Local Promotion

A 20-square-foot elevated ring with a bright blue canvas and four taut ropes is centered within the tiny arena.

Noted ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., attired in tuxedo, swings a leg between the ropes and reaches for the microphone as the first bell sounds.

It looks like a boxing match. It sounds like a boxing match. It just doesn’t smell like a boxing match.

Alcohol and smoking is prohibited within the Oxnard Police Activities League Center, a dimly lit, 45-year-old former high school gymnasium with retracted glass backboards and rickety wooden bleachers.

A crowd of more than 600 snacks on hot dogs and soft drinks and cheers wildly for hometown fighters Eddie Contreras and Tony Garcia, who score knockout victories. The boxers are surrounded afterward by relatives and admiring children.

It’s a boxing match with a hometown flavor.

If only hometown promoter Robert Valdez can find a permanent home for his vagabond show.

A program last Saturday night was the second in three months for Valdez, 35, owner and operator of Primitive Sports Promotions. The title pretty much sums up his stature in the fight game.

Valdez, by day a service manager for an auto dealership, readily admits he never will promote a title fight and that his venture presenting Ventura County with entry-level boxing on a shoestring budget might be short lived.

Valdez is struggling to break even and has been forced to relocate once. He has spent much of the past six months bobbing and weaving around town in search of a sizable and affordable permanent venue.

Valdez’s one-night stand at the PAL Center was a courtesy granted because of his longtime acquaintance with civic leaders and his role in promoting amateur fights through the Police Activities League.

A spokesman said the league is undecided whether to permit a second show. But Valdez already is looking elsewhere.”

“I was told I would be allowed to promote one show but I probably wouldn’t be allowed to do another,” Valdez said. “Right now, I’m looking in the community.”

While Valdez remains without an arena--or a firm date for his next program--he is not without resolve.

Besides, diamond rings and world titles are not really the point.

“I’m not a rich guy,” Valdez said. “I’ve saved some money. I have three kids and a wife. There are a whole lot better ways to invest your money. But if you’re a true fan and care about what you are doing, that’s all that matters.”

Valdez threw a jab or two in a local gym while growing up in Oxnard. He says he is motivated by love for the community and passion for the sport.

His goal is to provide a springboard for young fighters, particularly the bevy of boxers who blossom within the strong Oxnard amateur programs.

“When I first started this program, people told me it wouldn’t work,” Valdez said. “That’s if this area is soft to boxing and I don’t think it is. If I can take a guy and give him some exposure and get him to maybe 10-0 and he catches someone’s attention and goes on to bigger and better things . . . then I’m a pretty good promoter.”

By all accounts, Saturday’s card, featuring a handful of fighters with only a few four-round bouts under their belts, was competitive and entertaining. Attendance was up from the 500 or so at Valdez’s inaugural show at Ventura County Fairgrounds in May.

“I love doing these shows,” Lennon said. “It’s just a different scene all together than one of the big mega shows. There’s a different kind of enthusiasm.”

For a fledgling promoter, Valdez has shown savvy by hiring Lennon, among the sport’s most visible ambassadors. He also retained a competent matchmaker, Jerry Bilderrain, who schedules fights for promoter Roy Englebrecht’s successful monthly ballroom shows at the Irvine Marriott Hotel.

Valdez sought out Bilderrain after attending fights in Irvine.

“I went with Robert because I saw something in the guy that was refreshing,” Bilderrain said. “The guy’s new, he doesn’t swear and he admits he doesn’t know boxing. I wanted to help him get rolling. He’s got enough talent in his own backyard to take care of the rest.”

But instead of recruiting fighters, Valdez has devoted most of his time to polishing his presentation.

In December, Valdez announced an agreement with Ventura Theater, but the deal fell through when the facility underwent renovation and a change of management.

Valdez has since searched in vain for an arena large enough to accommodate as many as 1,000 people. He estimates he needs to attract that many to obtain a goal of offering seats as cheaply as $15.

A tour of hotels in the area proved unsuccessful. Valdez was unable to come to terms with the Performing Arts Center and Elks Lodge. Finally, he parted ways with the fairgrounds after losing money on his first show.

“It was just too expensive to rent there,” Valdez said. “It’s tough to lose $1,000. It’s tough to lose more. But I know I have to make the initial investment to get the ball rolling.”

Valdez estimates he nearly broke even on his last show. He said he won’t be prepared to promote another card until September.

“If it gets to the point where I’m losing $1,000 on every show, my business sense will probably take over,” Valdez said.

“So, it winds up costing me some money. I don’t want to be lying around when I’m 60 years old wishing I had done this.”