Fourth Annual Boxing Fan Expo packs a punch

By KJ Turkson

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Fourth Annual Boxing Fan Expo once again provided the opportunity of a lifetime for dedicated fight fans, providing them with access to dozens of current and former champions at the same time, and all under one roof. The incredible event took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Saturday afternoon during Mexican Independence Day weekend, and just ahead of the hotly contested rematch between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, and the long-time reigning champion at 160 pounds, Gennady "GGG" Golovkin.

Of course, the DSH was on hand to enjoy the unlimited and unfiltered access to the countless amateur standouts, rising contenders, world champions, and Hall of Famers, including former six division champion Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns; former undisputed super middleweight and light heavyweight champion, and Team USA Olympic gold medalist, the recently-retired Andre "SOG" Ward; undefeated multi-division champion and Pound-for-Pound contender Mikey Garcia; newly-minted WBC welterweight champion Shawn “Showtime” Porter; current unbeaten IBF 147-pound kingpin Errol Spence Jr.; former 168-pound champion Badou Jack "The Ripper;" world champion at four different weight classes and Manny Pacquiao's longtime rival, the legendary Juan Manuel Marquez; former four-division champion, Tijuana's own, Erik "El Terrible" Morales; and fellow Mexican icon and Hall of Famer, Marco Antonio Barrera.

“This is my first time here, but I do this kind of stuff all the time, it’s important to me; for my fans to get an opportunity to get a chance to see and touch me,” said Andre Ward.

In addition to the stars mentioned above, an absolutely ridiculous amount of perennial fan favorites were also in the building, such as the one and only James “Lights Out” Toney, Jesse Vargas, Abner Mares, boxing brothers David and Jose Benavidez, as well as young rising stars like Teofimo Lopez and Rolando “Rollie” Romero.

Beyond the individual stars, many major companies and other movers and shakers in the fight game were also well represented with high-profile organizations like Detroit’s Famed Kronk Gym Foundation, Floyd Mayweather’s ubiquitous Money Team, USA Boxing, the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, the WBC, and the WBA all having a presence at the event.

No surprise, many of the sport's legends had a lot to say, both about themselves and the big upcoming fight.

Hall of Famer Hearns commented that he was able to achieve so much in his career because “I put a lot of time into trying to develop myself. I did everything, and went overboard in trying, because I really wanted it. If you really want something, you gotta really go after it. You can’t shortcut things and try and get around things.”

When asked for his assessment of the Golovkin-Canelo rematch, Ward stated, “Big fights like this are about execution, and nobody in this room knows who is going to execute tonight. But, if I had to pick, I’d probably lean toward Canelo. I feel like he is going to make the adjustments, and box better. (On Golovkin) I haven’t seen him do nothing but press (his opponent).  What he does, he does well, but I haven’t seen any different tricks in his bag.”

“I got Canelo," said Porter.  "I think he is gonna be sharp, he’s gonna be fast, I think defensively, he’s gonna be a lot more slippery. If I was in his corner I would just tell him to be first, try and keep his distance on the outside.”

In an interesting change from past events, this year's Box Fan Expo also featured several highly-ranked fighters from the USA Boxing amateur program, such as Las Vegas’ own, 2020 Olympic hopeful Czarina McCoy.  Many of those amateurs participated in the Inaugural Box Fan Expo Invitational 2018, a boxing competition where amateur fighters faced some of the best in their division.  The action in the ring located in the middle of the sizable convention center floor was quite spirited, as some of the pros voiced their approval of the youngsters duking it out.

After attending the Las Vegas Box Fan Expo, for the first time this past Saturday, this DSH reporter, along with everyone else in attendance has only one question they need answered: how long until next year’s event?