through the program. “If Richard Aguirre wins, I’ve been in contract negotiations with Pepino Cuevas, ex-champ of the world. I think that would be a good test for Richard Aguirre.”

But that was before Aguirre lost his test against Canela. Altinger later said he would try to get another big-name fighter for the prospective September card.

After the program’s early problem, fans were treated to some fighters who showed promise.

Most impressive was Orlin “Bosco Bear” Norris, a 197-pound heavyweight. His match was stopped at 44 seconds of the first round after he knocked down opponent Levi Phillips of San Diego for a second time.

Norris is managed by Wes Wambold, who also manages top-ranked middleweight challenger James Kinchen of San Diego.

“He (Norris) moves just like Kinchen in the ring,” Wambold said. “I told this kid he would be in the Top 10 in the world in 18 months to two years. I told James Kinchen he would be in the Top 10 in two years, and he did it. This kid will do it, too.”

Norris, from Lubbock, Tex., is among eight native Texans working out of Wambold’s camp in San Diego. Mitchell, who hails from Louisiana, is the only non-Texan in Wambold’s camp.

What brings the fighters to San Diego?

“My hometown is not popular for boxing,” Norris said. “I like fighting here better.”

Said Wambold: “A lot of guys call me because I have Kinchen and Mitchell. If they are nice and can fight and can get along with me, which is difficult, they’ll make it. I don’t push them in over their heads. It took James Kinchen 16 fights to think he was unbeatable. When you think you are unbeatable, you are.”

Norris is unbeaten in two pro fights, winning both by knockouts. He was a National Golden Gloves champion last year, winning all eight fights by knockouts.

An impressive local Friday night was flyweight Tony “Bazooka” Deluca. He knocked out Jose Hernandez of National City at three minutes of the fifth round.

Deluca was given the nickname “Bazooka” by Kinchen.

“We were up at camp with Wes Wambold,” Deluca said. “He (Kinchen) called me Bazooka and everyone started laughing. When you hear the name Bazooka, you think of a 200-pounder, not a 112-pounder like me.”

Friday’s card began with light heavyweight Don Wilson of Los Angeles knocking out San Diego’s Roke Harris at 2:41 of the fourth round. In other action, San Diego welterweight Rigo Lopez was victorious when opponent Raymundo Lopes could not answer the bell for the seventh round.