A historic fight night
Fight Club OC will have a historic ladies night inside the ring on Thursday.
The nine-bout card will feature a women’s mixed martial arts fight and a women’s boxing fight at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa at 7:30 p.m. The ladies battling inside the Hangar aren’t household names, but Newport Beach promoter Roy Englebrecht said the professional women MMA and boxing bouts on the same card will be a first in the fight game.
The first women scheduled to step into the ring will be boxers Rhonda Luna and Crystal Morales. Luna has experience, having fought for 13 years. The Rowland Heights fighter brings a 16-3-2 record into her 135-pound bout against Morales (7-8-1), who’s from Oxnard.
Luna has taught high school English. She will try to make sure her gloves, not verbs, supply all the action against a fighter who has dropped four of her last five fights.
The next women to battle are two MMA fighters looking for their first pro victory. Lake Forest’s Rachael Cummins is up against Victorville’s Maia Kahaunaele in a 125-pound flyweight matchup.
Cummins lost a close decision in her March debut. Kahaunaele hasn’t fought since she lost her debut 18 months ago.
The rest of the card features men, including seven unbeaten fighters. There are five boxing bouts and two MMA bouts on tap.
The headline fight is a heavyweight one between Jonathan Hamm (6-1 with five knockouts) and Andrae Carthron (6-9-2).
Hamm, who’s from Atlanta, returns to the Hangar after he scored a third-round knockout against Kevin Howard in April. Hamm has won two straight since suffering his only loss, coming in February against Joshua Clark.
Carthron lost both of his fights last year.
Brazilian Hamilton Ventura puts his unbeaten record on the line in a cruiserweight bout against French Polynesian Karihi Tehei (3-1). Until his last contest, a draw, Ventura (8-0-1) had knocked out each of his eight opponents.
There will be an OC connection in a super lightweight fight. Anaheim’s Dwain Victorian, 21, is making his pro debut against Cory Muldrew (0-2), who’s from of Chandler, Ariz.
Victorian is the 2012 California Golden Gloves champion.
In heavyweight action, Missouri’s Charles Martin brings a 7-0-1 record against Kentucky’s Joshua Clark (2-1-2). Martin has knocked out three opponents in the first round and two in the second. Two of Clark’s last three fights have gone the distance.
The other boxing fight is in the cruiserweight division between Long Beach’s Malanga D’Hue (1-0) and Keith Busch (1-0), who’s from Chandler, Ariz. D’Hue won his pro debut at the OC Fair & Event Center in April.
There are two 155-pound lightweight MMA bouts. Irvine’s Darren Smith (3-3) meets Los Angeles’ James Moontasri (4-0), and Irvine’s Steven Ciaccio (1-0) faces Visalia’s Jonathan Contrestano (2-0).