Madera Throwdown hits Madera South

Boxing returns to Madera for a 20-bout Madera Throwdown on Saturday at Madera South High School.

Gonzalez Gym will host the amateur bouts. Seventeen of the 20 bouts will feature fighters between 8-12 years old.

“It’s an amateur boxing event,” Danny Gonzalez said. “It’s the first one we’re hosting. My gym has been open for about two years. We’re trying to bring boxing back to the valley. There were boxing shows in the past that I was a part of.”

Eight fighters from Gonzalez’s gym will be on the card and three other Madera fighters will also be on the card.

“I think we’re going to have 300-400 people,” Gonzalez said. “Just in pre-sold tickets, we have 200 sold. That doesn’t count everyone that will come at the door and the fighters that bring their family. We expect a good turnout.”

Fights will start a 1 p.m. and tickets are $20 at the door.

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of good sponsors,” Gonzalez said. “We’re going all out on this one. We’re not giving out trophies. We’re giving out belts to the winners. Each of the belts is almost $400. We have close to $6,000 in belts that we’re fortunate enough to have.”

Gonzalez hopes to be able to give back to the community and be able to help his fighters.

“We’re trying to give back to the kids,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of the kids we have are less fortunate or they were running into trouble. We took them under our wing and they are doing better.”