On Friday, June 3, 2016 and Saturday, June 4, 2016, Westside Boxing will feature three of its fighters on two Southern California boxing cards promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. The gym is appropriately calling this two-day event the “Westside Weekend.”
On June 3, Tenochtitlan “T-Dog” Nava will return for his second professional fight in the next edition of LA Fight Club. Nava will open the night win a scheduled four-round Super Featherweight fight.
Later on in the night, Rafael “El Alikin” Gramajo will return in a six-round Super Bantamweight fight. In the main event, Ronny Rios will take on Efrain Esquivias. Both Nava’s and Gramajo’s fights will be streamed via RingTVLive.com, with the broadcast beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT.
On the very next day, Nick “La Calavera” Arce will return to the StubHub Center in Carson, California in six-round Super Featherweight fight. Arce will fight on the undercard of the highly-anticipated Super Featherweight title fight between Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido.
Arce’s fight will also be streamed via RingTVLive.com, with the live stream beginning at 4:30 p.m. PT.
RBRBoxing caught up with the three-man stable, which is headed by the Saucedo Brothers out of the Westside Boxing club. Check out what each fighter had to say below.
Tenochtitlan “T-Dog” Nava
Tenochtitlan Nava, 22, is a Los Angeles, California native who will fight for the second time as a professional. Nava, a Super Featherweight of Mexican descent, says he learned an important lesson in his debut.
“I learned that taking punches won’t win you fights, so I have to be more defensive,” said Nava, who also said a big weight was lifted off of his shoulders from the win.
“It was a relief of stress after a hard training camp,” said Nava.
This time around, for the first time in their careers, all three members of the stable were in camp together, but Nava will be the first to go to war.
“It feels great because, since I’m fighting before my teammates, I would like to see the other fights and cheer my stablemates on.”
Nava looks forward to enjoying the rest of the weekend of boxing action.
“I’m looking for a great win because it’s a great weekend of boxing. You’ve got a potential Fight of the Year on Saturday,” said Nava.
Rafael “El Alikin” Gramajo
Rafael Gramajo, 22, is coming off an impressive win against the previously undefeated Sharone Carter, is a Super Bantamweight fighter fighting out Los Angeles, California who is looking forward to the big weekend.
“I feel good, ready and excited,” said Gramajo, who spoke highly of his training camp with his stablemates.
“We worked on everything. We worked on our inside and outside game. We had good sparring with Nick, who’s a taller guy, and with Tenoch, who’s about my size,” said Nava.
Gramajo said that having two sparring partners with different styles allowed him to work on different things.
When asked about his last victory, Gramajo said that it gave him high hopes about his future.
“Mentally it got me more focused in making me want to get better and better because I beat a good undefeated fighter. It showed me that I can be the best in the game,” said Gramajo.
Nick “La Calavera” Arce
Nick Arce, 19, is a Super Featherweight prospect out of Los Angeles, California who is known for bringing hundreds of fans to his fights. Arce will be the last of all three to fight, so he brings a different perspective.
“I feel more than ready,” said Arce, who says that he’s had the best training camp of his career.
“We started a little bit earlier. We went back to what got us here in the first place, and we’re just ready to get in there on Saturday,” said Arce.
On Friday, Arce will weigh-in just a few hours before his two stablemates, so he’ll be resting at a nearby hotel while his partners go to war.
“It kind of sucks because I don’t get to see them live, but I’ll be with them in spirit and watch it online,” said Arce, who credits his partners with a great training camp.
“It was good having them in the same camp as me, going through the same situations, going through the same pain and pushing each other to the max,” said Arce.
Arce has high expectations on his return to the StubHub Center.
“I expect to deliver a great boxing performance,” said Arce.
All Photos by Frank Nunez for Westside Boxing
