Saturday, May 18th will be a great night to be a combat sports fan because we are going to make history at the The Gardens Casino! SOCA Fights presents our second installment of The Gardens Casino Fight Night! This seven bout card will showcase exceptional action, brutal boxing and MMA bouts, and a NABF title fight between two of the best female boxers in the world! It all takes place inside the The Events Center at The Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens. Tickets are available at www.socafights.com with all seats priced at $60.
Headlining this stacked card will be undefeated Raquel Miller from San Francisco, CA 8-0 (3KOs) taking on former American Gladiator Erin Toughill from Huntington Beach 7-4-1 in an 8 round NABF Middleweight Title Fight. Miller was a silver medalist at the Women’s World Championship in 2012 and that same year she was also a USA Boxing National Champion. She has a perfect record as a pro with a style that is nothing short of electric.
Erin Toughill truly lives up to the “tough” in her last name. Her most recent bout was an 8 round war versus the well regarded Maricela Cornejo on January 27th. Many thought Toughill deserved to have her hand raised at the end of the night but she lost a close decision. She plans to take out her frustrations from that fight on the the battle ready Raquel Miller. In addition to her illustrious ring exploits, Toughill is also a former American Gladiator. Known as Steel on that circuit, Toughill stole the show in all her competitions and she plans to do the same thing on May 18 at The Gardens Casino!
Co-headlining will be undefeated prospect Jonathan Esquivel in a 6 round Super Middleweight boxing match against the veteran of 32 fights Tavorus Teague from Paramount, CA. With a record of 9-0 (8KOs) Esquivel hopes to become a perfect 10-0, but the battle-tested Teague has other ideas. He hopes that his experience with be the antidote to Esquivel’s youthful enthusiasm and dangerous punching power. Expect a war from the opening bell!
We move over to MMA with a 3 round Bantamweight bout between Los Angeles’s Jason Edwards in his pro-debut vs. Lancaster’s Taif Harris 0-1. These two may not bring the biggest resumes but they plan to make up for that come fight night. Lower weight classes are known for producing the best matchups and Edwards and Harris are on a collision course to make one on May 18th!
The undercard continues to be electric as it features a 4 round Super Middleweight armageddon between Laguna Niguel's Johnny Cisneros(pictured below) in his pro boxing debut vs. Santa Ana’s beloved Kenny Quach (0-1). Quach is a fan favorite and truly a bigger than life personality, but Cisneros, a Bellator and King of the Cage fight veteran, is looking to impress in the first bout of his pro boxing career. He brings a pedigree that merges both boxing and MMA and that makes him a double threat for Quach. Expect this bout to be fierce, frenetic, and capable of ending at any moment.
The MMA action continues in the Featherweight division with Mission Viejo’sGeoffrey Mellor (pictured below) a CAMO featherweight champion who will be making his pro-debut against Jacksonville, Florida’s powerhouse Jerome Buchanan 1-4. Don’t let Buchanan’s record fool you, he’s traveling and fighting frequently and hoping to welcome Mellor to the pro ranks the hard way!
Next up is one of the most popular Greek prospects, Triantafyllos Mavidis 5-0 (5KOs) from Kavala, Greece vs. Jose Hernandez 19-5-1 (9KOs) in a 6 round Super Middleweight bout. Hernandez comes with a huge resume and is a big step up in class for Mavidis. However, this Greek warrior fights with with a whole country backing him up! Everything about this top notch scrap screams fight of the night.
Opening the show is the ice cold assassin Andreas Katzourakis (pictured below) of Athens, Greece in a 6 round Middleweight bout as he faces Rafael Garcia from Tucson, AZ. Katzourakis brings a ledger of 4-0 (3KOs), and is truly a triple threat. With the ability to bang, box, or brawl, he is quickly making a name for himself worldwide!