Sports

4 WBO title fights to be held Oct. 29

Golden Boy Promotions is pulling out all the stops for what may be its final Desert Diamond Casino show: A seven-fight, Mexico-Thailand affair Oct. 29 that will include four WBO title fights. The Oscar De La Hoya-led outfit, which is facing competition from other promoters to extend its Desert Diamond contract past next month, will return three fighters who already have headlined Desert Diamond bouts: Jhonny Gonzalez, Fernando Montiel and Daniel Ponce De Leon. All three, as well as the other four Mexican fighters on the card, will be paired against Thailand boxers: Gonzalez (29-4, 25 KOs) against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin (64-8, 42 KOs) for the WBO bantamweight title, Montiel (31-1-1, 24 KOs) against Pramuansak Phosawan (28-0-1, 16 KOs) for the junior bantamweight title and Ponce De Leon (26-1, 25 KOs) against Sod Looknongyangtoy (25-0, 10 KOs) for the WBO junior featherweight title. A fourth Golden Boy fighter, Hugo Cazares, also will fight for the WBO junior flyweight belt against Kaichon Sor Vorapin (16-7, 5 KOs). The Card is being touted as the "Gold World Cup,'' with Marco Antonio Barrera scheduled to be on hand as a "captain'' for the Mexico team. De La Hoya also is expected to be in Tucson, either before or during the card. Treena Parvello, the Desert Diamond's marketing director, said the casino has been pleased with Golden Boy but is still receiving bids from rival promoters. The Oct. 29 card is the eighth and final Golden Boy card of the current contract. "We're also looking at other ones and they know that,'' Parvello said. Eric Gomez, Golden Boy matchmaker, was unavailable for comment after the Thursday afternoon announcement. Tickets, priced from $25 to $100, are scheduled to go on sale today.