A Hometown Ring: Villa Parke Fighters Step Under the Lights at City Hall Tonight

When Adriana Nuñez climbs through the ropes at Centennial Square on Friday night, the 21-year-old will be fighting in front of the building where her city conducts business — and she will be fighting for the people who got her there.

“My mom and my coaches,” Nuñez said. “They’re the only ones that have been with me through it all… I mean, they train me. They see everything behind the doors and all that. And it’s for them, at the end of the day.”

Nuñez is one of six amateur boxers from Pasadena’s Villa Parke Boxing Program who will represent the hometown crowd when the City of Pasadena stages its 11th Annual Centennial Square Boxing Show on Friday evening.

The free event, presented by the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, features Olympic-style bouts with male and female athletes ages 8 and older from boxing gyms across Southern California, all set against the towering backdrop of historic Pasadena City Hall.

Nuñez, a Pasadena resident who started boxing at 13 after her mother enrolled her in the Villa Parke program, has fought at the Centennial Square show twice before, in 2023 and 2024.

“It’s an honor, honestly, because it’s our show,” Nuñez said. “It’s here in City Hall, and it looks beautiful at night and it’s in our city, Pasadena.”

The Villa Parke Boxing Program, based at the Villa Parke Community Center at 363 East Villa Street, traces its roots to the 1940s and counts more than 300 active members.

Joining Nuñez on the card are Villa Parke fighters Eli Jimenez, Roman Ramirez, Marvin Gomes, Horacio Rosales and Gabriel Ponce.

Fausto de la Torre, the boxing coordinator at Villa Parke who has led the program for more than 30 years, said the fighters — most of them beginners who have been training for one to two years — have earned their spot through discipline and good conduct.

“Competing at City Hall, it’s a treat for them,” de la Torre said. “It’s something that they have to earn because … of the stage and competing in your hometown and competing in front of your community. It is a privilege for a lot of these boxers to participate in this event.”

De la Torre said the show draws attention well beyond Pasadena. This year’s card will include a competitor from Canada, he said, and the event has attracted U.S. teams from as far as Kansas in past years.

Interest in boxing is surging locally and nationally, de la Torre said, fueled in part by the approach of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where boxing will be contested at the Peacock Theater and Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

“Because it’s Olympic qualifying year next year, and the fact that we’re hosting the 2028 Olympics here in LA, there’s a huge buzz for any sport, especially for boxing,” de la Torre said.

The Centennial Square Boxing Show began in 2016, when the city staged the first card in front of City Hall, driven by the popularity of the Villa Parke program. In the decade since, it has grown into what the city describes as a ‘summer tradition’ that draws spectators from across the region.

The show runs from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday, August 21, at Centennial Square, 100 North Garfield Avenue, in the plaza in front of Pasadena City Hall. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

For more information, contact the City Service Center at (626) 744-7311 or visit cityofpasadena.net.

For families inspired by what they see Friday night, the Villa Parke program has a six-month introductory policy: no contact for the first six months, de la Torre said, so young boxers can develop fundamentals, confidence and discipline before stepping into the ring.