Tahoe’s Ruvalcaba refuses to give up on boxing dreams
By Robert Mladinich, Sweet Science
Although super middleweight Simon Ruvalcaba has an outwardly nominal record of 4-10-2, he has a master plan to put himself on the fistic map. Fighting out of his native Lake Tahoe, which is located on the California/Nevada border, the 31-year-old journeyman would like to put together a few wins before taking on Joey Gilbert, a star of season one of “The Contender,” who hails from nearby Reno.
“We would sell out the outdoor arena at the Montbleu, which used to be Caesar’s Tahoe,” said Ruvalcaba. “It would be the thrill of a lifetime, and it would be my biggest payday.”
Simon Ruvalcaba
In July 1989, when Ruvalcaba was all of 11-years-old, he was in the audience when future heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield stopped Adilson Rodrigues in two rounds there.
He was also present for the 1990 HBO tripleheader featuring Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor and Hector “Macho” Camacho in separate bouts, as well as for Lennox Lewis’s heavyweight title defense against Henry Akinwande in 1997.