With Top Rank currently in the midst of finding a new television partner(s), they still have boxers on their roster who need fights. It's not an ideal situation for anyone involved, but for the time being these careers will move forward with the company farming out their fighters on various shows for the rest of 2025.
This weekend from Thunder Studios in Long Beach where DMG Boxing is staging 'Night of Champions V', which will feature several Top Rank boxers on this card.
Ray Alcorta, the Director of Boxing Operations for DMG Boxing, told SNAC.com, "Right now with Top Rank, we know that their platform deal with ESPN finished. But while they're working on their new platform, Top Rank is going to keep their fighters busy. They have a lot of local fighters with Robert Garcia, Manny Robles, some with Freddie Roach -- like Elvis Rodriguez."
Elvis Rodriguez
On this show, the likes of Andres Cortes, Art Barrera, Albert 'Chop Chop' Gonzalez and the aforementioned Rodriguez, will be in action.
"It makes sense for them to fight locally," said Alcorta. "Start fighting in front of their families and friends, build a fan base. Most of the time when they were fighting with Top Rank they were out of town. It's like a homecoming for a lot of them."
During their deal with ESPN, most prospects were relegated to fighting in the early afternoon in empty venues miles away from home. This is where a series like 'Solo Boxeo' on Telefutura would've come in handy. "When 'Chop Chop' is fighting for instance, in San Antonio, he's not going to have the same welcome as he is when he's fighting in Southern California," Alcorta points out.
Alberto Gonzalez
While some of the higher priced Top Rank boxers may have to wait for them to land another network deal, the younger prospects are being given an opportunity to stay sharp. Brad Goodman, matchmaker for Top Rank admitted that they weren't, ''looking for World War II or anything, because a majority of these show are off-TV. Just basically tune-up fights till the beginning of next year."
There will be a card in mid-November in Mexico that will feature some Top Rank boxers.
In terms of their clients, Alcorta states, "Top Rank handles every part of their travel, their medicals. Financially, Top Rank is co-promoting the event. They let us run the show locally, but they take care of their fighters."
As for DMG Boxing, they are a relatively new outfit that has been doing a series of regular shows.
DMG
"DMG started this year, and we started pretty much running," explained Alcorta, who does much of the matchmaking for the company. "The goal is to become a major player in boxing. We want to have a presence at the mainstream level. We want to create champions, build fighters, build stars little by little."
The majority of their cards in 2025 have taken place at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California. They have signed a roster of fighters from mostly the local Southern California area, but Alcorta points out that they have signed guys like Sam Arnold from Texas (who is on the card this weekend) and Otar Eranosyan from the nation of Georgia, who are both on this card this weekend. Then there is flyweight, Terry Washington, who Alcorta says is, ''pound-for-pound one of the best prospects in the game."
The goal next year is to average about a card a month.
DMG
So the question is: can a club program be successful in this market?
"If you put on some good fights and give the people what they want -- people will come back," stated Alcorta, who believes that the key at this level is to get fans who aren't necessarily fans of a particular boxer to buy tickets. "We have been seeing that."
3KR
This week on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule', Mario Lopez and I review the latest victory of Jaron Ennis, and we welcome, Dana White, to the show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZMnu7AOyM&t=5s
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