Flyweight Garcia Favored in Boxing Main Event at Pond

Flyweights Isidro Garcia of Los Angeles and Oscar Andrade of Mexico will headline tonight’s boxing card at the Arrowhead Pond, possibly the second-to-last promotion by Forum Boxing.

A Nov. 29 Forum Boxing card is the last scheduled boxing show at the Pond. Forum Boxing held its final Forum show last week.

Forum Boxing, which is attempting to reorganize after President Jerry Buss announced he would no longer fund the business, is still talking to the Pond about staging shows next year. But Don Ebert, director of program development and marketing for Forum Boxing, said a television contract is essential.

“The TV deal is what makes it all viable,” Ebert said. “That is the thing that’s up in the air. We’ve had many discussions with KCAL, ESPN, Univision and Fox Sports Net. We realize TV makes it a lot easier to do the package. It brings sponsors and opens up other doors of revenues besides gate sales. It’s an expensive building. In a major arena, you can’t live off ticket sales.”

Ebert admits time is running out on Forum Boxing, which had a cable TV deal with Fox Sports during its four years of promoting fights at the Pond.

“We’re trying to keep it together,” Ebert said. “But if we don’t have something concrete by the Nov. 29 show, it’s probably not going to happen.”

Mike O’Donnell, the Pond’s assistant general manager, said he is negotiating with other promoters. But he is hopeful Forum Boxing can continue to be the building’s primary boxing promoter.

“We want to have a boxing program here, but we want to do it in a fashion that makes sense financially,” O’Donnell said.

In tonight’s show, Garcia (18-1-1 with five knockouts), the World Boxing Organization’s No. 2-ranked flyweight, is a heavy favorite to beat Andrade (22-15, 12 knockouts). Junior middleweights Dwain Williams (16-3, 12 knockouts) of Los Angeles and Undra White (21-9, 17 knockouts) of St. Louis will face each other in the co-main event. Light heavyweight Julio Gonzalez (18-0, nine knockouts) is on the undercard, which begins at 7:15 p.m.