Fight Night: San Francisco's Amateur Boxing Championships

By Joe Eskenazi Wed., Jul. 27 2011 at 11:59 AM

Categories: Last Night, Sports

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Joseph Schell

Sporting crowds make lots of different noises: cheers, boos -- in Europe they sing. But, every once in a while, a crowd makes that most distinctive of sounds -- the collective reaction of people who've witnessed something that impressed them but they wish they hadn't seen. The "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Several hundred fervent onlookers at Roccapulco Supper Club had just that reaction when local golden boy Michael Fernandez walked into an overhand right, forever after answering the question "what would it look like if someone had a Dumpster lid slammed on his head?"

The 21-year-old City College grad hit the canvas, dropping to his hands and knees and gasping for breath. Those in the know pegged Fernandez as one of the best fighters in the bar -- at least wearing gloves -- and a man to watch as an aspiring future pro. But it just takes one well-placed punch to ruin your evening for boxers and non-boxers alike. This wasn't Fernandez' night.

Last night was the first "San Francisco Amateur Boxing Championship," a night of fisticuffs San Francisco's Boxing Union hopes to grow into a monthly event. The standing room crowd took in nine bouts; the night's fighters were accompanied into the canvas by no fewer than four men banging rhythmically on conga drums.

Joseph Schell

Down goes Lopez!

The combatants hailed from amateur boxing clubs from all 'round the nine Bay Area counties. Hometown fighters received the loudest cheers -- and not just because their friends, families, and fellow club members were in tow.

Joel Lopez, a 137-pounder out of the 3rd Street Boxing Club, was the first local fighter of the night. His assembled supporters, however, were silenced early when San Jose's Wahid Raza knocked him to his keister just seconds into the match.

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