Orange Show Event Center

The Orange Show Event Center in San Bernardino is the modern operating identity of a long-running fairgrounds complex created by the National Orange Show, a non-profit association formed in 1910. The first National Orange Show was held in 1911, and a permanent location south of Mill Street, between Arrowhead Avenue and E Street, was selected in 1923, with construction of permanent improvements beginning in 1924. A major early exhibition hall on the grounds was later lost to a fire in July 1949, and a new, larger exhibition building was in use by March 1950, as the site evolved into a year-round events property rather than a seasonal fair alone.

In name, the venue’s longest-running identity was the National Orange Show, widely referred to in practice as the Orange Show grounds or fairgrounds (1911–1990s). In the 1990s, management changed the site name to the National Orange Show Event Center (1990s–present), and it is also widely branded and promoted as the “NOS Events Center” (in use by at least 2010–present). Within the wider complex, two building names matter for boxing history: the Swing Auditorium (an indoor arena built on the National Orange Show grounds in 1949 and lost after severe damage in 1981) and the Orange Pavilion (a multi-purpose indoor arena on the NOS Events Center grounds, used for modern boxing shows).

The grounds have always been built around large public gatherings—exhibitions, fairs and concerts—while also hosting organised sport. By the late 1970s, the property was heavily marketed for off-season use, and the on-site stadium had hosted football before the auto-racing schedule was expanded into a permanent feature after 1979. The wider campus has also been tied to motorsport via the Orange Show Speedway and to wagering through an on-site off-track betting operation that opened in 1987, alongside large-scale event hires—trade shows, festivals, and arena bookings—that keep a fairground complex active year-round.

Professional boxing on the Orange Show property is best traced by the specific hall names used at the time. During the “National Orange Show” era, the Swing Auditorium carried notable mid-century boxing bills: 1958-03-04 (4 March, 1958), Swing Auditorium, Archie Moore vs Bert Whitehurst, Moore won by TKO in round 10 (non-title bout); 1959-03-31 (31 March, 1959), Swing Auditorium, Lauro Salas vs Eddie Pace, Salas won on points over 10 rounds (non-title bout). With the Swing Auditorium gone after 1981, the complex’s modern boxing footprint is more closely tied to the Orange Pavilion on the present-day NOS Events Center grounds. A clear recent example is 2025-03-22 (22 March, 2025), Orange Pavilion (NOS Events Center), Lester Martinez vs Joeshon James, Martinez won by knockout in round 4 with the WBA Continental Americas super-middleweight title at stake; the same ProBox TV card also saw Charlie Sheehy stop Cesar Juarez in round 7, and Jessie Magdaleno halt Luis Coria in round 3.