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6/01/06 - article by Jennifer Branch
Boxing showcase heading to Pasadena
By:JENNIFER BRANCH , Citizen Reporter
Maurice "Termite" Watkins has a vision.
The Pasadena Convention Center on Fairmont Parkway is full to the brim: families, businesspeople,
husbands and wives, fathers and sons, old high school buddies, teenagers. The lights are low,
and all of the energy pulsing through the crowd is fixated on the ring in the middle of the
auditorium, flooded in lights. Spectators explode into cheers when the boxers come bounding
out of their locker rooms. The event is so large, tickets have been sold out for two weeks.
This is the vision that Watkins has for July 8, a day that both Watkins and boxing promoter Kevin
Reinhardt hope will bring good boxing to the Pasadena Convention Center.
Watkins, a Pasadena-area native, is an ex-professional boxer who has 128 amateur wins and a
professional record of 58-5-2. Reinhardt is a self-described boxing fanatic who was recently licensed to promote the sport.
On Wednesday afternoon, Watkins and Reinhardt sat at Chili's on Fairmont Parkway, hashing out plans
and finalizing all of the intricate details that go into developing an event this large, including
the hiring of the infamous ring girls.
"Where should we go for the ring girls?" asked Reinhardt.
"Well, we're looking for (beautiful) women, but not trashy women," Watkins explained as he
suggested scouting local restaurants for possible candidates.
Reinhardt said, "What we really want to highlight, is that this is a family event. It will be
a great thing for everyone to do."
Watkins explained that boxing used to be an event that the entire family could enjoy, and that
children are more than welcome at the upcoming event. This, he explained, is why the event will
be held on a Saturday instead of a Tuesday or Thursday like other boxing matches - to allow interested
children to come out as well.
"You've got to understand, when I was 10, I was already in trouble. I truly believe that boxing
really turned my life around," said Watkins. "I was never any good at football or basketball
or baseball, and I found that I was good at boxing. We want to give other kids the same opportunities I was handed."
Reinhardt, who works very closely with Strait Way, Inc., an organization that helps provide
guidance to troubled families, said that boxing is oftentimes used as an effective tool for
keeping children out of trouble.
"It fills your time and there are just massive amounts of discipline involved;" he said.
"When it comes down to it, this event is as much about kids as anything else."
According to the pair, the Pasadena Convention Center was a natural selection to hold the event.
"We looked for a location for a while," said Watkins. "But Pasadena is in my back yard. Pasadena
and Deer Park have been very good to me and I'd like to give back to them."
Reinhardt said that location was "ideal because it's a new facility, it seats the number of
people we want; there's good parking, and great security."
The duo has 10 professional fighters and five fights scheduled for the first night of boxing in Pasadena.
"Bobby Aucoin has 16 wins, zero losses and one draw; Blake Prevost has seven wins, one loss and
one draw. We also have Daniel García, a native Houstonian, with six wins, three losses and one
draw; and Jeremy Duplechain, an extremely underrated fighter who has five wins and two losses,"
explained Watkins. "It's going to be a really fun night."
Reinhardt said Pasadena has a large boxing fan base and that the event should do well.
"It's centralized (in Pasadena), and people love it. There's no doubt in my mind that it will
be a success; I've never been so sure of anything in my life," he said.
Not only are Watkins and Reinhardt looking forward to seeing the families that will be attending
] the event, but are certain that the fight will serve as an excellent networking source for area businesses.
"We will have ringside tables for sponsors, and they will be catered to," said Watkins, "and we also
encourage businesses to bring information and business cards to hand out while they're there. This
will be a fantastic opportunity for networking."
A handful of sponsorship tables are still available to interested parties for $1,000, Watkins said.
"We'll have a table where they can place all of their literature, they'll get a free add in our program
and we'll put their logo on our material," Reinhardt said.
Several celebrities will also be invited out to the event, including wrestling star Booker T, two-time
world champion boxer and Houston native Reggie Johnson, and Olympic boxers Frank Tate, gold medalist;
Rocky Juarez, silver medalist and gold medalist Andre Ward.
"It's really going to be big," said Watkins.
Reinhardt explained that the team would like to host three more fights in Pasadena before the end of the year.
"We'd like to make it a monthly thing, eventually," he said. "We just really want to bring good boxing to Pasadena."
Tickets for the event are on sale now through Ticketmaster, and range from $35 a ticket in General
Admission, to $65 a ticket for V.I.P. seating.
"We hope to have it sold out by two weeks before," said Termite. "So everyone needs to know that there is limited seating."
Businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring a table can contact Watkins at (832) 212-4274,
or Reinhardt at (832) 256-3413.
By the end of the pairs' meeting, paper with Watkins scrawl littered the table, a testament
to the ideas and finalizations that bounced back and forth between the two for hours.
"This is gonna be huge," Watkins said. |
