LOCAL BRITS and fight fans were out in force Wednesday night for the first of four quarterly boxing events at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
The “Boxing at the Barker” event featured a collection exciting new talent from countries including Ireland, United States, South Africa, Cuba and Georgia.
Actor/comic Kevin Pollack served as MC for the event and among the celebrities and sportsmen in attendance were ageless Welsh singer Tom Jones, former Sex Pistol Steve Jones, who delivered a stunning, Hendrix-like rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, boxing greats Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Wayne McCullough, former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot, reality TV star Kelly Osbourne, and a host of local British demi-celebs including Santa Monica’s legendary DJ Danny Winter.
The event is the brainchild of King World Productions former President and CEO Michael King and Paul Cain, Liverpudlian expat and part-owner of the popular Britannia Pub in Santa Monica. King is best known for distributing and marketing popular TV shows including Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and The Oprah Winfrey Show. King has parlayed his passion for boxing into this new venture, which plans to produce quarterly boxing events at the Barker Hangar, which is located at 3021 Airport Avenue.
“I have a passion for boxing,” said King. “Without question boxing is one of the most exhilarating sports in the world, and I am going to utilize everything I have learned in my career to develop exciting programs that will build stars, but just like the entertainment business, it all starts with finding the talent. We have worked very hard to identify and bring together some of boxing’s most promising young fighters, and we are excited to showcase them at Barker Hangar…”
