Live boxing is coming to the Soboba Casino Resort Event Center on Feb. 15 and it promises to be an exciting evening of entertainment. Emceed by comedian Jerry Garcia, the loaded card will feature 10 bouts featuring some of the best up-and-coming boxers in the sport.
Toro Promotions Inc., House of Pain So Cal Boxing and Black House have joined forces to create a fun night for lovers of the sport and the comedy that will be part of the event. House of Pain So Cal Boxing has just become the newest boxing promotion company in the Inland Empire. The boxing and fitness club is operated by Dave and Mary Trujillo who are both enrolled Native American Apache Indians. Dave is the North American Ambassador for the NDE Apache Tribe.
One reason the promotion company was created was to provide a gateway and an avenue for boxers who are birthed from the House of Pain So Cal Boxing Mentorship Program. Soboba Tribal member Jimmie “El Chingon” Nunez, David Longoria Trujillo, Ian “The Captain” Morgan and Daniel “Larana” Ramos started with the program, either with coaching or going through the program themselves. All four will be part of the upcoming event.
“As the youth go through our amateur boxing program, they can step up and become professional boxers,” Dave Trujillo said. “The House of Pain team also provides management for them to help them with their careers and now it will serve as their promoter. As promoters, we have built an amazing network with most of the larger promoters out there who we work with side by side, such as Toro Promotions, who we have partnered up with for our first event here at Soboba. With this network, there will be no limits as to the heights House of Pain So Cal Boxing can achieve.”
The Temecula-based facility is partnering with Soboba Casino Resort to bring positive and professional events to the Event Center in San Jacinto and Trujillo said, “Our goal is to help everyone and we also focus on Native American boxers through our Mentorship Program and our professional boxing promotions. We try to seek and find where we can help Native Americans who are coming from all over North America. It is our passion and will continue to be our life’s work.”
With his current record of 5 wins and 2 losses, all by knockout, Nunez, who turned pro in May of 2022, is thrilled to finally realize his dream to be fighting on his home turf at Soboba. “It’s actually still a little hard to believe, mind-blowing to say the least,” he said. “I have an amazing team that works just as hard as I do but on the business end of things and of course none of this is possible without the Big Man upstairs.”
Prepping hard as he does for all of his fights, Nunez, 28, is putting in a lot of cardio training to meet the demands of this high-endurance sport. He also spends a lot of time sparring as he feels the best way to learn how to fight is to fight. He will be facing off against a new opponent but said, “I’m definitely looking to compete with the opponents I took losses from to show my improvement.”
Trujillo, who has been training with Nunez for the past few years, said, “I am in awe for this incredible young man who is true to his dreams, his daughter Mila and whomever will follow his lead from the depths of poverty, gang violence, drugs, alcohol and all the generational curses that we carry with us,” he said. “His sobriety has helped him grow as an incredible, respectful young man.”
Trujillo said he has never seen Jimmie so powerful and strong coming into a fight with major drilling hours upon hours and miles upon miles. “I have said it before and I will say it again; It’s our Creator, Father God who is paving the way for us all,” he added. “We just keep the faith and follow his lead and he will provide us with what he feels we are deserving of.”
Also on the card will be David Longoria Trujillo, who is Apache Indian (NDE Apache Tribe); his children are Luiseño from Pechanga Indian Reservation. The athlete is entering back into the boxing world after having taken a very long vacation. As an amateur, he has been trained by Kevin Morgan who was with Coach Freddy Roach at Wild Card Boxing in LA. Then, as a young prospect, Longoria Trujillo was advised by Golden Boy Promotions CFO Raul Guttierez and Matchmaker Roberto Diaz to train in Indio with Joel Diaz where he was to turn pro in 2011. At that time, the young fighter elected to dedicate his time to being a family man and enjoy life with raising his children. He now has four daughters and one son. Longoria Trujillo has always kept himself in phenomenal shape and at 36 years of age returned to the ring to fulfill a lifelong dream. He now holds a record of 2-0 with 2 KOs at Cruiserweight, looking to add a third KO to his resume at the SCR Event Center.
Ian “The Captain” Morgan is a 23-year-old Heavyweight prospect who is a remarkable young man that has achieved multiple statuses. He is a commercial airline pilot, skydiver and instructor and an entrepreneur who owns Morgan Disposal in Southern California. Morgan’s record is 1-2-0 and he is seeking to make it even to 2-2-0. He has come down from over 300 pounds to 225 and will continue to drop and become a Cruiserweight after this final Heavyweight bout.
Another fighter, coming from P-Town Boxing Academy, is William “El Gallo Negro” King. With a record of 5-1-1 with 2 KOs under his belt at Super Lightweight, King is an amazing prospect that Coach Angel Ochoa and Angel Ochoa Jr. have bred locally in Perris. “His boxing skills are what makes him so entertaining, and he will put on a show for us all to see,” Trujillo said. “It’s our pleasure to have him and his coaches on the card.”
Also boxing at the upcoming event will be Terrence Brown, an Arapahoe Native from Casper, Wyoming and local boxer, Daniel “Larana” Ramos, who is looking to improve his record to 1-1.
The treat of having comedian Jerry Garcia emcee the event came about through Trujillo’s partner Cesar Garcia of Black House Boxing. “Cesar is and has been in multiple aspects of not only the boxing world but also show business including being a boxing manager and a promoter in Mexico with Grito De Guerra Boxing Promotions.”
Cesar Garcia said he is bringing his event promoting experience and contacts to help make this a top-notch event. “None of my boxers are on this card but hopefully this will lead to opportunities for them in the future,” he said. Being a fan of comedian Jerry Garcia for a long time, Cesar reached out to him specifically about this show. He said, “We are trying a new concept of mixing boxing and comedy and he agreed to try and make it happen.”
Jerry said he is excited to bring something new and refreshing to the art of comedy by bringing two entertainment powerhouses together: boxing and comedy. “This will be my first time at Soboba and I’m looking forward to some knockout punches and knockout jokes,” he said.
On Feb. 14 at 1 p.m., there will be a meet and greet with Jerry Garcia and the boxers during their official weigh-in at the Cabaret Bar inside the Soboba Casino, 22777 Soboba Road in San Jacinto. This event will be free and open to the public.
Tickets for the Feb. 15 Punches and Punchlines, two great shows for one price, are $85 for Premium seating and $65 for General Admission seating. Capacity is 1,044. Ringside seats are already sold out.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.soboba.com or call 1-866-4-SOBOBA.
