(March 25) Five representatives from San Bernardino County will be among the 28 combatants taking part in the March 28 Battle of the Badges Boxing and Kickboxing event at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. Competitors included police officers and firefighters from a number of San Beranrdino County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County and Orange County communities, members of public safety organizations and the United States armed forces. They will square off in a standard 25-foot by 40-foot ring to support at-risk youth and honor San Bernardino Police Officer Gabriel Garcia, who was gravely wounded in, but now on the mend from, a shooting by a suspect last year.
On the card will be five foot eleven inch 180 pound 54-year old Edward “Brooklyn Bomber” Espinoza, representing the Orange County Sheriff’s Department against five foot six inch 180 pound 53-year-old Jon “The Bear” Knowlton, representing Upland Animal Services; Six foot one inch 245 pound 31 -year-old Danny “The Lummox” Chandler, representing the Escondido Fire Department against five foot eleven inch 250 pound 27-year-old Thomas “The Train” Kolb, representing the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department; five foot ten inch 175 pound 31-year-old Brandon “The Grenade” Vierra, representing the U.S. Forest Service against six foot two inch 165-pound Justin Bonnar, representing the U.S. Army; five foot five inch 155 pound 30 year-old Catharine “Chaos” Marshall, representing the U.S. Marine Corps against five foot eight 160-pound 33-year-old Alice “Anchor” Lopez, representing U.S. Probation; five foot seven inch 154-pound Dustin Rodriguez of the Santa Monica Fire Department against five foot eight inch 154-pound Brandon Manning of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department; in the co-main event five foot seven inch 160 pound 22-year-old Katherine Proudfoot, representing the 29 Palms Fire Department against five foot three inch 155 pound 37 year old Christina Banuelos, representing the Riverside Sheriff’s Office; in the main event five foot three inch 155 pound 37-yer-old Omar “Havoc” Romero, representing the Riverside Sheriff’s Office against five foot eleven inch 175-pound 35-year-old Travon “T-Bomb” Taylor, representing the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; six foot three inch 280 pound 25 year-old Brian Harrington, representing the Pechanga Department of Public Safety against six foot seven inch 285 pound David Goliath” Smith; five foot nine inch 155 pound 34-year-old Julian “Brown sugar” Zermeno representing the Santa Monica Fire Department against five foot seven inch 154 pound 41-year-old Sheny Gutierrez, a criminal defense attorney; five foot eight inch 145 pound 39 year old Mike “The Preacher” Sarkissian, representing the Victorville Unified School District Juvenile Task Force against five foot ten inch 155 pound 33-year-old John “Mean Machine” Barnes of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department; five foot eight inch 175-pound 45-year-old Sean Shanen, representing the Fontana Unified School District Police Department against five foot eight inch 175 pound 33-year-old Manny “Pac Man” Trujillo, representing the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department; five foot four inch 132 pound 26-year-old Gracie Melendez, representing the Orange County Sheriff’s Department against five foot five inch 135 pound 24-year-old Kesha “Mean” Guilin; six foot two inch 245 pound 34-year-old Justin “Bubba” Robinson, representing the Camp Pendleton Fire Department against six foot two inch 220 pound 37-year-old Ruben “Give You A Shawa” Gamboa, representing the Whittier Fire Protection District; and six foot 252 pound 38-year-old Mike “The Night Nurse” Bates, representing Loma Linda Hospital against six foot 240 pound 26 year old Edgar “The Animal” Villarroel, of United Security in Hemet.
Shanen this week told the Sentinel that he has been training for the bout since October, “sparring, circuit training, doing foot work, bag work.”
He said the Battle of the Badges events are held about once every six months and that he hopes Saturday’s bouts are “well attended because it’s for a good cause. We are working to help parents raise good children by keeping them off the streets. The Fontana Boxing Club is closing down and the building is old. I’m hoping in collaboration with the Fontana Unified School District and the city of Fontana we can establish and open a Cops 4 Kids in Fontana besides the facility that’s already going strong in Colton.”
Proceeds from Saturday night’s event will go to Cops 4 Kids & Communities to benefit at-risk and underprivileged youth in Southern California.
The bouts are being staged at the Pechanga Resort Casino & Spa, located at 45000 Pechanga Parkway in Temecula. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the first bout begins at 6 p.m.