10-round Light Heavyweight Bout Headlines Event at Emerald Queen Casino

TACOMA, Wash. – Brian Halquist Productions will celebrate its 20th year of promoting professional boxing at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash. with Battle at the Boat 111 on Saturday, June 3.

Headlining the card will be a light heavyweight main event between rising division stars Mike Gavronski (22-2-1, 14 KOs) and Quinton Rankin (12-3-2, 9 KOs).


Mike Gavronski

Tickets are available through the EQC box office and all Ticketmaster Outlets. Preliminary bouts will start at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Battle at the Boat is the nation’s longest-running tribal casino boxing series, holding its inaugural event on July 9, 1997 at the Emerald Queen Casino. Prior to promoting the record holding tribal casino boxing series, Brian Halquist Productions first began in 1989 promoting heavyweight Joe “The Boss” Hipp. In 1995, Halquist Productions promoted Greg Haugen to his fourth world title fight.

The first Battle at the Boat card featured a main event between Emmett Linton and Jose Flores for the IBA super welterweight championship, while the undercard had future WBA super bantamweight champion Enrique Sanchez and Eric “Butterbean” Esch both notching victories.

A total of 23 world champions have fought on a Battle at the Boat card, including Vernon Forrest, Yonnhy Perez, Vic Darchinyan, Aber Mares, Sergey Kovalev, Joseph Agbeko and Evgeny Gradovich.

“It really is overwhelming to think we have been doing this for 20 years at the Emerald Queen Casino,” promoter Brian Halquist said. “Our history is something we are extremely proud of. We went from just wanting to survive our first show to now putting on Battle at the Boat 111. It’s going to be an incredible night of boxing.”

The 10-round main event between Gavronski and Rankin features two boxers right on the cusp of cracking the world top 20 rankings.

Battle at the Boat fans should be very familiar with local product Gavronski. A multiple-time Tacoma Golden Gloves champion as an amateur, Gavronski has fought 10 times at the Emerald Queen Casino, winning nine of those matches.

Gavronksi defeated Thomas Awimbono (25-4-1) in his last bout on Nov. 19, 2016. That win came on the heels of his triumph over previously undefeated Australian champion Jake Carr on Sept. 10 2016.

“It’s fitting that Mike is fighting in the main event on our 20th anniversary show because no active boxer has fought more at Battle at the Boat than he has,” Halquist said. “He made his pro debut here in 2010 and we’ve seen him mature into a fighter who is right on the verge of entering the top 20.”

Battle at the Boat’s 20th Anniversary show will also feature special guest, Dori Monson of KIRO FM’s 97.3, stepping in as the event’s official ring announcer.

The undercard sports an equally intriguing semi-main event between light heavyweights Cameron Sevilla-Rivera (7-4-2, 5 KOs) and undefeated Issac Tadeo (8-0-0, 4 KOs).

Also fighting at Battle at the Boat 111 will be undefeated Richard Vansiclen (3-0-0, 2 KOs) and Andres Reyes (6-2-1, 1 KO).

Battle at the Boat 111 will feature the VIP experience with 3rd Row Seats being discounted to $75 per ticket. All fans seated in in the VIP section (rows 1-3) will have an exclusive access point and a dedicated server to help create a true VIP experience.

Battle at the Boat 111 is brought to you by Brian Halquist Productions. For more information, please visit www.halquistproductions.com and the Battle at the Boat Facebook page.

Battle at the Boat 111 Card
Saturday, June 3, 2017

10 Round Main Event – 173 pounds
Mike Gavronski (22-2-1, 14 KOs) vs. Quinton Rankin (12-3-2, 9 KOs)

5 Round Semi-Main Events
170 pounds: Cameron Sevilla-Rivera (7-4-2, 5 KOs) vs. Issac Tadeo (8-0-0, 4 KOs)
147 pounds: Andres Reyes (6-2-1, KO) vs. Will Hughes (5-5-0, 3 KOs)

4 Round Undercard Bouts
177 pounds: Richard Vansiclen (3-0-0, 2 KOs) vs. Justin Milani (1-4-0)
TBD pounds: Andre Keys (3-1-0, KO) vs. TBD
140 pounds: Niko McFarland (0-3-0) vs. Shae Green (debut)

ABOUT BRIAN HALQUIST
Brian Halquist Productions is the Northwest premiere fight promotion company creator of the famed "Battle at the Boat" boxing series promoting more than 19 years and over 100 fights at the Emerald Queen Casino. BHP has also built the largest professional MMA series on the USA’s west coast with “CageSport MMA” nearing more than 50 fights. Brian Halquist Productions has promoted events for ESPN, ShowTime and HBO and featured on Showtime's historic boxing event in St Lucia, West Indies. Brian Halquist Productions has been promoting fights and concerts for over 30 years in the Pacific Northwest.