A Golden Night at the Olympic

For four years, the Olympic Auditorium stood dark and empty while local fighters were drawn to the bright lights and screaming crowds in other venues, mostly in other cities. Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas and Shane Mosley, all world-class fighters from this area, went elsewhere to carve out their reputations and amass their fortunes. The Olympic remained only as a sad monument to an era when big-time boxing was an important sport in Los Angeles.

Its doors remained open, but only to actors and singers and preachers. It made money as a site for television and movie crews, concerts and religious services.

Until Thursday.

De La Hoya, who had fought at the Olympic, whose father and grandfather had fought there, resurrected the old structure at 18th and Grand by promoting Boxeo de Oro, a boxing show that drew a crowd of 5,182 (approximately 4,500 paid), including celebrities and legends of the old era, and featured two crowd-pleasing fights.

It was also the first of a series of matches on HBO Latino.

“We can make it dirty and smelly like the old days,” De La Hoya said of the refurbished Olympic. “Let’s do it.”

There was controversy in the main event when Oscar Larios (47-3-1, 33 knockouts), the World Boxing Council super-bantamweight champion, won a unanimous decision over Marcos Licona (19-3-1, eight) in a non-title, 10-round featherweight bout.

Although it was a brawl in which neither fighter gave ground, went down or paused during the fight, the three judges saw it as a one-sided match. Judge Jack Reiss had it 100-90, Lou Fillippo 99-91, Max DeLuca 98-92.

“It’s an injustice,” Licona said through an interpreter. “It was not so one-sided. He said he would give me a rematch, but those are just words. The wind can sweep words away.”

While Larios reiterated after the fight that he was agreeable to a rematch, he conceded he didn’t feel comfortable at featherweight and will return to the super-bantamweight division.

There was also plenty of controversy in the semi-main, although there was no doubt about the outcome.

Jose Navarro (14-0, six) knocked out Carlos Madrigal (20-4, 15) in the second round of a super-flyweight unification match. Navarro came in as the International Boxing Assn. Continental Americas title-holder, Madrigal with the North American Boxing Organization championship belt.

Navarro put Madrigal down three times in that second round, but many felt it should have ended after the first, and certainly after the second knockdown, when Madrigal appeared to go down from the accumulation of punishment rather than from a particular blow.

The third time, Navarro landed three lefts and an on-the-button right that sent Madrigal crashing to the canvas, his head bouncing violently.

This time, Reiss didn’t bother to count, immediately signaling the match was over. It took several minutes for doctors to get Madrigal to his feet, but he was able to walk, unsteadily, out of the ring.

“This is a guy’s opportunity for a title,” Reiss said. “He had mounds and mounds of experience. He responded to my commands and he did not cross his legs over when I asked him to walk forward. I let his body language talk.

“If I would have stopped that fight earlier, they would have said I took his chance away from him.”