Each year TREXPO West features a reception sponsored by POLICE Magazine for the attendees and exhibitors. The reception always includes free drinks and free food and a prize giveaway hosted by retired Cleveland, Ohio, officer Joe Paskvan. This year attendees also got something extra: Three three-round boxing matches.
Sponsored by ballistic vest manufacturer U.S. Armor, the bouts featured officers and agents from a variety of local Southern California departments and federal agencies. The fights were organized by Mike Young of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The first bout featured Dave "Knockout" Apodaca of the LASD vs. Dustin "The Nosebleeder" Ciscel of the Anaheim Police Department. In the second fight, Armando "The Hitman" Guzman of LASD squared off against George "The Argentinian Olympian" Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department. And in the final contest Mike "Machete" Giacoletti of the Orange County Sheriff's Department battled Carlos "Chupacabra" Navarro, a special agent with the FBI.
Although the first two fights went the distance, most attendees agreed that the final bout, which lasted only one round, was the most exciting.
In this 130-pound weight class fight, Special Agent Navarro lost in a TKO to Dep. Giacoletti, but he lived out a lifelong dream.
Boxing fan Navarro said that he always wanted to know what it was like to "feel what real boxers feel."
Navarro was smiling after the fight, but he was clearly mismatched in the ring against the more experienced Giacoletti. Perhaps that's the reason why "Chupacabra" said that he was retiring from the ring.
All in all, it was a fun event for the TREXPO audience who were entertained by the boxing and the Bud Girls provided by Anheuser-Busch.
Georg Olsen, General Manager of U.S. Armor, said, "U.S. Armor is proud to have been involved in bringing back an event where the Southern California law enforcement family has a chance to relax and enjoy a family event together, and do some good at the same time. Next year's will be even better!"
