Pond Goes After Latino Audience With Boxing Show

It is more than a coincidence that Carlos Gonzalez and Victor Rabanales--the two featured fighters on the Pond’s first of 18 boxing promotions--are from Mexico City. From their opening press conference to their first radio spot, the Pond’s boxing promoters have made no mistake who their target audience is Monday night--Latinos.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to cater to an audience that hasn’t been here before,” said the Pond’s John Nicoletti, one of the event’s promoters.

To make Latinos feel more welcome at the venue and ensure their return, more Mexican food will be offered, signs will be in Spanish and English, and more bilingual ushers and supervisors will be hired.

Nicoletti said tickets sales for Monday’s boxing event have been slow, but he’s expecting the Pond’s $100,000 marketing campaign--of which about $90,000 is geared toward Latinos--to start showing results.

“Everything is kicking in right now,” Nicoletti said Wednesday. “We’re waiting for Feb. 1 when everyone gets paid. We expect this to be an impulse-oriented buy.”

If Latinos don’t buy tickets, it won’t be because they weren’t asked. Last week, 30,000 door hangers in the shape of boxing gloves went out to homes in heavily concentrated Latino neighborhoods.

The Pond also is running spots on Latino radio and television stations and advertisements in Latino newspapers. Nicoletti is even trying to make the Latino reporters feel at home. Last week, he had a media familiarization tour of the Pond for the Latino media. There is even an “Hispanic help line” (714-704-2602) for people with questions about the boxing show.

The Pond has retained Newport Beach-based AD Rendon & Asociados, which specializes in Latino advertising and public relations, for the push.

But maybe the biggest help to boxing fans are the ticket prices of $100 (ringside), $65, $35, $25 and $12. With the upper level and parts of the lower level closed off for boxing, every seat sold will be within two sections of the ring. A majority of the 5,800 seats will go for $25 and $12.

“Middle-class people are our bread and butter,” Nicoletti said. “They are the fight fans and we need to make sure they can afford to go.”

More than 12,000 attended the last major boxing event staged by the Pond--”Mucho Machismo,” a March 31 show promoted by Forum Boxing Inc. that included three world title fights and a non-title bout with then-junior lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez. Nicoletti cautions that the Pond’s bi-monthly cards will not be able to match the talent involved with “Mucho Machismo.”

“This is a totally different sell than that,” he said. “When people come to the event, we expect them to have a good time, to see good quality fights. We’re not going to be able to put a [world championship] belt on the line every time. But if they support us, we’ll bring our share of title fights in here.”

The fighters coming to the Pond are being supplied by Forum Boxing, the show’s co-promoters. Forum Boxing is also supplying sponsors, season-ticket holders, programs and its expertise.

“They’re making sure we do things right,” Nicoletti said. “This is all new to us. The Forum has been invaluable to us as far as teaching us the fight game. It’s been a tremendous learning experience.”

John Beyrooty, Forum Boxing’s public relations director, said he expects Forum Boxing’s venture with the Pond to have growing pains too. But Beyrooty, whose company will promote 24 other shows at the Forum and at out-of-state venues this year, said the growing pains better not last long.

“There’s a lot of pressure on [Forum Boxing],” Beyrooty said. “Now with us in Orange County and the Forum, we really have to put on good shows in both places. If we don’t, people are going to say, ‘You’re putting on your best fights at the Pond or at the Forum.’ And at one of the places, they’ll feel like they’re getting manipulated. So we really can’t afford a bad show.”

Former junior lightweight champion Hernandez was supposed to headline Monday’s show, but Hernandez said Forum Boxing couldn’t afford him. Hernandez said he had a clause in his contract with Forum Boxing that guaranteed him at least $150,000 a fight.

“They wanted to pay me $15,000, but I didn’t think I should go back into the ring for that low,” said Hernandez, who had his nose broken in a fight last summer with Oscar De La Hoya. “I didn’t lose my title, they stripped me of it. I don’t expect to be paid as world champion, but I figured it would be a legitimate amount.”

Said John Jackson, Forum Boxing’s vice president: “I understand Genaro’s decision but I think that it’s incorrect. He has to start back somewhere. We felt he needed a fight that was not a pressure fight. He’s had his nose broken in 20 places and there’s no way of knowing how he’s going to react.”

Beyrooty admits Gonzalez and Rabanales are not as marketable as Hernandez, a former world champion who lives in Mission Viejo, but he says they can fight. Gonzalez (43-2 with 38 knockouts) faces Puerto Rican Silverio Flores (17-3 with 12 knockouts). Rabanales (41-14-2 with 22 knockouts) will fight Alejandro Sanabria (27-11 with 17 knockouts).

Tim Ryan, assistant general manager of the Pond, said he’s expecting at least 3,000 fans Monday night. But other than the 12,000 that attended “Mucho Machismo,” big crowds and boxing have never come together in Orange County. Although the Irvine Marriott has consistently drawn 1,000 fans during its 12-year history, the few promoters who have tried to stage fights at larger venues have failed miserably.

Nicoletti said he is aware of Orange County’s boxing history, but that didn’t deter the Pond from trying to break the trend.

“We were encouraged by the success of ‘Mucho Machismo,’ the continued success of [promoter] Roy Englebrecht at the Irvine Marriott and the overall success of this facility,” Nicoletti said. “We’ve broken every trend here in Southern California with this building. If somebody’s going to make sense of this, then it’s going to be us.”

* Benjamin Epstein contributed to this story.