BOXING : Two Shows Scheduled This Week; Young Champ Trains for Festival

The USA Boxing Southern California Assn. will sponsor two local shows this week.

The first will take place today at Hawaiian Gardens Gym, 21815 S. Pioneer Blvd., followed by another Saturday at the Huntington Park Boxing Gym, 6414 Rugby St.

Boxers will be matched according to weight and age. Both shows are open to boxers of all skill levels.

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Golden Gloves gold medalist Carlos Navarro is in training for the Olympic Festival, scheduled for July 29 in San Antonio.

Navarro (60-9) anticipates a showdown with second-ranked Arturo Hauffman of Florida.

Navarro’s training regimen entails 2 1/2-hour daily workouts that include jogging, jumping rope and hitting the speed bag and the heavy bag.

Navarro, ranked No. 7 in the 112-pound weight class by USA Boxing, last fought against Troy Porter of Milwaukee on May 15.

The 16-year-old South-Central native won the Golden Boy Award for being the tournament’s most outstanding boxer.

“I’m not working on anything specific” for the tournament, Navarro said. “I’m just training harder and more intense because I want to become a more complete boxer.”

Salvador Jasso of East Los Angeles will box at the Junior Championships July 19-24 at Northern Michigan University.

Jasso, 17, who lost in the finals to Danny Biaza-Rios of San Antonio at the Golden Gloves Tournament in May, failed to qualify for the Olympic Festival.

Jasso last fought June 14 in the USA/Canada Dual Meet. He lost to Michael Strange, who was a member of Canada’s 1992 Olympic boxing team. Jasso is ranked No. 8 in the 132-pound weight class with an overall record of 42-10.

Anthony McDonald of South-Central appears to be another area boxer on the rise. McDonald, 14, won the Junior Olympic District Tournament at Obregon Park in East Los Angeles in June. McDonald was named the outstanding boxer in the senior division (14 and 15 years old).

World Boxing Assn. junior lightweight champion Genaro (Chicanito) Hernandez of South-Central retained his title by defeating Raul (Jibaro) Perez of Tijuana at the Great Western Forum on June 28.

Hernandez is now mulling over a possible showdown with undefeated Oscar De La Hoya of East Los Angeles in October.

“There’s a pretty good chance, I guess, that I’ll be fighting De La Hoya, but I never (look past) any of my opponents,” Hernandez said.

The fight between Hernandez (28-0-1) and Perez was a rematch of an April 26 bout that resulted in Hernandez’s only draw.

The bout, declared a technical draw, ended when the boxers unintentionally butted heads. After a brief inspection of the boxers, ringside physician Robert Karns stopped the fight, in which no meaningful punches were thrown.

Hernandez’s victory marked the fifth defense of the 130-pound title.