LOS ANGELES, November 9 – The hottest jockey in thoroughbred racing, Mike Smith, will be honored this Saturday night when he attends the super bantamweight world championship fight between WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Abner Mares and WBA Bantamweight Super Champion Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.
An inductee into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and two-time Eclipse Award winner, the 47-year-old Smith stands alone as the jockey with the most winning races in Breeders’ Cup history with 17. He scored two victories last Friday and Saturday at Santa Anita in the running of horseracing’s biggest two-day event to earn the record, also winning the Bill Shoemaker Award as the most outstanding jockey in the 29th annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships. In 2002 the Roswell, New Mexico native who now resides in Southern California was given the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award that honors the rider whose career and personal conduct exemplifies the very best example of participants in the sport of thoroughbred racing.
“I am excited to be honored during this great night of boxing,” said Smith, who will sit ringside at STAPLES Center on Saturday night. “I am a big fan of the smaller guys so it will be exciting to see the super bantamweight and bantamweight fighters giving it their all. I can relate to their desires to be great at what they do.”
“It will be an honor to have Mike Smith ringside with us on Saturday night.” said Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya. “He is an unbelievable sportsman, a great champion of thoroughbred racing and does a tremendous amount for the Southern California community.”
Mares vs. Moreno, a 12-round battle for Mares’ WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship taking place on November 10 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the co-featured attractions, Los Angeles’ own Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz puts his IBF Bantamweight World Championship on the line against Victor “Nene” Zaleta and hard-hitting junior middleweight Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo of Los Angeles by way of Mexicali, Mexico makes his highly anticipated return against Raul Casarez in a 12-round bout. The SHOWTIME® CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins live at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). Preliminary fights will air live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges and taxes, are on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000 and at the STAPLES Center Box Office.
For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.staplescenter.com, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/AbnerMares00, www.twitter.com/ChemitoMoreno, www.twitter.com/ElPerro82, www.twitter.com/STAPLESCenterLA, www.twitter.com/SHOsports, follow the conversation using #MaresMoreno or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing or www.facebook.com/SHOsports.
