B. Riley & Co. held its 8th Annual "Big Fighters, Big Cause" Charity Boxing Night at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, CA. The star-studded evening of boxing presented by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions benefited the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation as Kevin "K-Smoove" Rivers, Jr. (14-1, 10 KOs) took on Mexico City's rugged Roberto "Escorpión" Pucheta (10-11-1, 6 KOs) in the lightweight main event Wednesday night. Rivers, Jr., returned to the ring after a 16 month absence won a unanimous decision over the Pucheta in a six round bout. Judges scored the bout 60-54, 58-56, and 59-55.
Luis "King Louie" Coria (4-0, 3 KOs) was victorious against the experienced Antonio "Chore" Martinez (7-10, 5 KOs) in a four round super featherweight bout as he was also part of the star-studded event. All three judges scored the bout unanimously 40-36.
In a scheduled six round middleweight bout, LA's Marvin Cabrera (4-0, 4 KOs) knocked out Shreveport, Louisiana's Quantavious "King Tulu" Green (1-1, 1 KO). At the start of the fight, Cabrera and Green traded heavy punches. Cabrera went forward and bombarded Green with a powerful body shot and overhand combinations. The referee stopped the fight before the fifth round could start due to a left eye injury sustained by Green, awarding Cabrera the technical knockout.
Opening up the 8th annual charity event was Indio's Alfredo Escarcega (2-0) going the distance in a scheduled four round super lightweight bout against LA's Rolando Padilla (0-2). Escarcega sent Padilla to the mat twice, once in the first and in the third round, with the same left hook. Escarcega won the fight via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 40-34.
Hosted by actor and comedian Bill Bellamy, the night also featured a national anthem performance by En Vogue, as well as a live & silent auction display, which included iconic memorabilia and other one-of-a-kind items and experiences to benefit the foundation. Additionally, the evening honored nine-year-old Jackson Blair with the 2017 Golden Glove Award for his extraordinary dedication and hard work to raise money and awareness for type 1 (T1D) diabetes.
Celebrities, VIP guests and Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation supporters in attendance included Usher (Actor/Recording Artist), Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Luke Wilson (Actor), Oscar De La Hoya (Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO), Magic Johnson and Cookie Johnson, En Vogue (R&B/Pop Vocal Group), Tina Knowles Lawson and Richard Lawson, Bo Jackson (Former NFL/MLB Athlete), Chris Spencer(Actor, Black-ish), Johnny Gill (Recording Artist), Laila Ali Conway (Former Professional Boxer), Mia St. John (Boxer), Rodney Peete (Former NFL Athlete), Sergio Mora(Professional Boxer), Terry Norris (Former Boxer), Tommy Davidson (Actor/Comedian),Jeffrey Osborne (Recording Artist), and more.