The Arena Sonora is an indoor arena located in

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the ...

, Sonora, Mexico. Inaugurated in 1969, it seats 3,500 spectators. The arena is the home venue of the Rayos de Hermosillo of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA). The Arena Sonora has previously served as the home of the Soles de Hermosillo, which played in the

Circuito Mexicano de Básquetbol The Circuito Mexicano de Básquetbol, also known with the acronym CIMEBA, was a professional basketball league in Mexico. The first edition was the 1970–71 season, and it continued until the 2006–07 season, after which the league was discontin ...

(CIMEBA) and the CIBACOPA, and the Seris de Hermosillo, which played in the modern American Basketball Association (ABA) in the 2004–05 ABA season.

History

The building was inaugurated on 31 December 1969 as the Gimnasio del Estado. It has since hosted sports such as

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, karate,

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

, lucha libre, and

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

, as well as the (National Olympics). On 29 December 1979, local boxer Manuel "Topo Gigio" Vázquez defeated the reigning WBC bantamweight champion,

Lupe Pintor José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born 13 April 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He won the WBC bantamweight title in 1979 after defeating Carlos Zárate Serna, and made ...

, in a non-title fight at the Gimnasio del Estado. On 23 February 2013, David Sánchez defeated Marlon Tapales at the arena for the WBC

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

Silver super flyweight title. Sánchez returned to the arena on 18 January 2014, beating Filipino challenger Marco Demecillo via knockout. Future world champion Francisco Rodríguez Jr. was on the same card. Empalme native

Hernán Márquez Hernán Márquez Beltrán (born September 4, 1988), commonly known by his nickname "Tyson" Márquez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He held the WBA flyweight title from 2011 to 2012, and has challenged once for the WBA interim super flyweigh ...

headlined two cards at the Gimnasio del Estado. On 19 April 2013, he stopped Edgar "Power" Jiménez in the third round of their bout. Márquez returned four years later and earned a victory against Eduardo Hernández via

technical decision A technical decision is a term used in boxing when a fight has to be stopped because of a headbutt. In boxing fights, referees have to pay deep attention to the action going on between the fighters, especially when the two combatants are fightin ...

. Another Emplame native,

José Luis Castillo José Luis Castillo (born December 14, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2014. Generally considered one of the best lightweights of his era, he is a two-time world champion at that weight, having held the WB ...

fought at the arena on 21 March 2014, defeating Félix Bojórquez at the age of 40. The arena helped to host the Mini Basketball Festival of the Americas and Congress, which was held in Hermosillo from 31 January to 3 February 2019. On the first day of the event, the venue was reinaugurated as the Arena Sonora by the

Governor of Sonora List of governors of the Mexican state of Sonora since 1911: *2021–present Alfonso Durazo *2015–2021 Claudia Pavlovich Arellano *2009–2015 Guillermo Padrés Elías *2003–2009 Eduardo Bours Castelo *1997–2003 ...

, Claudia Pavlovich, and it was announced that MXN$65.5 million had been invested into remodeling the property. There was general maintenance work done to the court and to the hydraulic and electric systems, and amenities such as the dressing rooms and bathrooms were upgraded. Other work done includes the installation of video boards and air conditioning units, as well as the construction of a food area, an

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...

, and a parking lot. The event was also attended by

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

president Horacio Muratore and legendary Mexican player

Horacio Llamas Horacio Llamas Grey (born July 17, 1973) is a Mexican former professional basketball player. He played two seasons with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming the first Mexican-born player in NBA history. Early y ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the arena was used as a COVID-19 testing site from July 2020 to April 2022. The arena hosted the

2022 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup The 2022 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup was the 19th edition of the annual women's volleyball tournament. It was held in Hermosillo, Mexico from 19–29 August, 2022. The Dominican Republic won the gold medal, its 6th overall, while Colomb ...

, a ten-team volleyball tournament held from 19 to 29 August. The

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

finished in fourth place after losing the bronze-medal game to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Basketball

The arena has served as the home venue for several

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

teams throughout its history. In the early 1990s, it hosted the Soles de Hermosillo of the

(CIMEBA). The Soles later resurfaced as members of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA), playing in the arena from 2003 to 2005. Additionally, the arena served as the home of the , which played in the modern American Basketball Association (ABA) in the 2004–05 ABA season. However, the team suspended its operations in January 2005 due to financial issues. The arena also hosts a youth basketball tournament every winter, celebrating its 35th edition in 2022 with a record 120 teams. In 2009, a new CIBACOPA team, the Rayos de Hermosillo, began playing at the Gimnasio del Estado. For three consecutive seasons, the arena hosted the deciding game of the CIBACOPA Finals. After getting swept by the

Mineros de Cananea Asociación Civil Club Deportivo Mineros de Guayana, known as Mineros de Guayana or simply Mineros, is a professional football club based in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. History The Colegio Loyola Gumilla's field, located in Puerto Ordaz, was used ...

in the 2011 Finals, Hermosillo secured their first league title in franchise history by beating the Ostioneros de Guaymas at home in game 7 of the 2012 Finals. The Rayos went on to repeat as CIBACOPA champions the following year after beating the Garra Cañera de Navolato in seven games. The Rayos de Hermosillo played their first game in the remodeled Arena Sonora on 5 April 2019, defeating the

Venados de Mazatlán Venados de Mazatlán ( en, Mazatlán Deer) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. In 2016, the team won the Mexican Pacific League Championship and went on to win their second Caribbean Series ...

by a score of 73–64.

References

{{Reflist Basketball venues in Mexico Sports venues in Sonora Sport in Hermosillo Sports venues completed in 1969 1969 establishments in Mexico