Milwaukee, WI
Undefeated Milwaukee boxer Daniel Blancas back on the big stage in Las Vegas
World Boxing Council president attends Diamondbacks-Mexico exhibition game
World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman shares his love of baseball and how it compares to boxing at the Diamondbacks-Mexico exhibition game.
Daniel Blancas will be back on the big stage May 2.
Fighting in Las Vegas. Every boxer’s dream.
At T-Mobile Arena, no less, the biggest room in the entertainment capital short of an NFL stadium.
Not bad for a kid who trained at the United Community Center on Milwaukee’s south side and frequently still does as an adult.
But Blancas has been here before. Two experiences of the night stand out.
“The atmosphere is amazing,” Blancas said recently. “Just watching through the tunnel leading into the ring, your mind is just everywhere. You’re feeling a bunch of emotions.
“Especially because at the end of the day, it’s just you and your opponent in the ring. It’s just myself and them fighting. Honestly, you’re excited. You’re anxious to get in the ring.
“Some people might feel nervous, you know?”
Not Blancas, though. At that point he’s prepared, he says, and if you’re prepared, why be nervous?
That’s the start of the night. The memorable start.
Then if all goes as planned – as has happened 14 times in 14 fights – comes the experience the 24-year-old Blancas loves most about the sport. The feeling that makes all the sweat and the miles and the getting hit in the face and the gut worthwhile.
“That feeling of when I get my hand raised at the end of the fight, knowing that I won, that’s one of the greatest feelings ever,” Blancas said. “Being able to experience that is, I’d say it’s really hard to describe, but it’s just an amazing feeling.
“Like you just feel untouchable during those moments because of how hard you work and all the hard work paid off.”
Blancas grew up the son of a boxer – Ignacio fought in Mexico before coming to the United States and helps train his son – and the grandson of a big boxing fan. Daniel is the oldest of three brothers. Aldo is 19 and made his pro debut in March. Mateo is 9.
Blancas put on the gloves for the first time at 8 and, influenced by the likes of multiclass champions Julio César Chávez and Juan Manuel Marquez, he hasn’t stopped hitting the bag since.
Blancas was 15, give or take, faring well in amateur tournaments, when he decided he could make a career in the sport. He won a championship for Team USA at the 2017 Junior Olympics.
Now the lanky, 6-foot-3 super middleweight nicknamed “Ice Man” is in his fifth year as a pro. His 14-0 record includes seven knockouts.
Next up is Blancas’ biggest fight and his longest, a scheduled 10-rounder against Raul Salomon (16-3-1, 14 KO), who has fought most recently as a light heavyweight.
“What I know is he’s a tough guy,” Blancas said. “He has some good experience. I know he could take a punch.
“He’s going to be a great fight for me, a great test, and I know he’s going to be ready for it, and so am I. I’ve been training really, really hard, getting ready for it.”
The fight is part of the undercard on a night headlined by the WBO cruiserweight title fight between two-class champion David Benavidez (31-0), the challenger, and Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (48-1).
Blancas connected with Benavidez a few years back as the world was starting to return to normal after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and became one of about a half-dozen boxers considered part of his team.
“When I was in Los Angeles, visiting some family, the opportunity came up to actually spar him,” Blancas said. “And I went and did that, and him and his father really liked the sparring session. So we kept in touch.
“And then they reached out to my dad, because he’s one of my trainers as well. And they were like, ‘Come down to another training camp with us. We really liked how you did.’”
The relationship has paid off with training and sparring opportunities with one of the best and chances to fight on the undercard at some of the most prestigious venues in the country.
Blancas has never fought professionally in Wisconsin. The exceedingly few opportunities there might have been as he was coming up conflicted with other, more prestigious opportunities in one way or another.
Considering he spends only a couple of months at a time in Milwaukee between training camps, Blancas is proud of the fan base he has built in the community he still calls home.
“The city, they support me, a lot of the people support me. A lot of my friends support me,” Blancas said. “It feels good knowing that I’m loved back home in Milwaukee and it’s also an honor to represent the city because with everything going on sometimes in Milwaukee it’s a good thing to have someone doing something positive as well.”
This will be Blancas’ sixth fight in Las Vegas and second at T-Mobile.
“I feel really, really blessed because it’s been a long journey,” he said. “Now that I’m able to fight here in Las Vegas, especially on the big stages – like T-Mobile Arena, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay; I fought in all those spots – that’s a dream come true for me and for a lot of boxers growing up, because that’s where the big fights have always happened.
“Just being able to be part of history and being able to live that, it just feels like sometimes unreal.”
Boxing closer to home in Racine
Coincidentally, the same weekend as Blancas’ fight with Salomon, BMB promotions has a Cinco de Mayo program scheduled for Memorial Hall in Racine with amateurs on May 1 and professionals on May 2.
Fights start at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday, culminating with a 10-round super-welterweight bout between Michigan native Joey Spencer (20-2, 11 KO) and Dominican fighter Eudy Bernardo (27-9, 19 KO).
Ashes, dog stolen in Milwaukee break-in
A Milwaukee woman is asking for help after she said her puppy and a red heart containing her sister’s ashes were stolen during a May 27 apartment break-in.
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee woman is asking for help after she said someone broke into her apartment and stole several items, including her puppy and her sister’s ashes.
What we know:
The break-in happened May 27 at a first-floor apartment near 45th and Hampton.
Treneicia Baker said she got her puppy to help her grieve after her older sister, Keisha, died of heart failure in early March. Baker said she and her sister lived together and never spent a day apart.
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She said the puppy, a teddy bear bichon, had become a major source of comfort.
“I got her because the house was too quiet. I was lonely,” Baker said. “She kept me company, and she kept my mind at ease when things were rough when I was missing my sister.”
Baker said the person who broke into her apartment stole several items, including a laptop, towels, credit cards, a gaming system and food from her kitchen.
The Milwaukee Police Department said no one is in custody.
What they’re saying:
“They tore up the whole house literally from the front door to the bathroom was tore up,” she said.
But Baker said the biggest losses were her puppy and a red heart containing her sister’s ashes.
“I just want my sister’s ashes back and my puppy,” Baker said. “What would you want with someone’s ashes? That’s irreplaceable. You can’t get that back.”
As Milwaukee police investigate, Baker is asking for help getting back what she says cannot be replaced.
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“It would mean everything to me,” she said. “Literally everything.”
Baker said she believes the break-in was random.
What you can do:
Anyone with any information is asked to contact MPD at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 Tips app.
The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.
Johnson pleas for “something” to be done about gun violence
Mayor Cavalier Johnson makes a plea for “something” to be done about gun violence after a Milwaukee shooting that left police and suspect injured.
One person was injured in a shooting Tuesday morning, June 9, near a day care center and two schools, Milwaukee police said.
The shooting occurred just before 8 a.m. on the 2700 block of North 44th Street. A 31-year-old suffered unspecified injuries in the incident and was transported to a local hospital, police said.
No additional information about the victim was immediately available. Police are seeking unknown suspects.
The location of the shooting is blocks away from Washington High School of Information Technology, Milwaukee Math and Science Academy and Gregory’s Little Helpers child care center.
Washington High School did not go into lockdown, according to a WISN-TV (Channel 12) report. However, principal Jose Frias sent a note to families saying the school was safe and classes would continue normally, the news station reported.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or, to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or P3 Tips.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee tenants react after landlord makes first public remarks since being sued by city, Common Ground
MILWAUKEE — Leaking ceilings, cracked walls and big holes are the conditions Carolyn Ferguson has been living in for years at the home she rents from Highgrove Holdings, LLC.
READ ALSO | Milwaukee tenants, Common Ground push city leaders for more landlord accountability over nuisance violations
“It rains in here, it rains in the dining room in there,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson is one of several tenants working with community nonprofit Common Ground and the city of Milwaukee to sue her landlord over alleged neglect, code violations, vacancy and unpaid property taxes.
The mother of 17 is raising her last daughter and is fighting cancer. The condition of her home is another burden.
“I’ve got to worry about that, and worry about the surgery, and all this other stuff and I mean he’s just making it even worse for me than it is,” Ferguson said.
Brendyn Jones/TMJ4
On Monday, during an unrelated press conference by Common Ground, Highgrove Holdings owner David Tomblin made a surprise appearance and faced questions from TMJ4 chief investigative reporter Jenna Rae. While he didn’t answer many of them, he did say the group has made progress.
Watch: Milwaukee tenants react after landlord makes first public remarks since being sued by city
Milwaukee tenants react after landlord makes first public remarks since being sued
When asked about the city of Milwaukee’s lawsuit over issues at his properties that he is not addressing, Tomblin responded.
“Well, we are addressing them, but in the proper time,” Tomblin said.
Brendyn Jones/TMJ4
Ferguson said she has not seen any of those fixes.
“He hasn’t fixed anything, like I said, out of the nine years I’ve been here, he’s had at least seven years and nothing, nothing at all,” Ferguson said.
The issues are impacting multiple generations of the Ferguson family. Carolyn’s daughter used to live at the property until she moved out after poor conditions were never addressed. More than a year later, that unit is still boarded up.
“When is he going to fix my momma’s ceiling? When is he going to do something about the roof? When are you going to do something about that basement downstairs? I would ask him a lot of questions,” Edwina Ferguson said.
Brendyn Jones/TMJ4
TMJ4 reporter Brendyn Jones called Tomblin Monday night. He picked up and requested to know the names of the tenants who were interviewed. Jones said that information would be available after the story was published, so he declined to answer questions.
While Tomblin said there will be a press conference with tenants soon, he did not commit to a date or time.
Common Ground’s Kevin Solomon said the pressure on Tomblin is working.
“It’s political, and it shows that our pressure is clearly getting under his skin. The lawsuit will play out; Common Ground will stay on it,” Solomon said.
The next court date for the lawsuit is at the end of July.
This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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