05.05.04 – Forget Independence Day. The real fireworks of the Summer of 2004 will go off on June 3 and 4, when Goossen Tutor Promotions presents two consecutive nights of boxing at the Chinook Winds Casino and Convention Center in Lincoln City, Oregon, featuring world class championship fights.
“Commotion at the Ocean Back-to-Back” will kick off on Thursday, June 3, with a Showtime-televised card featuring one of boxing’s hottest young prospects, featherweight sensation Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (12-0-1, 5 KOs), who will look to move one step closer to a title when he battles former world champion Enrique Sanchez (30-2-4, 21 KOs) in a ten rounder that will headline the hit series “ShoBox: The New Generation.”
But the fists don’t stop flying there, as former two-time middleweight world champion Keith Holmes (39-3, 25 KOs) continues his amazing quest to go down in weight to win another world title when he tackles Rodney Jones (33-3, 22 KOs) for the NABF junior middleweight championship on Friday, June 4. This bout, which headlines another stellar night of boxing, will be televised via tape delay on Fox Sports Net’s “Sunday Night Fights.”
Doors open for both shows at 5:30 p.m. and the first bout begins at 6:45 p.m.
Long considered to be one of boxing’s most underrated practitioners, Washington, DC’s Keith Holmes is making some noise in an unlikely place – the junior middleweight division. A two-time former world champion at 160 pounds, who has faced the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Hassine Cherifi, Paul Vaden, and Andrew Council, Holmes moved to the 154-pound weight class in 2003, and promptly scored three impressive victories. In his most recent win, on March 14, Holmes scored a decision victory over highly regarded Kuvanych Toygonbayev. Holmes is currently rated eighth in the world by the WBO.
Rodney Jones, currently rated fifth in the world by the WBO, has his eyes on the junior middleweight crown as well, and when he puts his NABF title on the line against Holmes, he knows that the winner will move even closer to that dream shot. Born in Louisiana, but now making his home in Stockton, California, “Smooth” is riding a nine-fight winning streak, with each of those victories coming by way of knockout. On April 15, Jones earned the vacant NABF crown with a ninth round TKO win over Andres Pacheco.
Only 21 years old, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is wise beyond his years in the ring. A decorated amateur, Guerrero turned pro in 2001 and hasn’t looked back yet, earning praise as one of the top prospects to watch in 2004 by USA Today. Hailing from Gilroy, California, the slick southpaw with dynamite in his fists recently scored another important victory of his young career when he stopped former world champion Juan Polo Perez in just two rounds on April 24.
Enrique Sanchez is a rugged warrior who will test the skills of the rising star. A 14-year veteran of the prize ring, the Mexico City native is a former NABF super bantamweight champion who won the WBA world 122-pound title in 1998 with a decision over Rafael Del Valle. He is unbeaten since 2001, and hopes to keep that streak intact on June 3.
Tickets for “Commotion at the Ocean Back-to-Back”, priced at $250, $150, $75, $55 and $35 are available by calling 1-888-Chinook