Celebrity boxing April 20 headlines campaign for Villa-Parke project

Table sponsorships and individual tickets are still available for the gala “A Fighting Chance” Dinner and Celebrity Boxing event on Saturday, April 20 that launches the capital fundraising campaign for expansion and renovation of the City’s Villa-Parke Boxing and Fitness Center.
“A Fighting Chance” will be held at the Villa-Parke Community Center, 363 E. Villa St., beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Dinner and a special “Celebrity Boxing Exhibition” follows. The event will also honor local boxing champs “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Ricky “Showtime” Quiles and Zack “Attack” Padilla.
“The hunt is on for that $1 million ‘Golden Gloves’ donor. We know they are out there and the City will work with them for naming rights to the new boxing center,” said Barbosa Polverini, co-chair of the “Fighting Chance” special event.
The event committee is teaming up with Mayor Bill Bogaard, Councilmember Victor Gordo, Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez, the Pasadena Community Foundation, and other community leaders and business owners for the special event and the capital campaign to raise more than $1.2 million for the Villa-Parke Boxing and Fitness Center project. The City is already providing about $250,000 in its capital improvement budget for the project.
The project will expand the heavily used facilities that serve a burgeoning boxing program benefitting youths and adults from the greater Pasadena area. The robust boxing program at Villa-Parke Community Center partners with national and international boxing organizations to host regional competitions that help support Olympic-level athletes and professional boxers.
Event sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available by contacting Gabi Barbarena at (562) 696-8196. For information about the $1 million donor opportunity, contact Mercy Santoro, Director, Pasadena Human Services and Recreation Department, (626) 744-3914.

-Photo by Terry Miller

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