Hard Hitta Promotions Gave Back to San Francisco Saturday Night
April 30, 2024
Marvin Lemus
(Ringside)
In a sport that is about give and take and features much deception on the business end, it was all about some of the good guys of boxing giving back this past Saturday night at the historic Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco as local Welterweight boxer/Promoter Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield, President of Hard HItta Promotions, hosted a 5 bout card which included entertainment and a charity giveaway!
In the evening’s main event Jr. Welterweight and Oakland, CA native Willie Shaw Jr dominated Sacramento, CA’s Giovannie Gonzalez through 3 rounds and a vicious body shot in round 4 ended the contest. Shaw improved to 7-0 (6), while Gonzalez fell to 4-2 (4).
Females where showcased in the the evening’s co-main event as middleweight prospect Raquel Miller returned home and did not disappoint the hometown crowd, earning a unanamous decision over Wilson, NC’s Tiffany Woodard to improve to 7-0 (3). Miller found her range with her jab early and her effective counter power punches made this a one sided fight. Woodward fell to 4-11-3 (3). With the victory, the boxing couple of Miller and boyfriend, light heavyweight Steven Nelson, are now a combined 18 and 0 and both are rising and promising prospects in the sport.
Local Middleweight Ricardo Pinell improved to 17-3-1 (10) scoring a TKO at 2:59 of round 5 over Compton, CA’s Lucius Johnson. It was a slow paced fight until Southpaw Pinell picked up the pace to start the 5th round and the explosive change of pace proved too much for Johnson to withstand. Johnson’s record is now 4-4-1 (3).
Stockton, CA Heavyweight Roberto Salas earned a TKO over San Jose, CA’s Davin Clark. Both fighters came out swinging but Salas connected too much for the referee’s liking and he mercifully stepped in for the stoppage. Salas improved to 3-0 (3). Clark suffers his first defeat and fell to 1-1.
The evening kicked off with an entertaining battle of debuting Jr. Middleweights as Richmond, CA’s
Bounthong TongSyvanthong and Sacramento, CA’s Erick Sanchez did not disappoint in getting the party started! In a contest that featured several momentum changes through the four rounds TongSyvanthong earned the unanamous 39-37 (all three cards) to get the victory.
The event did not sell out and I don’t think Karim Mayfield really cared? The event was more about supporting local fighters and artist. During the fights there were local music artist including Mayfield’s daughter and sister that had performed during intermission but the best part about it was Hard Hitta Promotions donating $50,000 to the historic Fillmore Heritage Center that is going through financial struggle. If you know the Mayfield story then you know the hard road Karim and his Brother have been through and you know the heart felt and sincere motivation for the Mayfield’s to wanna give back to the city that has stood behind them!
About the Editor
Army Veteran and former Professional Boxer Simon Ruvalcaba started boxing at the age of ten and Had a 71 fight amateur career which featured a 139 lbs. 1998 8th U.S. Army Boxing Championship out of Camp Casey, Korea and a spot on the prestigious Army Boxing Team at Fort Hood, TX. After a journeyman pro career of 18 fights, which included sparring sessions with many champions and contenders including Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker, Simon started writing and has contributed to many publications and websites including fighthype.com, pound4pound.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV). He has also been the Boxing Instructor for Ken Shamrock and The Lions Den and was MMA and Bareknuckle star Paige VanZant’s first boxing coach!
Born and Raised in South Lake Tahoe, California he now resides in Sun Valley, Nevada and spends as much time as possible with his Sons Gabriel and Oscar! Beyond boxing, Simon is an all around sports fanatic and is passionate about the teams that he roots for. Simon also works as a Sportsbook Supervisor for Caesars Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.
