By Daniel Wilson

July 26, 2024

This year’s Causeway Classic weekend will feature a few more hits.

Providing the additional action will be the inaugural Causeway Boxing Classic, a full Sac State vs. UC Davis amateur fight card set for the night before the annual football rivalry game.

Boxers will be from Sacramento State’s Combat U and the UC Davis boxing club team.

The Causeway Boxing Classic will be Friday, Nov. 22, followed by the football game on Saturday, Nov. 23, at Hornet Stadium. The boxing event’s venue has yet to be determined.

“Given how Sac State has such a storied boxing program that we’re in the process of resurrecting, and UC Davis has a boxing team, it just seemed like a perfect opportunity to launch everything. And the Causeway Classic is one of our most important weekends,” said Hector Fajardo, director of operations for Combat U.

Since announcement of Combat U’s founding in January, about 750 students have registered to participate in what is the first university-backed development program for combat sports, including boxing and MMA. An estimated 50% of the registered students are interested in boxing.

“The interest from domestic and international students has been crazy,” Fajardo said. “The impact has been exponential on all levels, from regular recreational students all the way up to the most competitive students. It’s been a really eye-opening journey, and it’s something that I’ve been super excited about.”

As students pursue their education, Combat U, a public-private partnership between Sac State and Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness, will offer them scholarships and a pathway to professional combat sports as well as opportunities to train with world-class, professional athletes.

“With the Causeway Boxing Classic, we’re going to have a healthy team of a good amount of boxers ready to start competing,” said Brandon Gonzáles, Combat U’s head boxing coach, former world-class amateur and professional boxer and owner of Flawless Boxing and Fitness, the Sacramento gym where Combat U boxers train. “I’m expecting when Combat U officially kicks off in the fall, we’re going to have a lot more demand and a lot more students come in to train with us and, hopefully, compete in collegiate boxing.”

The boxing event will allow Causeway Classic fans another way to engage with a rivalry that dates back to 1954. Sac State football has a 23-47 record in the series, and the two teams are 5-5 over the last 10 games.

“If you live in this region, you either graduated from UC Davis or Sacramento State or you know somebody who did, so that’s why it’s one of the biggest football games of the year,” Sac State President Luke Wood said. “Expanding that rivalry to now include a different type of sport is a wonderful opportunity for the students, and it’s one part of a larger effort that we have around Combat U.”

The announcement event, at Flawless Boxing and Fitness, included members of the community, University officials and alumni such as Roger Fong, who boxed for the original Sac State boxing team in the 1950s and in the Navy after graduating in 1956. Kevin “No Más” Montaño, an undefeated professional boxer who graduated from Sac State in 2020, also attended the event.

Raj Dhaliwal, a third-year Business Administration student at Sac State and Combat U boxing team treasurer, was among students sparring on punching bags in the gym and expressed his excitement for the Causeway Boxing Classic.

“It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to represent Sac State and this program,” Dhaliwal said. “Me and the rest of the boxers, we want to put on a show. I want what we do on the boxing stage to be seen by other universities and maybe they follow our footsteps.”

“When people come together and they train together, it creates a family and a community, and that’s really necessary for a sense of belonging for students.”

For more details on the Causeway Boxing Classic and the Causeway Classic football game, visit the Hornet Sports website.