he last few months haven’t been easy for Ermano Fegatilli. After suffering a fractured tooth Fegatilli had to get an implant to repair the damage. Through the surgery Ermano then got an infection so the implant had to be removed, cleaned and eventually, replaced. This caused a planed June bout to be cancelled right as the card fell into place.

Rested and fully recuperated from his last fight in March – which he scored an impressive eight-round shutout decision over former French champion Karim Chakim — Fegatilli is as ready as ever to step back into the ring.

“I am taking all the needed safety measures” stated Fegatilli. At this point, nearly two months prior to the bout and just opening up training camp, Fegatilli’s tooth is good as new. It’s all ready to take as much leather as necessary – although knowing “Le Serésian”, that won’t be much!

A press-conference was held today for local media to announce the fight, which will be held on August 23rd in Kursal, Oostende, Belgium at the praised local Casino Oostende. It is now confirmed that Ermano’s opponent will be Domenico Urbano (25-4-1 10 KO’s), a 37 year old Italian fighter from Abruzzo.

Fegatilli has spent his last few weeks legally and physically moving to the Netherlands to live with his girlfriend. For this reason, his training was strongly pacified. While he has remained in full physical fitness, he still wants to go back to being “boxing fit”. He is focusing greatly on aerobics and muscular training to start. Within a few weeks he plans to be practicing and leveling up on his boxing skills and preparing for the style of Domenico Urbano.

While Urbano is the only man on the radar as of now; Ermano Fegatilli is rushing full speed at a world title. It is a long and hard road ahead. If he defeats Urbano, Fegatilli will likely be charging at Justin Savi (27-2-0 18 KO’s) as a part of a WBC purposed title eliminator (as part of a Super Featherweight tournament). Of course, it is being taken one fight at a time. Fegatilli-Savi is a fight to be arranged on a later date.

Ermano Fegatilli has a big future ahead; follow him on Facebook at his Facebook page “Ermano ll’Dottore Fegatilli”. You can also see him on Twitter at Ermano Fegatilli.

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT):
WBA WELTERWEIGHT TITLE – 12 ROUNDS
PAULIE MALIGNAGGI – 146.4 Pounds
ADRIEN BRONER – 146.8 Pounds

NABO & WBC INTERNATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT TITLES – 12 ROUNDS
JOHNATHON BANKS – 216.6 Pounds
SETH MITCHELL – 243.8 Pounds

VACANT WBC SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE – 12 ROUNDS
SAKIO BIKA – 167.2 Pounds
MARCO ANTONIO PERIBAN – 167.2 Pounds

SHOWTIME EXTREME (7 p.m. ET/PT):

MIDDLEWEIGHTS – 8 ROUNDS
JULIAN WILLIAMS – 155 Pounds
JOACHIM ALCINE – 154 Pounds

CRUISERWEIGHTS – 6 ROUNDS
MARCUS BROWNE – 176.8 Pounds
RICARDO CAMPILLO – 176 Pounds

BANTAMWEIGHTS – 4/6 ROUNDS (Time Permitting)
RAU’SHEE WARREN – 117.6 Pounds
JOVANY FUENTES – 116.8 Pounds

NON-TELEVISED FIGHTS

FEATHERWEIGHTS – 8 ROUNDS
JUAN DOMINGUEZ – 121 Pounds
BRADLEY PATRAW – 122.6 Pounds

MIDDLEWEIGHTS – 6 ROUNDS
FRANK GALARZA – 155.4 Pounds
ROMON BARBER – 155.6 Pounds

LIGHTWEIGHTS – 6 ROUNDS
ROBERT EASTER JR. – 133 Pounds
ANTOINE KNIGHT – 132.6 Pounds

LIGHTWEIGHTS – 4 ROUNDS
JAMEL HERRING – 133.2 Pounds
CALVIN SMITH – 132.4 Pounds

# # #

ABOUT “MALIGNAGGI VS BRONER”:
Malignaggi vs. Broner, a 12-round fight for Malignaggi’s WBA Welterweight World Championship, will take place Saturday, June 22, 2013 at BarclaysCenter in Brooklyn, New York. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and R & R Promotions, supported by Golden Boy Promotions’ sponsors Corona and AT&T and will be televised live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. In the co-featured bouts, Johnathon Banks will look to repeat his 2012 upset win over Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell as he defends his NABO and WBC International Heavyweight titles in a 12-round fight presented in association with K2 Promotions and number one rated WBC super middleweight contender Sakio Bika faces number four rated WBC super middleweight contender Marco Antonio Periban in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight World Championship. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Remaining tickets priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, are on sale now at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-745-3000 and at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK.

PHOENIX — June 21, 2013 — Valley fight fans will be treated to a high-energy, spectacular show on July 20th, when Iron Boy Promotions once again takes over Phoenix’s Celebrity Theatre for Iron Boy 8.

In the main event, Juan Garcia (18-3, 7KOs) will take on El Paso’s Adan Hernandez (15-7, 6KOs) in what promises to be as explosive as Garcia’s last outing on Iron Boy Promotions’ Iron Boy 7 card in May, when Garcia knocked out his opponent in the second round. Hernandez is a tough fighter, who has previously faced tough competition in fighters Danny Garcia and Urbano Antillon. This is a fight that boxing fans will not want to miss.

In the co-main event, Victor “El Nino” Castro looks to remain undefeated as he returns to the ring to face Marcos Herrera (6-9-1, 2KOs). Castro looked solid in his March knock-out win on Iron Boy 6. His opponent has also faced stiff competition, fighting boxers such as Sharif Bogere, Omar Figeroa and Jamie Kavanagh.

Also on the card, exciting valley prospect Carlos “The Chosen One” Castro (4-0, 1KO) looks to continue his unbeaten streak. Castro’s opponent, Juan Carlos Benavides (2-0, 1KO), hails from Mexico. In March, on Iron Boy 6, Castro walked away with an easy unanimous decision over his foe, the much-tested Jazzma Hogue. With his professional wins adding to his already impressive amateur career record of 98-10, Castro will take the next step toward bringing a world championship belt to Arizona.

Francisco “Panchito” C. de Vaca (1-0, 1KO) will be following up his May debut win, facing Michael James Herrera. De Vaca knocked out his opponent in the first round, and hopes to do the same in his bout with Herrera. In another fan-friendly and exciting match-up, Tucson’s Jensen Ramirez (2-2-2, 0KOs) will look to break Emilio Garcia’s (7-0-1, 1KO) undefeated streak in a six round bout. Rounding out the card, Joey Rueles (4-0-1, 2KOs) will face Victor Arreola (0-0-1), and Mario Esparza will make his professional debut against Tucson’s Wilberth Lopez (1-0, 1KO), who knocked out his opponent in his debut fight on Iron Boy 7.

Said Iron Boy Promotions president, Roberto Vargas about the event, “Arizona fighters are tough, don’t duck fights and aren’t afraid to step in the ring with any opponent. There are some great match-ups on this card, and boxing fans are in for a treat.”

For the first time, Iron Boy Promotions will be streaming this electrifying card on its website, www.iron-boy.com. More information on this will be forthcoming. A trailer for Iron Boy 8 is available on Iron Boy Promotions’ YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/ironboypromotions.

Tickets for the event may be purchased at www.iron-boy.com or at the Celebrity Theatre box office for $25, $35 and ringside tickets for only $45. Doors open at 5 p.m. on July 20h, and fights start at 6 p.m.

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Iron Boy Promotions is a Phoenix-based boxing promotions company. Established in 2011, Iron Boy Promotions is committed to providing quality, high-powered boxing shows with talented fighters.

New York, NY (6/21/13) – Next Saturday defending WBA/IBO champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (26-0, 23KO’s) meets Ireland’s top-rated former world title challenger Matthew “Mack The Knife” Macklin (29-4, 20KO’s) in their much-anticipated middleweight championship showdown at the MGM Grand Theaterat Foxwoods ® Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The championship matchup will be the main event on the HBO Boxing After Dark triple-header, which will be televised live on HBO® beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

In the HBO televised co-feature bout, red-hot super middleweight contender and IBO Champion Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen (21-0-1, 13KO’s) puts his undefeated record on the line against fellow undefeated contender Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales (17-0, 10KO’s) while top-rated junior middleweight NABF champion Willie “The Great” Nelson (20-1-1, 12KO’s) squares off against Luciano Cuello (32-2, 16KO’s) in the televised opener. Both bouts are scheduled for 10 rounds.

With just over a little more than a week to go before the monster middleweight showdown, both champion and challenger are eagerly counting down the minutes to what is one of the most anticipated championship match-ups thus far in 2013.

Below are quotes and photos (Photo credit Team Golovkin) from Golokin’s media day held in Big Bear last week as well as a complete transcript (audio included) from yesterday’s media teleconference call.

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
“This has been a terrific camp, the weather in Big Bear has been very good throughout. Training has been great and I’ve had some very good sparring.”

“My only focus is on Matthew Macklin on Saturday, June 29, nothing else.”

“It’s always exciting to fight. I’m thankful to all my fans for their support.
I’m looking forward to putting on another good show.”

“I know that Chavez Jr., Geale and Sturm have fights coming up. I will fight any of them. I want to fight the best and challenge myself always.”

Abel Sanchez, Trainer of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
“Gennady showed up for camp at 167 at the end of May. He’s at 163 today, his weight is never a problem and he’s in outstanding shape.”

Tom Loeffler, Managing Director of K2 Promotions
“Seeing how hard Gennady trains explains why he has been so dominant. Fans at Foxwoods on June 29 and those watching around the world will see a terrific performance from him.”

“One fight at a time, but our goal is to unify the titles at 160. And for the right opportunity Gennady is fully prepared to also fight anyone at 154 or 168.”

“Along with HBO in the US and Sky Sports in the UK, this fight will also be broadcast LIVE on DMAX in Germany where Gennady lives.”

MEDIA CALL TRANSCRIPT
https://quickconnect.sharefile.com/d/dd763b70690045a9

Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Middleweight Championship Boxing After Dark Triple Header Conference call. Today we have WBA and IBO defending middleweight champion, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin with a record of 26 and 0, 23 knockouts and his challenger, top rated middleweight contender and former World Title challenger, Matthew “Mac the Knife” Macklin with 29 and 4 and 20 knockouts.

We also have Tom Loeffler, president of K2 Promotions, Golovkin’s promoter and GGG’s head trainer, Abel Sanchez. For team Macklin, we have promoter Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment, co-promoter, Brian Peters of Brian Peters Promotions and head trainer, Buddy McGirt. The HBO Boxing After Dark triple header begins at 9:45 pm Eastern Time and Pacific Time on Saturday, June 29 and takes place at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods.

Tickets are currently on sale and are priced at $300, $200, $900 and $45. Tickets may be purchased online at Foxwoods.com, by calling the Foxwoods’ box office at -1-800-200-2882 or in person at the Foxwoods’ box office. Tickets may also be purchased through any Ticketmaster outlet and online at ticketmaster.com. To kick things off we would like to introduce Bill Satti of Foxwoods Resort and Casino.

Bill Satti: Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone that’s on the call today. Again, my name is Bill Satti with Foxwoods Resort Casino. This is about the 120th fight we’ve held here since opening our doors in 1992. And we’re honored to have the two teams that are coming here, Golovkin and Macklin and obviously the great promoters, Lou DiBella who’s been with us for many a fight and also K2.

So we look forward to working with them. Our – this year’s event is going to be held in our MGM Grand Theater which is a premiere theater. It transforms into a great boxing venue as well, seats over 4,000 people. And as she’s mentioned, tickets can be purchased at foxwoods.com. Doors will be opening at 6 o’clock to the public, 5:30 for media. The first fight I think is scheduled. And I’ll defer to them. But I think it’s 6:45.

The only thing I want to say to anyone who’s coming here since the Foxwoods is a very large venue, please feel free to look for go – plug into your GPS 240 MGM Boulevard. And that will take you to the MGM parking garage which is close walking proximity to the theater as a whole. Look forward to seeing everyone next Saturday night. And it’s going to be a great night.

Tom Loeffler: Hello.

Lou DiBella: Hello everybody, it’s Lou.

Lou DiBella: So let me take it from here. Bill, I want to thank you and everybody from Foxwoods, particularly Scott Butera who’s been a great friend to boxing on the east coast. Particularly I think Foxwoods has established itself as the destination for big time boxing in the east coast. And in my mind is finest event facility for boxing that’s just about any place I would rather be at the MGM Theater then on any venue in the east coast of the United States.

This is a tremendous boxing card. I need to thank HBO Sports for putting up the money necessary to make a card of this magnitude. It doesn’t get much better than this. The off-TV undercard features Danny O’Connor, a local favorite in New England. He’s got a tough fight in front of him. He’s managed by Ken Casey and the very popular band the Dropkick Murphys. So they’ll be a big following for Danny. Luis Rosa from Hartford, Super Bantamweight who’s promoted by DiBella Entertainment is a big, big ticket seller in New England who will also be on that undercard.

And that undercard will sacked with talent from beginning to end. And Tom Loeffler can tell you about the fight they have on the cards when he speaks. The tickets are priced very affordably with VIP ringsides at $300, ringsides at $200, $90 tickets and $45 tickets. And they’re available at Foxwoods.com or Ticketmaster locations. The off – the TV undercard that HBO will begin at 9:45 Eastern time as well as 9:45 pacific time will open with Willie Nelson, terrific young 154lb contender facing Luciano Cuello from Spain whose only loss were to Canelo Alvarez at a very close decision to Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. in the fight that many thought could have gone either way. The co-featured bout is at 168 lbs between a guy that holds the IBO 68 pound championship and is considered one of the best 68 pound prospects in the world, highly rated all over the place, Thomas Oosthuizen. He’ll be fighting Brandon Gonzalez who is promoted by Goossen Promotions and is an undefeated 68 pounder. Oosthuizen is also undefeated. Oosthuizen is self promoted by Golden Gloves Promotions of South Africa.

Tommy and I expect that to be a brawl. The main event it doesn’t really get any better than that. Matt “Mack the Knife” Macklin will be challenging Gennady Golovkin for his WBA World Middleweight Championship. Golovkin is probably one of the most highly talented fighter in the world today. Certainly after Sergio Martinez, he’s the mostly highly regarded. But we believe he’s never faced a challenge like Matt Macklin.

Matt’s a true 160 lb contender, truly one of the best in the world, tested Sergio Martinez throughout their fight, was a head midway through that fight, made it as good a fight as you can make it and ultimately, ultimately lost on TKO. But you know we all know that Sergio is one of the best fighters pound for pound in the world. Matt gave him everything he could take and we expect Matt to press Gennady.

And frankly we at DBE expect Matt to beat Gennady. But I know that Gennady’s team and K2, Gennady himself has a very different opinion. And they’ll soon express it to you. One more time, tickets are $300 for VIPs, $200 for rings, $90 and $45. There are an awful lot of super affordable tickets at $90 and $45. And if you’ve ever been to the MGM Theater at Foxwoods, there is not a bad seat in the house.

They’re available through Foxwoods.com or by calling Ticketmaster. And introduce his trainer and his fighter, I’m going to turn it over to an old friend of mine, a guy that I’ve known for over 20 years and I’m proud to work with who works with a great team and a great fighter, my friend, Tom Loeffler.

Tom Loeffler: Thanks, Lou. We’re definitely exciting about coming up to Foxwoods. As you mentioned, this type of fight would never be possible without the support of HBO. They really went out of their way to make this because they realized for the middleweight division right now where Gennady is at, they need – they need to have a top – top fighter like Matthew Macklin. And we have a lot of respect for Matthew. He’s probably in the top 5, maybe the best non-title holder in the division.

And this is the type of the test that Gennady needs for his career. Gennady right now as you mentioned is one of the highest touted boxes around. His life has really taken on a life of it’s own after the two-day special that HBO did on the last fight. It’s really – you know his life has kind of grown. And you know this type of fight will definitely provide fireworks. And it will show you know if Gennady is the real deal.

And all of our – you know our team believes that. I know Matthew Macklin and Lou and Brian Peters have a different idea. But that’s what makes this such a great fight. So with that, I want to introduce the trainer for Gennady, Abel Sanchez. Abel’s been around for a long time. He’s up in the training camp that he runs in Big Bear Like, California, the world famous summit high altitude training center. So Abel can give you some insight onto Gennady’s training has been going. Abel.

Abel Sanchez: Good afternoon to everybody that’s on. Hello Buddy, it’s been a while.

Buddy McGirt: How you doing?

Abel Sanchez: We’re finally going to face each other. But everything’s going good here. Yes, everything’s going good here. I’ve been here since May the 1st. We’re having a great training camp. I’m sure Matthew is too. You’ve got a great coach so we’re looking forward to a very difficult fight. It’s going to be a great fight for as long as it lasts. It’s going to be great for the crowd, great for the HBO audience. So it’s – I’m glad that it was able to be made. HBO came through. And Lou and Tom were able to come together.

But we’re looking for a difficult fight. I hope that it lives up to everything that’s on paper and everything that we think. And everybody that – and everything that Lou and Buddy also think. So thank you very much for having us on. Look forward to seeing you guys there in Connecticut.

Tom Loeffler: Thanks, Abel. And now I want to introduce the WBA and IBO middleweight champion. He’s got the height knockout percentage of any active champion and also the highest in history of any middleweight champion. So with that I’d want to introduce Gennady Golokvin to say a few words.

Gennady Golokvin: Good afternoon everybody. I think to say like my coach you know this very difficult fight for me and for him and for us. I think very close fight. I think very great fight for people, for TV, for fans you know. I’ m ready. I think Matthew is ready too. I hope a great fight. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Tom Loeffler: Thanks, Gennady. So, Lou, do you want to introduce the Macklin side.

Lou DiBella: Yes, thank you Tom. First I want to introduce a man I’ve known for many, many years. I’ve known prior even to meeting Matt – Matthew. He’s been the biggest force in Irish boxing for decades, but too many that I want to say because he still looks like a young guy. But, Brian do you want say a few words.

Brian Peters: Certainly, Lou. Thank you. Thank you very much to Lou and thank you to everybody at Lou’s office, DiBella Entertainment. They’ve been fantastic. You know this – these are the kind of fights that Matthew has always wanted to be in – be at this level and to be fighting. You know last year, thanks to Lou we fought at the Garden and to be fighting a fantastic place like Foxwoods, that’s another great thing in Matthew’s career.

Would also like to thank Tom of K2 Promotions and of course Gennady Golovkin, the champion for giving us this opportunity and of course, HBO – and HBO to make all this possible. But Matthew, he’s a good old fashioned fighter. These fights, they’re a throwback to the middleweight days. You know I believe that Matthew is going to bring Gennady to places that he hasn’t been yet as a professional.

And I think he’s going to shock a lot of people. And I think the fans and HBO are going to be very happy with what they see come June 29. Thank you, guys.

Lou DiBella: Thank you very much, Brian. The next gentleman was a great fighter in his own right, one of the best in the New York area and in the world for a long time. He’s a terrific trainer, James Buddy McGirt.

Buddy McGirt: Hello, everybody. I just want say that I just think that this is a fight that boxing really needs. I’m glad HBO is televising it. When you have the best fighting the best and my hat is off to Golovkin and his camp for accepting the fight with Matthew. And I have to say for a while I never knew who was training Golovkin. But when I found out Abel was training him, then I had to really put my thinking cap on.

And the last time I had t put my thinking cap on has been over about 8 years when I had Tarver fight Roy Jones, where I really had to focus on doing different things, and that’s what I am doing with Matthew, to make sure that we win this fight coming the 29th.

So you know he’s prepared now. But I’m quite sure Golovkin’s prepared. And it’s just you know 9, 10 more days and you know when everybody, they step up to the plate and handle their business.

Lou DiBella: Thank you, Buddy. The next gentleman should at one point have held the middleweight title. He soundly beat Flex Sturm on Sturm’s home ground in Germany. He should have come back a champion. He didn’t. That fight made me salivate and want to promote Matt Macklin not only because – not only because he should have been a world champion, but because he’s absolutely one of the most exciting fighters in all of boxing.

He has the blood and guts warrior spirit that you know you saw in Arturo Gatti and guys like Mickey Ward and others who are really willing to walk through the fire to prove what they have which is why I think (unintelligible) miss title fight on June 29. I don’t see any way it’s going to be anything but a great fight. Matthew is going to make Gennady fight and to make Gennady have to walk through that fire if he’s going to keep his tile.

But we at DBE think that there’s a great chance that that title is going to change hands on June 29. So it’s my pleasure to introduce the great warrior, Matt “Mack the Knife” Macklin.

Matthew Macklin: Thanks, Lou. Yes, I just want to thank everyone involved with making the fight, you know myself, Lou, everyone at DiBella Entertainment, Foxwoods, HBO, Brian Peters, you know everyone at K2, Tom Loeffler and Gennady for you know taking the challenge and giving me the opportunity. And you know I’m really looking forward to it. It’s my third attempt at the world title let’s say. I should have been WBA Champion on the last Saturday of June two years ago.

But I was robbed in Germany. You know gave Sergio a good fight and that was close. I think it was a 3 up on one of the cards going into the 11th round, but I came up short that night. But I think I’m a better fighter and have more experience. You know Sergio was a nightmare where Gennady, as good a fighter as he is, he’s right there in front of you. You know he looks very impressive, especially with his amateur pedigree behind him.

I remember him from the World Junior Championships in Budapest back in 2000. So I’ve been familiar with him since then. I’ve always thought he had a ton of talent and funny enough but I think 13 years later we’re now fighting each other. So you know as a professional, I’m certainly the more proven entity. And I’ve had the much – you know tough, much tougher opposition. And I think that will hold me a good seat on the night. I have worked well with Buddy and we have had a good training camp so far.

And we’re nearly finished now with all the hard work. Just excited for the fight, so looking forward to fighting at Foxwoods and looking forward to making certain I’m lucky becoming maybe the World Champion of the world. I see you all in Foxwoods.

Lou DiBella: Thank you, Matt. And moderator, if we can open it up to questions from the press.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d like to ask a question, please press the number 1 key on your telephone keypad. Again, if you’d like to ask a question, please press the number 1 key on your phone.

Q: Hello. How is everybody doing today? I have a question one for Gennady and one for Matthew. First to the champion, Gennady, you know a lot of critics and detractors out there who say that you’ve done nothing to solidify yourself as a legit champion. Matthew is a guy who’s known as a come forward fighter and gives it all he has but he’s also a guy who has come up short against some of the top names.

Do you think a win over Matthew is going to silence these critics or after this fight, if you do win, do you have to go after one of the other guys like maybe Chavez Jr. or the guy who a lot of people think just beat Sergio Martinez, Martin Murray to solidify yourself as – in the eyes of detractors as a legitimate champion.

Gennady Golokvin: I think Matthew is a great test for me. I think just one fight any time here you know that I win yes, but I hope I win impressively.

Tom Loeffler: I can jump in for Gennady on that question because there has been some criticism as far as him only fighting junior middleweights or not the top level competition. But that’s certainly not from his standpoint. We’ve told HBO – anyone – in fact there’s no name that we’ve turned down yet for Gennady, And as Matt said, you know he should have been a World Champion when he fought Felix Sturm. He should have gotten the decision there.

And if you can knock down Sergio Martinez, that’s quite an accomplishment. So I think that if he beats Matthew Macklin, then I think he’ll be – he’ll legitimately be recognized as you know the number 2 guy right behind Sergio Martinez.

Q: Thank you. And my second question is for Matthew. Matthew, as you stated yourself something that a lot of people seem to forget in this sport is that Gennady was a top amateur who has beat you know a lot of the big names in the sport. And right now you know he’s known as one – you know probably the hardest and most accurate puncher in the sport. You yourself are known as a come forward fighter you know who lets it all hang out and gives everything he has.

Is there anything that you feel that you’ve had to alter in your style for this fight to avoid falling into you know Gennady’s game plan?

Matthew Macklin: You know well I mean Gennady’s a pretty impressive fighter you know but – and this is through no fault of his own, but you know most of the guys he has been walking through have been 154 pounders. You know I’m strong, big punching 160 pounder. And you know that changes things.

You know when all of a sudden he’s going to have to be a lot more pre-occupied with defense in this fight than he has probably all of his previous ones. You know he’s got a lot of hype around hm. You know if he wasn’t for his amateur pedigree, I wouldn’t really read into the hype at all because he hasn’t really beaten anybody of any note.

But you know of course, the amateur pedigree suggests that he’s the real deal. And you know I remember watching him myself at the same age as me boxing the World Junior Championships when I did so I know how good a fighter he is. And like I said before, I’m looking forward to this fight. You know even with this guy I’m going to hit him back just as hard as he’s going to hit me. So yes, he is accurate. He’s got good timing. He’s heavy handed.

And you know so am I. So you know it’s going to be an exciting fight.

Q: Hello. Good afternoon everybody. First question here is for Gennady. Gennady, in the media, the media has been beating you up for as most people have been saying that you’re really a monster. There’s some others are saying that you’re not. Many of your previous performances, they can attest to your power that you do possess in the ring though.

We know Matt’s going to carry some heavy hands. Any chance that we see a change in your strategy in utilizing more of your boxing skills versus relying on your power?

Gennady Golovkin: No I’m regular person. I’m regular man. You know I think no. I’m not thinking about making much change. No, my strategy is my strategy. I know Matthew is good. But the truth he is good -very strong. Very close fight for us you know. I think Matthew already know this. I think great fight.

Q: Thank you, Gennady. My next question is for Matthew. Matthew, talk has already been circulating around the media pretty frequently know that you know Golovkin’s talking about facing Martinez, Chavez and some of the other big names out there. How has this affected you leading into this fight if it has at all?

Matthew Macklin: Not really because that’s the media. People are going to ask me questions. I knew this was going to happen. And that’s the way it is. You know I’m the underdog going in. So that’s the fact of the matter. So -but that’s the way I like it. And you know I’m the challenger. He’s the champion. And you know it’s down to me to rip the title away from him. And that’s what I’m prepared to do and that’s what I’m going to do on the night.

Q: One last question for you, Matthew. You’re last bout with Martinez ended on terms that we know you didn’t hope for. Obviously there had to have been some things you picked up from that bout that were learning lessons. What did you pick up from that bout that you believe is going to help you carry you forward in the win on June 29.

Matthew Macklin: Well you know I think it’s a very different fight. You know obviously Sergio moved a lot more and he is a counter puncher. You know Gennady’s more aggressive. He’s an orthodox fighter. He’s strong. He’s probably not as quick as Sergio. But he probably hits harder and he’s stronger. So it’s basically a completely different fight.

And it suits me a lot more. I’m not going to have to go looking for him. And like I said it’s a very different fight so it’s not really fair to compare. But you know I had a good win since over former champion Alcine. You know I’m in good shape, the weight is good. I’m just ready go. And it’s not really – I’m not saying Golovkin is an easier fight, because the styles are so different. It’s very difficult to compare them.

Q: Hello, nice to be able to join you, Matthew.

Matthew Macklin: How are you doing?

Ian Johnson: This is what I’ve got to do to get to talk to you. It’s a great pleasure but could I just ask a parochial question to start with. Matthew, you will become the first Birmingham boxer to become a World Champion. How important is that to you?

Matthew Macklin: Yes very important. I have seen some great fighters over the years and I’d be very happy to be the first one born in Birmingham to want to win the world title. I would be a great achievement.

So yes, to become world champion would be brilliant.

Q: And obviously all our readers Matthew, are going to be backing you to win fairly comfortably we hope. But maybe it won’t be comfortable at all. Can you just – just answer one question? It’s probably worrying us more than anything is that you’re – you’re more serious defeats have been late in the fights. And therefore there’s a suggestion that maybe your stamina is not up to scratch.

How do you regard that?

Matthew Macklin: Oh that’s not going to be a problem, my stamina is one of his strong points when you look at the previous fight. I think I threw over I think 1,000 or 1,100 punches in a couple fights. So for a middle weight, you know that was quite a ferocious fight for people. You know a lot of them were power punches, so great stamina. I mean the Jamie Moore fight I was down under the 154pounds. And to be honest with you, I was completely drained after 3 rounds never mind 10 rounds. So yes, I mean the weight was the issue there.

Matthew Macklin: Sergio Martinez, you know my corner pulled me out at the end of the 11 before the 12th round. I felt – you know I wanted to continue on the night. I felt okay. You know maybe it was the right call. You know Buddy made the call. He made the decision to save me for another day. But you know I think it wasn’t so much a tired thing. I think Sergio maybe just worked me out or tired me a little bit

But you know I feel I’m in better shape for this fight then I was for the Sergio fight anyway. And I think stamina of anything is one of my stronger points. So no I don’t – I don’t – that’s not a problem at all.

Q: Matthew, you’ve only had one win since March 2012. How do you deal with that before challenging Golovkin?

Matthew Macklin: It’s not ideal of course. I mean initially I wanted to fight in June and then maybe fight Gennady in September or October. But the end of the day, the opportunity was there. And it wasn’t necessarily going to be there later on in the year. And you know at this stage in my career I’m not in a position where I want to turn down World Title opportunities. You know this is the fight I want.

So you know the opportunity was there. It came along and you know I took it with both handles. I couldn’t really pass it up.

Q: Hello guys, Matthew. Hello. My question is for Golovkin. Being this is his third fight here in the states, how do you feel the fans react to him fighting here.

Tom Loeffler: I can jump in on that one as well, a lot of noise on the line so I’m not sure if Gennady’s hearing the questions that well. But you know this would be the third time Gennady’s fought on HBO. And also the third time he’s fought here in the states. After his first fight against Proksa last September, a week later we took him to the (Nonito Donaire) fight in the Home Depot Center.

And he was mobbed by all the boxing fans down there. So we’ve gotten a great fan reaction here in the United States when he fought at – in January against Rosado in Madison Square Garden. I mean there was a lot of Russian fans supporting him with a lot of the Kazak flags. So we’ve gotten a great reaction because of the support with HBO.

And now with this fight with Macklin, he’s really – he’s really grown here in the United States incredibly.

Q: Okay. Does he feel the east coast is a better place for him to fight? Is he gaining a little bit more exposure on that side or does it matter where he fights?

Tom Loeffler: Well the original plan is to keep him on the east coast because of all the support here in New York. And we feel a lot of the fans from New York that came to the fight in January, we feel they’ll come up to Foxwoods Casino. This is a great – a great time of the year up in Connecticut. And that’s really where we wanted to build a fan base because New York’s the media capital. So that’s the original plan.

And then we just go from there depending on how everything goes with the fight on June 29.

Q: Evening Matthew, Steve Lillis.

Matthew Macklin: How you doing, Steve?

Q: I’m good, mate. I’m good. Just want one small question first. When you talked about the 2000 World Juniors, was yourself and Gennady in different weight classes there?

Matthew Macklin: Yes. He was weight below.

Q: So he was the light middleweight and you was middle one yes?

Matthew Macklin: I was a welterweight and he was a 63.5 kilos.

Q: Right. Okay, got you. After you lost to Jamie Moore, you were sought of like treading water for 2 or 3 years until the Euro Cup fight came along. Was there any period during that time when you thought you wouldn’t get to this stage to where you are now headlining major cards, fighting on HBO?

Matthew Macklin: Yes. But it’s a rollercoaster. Me minds been very much a rollercoaster career. I remember yourself see I think after my second pro fight in December the turn of the year, you done a feature on 3 prospects that you though were going to be world champions. I was one of them. That was back in 2001. And there was a lot of hype around it. I was a star amateur turning pro and people forget how good my amateur pedigree was even though it was only that short period of time.

But you know, yes, I mean then there was a setback with the last hand juries. I’ve change trainers a couple of times, a period of no activity. There’s was – I went down to Junior Middleweight. I fought Jamie last. And then there was one thing after another fights falling through. Yes. It was a very frustrating period.

And there was a lot – I probably had to do a lot of soul searching but I do believe that time probably built a lot of character or showed the character that I have. I had to stay with it and stick with it. And you know now – now I’m headlining big cards on HBO. And this my third attempt. I should be World Champion because the Sturm fight you know I got beat. And then I didn’t get the decision in the last with Sergio.

But you know fought the Garden and it sold out. So you know I’m looking forward now this time making it third time lucky. And you know I hope to get from all these experiences and you know not hopefully, I’m definitely going to put all the experience and all the objects and everything behind me and put it together and produce the performance of my career.

Q: Can you tell me about you gym in Spain that you’re running as well now?

Matthew Macklin: Yes, the gym in Spain is a great facility. You know we – it’s for charity. It’s a non-profitable gym. Any profit that it makes will be given to local charity there ASPANDEM which is a brilliant charity for children with development issues. And you know it’s a great facility. From my point of view, I’m just happy to have a base that I can train. And I think it’s for a bit of stability – a lot more stability to me to what I would have had in years past.

I’m constantly on the road where you know Marbella is somewhere I’ve been going to on holiday for the last five or six years very frequently. And got a lot of friends out there, big Irish and English community there and you know to be – it’s basically home for me at the moment. So you know the gym is a great facility for any boxers that want to use it.

Q: And have you spoke to Sergio at all about this fight. I know you keep in touch with him.

Matthew Macklin: Yes. He sent me a couple of messages, phone messages, on Twitter and things just saying good luck and asking how training was going. Just you know wishing me well and saying the he was confident in me and believed I’m going to win. That sort of thing so yes, it was nice.

Q: How you doing, Matt.

Matthew Macklin: Yes. Not too bad.

Q: Good. So I just wanted to find out from speaking to you previously, you’ve outlined that you’re camp’s ahead of the Martinez fight. You had a few interruptions and you had a few injuries. Just wanted to see how smoothly your camp’s gone so far and since you went from training in Spain to New York as well?

Matthew Macklin: Good work came out. I’m in good shape, had some good sparring, a couple of light heavy weights, a couple of light middle to mix things up. Build strength and speed. And – so only one sparring session left now and we’re ready to go. So I’m looking forward to fight. I’m in good shape. The weight’s down. I’m on weight now more or less so. Yes, I’m looking forward to the fight. Can’t wait for it now.

Q: You’ve also stressed that Buddy had a big impact when you went back working with him. And he mentioned earlier in the call the tactics are going to play a big part. And I mean do you see this as being very tactful affair. Or is there still I suppose a risk or a possibility that it could end up in a bit of brawl?

Matthew Macklin: I think there’s a lot of ways this fight could go. You know what I mean. I thing that’s why you have to be ready to – you know myself and Buddy talk to a lot of things – a lot of different games plans you know because it could be a tactical 12 round boxing match. It – you know it could be a Hagler-Hearns 3 round war. There’s a lot of ways it could go. And you know we’re just ready for every way the fight pans out. We’re ready to adapt.

Q: Okay. Good So best of luck and thanks, Matt. I just have another question for Gennady if I can ask. Matt has been very complimentary I suppose over your amateur career and that he kept an eye on you throughout your career. Where you aware of Matthew as an amateur or have you kept an eye on him throughout his career?

Gennady Golovkin: I didn’t know Matthew in the amateur. I never seen him amateur.

Tom Loeffler: Gennady was saying is that question has come up before is that you know since they were in different divisions, he didn’t really know Matthew in the amateurs, but certainly in the professionals now with all of his accomplishments. You know Matthew has been on the radar screen for Gennady. And this is kind of a culmination of the fights that Matthew’s had. And now with Gennady being the champion, it’s kind of a meeting at this point where two of the top middleweights are fighting each.

And that’s exactly what boxing needs at this point.

Q: Hello there. Hello, Matthew. Hello Gennady. I’ve got a question for Matthew Macklin. Are you a fighter that studies videos meticulously? Do you sit and watch them with your trainer, Buddy or do you leave that sort of stuff to him?

Matthew Macklin: I don’t sit down with Buddy. Buddy will have a look. And I’ll have a look and then we’ll talk about it. Yes, I mean I watch but I don’t over analyze. You know you can over analyze. Of course you have a look and see what you know certain habits they’ve got or where they feel comfortable, where they don’t feel so comfortable. And yes, you have a good look.

But I don’t – I wouldn’t be spending hours and hours, night in, night out watching them. Once I’ve had a good look at it, that’s it then really. And maybe a bit nearer to the fight, I have a little you know 15 minutes refresh it, and then again a bit nearer again. But I don’t overdo it.

Q: Okay, lovely. Thanks, Matt. I’ve got another quick question. Let’s just say you were to – you were to win the fight. And you could bring the title back to the UK, where would you – in an ideal world, where would fight? Where would you have your first defense if you were going to fight in the UK?

Matthew Macklin: If I was in the UK I suppose I mean it would depend on – it would depend on a lot of things. But I mean for me, it would be in the UK then obviously Birmingham, the LG would be where I would like to have the fight. I mean the O2 in London’s a great arena. Maybe that would be. But I mean if the fight was in the UK, then preferably for me it would be the LG Arena in Birmingham.

Lou DiBella: I’d just like to reiterate a thank you to HBO for making this fight possible. And thank you to Foxwoods for their tremendous cooperation. Thank you to Gennady and to Tom Loeffler and the K2 team for giving Matthew this opportunity. Thank you to Matthew and Brian Peters and Buddy and Matthew’s team for stepping up to a challenge that most people didn’t want. And the fans are the big winners here. They’ll be the winners if they watch this on HBO.

But they would be the bigger winners if they come to Foxwoods. Tickets are $300 for VIPs, $200 rings, $90 and $45. They’re available at Foxwoods.com or by calling Ticketmaster. We hope to see all of you in Connecticut. And if not, we hope you all tune in to HBO. Thank you very much for your time and attention.

Tom Loeffler: And our closing comments also is to just reiterate with Lou said. I mean it’s just everything’s pretty much been said on the call. But it’s going to be a terrific fight. You know both fighters, both Gennady and Matthew come forward. It’s going to be a lot of fireworks in the ring.

The Golovkin-Macklin World Championship Bout is promoted by K2 Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, in association with Foxwoods Resort Casino. The fight will take place in the MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut and will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

Tickets are currently on sale and are priced at $300, $200, $90 and $45. Tickets may be purchased online at foxwoods.com by calling the Foxwoods’ box office at 800-200-2882, or in person at the Foxwoods’ box office. Tickets may also be purchased through any Ticketmaster outlet and online at Ticketmaster.com.
For updates and additional information, please visit www.K2Promos.com, www.dbe1.com or www.HBO.com/boxing.

onight at 9:00 p.m. on MSG Network’s Friday Night Fights, hosted by John Duddy and Mark Breland: Harold Volbrecht vs. Mark Breland (2/7/87).

Arguably one of the greatest amateur boxers ever, Breland entered this welterweight title bout with an undefeated 16-0 professional record and in search of his first world title. Breland’s 7th Round knockout of Volbrecht, which was the result of two devastating right-handed blows to the head, was impressive on its own, but became legendary after it was revealed after the fight that Breland entered the ring that night with a significant injury.

In the episode, Duddy asks Breland why he would start the fight knowing that he would be at a disadvantage. Breland responds, “Because that’s what we fighters do. We just get out there and do what we’ve got to do to win.

Friday Night Fights is part of MSG Network’s Summer Block Party. For more information go to www.msg.com/summer and join the conversation on Twitter with @MSGNetworks.

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The Garden of Dreams Foundation to “make dreams come true for kids facing obstacles”.

Visit gardenofdreamsfoundation.org to learn more.

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Rances Barthelemy scored a one punch body shot knockout over Fahsi Sakkreen in round two of a scheduled twelve round Jr. Lightweight bout.

Barthelemy landed an uppercut to the body that sent Sakkreen down to the canvas for the ten count and the fight was stopped at 1:26 of round two.

Barthelemy of Miami via Cuba is now 19-0. Sakreen of Thailand is now 39-4-1.

Caleb Truax stopped Donovan George in round six of their scheduled ten round Middleweight bout.

Truax dominated the bout from the first round on as he landed a plethora of right hands in round one that rocked George back to the ropes. The dominance continued throughout as Truax landed mostly right hands but began to work the body in round three.

In round six, Truax landed a huge flurry on the ropes that was culminated by a crushing right hand that sent George to the canvas and the fight was stopped after the referee saw that George was not getting up and stopped it after the count reached seven.

Truazx, 162 lbs of Minnesota is now 22-1-1 with 13 knockouts. George, 161.8 lbs of Chicago is now 24-4.

Kenn Glenn scored a four round unanimous decision over Gavin Quinn in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Glenn, 158.8 lbs of Minneapolis, MN and is now 3-0. Quinn, 154 lbs is now 1-1.

Matthew Villanueva scored a ten round unanimous decision over Julian Rivera in a Super Flyweight bout in Mexico City.

Scores were 98-92, 98-92 and 96-94 for Villanueva and is now 10-0-1. Rivera is now 12-3-1.

Paulie Malignaggi

“It’s gotten a little bit crazy, we’ll admit that. I can take some of the blame, but I can’t take all of it. I can only apologize for my end, but at the end of the day, this is how the creation of Adrien Broner happened, in my opinion. They put everything that’s wrong with boxing in one room, did everything that’s wrong with boxing in that room and gave birth to Adrien Broner and you people are eating it up.

“I don’t have to admit anything on Saturday night. I’ll admit he’s a talented fighter now, but there’s a lot more than talent that it takes to get to the top. I’ve been in gyms across the country, across the world and you see talented fighters all the time that don’t make it, just hanging out in the gym, working out. They just don’t get those breaks, so it isn’t about talent. A little bit of the package is talent and he’s got that part of the package; I’m not going to lie to you.

“Did anybody notice he was here a half hour before the press conference and then pretended he was late? Then he shows up an hour into the press conference trying to show up fashionably late. Stop trying so hard, bro. Just do what you have to do. You’re being a clown.

“Mr. Schaefer talked about detours and how some fighters have to take detours and others don’t. It all depends on the matchmaking. It all depends on who’s got your back. Mr. Al Haymon has taken good care of Adrien Broner and that’s why he is where he is now. There are a lot more talented fighters than Adrien Broner that don’t get the credit they deserve. I’m not saying he’s not talented, I’m just saying Al Haymon is responsible for this creation right here.

“There are detours that he hasn’t had to take. I was a talented prospect at one time too. You know what I was rewarded with my first title fight? Miguel Cotto. You know what his reward was for his first world title fight? Some guy Rodriguez, who I can’t even remember his name. OK? There’s a difference. We end up on detours because of the people that have our backs. Instead of praying to God every night he should pray to Al Haymon for making him the creation that he is.

“This guy is nothing and on Saturday night I’m going to prove how nothing he is.

[To Broner] “You remember in that locker room at Wild Card Gym a couple of years ago when you were getting ready to fight (Daniel) Ponce (de Leon) and we were in the locker room and your were all nervous about going the distance? You think I forgot that conversation you had with me? I had to explain to him how to go 10 rounds without mentally killing yourself. He gets to the fight and throws about 16 punches for 10 rounds and gets the decision. My man, you’re going 12 Saturday. I’m going to beat your ass.”

Adrien Broner

“I really didn’t come here to talk trash, we did enough of that. We’re two days out. It’s really fight time for me. It’s about business. I really wasn’t going to come up here, honestly. I really wasn’t going to come up here and talk, but that would have been disrespectful to my fans, even the ones who hate me. They’re still my fans because they want to see me lose, so I came up anyway.

“All I want to say is, I HAVE to put on a hell of a show on Saturday night. Like I said before, I’m not here to bad (mouth) Paulie. You’re a great champion, you’re a great Italian, I’m dead serious.

“I’ll be a three-time world champion on Saturday at the age of 23. With that being said, let Paulie talk his little BS. At the end of day, I’m knocking him the (expletive) out. He’s never been knocked out.

“I just say to you Paulie, who I know is a very good commentator, you asked a lot of questions about Adrien Broner. You said, ‘how is he in big fights? Can he punch? What’s going to happen when someone punches him back?’ I’m just asking you man to man if he comes in and proves this to you, as a great commentator make sure you tell the world how good this kid is. He’s not getting his accolades.

“I went from 120 to 135 pounds. I’m moving up to 147, two weight divisions, and that has not been done. I’m looking to make history and be the first current American three-time champion, so make sure you [Malignaggi] tell the public he is truly a good fighter.

“I’ll see you all on Saturday night. It’s going to be a hell of a fight…a hell of a fight.”

Johnathon Banks

“I want to thank K2 Promotions, SHOWTIME, Golden Boy Promotions and, once again, the respect, honor and the hard work of Team Mitchell. I definitely respect him as a fighter and his whole team.

“Saturday night is going to be a good night. It’s going to be a night of fireworks from the main event and I think the whole card. With all the talking that’s been done at the press conference, the telephone calls, the media workouts and all that stuff, I look forward to Saturday.

“This is what I do. This is my life. This is what I always have done and this is what I’m going to be doing.

“I want to thank my team, my coach, my cut man. I want to thank everybody for helping me prepare for the fight. We’ve had a good camp and we’re just looking forward to Saturday night.”

Seth Mitchell

“First and foremost, as always, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me strength to endure some trying times in my life. I want to thank SHOWTIME for giving me this opportunity. I’m very fortunate and very blessed considering what happened in the last fight to have this opportunity to redeem myself on this level.

“This sport is very unforgiving and I understand that. I want to thank my team, Andre Hunter, my trainer, Al Haymon, who’s my advisor and I want to thank Golden Boy Promotions for sticking behind me and giving me this opportunity.

“The first fight was a tough loss for me and it took me a little while to get over it, but I truly believe everything happens for a reason. We went back to the drawing board, we did a couple of things and I’m very excited about this rematch.

“I’m thankful that Johnathon Banks gave me this rematch. He’s a class act, but this Saturday we’re not going to be nice to each other in the ring. He’s well-prepared. I’m prepared. I’m just excited. I want to thank all my fans for continuing to stick behind me. Just know that I have truly learned from this loss. I don’t talk about it much because no matter what I say I have to go out and show it on Saturday.”

Sakio Bika

“Thank you to everyone at Barclays Center. I want to say thank you to God and thank you to my trainer, Kevin Cunningham, for putting me in this position. I’m very happy to be here.

“It’s going to be a very good fight on Saturday. If you don’t have your tickets, you need to go get some tickets. This fight with Marco is going to be very entertaining. I know he’s coming to fight and I’m coming to fight too. I’m very confident that I can win this belt.

“I want to thank you to my family back in Australia and my new baby girl. She’s going to be very happy to see me come home with the belt. I’m really sure I’m going to be a world champion on Saturday.”

Marco Antonio Periban

“It’s a pleasure to be here. I want to thank all the people from Brooklyn for giving me the opportunity to come over here and fight. I’m here to put on a great fight, enjoy myself and win the world title.

“I want to dedicate this fight to a trainer of mine who passed away recently, Rudy Perez. Most of you in the boxing business know him as the great trainer of Marco Antonio Barrera.

“I look forward to seeing you all at this great event. It’s going to be a hell of a fight.”

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions

“Weekend after weekend, fight after fight, SHOWTIME has really stepped up to the plate and has brought the best boxing has to offer to fight fans here in the United States. The man responsible for that is Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President & General Manager of SHOWTIME Sports and it is a pleasure to introduce him.

“There are different ways to get to the top. Some go straight and some take a detour. Actually, most take a detour and I think that’s what Team Mitchell experienced when they fought their last fight against Johnathon Banks.

“Seth Mitchell wanted the rematch right away. He didn’t want to take another detour. He wanted to go for the rematch straight away and so did his team and us as his promoter.

“Of course, Johnathon Banks was happy to get into the ring with Mitchell again and show what he is all about. He is going to try to repeat and Seth Mitchell is looking to correct and learn from the mistakes he made in the first fight.

“The captain of the ship, Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell, with a record of 25-1-1, is really one of my favorite people outside of the ring as well. He is polite, he’s kind, he’s well spoken and a great representative and ambassador of the sport of boxing. He has been a successful athlete before as a former Michigan State linebacker who found his true calling in the ring and has torn through his opposition leading up to the Johnathon Banks fight. Many felt he was the next great hope for the American heavyweight title. We still believe he is, and I’m excited to see Seth Mitchell on Saturday night.

“Adrien is an amazing fighter, an amazing talent, very charismatic, a great self-promoter as well. He’s really the kind of fighter who evokes emotions and there are very few fighters who have that talent to evoke emotions, good ones or bad ones, but he does evoke emotions, and as a result people watch. People want to see him win, or they want to see him lose, but people watch. Adrien Broner is one of those few, few talents who might come around once in a lifetime, once in a generation. He is one of them.

“Paulie has been counted out many times, but has always found a way to turn back the doubters and prove the people wrong. He moved up to 147, a lot of people thought he was done and he proved them wrong. He went to the Ukraine, everybody thought he was crazy, that he was never going to win and he proved them wrong. Now he wants to prove wrong all of those people who think that it’s going to be a walk in the park for Broner.”

Tom Loeffler, Managing Director of K2 Promotions

“There’s not much to be said about the main event, they speak for themselves. It’s a terrific main event, but as Richard said, the first heavyweight title fight here at Barclays Center is really something special.

“The first fight only went two rounds, but it was an electric two rounds. Seth Mitchell was targeted as the number one ranked heavyweight at that time, so with Johnathon beating him, we believe that he is the best heavyweight right now here in the United States.

“With the fight coming up on Saturday, both fighters are very respectful and very well-spoken, but you will see in the ring there will be fireworks.

“One additional note with Johnathon, he is the only fighter that I know of in history to be a trainer of heavyweight champions and also compete at the championship level at heavyweight.

“Wladimir Klitschko, the boxer that he trains, is coming to support him Saturday night.”

Brett Yormark, CEO of Barclays Center

“We are thrilled to hosting our fourth night of world championship boxing here at Barclays Center.

“Brooklyn is known for its great champions such as Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Zab Judah and we have a great Brooklyn champion fighting Saturday night in Paulie Malignaggi. We’re proud to have him back at Barclays Center defending his title against Adrien Broner.

“We are thrilled to be hosting our first ever heavyweight title bout at Barclays Center with Johnathon Banks versus Seth Mitchell. We’re happy to have three title fights here Saturday night, but we also look forward to continuing to launch the careers of other Brooklyn fighters such as Juan Dominguez and Frank Galarza.”

Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President & General Manager of SHOWTIME Sports

“With all the attention that the main event has gotten, deservedly so, it’s easy to forget that this is a tripleheader. It’s not just any tripleheader, it’s a tripleheader of evenly matched, competitive fights, and that’s what we at SHOWTIME want to become known for and, quite honestly, have become known for this year…evenly matched, competitive fights.

All three fights on this card are 50-50 toss-up fights. They’re the type of fights we’ve been showcasing all year. Our card on June 8 from The Home Depot Center was probably the most exciting card of the year…again, evenly matched, competitive fights.

“Periban-Bika is a fight that quite honestly for which you could flip a coin. It’s a very tough one. Banks-Mitchell, one of the most exciting fights of year in the heavyweight division, is a fight not to be missed as well. Of course, you can’t say enough about Paulie and Adrien and the battle that they’ve been waging outside the ring and finally will be waging inside the ring.

“I also want to acknowledge Brett Yormark and Barclays Center staff. One of the things that we’ve been trying to do is continually innovate. One of the newest innovations that Brett has been pushing is BarclaysCenter.com and the featuring content there. This press conference is being streamed on SHO.com as well as BarclaysCenter.com. The same is being done for tomorrow’s weigh-in. If you can’t make it out to Borough Hall, you can watch it on SHO.com or BarclaysCenter.com. We look forward to working with the Barclays Center and developing more content going forward.

“Finally, we are very pleased to be welcoming Bernard Hopkins in as our color commentator. The future Hall of Famer will be a temporary replacement when our normal color commentator is otherwise occupied on Saturday night.”

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ABOUT “MALIGNAGGI VS BRONER”:
Malignaggi vs. Broner, a 12-round fight for Malignaggi’s WBA Welterweight World Championship, will take place Saturday, June 22, 2013 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and R & R Promotions, supported by Golden Boy Promotions’ sponsors Corona and AT&T and will be televised live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. In the co-featured bouts, Johnathon Banks will look to repeat his 2012 upset win over Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell as he defends his NABO and WBC International Heavyweight titles in a 12-round fight presented in association with K2 Promotions and number one rated WBC super middleweight contender Sakio Bika faces number four rated WBC super middleweight contender Marco Antonio Periban in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight World Championship. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, are on sale now at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-745-3000 and at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK.

PHILADELPHIA (June 21, 2013)—Former middleweight world title challenger Grzegorz Proksa is ready for his big showdown with former world champion Sergio Mora on June 28th at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The card is promoted by Banner Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions, Matchroom Sport, Yes-Uum Events and Kevin “Silk” Brewer and will broadcasted live on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.

Proksa of Redhill, England via Poland has an impressive mark of 29-2 with 21 knockouts and knows that in order to get back at the front of title contention and has worked hard for the bout where he must beat the former WBC Super Welterweight champion.

“I have had 10 weeks of training”, said Proksa. “I am really happy and I am in great shape. I have had good preparation, so I can’t wait for the opening bell to prove myself and give a great performance.”

“I have got a lot of respect for Sergio but that respect will stop when the opening bell rings. I am in tip top shape, and I am already on weight”.

In the ten round co-feature, Brazilian knockout artist, Patrick Teixeira will take on Marcus Willis in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

The 22 year-old Teixeira of Sao Paulo, Brazil has a record of 19-0 with 17 knockouts. Teixeira has faced and knocked out the best Junior Middleweights in his native Brazil, such as Jailton De Jesus Souza (11-0); Eraldo Cesar Pereira (5-0); Dario Armando Matorras (13-1) and Pablo Aguero (3-0). In his last bout, Teixeira scored a 1st round stoppage over Luis Acevedo on January 12th.

Marcus Willis of Fort Myers, Florida has a record of 13-2-2 with 3 knockouts. The 26 year old has faced good competition and has quality wins over top prospect James De La Rosa (21-1) in an upset on April 12th in Las Vegas; undefeated Yolexcy Leiva (2-0); Jamond Bourgeois (2-0) and Christopher De La Paz (4-0).

The undercard will feature the 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist from the Ukraine Taras Shelestyuk, now undefeated at 3-0, with 3 knockouts as a professional versus the undefeated Travis Hanshaw (7-0, 3 KO’s); Heavyweight prospect Donovan Dennis (6-1-0, 5 KO’s) from Davenport, Iowa will battle local Jacksonville heavyweight Curtis Harper (7-2); Jacksonville heavyweight Chris Vendola will appear in a 4 round heavyweight scrap when he takes on Kareem Brann, who will be making his professional debut in a four round Heavyweight bout. Brann is a Jacksonville Corrections Officer and FOP member; Jacksonville middleweight Steve Chadwick will also appear in a 4 round bout. The remainder of the undercard will be announced shortly. All bouts are subject to change without notice.

Jeremy Mincey aka Mr. Mince will host and perform at the Big City Brawl in Duval. He will also host the weigh-in at The Jacksonville Landing.

Doors open at: 5:30 P.M. (all times Eastern Time)

First fight at: 7:00 P.M.

First Bout on ESPN at: 9:00 PM

Tickets prices: $25, $35, $50, $75, $100, $125 & Tables $3,000 (Seat 10 People).

Tickets available at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Box Office – Tel.: (904) 630-3900, and on the Arena website: www.jaxevents.com .

For media credentials, contact: Christina Castle, (904) 630–4026 Office, (904) 386-5408 Cell, CCastle@smgjax.com Email.

IBF Jr. Middleweight champion Ishe Smith will make the 1st defense of his crown on July 19th at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas and will be televised on Showtime according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“This is the homecoming I’ve been waiting for my entire career and there is no way that Carlos Molina is leaving Las Vegas with my championship belt,” Smith said. “He’s a tough fighter and a guy no one wants to fight, but that’s why I have no problem fighting him in my first title defense. I’m here to fight the best and show that I’m a true champion.”

“I respect Ishe Smith for stepping up and taking this fight, because not many world champions would,” said Molina, a top contender who has had a hard time getting top opponents to face him. “That being said, this is my opportunity to win the title and it may not come around again, so I have to make the most of it and I will.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBO Light Hevyweight champion Nathan Cleverly will defend the crown against hard punching Sergey Kovalev in a battle of Undefeated fighters on August 17th in Cardiff, Wales and will be televised by HBO>

Cleverly’s sixth title defense will be part of an HBO split-site tripleheader headlined by middleweight titlist Daniel Geale (29-1, 15 KOs) of Australia defending against England’s Darren Barker (25-1, 16 KOs) at the Revel Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. Also on the Atlantic City portion of the broadcast is likely to be junior featherweight titlist Jonathan Romero (23-0, 12 KOs) of Colombia in a defense against former bantamweight titleholder Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko (29-4, 22 KOs) of Ghana.

“Their styles are such that the fight has to be nonstop action from the first bell,” said Main Events chief executive Kathy Duva, who promotes Kovalev. “Cleverly is a very busy fighter. Kovalev starts throwing bombs with both hands as soon as he reaches the center of the ring.

“The arena should be sold out, and we know how vocal crowds are in the U.K. That will just add to the excitement. (Hall of Fame promoter and matchmaker) Russell Peltz taught me to always ask myself, ‘Would I want to watch this fight before making a match?’ The answer in this case is a resounding yes.”

“I’m over the moon that Kovalev has confirmed that he’s fighting me,” Cleverly said. “I’ve wanted Kovalev all along, and I spoke to my promoter, Frank Warren, and said that this is the guy I want to fight. He’s making big waves in America and he’s a fighter that people know. His knockouts are frightening to watch, but that’s when I perform to my best, when the adrenalin is flowing and the odds are stacked against me.

“This will be Kovalev’s thunder against my lightning, and he is going to get a serious shock.”

“My goal has always been to win the world title as soon as possible,” Kovalev said. “So I decided to take the first opportunity that was offered to me. And I have dreamed for many years about fighting on HBO. I look forward to going to Wales to fight with Cleverly, and I congratulate him for accepting this challenge.”

LAS VEGAS, June 21 – It all started with a Tweet on May 29…

“I chose my opponent for September 14,” wrote Floyd “Money” Mayweather, “and it’s Canelo Alvarez. I’m giving the fans what they want. It will be at the MGM Grand.”

With that, the biggest fight of 2013 became a reality, as Mayweather, boxing’s reigning pound for pound king, will put his perfect 44-0 record on the line against Mexican superstar and undefeated Canelo in a Super Welterweight World Championship Unification bout. Tickets for the highly anticipated mega-fight go on sale Tuesday, June 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets will be priced at $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $600 and $350, not including applicable service charges, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person, a limit of 10 per person at the $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $600 and $350 price levels and a limit of two per person at the $350 price level. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will also be available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Mayweather vs. Canelo, a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

THE PREFIGHT TALE OF THE TAPE

HOME COUNTRY
Mayweather: United States
Canelo: Mexico

WINS
Mayweather: 44
Canelo: 42

KNOCKOUTS
Mayweather: 26
Canelo: 30

LOSSES
Mayweather: 0
Canelo: 0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mayweather: 8
Canelo: 3

WORLD TITLE FIGHT WINS
Mayweather: 21
Canelo: 7

COMMON OPPONENTS
Shane Mosley: Mayweather W12/Canelo W12
Carlos Baldomir: Mayweather W12/Canelo KO6

AGE
Mayweather: 36
Canelo: 22

TWITTER FOLLOWERS
Mayweather: 4,024,541 (as of Friday, June 21)
Canelo: 231,164 (as of Friday, June 21)

ATTENDANCE FOR LAST FIGHT
Mayweather: 15,880
Canelo: 39,472

GOAL ON SEPTEMBER 14
Mayweather: Win
Canelo: Win

For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.sports.sho.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter at @FloydMayweather, @CaneloOficial, @MayweatherPromo, @GoldenBoyBoxing, @mgmgrand and @SHOSports or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FloydMayweather, www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions, www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOsports.

Andre Kut’s KEA Boxing Promotions returns to Schuetzen Park in North Bergen, New Jersey with a blockbuster night of boxing, featuring undefeated welterweight sensation, Juan “The Beast” Rodriguez Jr. (11-0, 5Ko’s) of nearby Union City, New Jersey in a six round welterweight contest.

The twenty-five year old Rodriquez has quickly become a crowd favorite with his give and take style. Appropriately nicknamed “The Beast,” Rodriquez, Jr. has entertained his fans with explosive knockouts and dominant performances, as he runs roughshod up the welterweight ladder.

Rodriquez, Jr. headlined the original “Fight Night at the Park,” battering upset minded Emmanuel Medina over four rounds, before forcing him to retire in the corner. Now, Rodriquez looks to take on all comers and it starts on Saturday night, July 27th against an opponent to be announced shortly in a six round contest.

Irish eyes will be smiling as “Paddy Boy” Patrick Farrell (8-2-1, 4Ko’s) looks to return to the winning side of the ledger, when he swaps punches with Phillip Triantafillo (2-3, 1KO) in a six round heavyweight clash. Farrell had been a three fight winning streak before losing a razor thin split decision to fellow prospect John “The Breed” Lennox (12-2, 5Ko’s). Farrell, knows a win over Triantafillo is essential if he’s is to continue his dream of becoming a champion inside the ring.

Mine Hill, New Jersey’s popular junior middleweight sensation, Anthony Gangemi (4-0, 3Ko’s) looks to remain perfect, when he faces fourteen fight veteran Antonio Chavez Fernandez (2-11-1) of Brockton, Massachusetts in a six round tilt.

If that weren’t enough, Andre Kut has added a special women’s world title fight as “Dha Phenomenal” Nydia Feliciano (6-4-3) of the Bronx, New York battles it out over ten rounds with Las Vegas, Nevada’s Crystal Hoy (5-5-3, 2Ko’s) for the vacant WIBA world bantamweight championship.

Also set for the card is an evenly matched six round cruiserweight contest as Queen’s, New York’s Ahmed “The Egyptian Magician” Samir (11-1, 4Ko’s) battles it out with the heavy handed Elvin “Koko” Sanchez (6-2, 5Ko’s).

In other bouts:

Undefeated Jersey City, New Jersey heavyweight Tyrell Wright (2-0, 1Ko) looks for his third victory as a professional, when he faces an opponent to be determined.

Rugged Philly female lightweight Elizabeth Sherman (4-3, 2Ko’s) looks to bounce back from her loss to world title challenger Nydia Feliciano when she squares off against Albany, New York’s Jennifer Woodward in a four round contest.

Undefeated Newark, New Jersey middleweight, Anthony “Sweet Tooth” Jones (3-0-1) takes on an opponent to be announced in a four round contest.

Poughkeepsie, New York’s Jody Anne Wells looks to make a splash in her debut in a four round female super featherweight contest.

New Jersey’s own, Dwayne Holman Jr. makes his debut against Niagara Falls, New York’s Jeremy Graves (0-2), in a four junior welterweight bout.

Tickets for this great night of boxing are priced at
$100 Ringside
$75 preferred reserved
$65 reserved
$55 General Admission

Tickets can be purchased on PayPal at www.KEABoxing.com or by calling 973-903-2907.

Doors open: 6:30 PM
First fight: 7:30 PM

Rances Barthelemy 128.5 vs. Fahsai Sakkreerin 129
Donovan George 161.8 vs. Caleb Truax 162

Date: June 21, 2013
Venue: Minneapolis Convention Center
Promoter: Seconds Out Promotions and Warriors Boxing
TV: ESPN Friday Night Fights

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Tickets to Friday Night Fights at the Convention Center start at $35 and can be purchased through www.sofights.com.

In addition to the 12-round Barthelemy vs. Sakkreerin main event, seven more fights are scheduled including the 10-round televised middleweight co-main event between local hero “Golden” Caleb Truax (21-1-1, 12 KO) of Osseo, Minnesota, and Chicago’s Don “Da Bomb” George (24-3-2, 21 KO).

An eight-round crosstown battle will highlight the night’s undercard, as St Paul’s Jeremy “Lights Out” McLaurin (10-5, 5 KOs) will face St Paul’s Tony “2Sharp” Lee (7-1, 3 KOs) for the vacant Minnesota State Lightweight Championship.

Local bragging rights will be on the line for these two local scrappers, so expect fireworks. McLaurin has been in with the better opposition in his career, while Lee has fewer losses.

Also scheduled is an eight-round junior middleweight scrap between “Sir” Charles Meier (7-2, 3 KOs) of Coon Rapids, MN and Tyler Hultin (5-1-2, 3 KOs) of Fergus Falls, MN and a four-round junior middleweight contest between Gavin Quinn (1-0) of Circle Pines, MN and Kenneth Glenn (2-0, 1 KOs) of Minneapolis.

Several fighters will make their professional boxing debuts that night, including a four-round junior middleweight match-up of pro debuters between LeWayne Hardiman of Las Vegas and Dustin Petron of Rosemount, MN; a four-round heavyweight bout featuring the pro debut of Pat Quinn from St Paul, MN against John Schimon (0-1) of Minneapolis; and a four-round lightweight tilt between Milwaukee’s pro debuting Adrian Martinez and Kurtis Erhorn (0-1) of Grand Rapids, MN.
ABOUT WARRIORS BOXING

Launched in 2003, Warriors Boxing operates under a simple philosophy-bring the best boxers in the world to fight fans, match them in competitive bouts, and in doing so help re-establish the sport of boxing for a new generation.

With a series of successful Pay-Per-View shows and packed houses to it’s credit, the Warriors business model is working wonders in a sport that was sorely in need of the innovation and energy that the company brings to the table.

When it comes down to it though, a promotional company is only as good as the fighters and fights it promotes. Warriors Boxing has delivered on all fronts, with outstanding bouts such as Lara-Molina, Cayo-Peterson, Abraham-Miranda I and II, Miranda-Pavlik, Miranda-Green, Ibragimov-Briggs, Ibragimov-Klitschko, Urango-Hatton, Urango-Bailey, Cayo-Maidana and Ibragimov-Holyfield.

For more information on Warriors Boxing, visit their website at www.WarriorsBoxing.com.

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (June 20, 2013) – The best-kept secret in professional boxing today is arguably undefeated Cuban-born Alexei “Hurricane” Collado, who has won 15 of his 16 fights by knockout, and now ranked among the top 15 super bantamweights in the world.

A decorated amateur boxer who won a gold medal at the 2006 World Junior Championships, the 25-year-old had the misfortune of being in the same flyweight division as Cuban boxing legend Andry Laffita, who defeated a much younger and far less experienced Collado in the 2007 and 2008 Cuban National Senior Championships.

Collado defected from Cuba to Ireland in 2008. On September 13, 2008, he made his pro debut. along with fellow Cubans boxers Luis Garcia and Ismaikel Perez, knocking out Krastan Krastanov in the second-round in Cork, Ireland. Last November, Collado moved to Miami and signed an exclusive promotional contract with Acquinity Sports.

“I have a wife and newborn and wanted to move to Miami to be closer to my family and friends,” Collado said. “I’m also training and sparring there every day with great fighters like my Acquinity Sports stable-mates Claudio Marrero (14-0, 11 KOs, WBA-No. 2 featherweight), Felix Diaz (13-0 welterweight, 2008 Olympic gold medalist) and Hylon Williams (16-1 super featherweight). Things couldn’t have worked out better for me.”

Collado should switch his nickname from “Hurricane” to “Mexican-Cuban” because he’s changing the image of Cuban pro boxers. Established Cuban pros such as Guillermo Rigondeaux, Yuriorkis Gamboa or Erislandy Lara are not popular fighters in the U.S. because of their defensive styles. In many ways, Collado fights more like a Mexican than a typical Cuban fighter.

“Alexei has a killer instinct,” explained Collado’s promoter, Henry Rivalta, Acquinity Sports Vice President of Boxing Operations. “Alexei fights like a Mexican; he keeps coming forward, moving laterally but never backwards. His manager, Patrick Thomas, has been a friend and we’re grateful for him recommending that Alexei sign with us.”

“Acquinity Sports fighters really fight and Alexei embodies that spirit,” Acquinity Sports CEO Gary Jonas noted. “Our guys will fight any promoter’s fighter. They’re always in the gym training as a team, so they’re in top shape and ready to go. We fight, let’s go!”
Now rated No. 14 in the world by the World Boxing Association (WBA), as well as No. 15 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), Collado is a risky opponent for any of the top super bantamweight contenders — Fernando Montiel, Leo Santa Cruz, Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton – he needs to defeat to position him for a world title shot.

“The top two promoters control the majority of television dates,” Rivalta added. “We are doing our own thing. Why should we have to go through the gatekeepers, pay tolls all the time, just to get a fair shake? The only way for our fighters to get a world title shot is to become the mandatory challenger. We did that with Argenis Mendez, our first world champion (IBF super featherweight). Our time will come and, hopefully, the networks will notice our quality product. We have a lot of great prospects like Alexei, who is very marketable.

“My partner, Gary Jonas, always says we owe boxing fans the best fights for them to watch. We want to give fans what they want and deserve, fights like Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward (a trainer for Acquinity Sports), or ferocious fighters like Mike Tyson, who is my all-time favorite. Our goal is to bring quality, evenly-matched fights back to boxing fans. We will have a few major announcements coming very soon about that subject.”

Go online to www.AcquinitySports.com for additional information about Collado or any of his Acquinity Sports stable-mates. Follow Acquinity Sports on Twitter @AcquinitySports, or friend us at Facebook.com/AcquinitySports.

ABOUT ACQUINITY SPORTS: Founded in 2011 by CEO Gary Jonas and Henry Rivalta, Vice President of Boxing Operations, Acquinity Sports is a full-service promotional company based in south Florida.

Acquinity Sports is committed to changing traditional boxing promotion as an advocate of its fighters, supporting them to succeed in and out of the ring throughout their professional careers and into retirement. Fully dedicated to providing a structured environment, Acquinity Sports develops each individual fighter to maximize their potential, ensuring maximum exposure to audiences across a diverse range of channels, as well as encouraging team spirit and sense of family so crucial for success in the highly-competitive sport and business of boxing.

Acquinity Sports continues to sign incredible talent in various weight divisions to provide fans the highest level of year-round entertainment in professional boxing. Seasons may change but Acquinity Sports’ commitment remains to bring the heat.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (June 20, 2013) – Two of the premier women mixed-martial-arts fighters in the world, Cris Cyborg (11-1) and Marloes Coenen (21-5), headline the July 13th Invicta Fighting Championships 6 pay-per-view event, airing live from Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.

Brazilian KO artist Cyborg, arguably the top pound-for-pound fighters in women’s MMA, and equally dangerous Dutch submission specialist Coenen, will battle in a three, five-minute round rematch for the inaugural Invicta FC World Featherweight (145-pounds) title. “Cyborg” won their first meeting on January 30, 2010, in an action-packed fight that ended on a technical knockout (punches) in the final round.

“We are excited about bringing the Invicta FC brand of women’s world championship Mixed Martial Arts to television for the first time with this tremendous rematch between two of the world’s top women fighters,” said Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp. “This is yet another step forward for women’s MMA and we are extremely proud to be leading the charge.”

“Invicta FC 6,” presented by Invicta Fighting Championships, is being distributed in North America by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9:00 p.m. ET – 6:00 p.m. PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DISH, Avail-TVN in the United States and Bell TV in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $14.95.

“We’re excited to be distributing Invicta FC 6 to MMA fans in the U.S.,” Integrated Sports Media president Doug Jacobs said. “Women’s MMA has exploded and Invicta Fighting Championships has led the charge. Fighting stars from all over the world are coming out July 13th for Invicta FC 6. Cyborg is one of the most recognizable and entertaining superstars in women’s MMA. Fans really enjoy watching her fight and she’s in tough again with another bonafide star, Coenen. It’s our pleasure to be part of this great top-to-bottom women’s MMA show on July 13th.”

The co-main event showcases a pair of undefeated strawweights (115 lbs.) sporting identical 9-0 professional records – Japanese invader and JEWELS champion Ayaka Hamasaki and Brazilian sensation Claudia Gadelha.

Three-time Invicta FC fight winner Sarah D’Alelio (7-3), fighting out of San Jose (CA), takes on unbeaten Texas bantamweight (135 lbs.) prospect Lauren Taylor (6-0), while California (Pleasant Hills) striker Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (5-3-1) shoots for her third “Fight of the Night” performance, dropping down from bantamweight to flyweight (125 lbs.)for a throw-down with another gifted Brazilian, Jennifer Maia (7-2).

Also scheduled to fight on the undercard are atomweight (105 lbs.) Jessica Penne (10-2, California) vs. Nicdali “The Queen Queen” Rivera-Calanoc (8-6, Oklahoma), strawweight (Joanne Caldwell (6-0, Scotland) vs. Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider (6-6, Missouri), featherweight Ediane “India” Gomes (10-2, Florida) vs. Julia Budd (5-2, Canada), strawweight “Rowdy” Bec Hyatt (5-2, Australia) vs. Mizuki Inaoue (5-1, Japan), bantamweight Miriam Nakamoto (2-0), California) vs. Duda “Diamond” Yankovich (1-1, Brazil), strawweight Rose Namajunas (2-0, Minnesota) vs. Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres (2-0, Florida), strawweight Ashley Cummins (3-1, Missouri) vs. Emily Kagan (2-1, New Mexico), featherweight Mollie Estes (1-2, Missouri) vs. Veronica “The Heartbreaker” Rothenhausier (1-0, California), and atomweight Livia Von Plettenberg (1-1, Austria) vs. Cassie Robb (0-1, Colorado).

All fights, excluding the main event and co-main event, feature three, five-minute round fights. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Invicta Fighting Championships: Invicta is a world championship Mixed Martial Arts fight series dedicated to providing female athletes with a major platform to hone their skills on a consistent basis. Founded in 2012 by longtime MMA executive Shannon Knapp and sports aficionado Janet Martin, Invicata is committed to pioneering the future growth of women’s MMA by promoting the best possible match-ups between female competitors and identifying and developing future superstars of the sport. For more information about Invicta or its events and fighters visit www.invictafc.com or follow on Twitter @InvictaFights.

Integrated Sports Media: North America’s leading distributor of International Pay-Per-View and Closed Circuit sports events has presented World Championship and world-class mixed martial arts shows featuring Fedor Emelianko, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Mirko Filipovic, Bob Sapp, Jeff Monson and Roy Nelson, in addition to World Championship and world-class boxing matches featuring Gennady Golovkin, Erik Morales, Vitali Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Cristian Mijares, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Tomasz Adamek, Paulie Malignaggi, Ivan Calderon, Rocky Martinez, Nicolai Valuev, Amir Khan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Arthur Abraham, David Haye, John Ruiz, Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr., Brian Viloria, Giovani Segura and Ruslan Chagaev. In addition, Integrated Sports Media has distributed numerous International soccer matches featuring teams like Real Madrid, Club America of Mexico and the National Teams of Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador and the USA. For more information on upcoming Integrated Sports events visit www.integratedsportsnet.com or follow on Twitter @IntegratedPPV.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (June 20, 2013) –Tickets priced from $29, for the star-studded World Series of Fighting Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif. on Saturday, August 10, go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. PST tomorrow, Friday, June 21 at www.axs.com, Citizens Business Bank Arena box office, and charge-by-phone at 888-929-7849.

Slated for the live, fight-five NBC Sports Network telecast of the World Series of Fighting event is a light heavyweight (205 pounds) showdown between world kickboxing champion turned unbeaten MMA upstart Tyrone “King of the Ring” Spong (1-0) of Boca Raton, Fla. via Suriname and fellow hard-hitting KO artist Angel “The Dream” DeAnda (11-2) of Oakdale, Calif.

The 27-year-old Spong is a veteran of 77 professional kickboxing bouts while DeAnda has scored (T)KOs in 10 of his 11 career MMA victories, including his last four starts

Red-hot Marlon Moraes (10-4) of Jupiter, Fla. will battle fellow streaking bantamweight (135 pounds) Brandon “Hot Rod” Hempleman (9-1) of Boise, Idaho. The 25-year-old Moraes is coming off his fourth consecutive victory – a stunning first round (2:55) KO of rival star Tyson Nam by way of head kick at the World Series of Fighting event on March 23 – while Hempleman is a winner of six consecutive fights.

In other main card action, World Series of Fighting President and six-time world kickboxing champion Ray Sefo (2-1) of Las Vegas will shed his business attire and put on his fighting trunks and combat gloves to face heavy-handed KO artist Dave Huckaba (20-5) of Sacramento, Calif.

Sefo, also a two-time Hall of Famer, has faced and defeated nearly every major rival of his era in the kickboxing ring, while Huckaba, a dangerous and seasoned power puncher, has earned 16 of his 20 career victories by way of (T)KO.

“This will be, without a doubt, our finest event to date in terms of the talent lined up from top to bottom,” said Sefo. “As a promoter, I am extremely proud of this fight card that our company has assembled for our fourth live event and, as a fighter who still has the burning desire to compete, I am naturally excited to have the opportunity to step in the cage and show what I can do in there against a seasoned opponent.”

In other main card action, Tyson Griffin (16-6) of Santa Rosa, Calif. will face off with fellow lightweight (155 pounds) star J.Z. Cavalcante (17-7-1) of Deerfield Beach, Fla. via Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Newly signed, undefeated phenomenon “Notorious” Nick Newell (9-0) of Springfield, Mass. will square off with Keon “The Black Assassin” Caldwell (9-1) of Moultrie, Ga. in another lightweight scrap. Newell has earned eight of his nine career wins by (T)KO or submission while, similarly, Caldwell has notched eight of his nine career victories by way of (T)KO.

In preliminary card action, welterweight (170 pounds) stars Jorge Santiago (25-11) of Boca Raton, Fla. via Rio de Janeiro and Gerald “Hurricane” Harris (21-5) of Tulsa, Okla. will collide.

Additional preliminary card bouts will be announced soon.

Doors at Citzens Business Bank Arena will open at 4:00 p.m. PST and the first preliminary card bout will begin at 5 p.m.

The live NBC Sports Network telecast of the World Series of Fighting event will begin at 10:30 p.m. EST/7:30 p.m. PST.

ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING
Based in Las Vegas, Nev., the fight capital of the world, World Series of Fighting is a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering an incredible, action-packed entertainment experience for fight fans by producing the best possible matchups between elite fighters from around the globe. For more information please visit www.WSOF.com. Follow World Series of Fighting on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

ABOUT CITIZENS BUSINESS BANK ARENA

Citizens Business Bank Arena, built and owned by the City of Ontario, operated by AEG Facilities, includes 9,500 fixed seats with additional “portable” seating risers to accommodate capacities of 11,089 for concerts, 9,736 for ice hockey and 10,832 for basketball. The 225,000 square foot venue features 36 luxury suites located on two levels and a continuous concourse hosting a variety of refreshment stands, merchandise kiosks, a VIP club and other fan amenities. Citizens Business Bank Arena hosts ice hockey and a variety of other sporting competitions, concerts, family shows, special events, conventions, school and community activities as well as private events. The Arena is home to Ontario Reign, an ECHL Premier AA Hockey Team. The venue is the biggest and most modern arena within the Inland Empire, an area with over 4.1 million people. It is located in the City of Ontario, on a 37-acre parcel located between Haven Avenue and Milliken Avenue, Fourth Street and the I-10 Freeway. For more information and future updates please visit: CBBankArena.com

ABOUT NBC SPORTS NETWORK

NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

Cuba’s IBF #2-rated Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy (18-0, 11 KO) is well aware of what’s at stake tomorrow night when he faces Thailand’s IBF #5-rated Fahsai “Mountain Boy” Sakkreerin (39-3-1, 21 KO) in the 12-round super featherweight main event on ESPN Friday Night Fights, tomorrow night (Friday, June 21) at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The winner will win the right to face Dominican champion Argenis Mendez in a mandatory title defense in their next fight.

“This is what I’ve waited for,” said Barthelemy through a translator. “I know what I have to do to go for my dream of a world title. Since I started boxing I have been working hard every day for the chance that only man stands in the way of now.”

Barthelemy says the fact that Sakkreerin is the only obstacle left in the way of fighting for a world championship doesn’t bode well for the Thai boxer.

“He has to go. I know he works hard too and I know he has come a long way to follow his dreams, but it will never happen. I will be fighting for my homeland of Cuba and for my family and for the dream I’ve had since a young boy. No one can beat me tomorrow night.”

###

Barthelemy vs. Sakkreerin will be held on Friday, June 21, at the Minneapolis Convention Center and televised live on ESPN Friday Night Fights. It will be presented by Seconds Out Promotions and Warriors Boxing. Rances Barthelemy is co-promoted by Warriors Boxing and Bad Dog Productions.

Tickets to Friday Night Fights at the Convention Center start at $35 and can be purchased through www.sofights.com.

In addition to the 12-round Barthelemy vs. Sakkreerin main event, seven more fights are scheduled including the 10-round televised middleweight co-main event between local hero “Golden” Caleb Truax (21-1-1, 12 KO) of Osseo, Minnesota, and Chicago’s Don “Da Bomb” George (24-3-2, 21 KO).

An eight-round crosstown battle will highlight the night’s undercard, as St Paul’s Jeremy “Lights Out” McLaurin (10-5, 5 KOs) will face St Paul’s Tony “2Sharp” Lee (7-1, 3 KOs) for the vacant Minnesota State Lightweight Championship.

Local bragging rights will be on the line for these two local scrappers, so expect fireworks. McLaurin has been in with the better opposition in his career, while Lee has fewer losses.

Also scheduled is an eight-round junior middleweight scrap between “Sir” Charles Meier (7-2, 3 KOs) of Coon Rapids, MN and Tyler Hultin (5-1-2, 3 KOs) of Fergus Falls, MN and a four-round junior middleweight contest between Gavin Quinn (1-0) of Circle Pines, MN and Kenneth Glenn (2-0, 1 KOs) of Minneapolis.

Several fighters will make their professional boxing debuts that night, including a four-round junior middleweight match-up of pro debuters between LeWayne Hardiman of Las Vegas and Dustin Petron of Rosemount, MN; a four-round heavyweight bout featuring the pro debut of Pat Quinn from St Paul, MN against John Schimon (0-1) of Minneapolis; and a four-round lightweight tilt between Milwaukee’s pro debuting Adrian Martinez and Kurtis Erhorn (0-1) of Grand Rapids, MN.
ABOUT WARRIORS BOXING

Launched in 2003, Warriors Boxing operates under a simple philosophy-bring the best boxers in the world to fight fans, match them in competitive bouts, and in doing so help re-establish the sport of boxing for a new generation.

With a series of successful Pay-Per-View shows and packed houses to it’s credit, the Warriors business model is working wonders in a sport that was sorely in need of the innovation and energy that the company brings to the table.

When it comes down to it though, a promotional company is only as good as the fighters and fights it promotes. Warriors Boxing has delivered on all fronts, with outstanding bouts such as Lara-Molina, Cayo-Peterson, Abraham-Miranda I and II, Miranda-Pavlik, Miranda-Green, Ibragimov-Briggs, Ibragimov-Klitschko, Urango-Hatton, Urango-Bailey, Cayo-Maidana and Ibragimov-Holyfield.

For more information on Warriors Boxing, visit their website at www.WarriorsBoxing.com.

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (June 20, 2013) — Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight Champion and the pride of Palm Springs TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” BRADLEY, JR. will make the biggest defense of his world title when he faces Méxican icon and four-division world champion JUAN MANUEL “Dinamita” MÁRQUEZ. The only two fighters to defeat Fighter of the Decade Manny Pacquiao in the last seven years, Bradley will be looking to further state his case as one of boxing’s elite pound for pound fighters while Márquez attempts to add yet another highlight to his storied career — becoming the first Méxican fighter to win world titles in five different weight divisions. Both enter this rumble fresh from Fight of the Year caliber performances.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Zanfer Promotions, Wynn Las Vegas, Márquez Boxing, and Tecate, Bradley vs. Márquez will take place Saturday, October 12, at the Thomas & Mack Center, on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets to the Bradley vs. Márquez welterweight championship event, priced at $800, $600, $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50, will go on sale Tomorrow! Friday, June 21, at 3:00 p.m. ET / Noon PT. They can be purchased at the Thomas & Mack Center Box Office, online at UNLVtickets.com, at UNLVtickets Outlet Town Square Las Vegas Concierge, or by calling 702-739-FANS (3267).

“It will be an honor to step in the ring with Márquez, I am looking forward to displaying my skills and giving the fans a competitive fight,” said Bradley. “I know that the one thing he and I will have in common, stepping into that ring, is that we’re both warriors. Neither one of us will take defeat as an option and with that being said we can say the countdown has officially begun. October 12 will not just be another fight but a memorable fight for not only him and me but for the world of boxing.”

“This is a very tough fight. I am facing an undefeated fighter who has something that I want very much, said Márquez. “It is a complicated fight but not impossible to win. I want that fifth world title. Bradley is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. I think we have the styles to make a great fight.”

“This fight will be a very exciting confrontation between the two best fighters in the world today,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Timothy Bradley, the undefeated, reigning world welterweight champion, has always distinguished himself in the ring. Juan Manuel Márquez is the most popular fighter in México and is coming off a sensational win over Manny Pacquiao. Márquez will try with all of his might to win his historic fifth world championship.”

“The phenomenal victories registered by both Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Márquez in their last ring performances makes the October 12 showdown in Las Vegas a fight fan’s dream,” said Mark Taffet, senior vice president, HBO Sports. “Bradley-Márquez is one of the sport’s elite and most highly anticipated matchups of 2013.”

“We are thrilled to work with Top Rank in presenting this highly-anticipated match-up,” said Maurice Wooden, president of Wynn Las Vegas. “This will undoubtedly be an exciting event for both our guests and boxing fans as Juan Manuel Márquez attempts to become the only fighter in México’s boxing history to win world titles in five weight classes by defeating current champion, Timothy Bradley Jr.”

Bradley (30-0, 12 KOs), from Palm Springs, Calif., a two-division world champion trained by Joel Diaz, returns to the ring off two career-best victories. On June 9, 2012 Bradley moved up in weight and won a split decision victory over Pacquiao, ending the defending WBO welterweight champion’s title reign and his seven-year winning streak. It was only the fourth professional loss Pacquiao had suffered in a 60-bout career that included world titles in eight different weight divisions. Bradley, 29, won his first world title in 2008, travelling across the pond to dethrone the defending WBC super lightweight champion Junior Witter in the Englishman’s backyard of Nottingham, England. Bradley’s sixth-round knockdown of Witter shocked the hometown crowd as Bradley won a hard-fought split decision. One year later, in his second championship defense, Bradley unified the title by dominating then-WBO champion Kendall Holt. In a career-defining fight, Bradley weathered a first-round knockdown, and showed his trademark heart and determination during the remainder of the match, to win a unanimous decision. Bradley opted to keep the WBO junior welterweight title. Bradley successfully defended that title twice. In August 2009 he dominated former world champion Nate Campbell before an accidental clash of heads near the end of round three led to the fight later being ruled no contest when Campbell could not continue due to a nasty gash over his left eye. Bradley followed that up with a December 2009 schooling of undefeated interim WBO champion Lamont Peterson, which included a third-round knockdown, the first time Peterson had ever hit the canvas in his 27-bout professional career. With no worthy contenders available to defend his title against, Bradley moved up to 147 pounds and won a 12-round unanimous decision over undefeated Top-10 welterweight contender Carlos Abregu on July 17, 2010. Bradley kicked off 2011 by reunifying the welterweight titles with a 10-round shellacking of undefeated WBC super light champion Devon Alexander in January, followed by an eighth-round knockout victory of former world champion Joel Casamayor in November, setting up his date with destiny — Pacquiao. In his last fight, on March 13, Bradley survived a brutal battle, going toe-to-toe for 12 Hellish rounds, against No. 3-rated contender Ruslan Provodnikov to retain his WBO welterweight title in what many consider Bradley’s finest — and bravest — fight of his career. With 2013 half over, it is still considered the fight of the year.

Márquez (55-6-1, 40 KOs), of México City, trained by Hall of Famer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristáin, is one of only a rare few fighters from México to have won world titles in four different weight divisions. He captured his first world title — the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight championship — with a seventh-round stoppage of three-time featherweight champion Manuel Medina in 2003. He unified that title that same year with a decisive victory over World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight titlist Derrick Gainer. Márquez successfully defended the titles three times during his three-year reign, which included unanimous decision victories over Victor Polo and Orlando Salido and a Draw with Pacquiao. After losing the crown to Chris John, and winning the interim featherweight crown, both in 2006, Márquez moved up in weight to dethrone the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera and claim his World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight championship belt in 2007. After successfully defending the title, by a unanimous decision over Ricky Juarez, he lost the title in his 2008 rematch with Pacquiao by the slimmest of margins — a one point split decision. Since that fight, Márquez has won seven of his last nine fights, including knockout victories of Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz, and Michael Katsidis — the latter two in WBA/WBO lightweight championship fights. Last year he won his fourth world title in as many divisions, capturing the WBO interim junior welterweight title with a dominant 12-round unanimous decision over Sergey Fedchenko. He ended the year with his most satisfying victory, a sixth-round knockout of professional nemesis Pacquiao, which was voted the 2012 Fight of the Year and the 2012 Knockout of the Year.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com or www.hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo or facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo or twitter.com/hboboxing.

ORANGE, CA (June 20, 2013) – Thompson Boxing Promotions presents another edition of its electrifying boxing series “Path To Glory” taking place at the Double Tree Hotel in Ontario, CA on Saturday June 28, 2013. The 8-round main event will feature Christopher Martin (26-2-3, 8 KOs) vs. Raul Hidalgo (17-8, 13 KOs) a match taking place in the super bantamweight division. The co-main event will showcase Efrain Esquivias (16-2, 9 KOs) vs. Victor Sanchez (5-6-1, 2 KOs) in an 8-round featherweight bout. Time Warner Cable Deportes will televise the event which will air at a later date.

In his last bout Martin defeated Jose Angel Beranza, a veteran of over 60 fights, to capture the vacant WBC United States (USNBC) super bantamweight title, a match he won by unanimous decision. Christopher is currently riding a 3-fight winning streak and looks to continue marching toward a world title shot.

“I feel very confident going into this fight because I know I made the proper sacrifices needed to be victorious” said Martin. “The fans will see a lot of action coming from me and I know everyone watching will be thrilled. I want to thank Ken Thompson and Alex Camponovo for believing in me. My goal is to win this fight and get one step closer to my dream of winning a world title.”

Efrain Esquivias is looking to get back in the win column after two tough defeats against top level competition. His opponent Victor Sanchez is coming of an impressive victory against Richard Contreras (10-2-1, 9 KOs). Esquivias is not looking past Sanchez and plans to use his superior boxing skills to win this fight.”

“I’m focused and ready to get back on a winning streak,” said Esquivias. “Right now my main focus is beating Sanchez. I know he’s coming off a great win, but I feel I’m the better boxer. Winning this fight is very important to my career. I’m going to do whatever it takes to come out on top.”

The rest of the undercard will showcase four action packed bouts. Giovanni Santillan (8-0, 5 KOs) vs. Adam Ealoms (3-3-3, 1 KO) will square off in a 6-round welterweight bout. Juan Reyes (9-1-1, 1 KO) will face an opponent to be announced in a 6-round super bantamweight bout. Danny Roman (5-1-1, 2 KOs) vs. Manuel Ruvalcaba (1-4) will clash in 4-round super bantamweight bout. A 4-round welterweight bout featuring Joshua Conley (6-0, 5 KOs) vs. Roberto Lara (0-3) will round out the card.

Tickets priced $100, $60 and $40 are on sale now and can be purchased by calling (714) 935-0900. For more information please visit
www.thompsonboxing.com.

“PATH TO GLORY” is presented by Thompson Boxing Promotions and
sponsored by Lucas Oil, in association with Time Warner Cable
Deportes. Bouts subject to change. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the
first bell rings at 7:45 pm. The Doubletree Hotel is located at 222
North Vineyard Avenue in Ontario. The hotel phone number is
909-937-0900.

HARTFORD (June 20, 2013) — Australian boxer-puncher Billy “The Kid” Dib (35-2, 21 KOs) returns to the United States on a mission to recapture his world title belt. The former International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight champion takes on local favorite “Machine Gun” Mike Oliver (25-3, 8 KOs), in the 10-round co-feature on the July 5thESPN Friday Night Fightsshow, airing live from the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

“50 Cent’s Birthday Bash,” the first solo venture by rapper/promoter 50 Cent’s (Curtis Jackson) SMS Promotions, is headlined on ESPN Friday Night Fights by a potentially explosive 10-round war showcasing undefeated North American Boxing Organization (NABO) and North American Boxing Association (NABA) light heavyweight champion Eleider “Storm” Alvarez (12-0, 8 KOs) against former world super middleweight title challenger Allan “Ghost Dog” Green (32-4, 22 KOs). Alvarez-Green is being presented in association with Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM).

Dib is coming off an exciting slugfest that headlined the March 1st ESPN Friday Night Fights, in which he lost a 12-round split decision (114-112, 112-114, 112-114) and his IBF belt to undefeated Russian challenger Evgeny Gradovich (18-0). IBF No. 4-rated Dib, ironically, gained more respect among American fans from his loss to Gradovich than he had in his 35 victories.

“I fought the wrong fight and paid the ultimate penalty,” Dib spoke about fighting Gradovich’s fight instead of following his game plan. “It was really hard for me to lose my IBF belt, which meant so much to me, but the great news is I know I can win it back. I have to give Gradovich credit for his performance but it’ll be a different outcome in a rematch. I will make a statement in this fight to let world featherweight champions know that Billy Dib is still here.”

Oliver, a former International Boxing Organization (IBO) and United States Boxing Association (USBA) super bantamweight champion, handed 18-0 Gary Stark, Jr. his first professional loss in 2007 by 12-round decision. The 33-year-old Oliver’s other notable victims include Adam Carrera, Al Seeger and Mauricio Pastrana.

“I know he (Oliver) was a great amateur champion who will enjoy fighting in front of his hometown fans,” Ring Magazine No. 7-rated Dib remarked. “He’s a crafty southpaw. People are going to see a rejuvenated Billy Dib, an aggressive fighter who is coming to fight Oliver. I was shown a lot of love and respect after my last fight in America and I will return that love with a devastating performance and knockout victory.”

Dib is promoted by 50 Cent, who has opened up many doors for the Australian boxer. “It has been amazing to work with 50,” Dib explained. “My manager and brother, Emaid Dib, deals with him on a regular basis. He says 50 really gets involved and is hands-on with the promoting side of boxing. He’s a great person with a great heart, who has great energy for boxing and actually loves the sport. He has built a great team around him at SMS Promotions. My twitter account (@BillyDib) went crazy when 50 sent out a couple of tweets to follow me. The social media side of things has been huge and my crossover fans have really increased. I guess that’s the power he brings that other promoters probably can’t. I want to thank all my fans for their loyalty and support.”

Undefeated lightweight prospect Mark “Too Sharp” Davis (16-0, 5 KOs), who captured gold medals at the 2005 and 2006 U.S. National Championships, meets Danish-import Robert “Super” Osobe (14-5-4, 6 KOs), fighting out of Las Vegas, in an eight-round bound.

In a six-round bout, unbeaten Puerto Rican welterweight Javier “El Chino” Flores (9-0, 8 KOs), fighting out of Hartford, faces Rogelio De la Torre (10-3, 6 KOs), of Houston.

Also fighting on the undercard in four rounds bouts is hot prospect Arizona light welterweight Luis Olivares (4-0, 3 KOs) vs. undefeated Puerto Rican Jonathan Perez (4-0, 2 KOs), along with Cincinnati native Donte Strayhorn (1-1) vs. Hartford’s Oscar Diaz (0-1), New Haven featherweight Nate Green (3-0, 1 KO) vs. Micah Branch (1-6-1), of Cincinnati, New Haven (CT) super bantamweight Jimmy Williams vs. Saul Almeida (0-1), of Woburn (MA), and pro-debuting light middleweights David Wilson, of New Haven, vs. Woburn’s (MA) Rodrigo Almeida.

Davis, Olivares, and Strayhorn are also promoted by 50 Cent. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Tickets are priced at $150.00, $100.00, $60.00 and $35.00 (SOLD OUT) and available to purchase at Connecticut Convention Center (860-728-2625) or by calling Mike Criscio (203-627-7472). There is a 10-percent surcharge on all sold tickets. A $150.00 ticket entitles the bearer to free admission to 50 Cent’s post-fight party at the Connecticut Convention Center. Admission to the post fight party is $30.00 per person at the door for those without a fight ticket, or $20.00 for all tickets excluding $150.00.

Doors open at 6 p.m. ET with the first fight scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (June 19, 2013) – Ten of the boxers who will fight on the eagerly awaited Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi vs. Adrien “The Problem” Broner fight card this Saturday, June 22, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., worked out for the media Tuesday at a jam-packed Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn.

No less than eight of the fighters who worked out will fight on either SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING live on SHOWTIME® (9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT) or on SHOWTIME EXTREME (7:00 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).

Hometown favorite Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s), of Brooklyn, will defend his WBA World Welterweight Championship against undefeated current WBC Lightweight and Two-Division World Champion Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s), of Cincinnati, Ohio, in what should be a hotly contested main event of a tripleheader on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

In other important 12-round bouts to be featured on the telecast, Johnathon “Mr.” Banks (29-1-1, 19 KO’s) will try and make it two in a row over Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell (25-1-1, 19 KO’s), of Brandywine, Md., in a heavyweight scrap for Banks’ NABO and WBC International titles and Sakio “The Scorpion” Bika (31-5-2, 21 KO’s), of Sydney, Australia, and Mexico City’s undefeated Marco Antonio Periban (20-0, 13 KO’s) will clash for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight Championship.

Scheduled matchups on SHOWTIME EXTREME include Julian Williams (12-0-1, 7 KO’s), of Philadelphia, Pa., taking on Joachim Alcine (33-4-1, 19 KO’s), of Gonaive, Haiti in an eight-round junior middleweight fight, Marcus Browne (4-0, 4 KO’s), of Staten Island, N.Y., facing Ricardo Campillo (7-6-1, 5 KO’s), of Obregon, Mexico, in a six-round light heavyweight bout and, time permitting, Rau’Shee Warren (12-0, 2 KO’s), of Cincinnati, Ohio, squaring off against Jovany Fuentes (5-1, 4 KO’s), of Bayamon, P.R., in four/six-round bantamweight affair.

Saturday’s non-televised fights include Juan Dominguez (14-0, 10 KO’s), Brooklyn, N.Y., vs. Bradley Patraw (9-5, 5 KO’s), St. Paul, Minn.; eight rounds, junior featherweights; Frank Galarza (9-0-2, 5 KO’s), Brooklyn, N.Y., vs. Roman Barber (4-4, 3 KO’s), Wichita, Kan., six rounds; junior middleweights; Robert Easter (4-0, 4 KO’s), Toledo, Ohio, vs. Antoine Knight (2-3, 1 KO), Merrillville, Tenn., six rounds, lightweights; and Jamel Herring, Coram, N.Y., vs. Calvin Smith (2-3, 0 KO’s), Prichard, Ala., four rounds, lightweights.

Tickets, priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges are available at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-745-3000 and at the American Express Box Office. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK.

Here’s what the fighters said Tuesday:

Paulie Malignaggi

“We’re ready. Come get it. There’s not much more you can say to that. The harder he tries, the more ass whoopin’ he’s going to get. I want him to bring it. I want him to think nothing’s going to happen. He’s never been through what the deal is…deep water. He’s never been 12 rounds. He’s been 10 rounds once, and he struggled. He better try real hard to get me out of there early and he better succeed, because he’s going to end up in deep water. I’m ready for that kind of fight.

“I had a good camp. My legs feel good. You’ll see. It’s part of the plan. It’s one of the main things we’re doing. We’ll show him just how we live and show him just how weak he is. His power is overrated. I could have knocked out 20 garbage men or laundromat workers too, but I chose to fight real opponents in my career.

“I could care less about the odds. I could care less about anything. They’re going to ring a bell on Saturday night and it’s going to be me and Adrien Broner. He’s saying he’s coming to kick my ass. I’m coming to kick his ass. I think he’s looking at it too much like one-way traffic. We’re coming to beat each other’s ass. It’s not just him coming to beat my ass. He’s forgetting one thing: I’m coming to beat his ass and, that’s the plan on Saturday night.

“A few years ago I might have been saying, ‘man, why does everybody think I’m going to lose this fight? You know, I don’t understand it. I thought I was a good fighter. I feel like I’m a good fighter.’ Literally now, I could care less. I fight for myself and that’s the one thing I told myself I would do after the Amir Khan loss because nobody was going to think positively about me after that loss, and you know what? I’m going to stop trying to make everyone happy and just fight for myself. I have yet to lose a fight since and there’s reason for that.”

Adrien Broner

“Paulie is Paulie. You know, I’m gonna be honest with you, if you’re not on you’re A-game against Paulie, he can slip away from you. He’s a guy with some tricks up his sleeve, but we’re not here for a circus day. We’re here to fight.

“At the end of the day, Paulie’s going to fight the same. I don’t study tape. I don’t care what he brings, but whatever he comes to do Saturday night, we will be equipped and ready.

“There are some great fights out there, but we’re going to take it one at a time. The most important fight for Adrien Broner today is Paulie Malignaggi — Paulette. Paulie’s first on Saturday, then after that I really want to let the fans pick who I should fight next.”

Johnathon Banks

“I don’t consider the last fight with Mitchell an upset. For me to say it was an upset would be a discredit to myself. I don’t like upsets in my life. If I didn’t think 100 percent that I was going to win, I wouldn’t have taken the fight.

“I went after him (trying to get the fight). He didn’t come after me. I think his whole bandwagon, all his people that follow him, his fans, are mad. They thought it was an upset. Me, personally? I didn’t think it was an upset.

“I’ve always been a believer of ‘if something’s not broke why try to fix it.’ I think what I did last time worked perfectly and I plan to do the same thing this time.

“(Attitude-wise, whether he’s fighting or training) Nothing really changes. I take it all in there with me. You can’t do it all in one night, but you can do a lot of good things at one time. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been very fortunate to grow up around the highest level of boxers. When these days come, when I’m in against guys with big records and knockout ratios, it doesn’t affect me at all because I’m used to being around them, so it plays no part with me.

“Our last fight was on the big stage, the biggest stage for me (to that point). I feel the same pressure-wise (this time). There is no pressure. I was the underdog the first fight. I’m the underdog the second fight, but I don’t mind. I embrace it. A lot of people still think this guy could come back because they listen to what he’s saying. He’s talking more than I am. He’s saying he’s coming back bigger, better, stronger, but I believe you’re going to see the same thing as the last time.”

Seth Mitchell

“It’s been a long time coming. I’m excited about the fight. It’s been postponed, cancelled, but now the day is finally here, so I’m just excited about getting in the ring.

“You can’t stay at 100 percent when you have this many delays, but me and my trainer have done a great job of staying in the gym but not over-training. I haven’t been out of the gym for more than three weeks in over six and a half years. I’m just a gym rat.

“Banks capitalized on some of my mistakes and got the victory. I just had to go back to the drawing board and take it as a learning experience to try to get better. I truly believe that I’ve gotten better, but I’m not one to talk a lot because everyone says that they’ve gotten better. I just have to go out there Saturday and show it.

“I believe in myself more than anyone else. That’s my nature and character. I’ve said it numerous times that if Banks had outclassed me and out-boxed me for five or six rounds then we wouldn’t have this immediate rematch. I feel like I am a better fighter than Johnathon Banks. I feel that November 17 was not the best Seth Mitchell to show up and on the 22nd, I’ll show that I am a much better fighter.

“I’ll show that you can lose and bounce back.”

Sakio Bika

“We’re working to get better every single day. We’re just improving. We’re training and working on my footwork.

“When I heard (about this fight), I had to see this Mexican fighter that weighed 168 pounds. He’s big with a good record, so I had to check him out.

“For me, I’ll fight anybody. I always like to fight a new opponent. If they want me to fight at light heavyweight, I will take it on and show the world I’m the best.”

Marco Antonio Periban

“I’ve been training for two and a half months and it was my hardest training camp ever, so I’m definitely ready.

“This is obviously an important fight. Movement is the main key for me along with my jab and fighting at a distance. I feel I’m faster than he is.

“I’m really looking forward to fighting in the United States again and fighting on Saturday.”

Julian Williams

“It feels good to be fighting in the main fight on SHOWTIME EXTREME. It shows that I’m moving up and that I’m not in the same place I was last year. I’m an exciting fighter. Most of the time I’ve been on SHOWTIME, I’ve gotten knockouts. I come to bring it. I’m from Philadelphia, so I’m not afraid to get my face messed up to get what I want. I’ll have Philly fans at the fights for sure on Saturday.

“The magnitude of this card is huge. I bring great boxing and excitement to the mix. I have other tools in the closet that still haven’t come out, but I feel I’ll be headlining one of this huge cards in due time.

“My opponent is a former world champion and I’ve seen a couple of his fights. He’s a good fighter. He has a lot of experience. I think he is going to be a little cocky when he sees that he has more knockouts than I have fights, but that’s why I’m so prepared.

“I’m expecting a big fight. I’m looking to make a statement. I’m confident and just looking for an excellent fight and performance.”

Marcus Browne

“Consistency is everything for my career. I’m staying busy and consistent because at the end of the day, you have to stay active to understand and grow as a fighter.

“It’s a blessing to stay here, build a fan base and be able to put butts in the seats at Barclays Center.

“At the end of the day, I have to thank God for keeping me healthy. That’s just what we train to do. I grind hard and put my all into boxing.

“I’m going to give people a great, humble performance.”

Rau’Shee Warren

“This will be an exciting night. I’m in the swing bout on SHOWTIME EXTREME, but I’ve got people back home that want to see me fight so we’ve got to make sure and give them all a heads-up as to what will happen. That’s really what we’ve been thinking a lot lately, making sure they know if I’ll be fighting on TV.

“Saturday’s a big night, but there’s no pressure. I’ve been training with my bro, Adrien (Broner). That’s what we’ve always been doing since we were young. We always bring a lot of people out to the fights and now the world can see us. He’s going to demolish this Paulie guy.

“I hope my fans keep rooting for me. I’ll keep showing up for them. I try to do something different every fight. I’m going to change my hair color again. You’ve got to show them something different. They’ve seen a lot of speed. I’m going to bring a lot of power now.

“I’m going to take my time and keep doing what I’ve been doing in the gym with my coach and my staff and see if I can come home with a win.”

Frank Galarza

“It feels great to have people believing in me and supporting me. We can only go up. We’re here to grow and keep fighting.

“I’m here to put on a show. I always put on a show every time I fight. We’re going in there to do whatever we have to do. That’s what we’re here to do…win.

“You’re going to see a much different fighter. I’m much more accurate, much more aggressive, but smarter.

“I’m here to show Golden Boy and everyone else that I have a fan base and a great following. I sell tickets and that’s the main goal. It’s good to see Golden Boy being active in Barclays Center and I’m looking forward to future events.”

Jamel Herring

“I feel really great. Training camp has been great in Colorado Springs. I want to thank everybody in Colorado Springs for their help and support. I’m just ready to get in there and represent where I’m from.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve fought in New York. I grew up on Long Island, but I haven’t fought here since I fought Daniel Jacobs in the amateurs before I joined the Marine Corps in 2003. I still have family on Long Island, so I will have be a big following for me on Saturday.

“I just want to put on a great show. It’s an honor to still have a great fan base on Long Island and I’m just ready to show that Long Island has great fighters as well.”

ABOUT “MALIGNAGGI VS BRONER”:
Malignaggi vs. Broner, a 12-round fight for Malignaggi’s WBA Welterweight World Championship, will take place Saturday, June 22, 2013 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and R & R Promotions, supported by Golden Boy Promotions’ sponsors Corona and AT&T and will be televised live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. In the co-featured bouts, Johnathon Banks will look to repeat his 2012 upset win over Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell as he defends his NABO and WBC International Heavyweight titles in a 12-round fight presented in association with K2 Promotions and number one rated WBC super middleweight contender Sakio Bika faces number four rated WBC super middleweight contender Marco Antonio Periban in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBC Super Middle weight World Championship. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights will air on SHOWTIME EXTREME at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com or www.sports.sho.com, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/paulmalignaggi, www.twitter.com/AdrienBroner,www.twitter.com/BanksBoxingEnt, www.twitter.com/sethmayhem24www.twitter.com/barclayscenter and www.twitter.com/SHOSports, follow the conversation using #MalignaggiBroner or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing and www.facebook.com/SHOSports.

ampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing and Carlos Gonzalez of Best Boxing will
return to the beautiful Megapolis Convention Center in the Hard Rock Hotel in Panama City, Panama, on Saturday, August 10, for an elite boxing event entitled “LAS VEGAS IN PANAMA II”.

The glitzy night of world-class boxing will feature three world-championship bouts including the return of superb Panamanian WBA Bantamweight Super Champion Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno (33-2-1, 12 KOs) making the eleventh defense of his 118-lb belt against Colombian southpaw William Urina (24-2, 20 KOs) in a 12-round battle, future boxing superstar Oscar Escandon (22-0, 15 KOs) vying for the interim WBA World super bantamweight championship against Panama’s former world champion Nehomar Cermeno (21-5-1, 13 KOs), as well as Venezuela’s WBA female featherweight Champion Ogleidis Suarez in the first defense of her title, a rematch against Colombia’s Liliana “La Tigresa” Palmera (21-10-3, 15 KOs).

LAS VEGAS IN PANAMA II will be a follow-up to the promotional duo’s wildly successful debut show at the venue in March.

“We are very happy to returning to such a beautiful place for a show that will be important around the world,” said Lewkowicz. “Chemito Moreno is the best bantamweight in the world and he is coming home to fight for the first time in two years. He is a superstar in his homeland of Panama and I expect this fight to be the most important place to be in the country on August 10.”

27-year-old Anselmo Moreno is a southpaw who stands 5 feet 6 inches. He is from El Martillo, Panama, but currently lives in San Miguelito. Moreno won the WBA Bantamweight title from the Ukraine’s Wladimir Sidorenko in 2008, becoming Panama’s 25th world champion, and has made 10 successful defenses. This will be Moreno’s first fight since his November 10, 2012, decision loss (while moving up in weight) against fellow star Abner Mares for the WBC Super Bantamweight Champion. This marked the second professional loss in Moreno’s career, ending a 10 year unbeaten streak.

27-year-old Urina is a southpaw from Barranquilla, Colombia. This will be his second world-title challenge. He lost a close, but unanimous decision to formidable WBO super flyweight Champion Omar Narvaez in 2011.

28-year-old Colombian Oscar Escandon had over 200 amateur bouts and proudly represented his homeland in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Beijing. As a professional, he has already won the WBC Latino Bantamweight Championship.
Escandon enjoys tremendous popularity in his hometown, the Department of Tolima’s capital city of Ibague, in the central region of the Colombian Andes.

33-year-old Nehomar Cermeno was born in Barcelona, Venezuela, but now resides in Panama City. He is the former Interim WBA World Bantamweight Champion and even held it for two defenses before dropping razor-thin split decisions to Anselmo Moreno in back-to-back All Panama showdowns in 2010.

25-year-old Ogleidis Suarez is from Caracas, Venezuela. She won her title by beating then-undefeated Katy Wilson Castillo in 2011. She has already made two successful defenses of her belt, including a TKO 7 over next opponent Palmera in 2012. In addition to being a world champion boxer, the remarkable Suarez is also a professional glamor model, actress, sports commentator, television presenter and professional dancer.

31-year-old Liliana Palmera hails from Monteria, Colombia. A professional boxer since 1999, Palmera has already challenged for a world titles five separate times at various weights and always come up short.

Undercard match-ups will be announced shortly.

On fight night, the action begins at 6 pm. Tickets are priced at $100, $200 and $300 and are available from Ticket Plus. The event will also be televised live by Panama TV Max Channel 9 and Argentina’s TyC Sports.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA (June 19, 2013)—On Friday night, June 28th former WBC Super Welterweight champion, Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora will take on former Middleweight world title challenger Grzegorz Proksa (29-2, 21 KO’s) at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The show, which will headline ESPN’s Friday Night Fights is promoted by Banner Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions, Matchroom Sports, Yes-Uum Events and Kevin “Silk” Brewer.

Mora (23-3-2, 7 KO’s) of East Los Angeles, California expects a great fight and a tough challenge from the former European Middleweight champion.

“Proksa is a solid fighter who fights with a lot of confidence”, said Mora.

“We have similar styles so it should be a chess match. Because we both have a great will to win, it should make for an excellent fight.”

Mora feels he has been on the wrong end of decisions with Brian Vera and a draw with Shane Mosley knows that judging of the fight is very important and can have huge implications in a fighter’s career.

“I hope the real winner gets the decisions. I felt I was wronged in the Vera fight and that spring boarded him to a fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I just hope the judges clearly see who is the effective aggressor, ring general and who has the better defense on June 28th”.

With stalwarts of the Middleweight division Sergio Martinez being injured and Chavez possibly moving up in weight, the winner will see himself in prime position for a title shot.

“There’s IBF champion Daniel Geale, Felix Sturm, The winner of Gennady Golovkin and Matthew Macklin as well as the only American of the bunch being WBO champion Peter Quillin, so the winner of this fight should fight for a title.”

Mora, who rose to fame by winning the Inaugural “Contender” competition has been a little under the radar since his draw with Mosley in 2010.

“I don’t know why that has been. An opponent has never beaten me up. I just never have had a promoter or network to build me. I come to win and what I have learned is that I have to evolve with the game to become relevant. This fight is a re-establishment fight for me. This is my 5th fight on ESPN and I am glad to be back and ready to put on a show.”

New York, NY / Monaco / Johannesburg (June 18) – Khabib “The Hawk” Allakhverdiev, the WBA and IBO light-welterweight champion, hopes a dominant performance against former world champion Souleymane M’baye in Monte Carlo next month will lead to bigger fights down the track.

The Russian southpaw (18-0, 8 KOs) captured the vacant belt against unbeaten Joan Guzman last year when Guzman damaged his knee in the eighth round, Allakhverdiev winning a technical decision.
The quick-handed southpaw meets a wily performer in number two-ranked M’baye (40-4-1, 22 KOs), a ring veteran who has twice held versions of the world title.

The pair fight on the Golden Gloves’ “Million Dollar Super Four” fight card at the grand Salle des Etoiles arena in Monaco.

“Everything is going according to plan,” said Allakhverdiev from his hometown of Kaspiysk in Russia, situated on the shores of the Caspian Sea. “We are wrapping up the first phase of strength training with my brother Shafitdin and trainer Ali Piduriev.”

He says the second phase will shortly begin in Moscow, where he will relocate ahead of his transfer to Monaco. In Moscow he will team up with trainer, former light-middleweight and middleweight world champion John David Jackson, doing sparring and working on speed.

“I mostly train with my brother, who knows me best, and with Ali. However, in the last two years I have also learned a lot from John David, particularly during our last training period. I believe I grew . . . John David saw serious potential in me. He put a lot of effort into improving my skills. He also taught my brother a lot, so time with him is very valuable.”

Allakhverdiev rates M’baye as a very good boxer and says he always comes in fit and strong. “I’ve seen him and know he is a strong fighter. The last fight he lost [against Ismael El Massoudi] was simply due to a foot injury. He doesn’t fall easily, be breathes well and paces himself.

“My fight won’t be a walk in the park. The fact that he is older – 38 years to my 30 years – doesn’t mean he won’t be strong. A lot of fighters, like Juan Manuel Marquez and Guillermo Jones, had their peak years around the same age as M’baye. However, I will be better prepared and am confident of victory.”

Known for his come-forward style and accurate punching, Allakhverdiev is predicting an exciting fight. “We’ll put on a good show and it won’t be one of those where the audience falls asleep, believe me.”

He says the Guzman fight seven months ago brought him great satisfaction, not least because it was against a highly-regarded opponent.

“I felt fulfilled, especially as people didn’t believe I would win. The bets were 1-6 against me. American experts were confident I would lose, but I surprised him.

“Guzman is talented, but known as badly disciplined. However, before the fight he pulled his socks up and worked hard. Everyone expected him to win but he didn’t.”

The Russian hopes a good win on July 13 will lead to a breakthrough fight in the US where he says he would be willing to take on allcomers, including Lucas Matthyse and Mike Alvarado.

“Tell my fans I won’t let them down,” he said. “I wish them good health and good luck. Secondly, thanks for believing in me. Please pray to God that I win.”