Milwaukee lands another pro boxing card
Although not completely forgotten, professional boxing had been hard to find in the Milwaukee area for decades. Suddenly there’s an abundance. Local promoter Nick Fischer and Fiserv Forum announced Wednesday they would put on an event June 24, giving the the Milwaukee Bucks’ arena its second card in a span of less than three months and giving Fischer’s upstart BMB Promotions its biggest program by far.
Before the summer program, Fiserv will enter the boxing world April 1 with an event promoted by mixed martial arts veteran Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Boxing.
“My goal was two years,” Fischer said of his idea for putting on fights in a venue such as Fiserv. “I said (to managers), give me a minute and I’m going to have space for these guys to grow, because I knew I could do it and I knew I had the right people in place but I just had to get people to give me the chance.
“Yeah, I pictured it, but I didn’t think it was going to happen this fast. But unfortunately no one was really giving me the time to slow down. Everyone was asking, when’s the next one?”
Now they have their answer. Gamebred’s card trades on Masvidal’s name and includes many MMA fighters who are transitioning to boxing. It is headlined by Milwaukee-born champion Anthony Pettis making his boxing debut by taking on former world champion Roy Jones Jr. for an in-house and pay-per-view audience.
BMB’s card will feature a mix of veteran boxers and up-and-comers, including four fighters making their professional debut. Many of them are from southeast Wisconsin and have built a following through the amateur ranks and their early pro fights.
“(The timing) is a little bit of a coincidence, but I actually think it’s good,” said Javier Zamarron, a 21-year-old featherweight from Milwaukee scheduled to fight on both cards.
“A traditional boxing event is like no other. But I think it’ll bring more eyes, especially to Milwaukee to boxing. It can open up some big doors to boxing in Milwaukee in general.”
While Milwaukee has had Ultimate Fighting Championship cards headlined by Pettis in 2013 at the Bradley Center and 2018 at Fiserv Forum, there has been a dearth of professional boxing matches for decades.
The biggest in recent memory is Luis Arias’ 2016 win over Darryl Cunningham for the vacant USBA middleweight title in 2016 at the Wisconsin Center.
“When I told people I was going to do this, they said, you’re trying to undo how many years of bad business in boxing and bad taste in people’s mouth,” Fischer said of his decision to promote pro fights in Milwaukee.
“Do I know who or why? No, actually I have no idea. I don’t really care either . ... I’ve got a good team.”
The June 24 program includes a pair of eight-round fights and a 10-round headliner pitting Adrian “El Tigre” Granados (21-9-3) against Hank Lundy (3112-1.) Granados is known for a controversial split decision loss to four-division champion Adrian Broner in 2017. Lundy is a former WBO junior welterweight contender.
Veteran Dennis “King Mongoose” Morris (14-3-2) is to be part of an eightround cruiserweight bout. The other eight-rounder features Rolando “Nano” Vargas (9-1) vs. Jayson “La Maravilla” Velez (30-11-1) for the ABF USA super lightweight championship. Vargas was on the top of the card for BMB’s previous event in January.
“It’s going to be a lot of hometown kids,” said Zamarron, who trained at the United Community Center and is 2-0 as a pro, having won on the first two BMB programs. “That should be a fun event as well. That’s more of a traditional boxing event, yeah.”
“It is a really big jump, but the city’s been coming out and showing their love and support for all us local fighters.”
Fischer, 35, was a high school wrestler in Burlington and started boxing about 10 years ago. He has since become a coach for 15 to 20 pro and amateur fighters in the Milwaukee area.
Fischer promoted some amateur bouts and then put on his first professional card Oct. 29 at the Tripoli Shrine Center. He followed that up Jan. 14 at Gather, an event space in the Deer District, after plans to hold it at the Taj Palace in Cudahy fell through.
Fischer said he didn’t set out to be a boxing promoter; he just saw a need and filled it.
“Honestly I’m four years too late,” said Fischer, whose day job is in sales and project management for UpKeep, a remodeling and maintenance contractor in Waukesha.
“We lost a lot of good boxers to the West Coast and throughout the country when we could have kept them right here. Some of these guys go out, take losing fights for a paycheck and stuff. We’re trying to put on good fights and work, make it an equal opportunity, good fights.”
Fischer admitted he was caught off guard when the Gamebred event was announced. He had been talking to Fiserv Forum since the Jan. 14 fights at Gather.
The Gamebred card also included 16-0 super lightweight Luis Angel Feliciano, a Marquette University graduate Fischer had hoped to land.
“It’s an ego thing,” Fischer admitted. “But it’s business. I’m not mad at anyone. They’re trying to make money, just like I am and I hope we can support them and they step up and support us. That’s what it comes down to.”
Still, Fischer couldn’t stop himself from taking a humorous jab, likening the MMA fighters boxing to “flag football.”
“It’s cool,” he reiterated. “I’m not that mad. I just hope the fans get what they paid for.”
The upcoming months will show whether the BMB events in October and January sated Milwaukee boxing fans’ hunger for pro fights or whet their appetite.
Fischer’s dream for the future includes several programs per year at Fiserv building toward champion-level bouts, with local boxers getting the opportunity to advance their careers while fighting at home.
“Hopefully right after (June) we can announce another one,” Fischer said. “That’s the plan, so people know that’s where they can keep going for fights.
“I think it’s going to become something, especially after this one, that’s going to be known.”