On Friday night, live from the Pechanga Casino & Resort in Temecula, CA, MarvNation will host a fight card that streams live on DAZN. The headline will feature two veteran super lightweights at the crossroads of their careers. Jose “Chon” Zepeda (37-5, 28 KOs) will face Ivan Redkach (24-7-1, 19 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round bout to determine whose career advances and whose will gear towards retirement. Leading into Friday night’s card, FightsATW caught up with MarvNation’s Founder and CEO Marvin Rodriguez, who discusses the origin of his company, how his approach has changed from last year to this year, and what to expect on Friday night in Temecula.
When you start researching the company MarvNation, which began in 2014, you’ll realize that Rodriguez has been in the business for ten years. He first started doing concerts with artists like Nicky Jam but then transitioned into the world of boxing only by chance. “The reason I got into it was because I have two boys (Angel & Nathan) that are professional boxers. They are actually fighting on the September 6 card at the Pechanga Casino & Resort. That’s where the vision was born. My kids wanted to pursue boxing but didn’t have any sense of an amateur career. They wanted to box, and like a typical father wanting to protect his kids, I said, ‘No kid of mine is going to box.”
Rodriguez then came up with a proposal that would involve himself and incentivize his son to finish school. “When my son decided to be a boxer, I made a deal with my older son, who wasn’t doing going to graduate High School because he fell behind on his grades, and said, “If you graduate High School, I’ll help you pursue your boxing career, and I’ll become your manager.” That’s how it all started. Rodriguez continued, “We started doing shows and getting into the boxing industry, and we started realizing how difficult it was. It was something that was born out of a dad trying to support his kid.”
Rodriguez continued, “The vision for us is to be able to help up-and-coming fighters that have no opportunity, that no one paid attention to, or that didn’t have the resources to be able to do something. Boxing is a cutthroat industry. It’s really tough unless you’re an Olympian, have a boxing background with a lot of amateur fights, or have someone with big money behind you.”
In August 2022, MarvNation was ready to make a splash and won the 2.4 million purse bid to host Regis Prograis vs. Jose Zepeda in Los Angeles, CA. It was a move that no one saw coming, and while the event did happen, it wasn’t a smash hit, with only 4,302 fans in attendance and reportedly only 20,000 PPV buys. Rodriguez and his team took in those learning lesson and decided to shoot for 50 shows in 2023. Although they were getting into bigger venues and doing more shows, Rodriguez said they only reached about 40 last year. “We wanted to be the busiest promoter out there, and we did that. This year, we thought, ‘let’s have fewer shows but bigger venues,’ and that’s what we are starting to look into.”
Neither Prograis and Zepeda are backing down 🥊 #PrograisZepeda
(via @FiteTV) pic.twitter.com/b51dhG9jit
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) November 27, 2022
On Friday night, Rodriguez will host the card between Zepeda and Redkach at the Pechanga Casino & Resort in front of what is expected to be a good crowd. It’s a venue that generally fills up for combat sporting events. Although Rodriguez has heard the backlash on the main event, but knows both fighters understand what’s at stake and will give it their all because of it. “It’s a big fight for both of them. Whoever wins will actually have an opportunity to fight for a bigger paycheck. This fight was also approved for a title [likely regional] which makes it even bigger. I like the fight because it’s two warriors who only know how to bang it out. It’s going to be a firefight for sure.’
🇲🇽 Jose Zepeda looks to get back into contention at 140 against Ivan Redkach 👊#ZepedaRedkach | @Marvnation_ | Sept. 6 pic.twitter.com/lIFghIE3pd
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 13, 2024
Rodriguez mentioned how important being on the undercard for an event like this one between two well-known names can be for the fighters on the undercard. Having two veterans as part of the main event will surely give those fighters a “rub” and potentially help their careers move forward. There are several prospects on there, including his two sons which should make for an interesting night.
MarvNation is helping to keep the club show scene going in Southern California, so aside from what is at stake in the main event, it will be good to see what some of boxing’s farm system looks like on Friday night in Temecula.
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