Two fighters—one in the Lightweight division and one in the Middleweight—will be named Boxcino 2014 Champion and receive the Boxcino 2014 championship belt on May 23, when ESPN Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates presentado por Corona Extra features the finals of Boxcino 2014 sponsored by 1800 Tequila.
New Picture (3)
Friday’s show, from the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN. The card is promoted by Banner Promotions.

Commentators:
Blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore, will be ringside with analyst Teddy Atlas describing the action for ESPN2, while studio host Todd Grisham (@GrishamESPN), will provide the latest boxing news and information on site. Delvin Rodríguez and Pablo Viruega will call the fights for Noche de Combates (Fight Night) on ESPN Deportes, while Leopoldo González and Claudia Trejos will anchor the studio. Bilingual reporter Bernardo Osuna (@osunaespn) will present live interviews and reports for both shows.

Middleweight Finals Matchup: 10 Rounds

The final round of the Middleweight tournament will feature:

Brandon Adams (14-0, 9 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (17-1, 6 KOs)

Lightweight Finals Matchup: 10 Rounds

The final round of the Lightweight tournament will feature:

Petr Petrov (34-4-2, 15 KOs) vs. Fernando Cárcamo (17-5, 13 KOs)

Fighter Backgrounds:
N.Y.’s Monroe, the son of former Middleweight contender Willie Monroe, is coming off an eight-round unanimous decision win over Vitalii Kopylenko in the semifinal round of the tournament. Prior to that, Monroe won a six-round unanimous decision over Donatas Bondas (Bondorovas) in the quarterfinals. Adams, fighting out of Los Angeles, opened the tournament with a fourth round TKO win over Daniel Edouard and is looking to stay undefeated following an eight-round split decision win over Ray Gatica in the semifinals.

Spain’s Petrov, a former Jr. Welterweight world title challenger, defeated Chris Rudd by fourth-round TKO in the semifinals. In the tournament’s opening round, Petrov won an upset over Yakubu Amidu in a fight that had to go to a seventh-round “drawbreaker” to determine the winner. Mexico’s Cárcamo, who opened the tournament with a second–round TKO win over previously undefeated 2008 Olympian Samuel Neequaye, is looking to score another victory following an eight-round majority decision win over Miguel González in the semifinals.

About Boxcino 2014:
The tournament, which started in February, is a single-elimination, two-weight class competition featuring eight fighters in the Lightweight and Middleweight divisions. Tournament details and matchups can be found on ESPN MediaZone.

ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions Brian Kweder, who oversees content strategy and acquisition for ESPN’s soccer, boxing and bowling properties, recently discussed the tournament in a Q&A on ESPN Front Row.

Upcoming Schedule:
Date
Time (ET)
Main Event
Location
Networks
Fri, May 23
9 p.m.
Boxcino 2014 Finals sponsored by 1800 Tequila

Brandon Adams (14-0, 9 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (17-1, 6 KOs)—10 rounds, Middleweights

Petr Petrov (34-4-2, 15 KOs) vs. Fernando Cárcamo (17-5, 13 KOs)—10 rounds, Lightweights
Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
Fri, June 6
10:30 p.m.
Yudel Jhonson (15-1, 9 KOS) vs. Norberto González ( 20-3, 13 KOs)—10 rounds, Jr. Middleweights
Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
*Schedule subject to change

Friday Night Fights and Noche de Combates Social Media:
· Follow ESPN Friday Night Fights on Twitter @ESPNFNF or like it on Facebook.

· Score the fights round-by-round with the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the ESPN FNF Facebook page that allows viewers to score the fight round-by-round.

· Follow ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates on Twitter @ESPNBoxeo.

· For the latest ESPN.com boxing news and analysis follow @ESPNBoxing.

NEW YORK (MAY 21, 2014)–This past weekend, Sal Musumeci’s Final Forum Boxing was in the middle of all the action in North America as the promotional company was involved in big events in Montreal and New York with great success.

First on Friday night, former world ranked Heavyweight Derric Rossy scored the biggest win of his career when he took home a 10-round majority decision over Joe Hanks in a bout that was nationally televised on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.

With the win, Rossy (29-8, 14 KO’s) of Medford, New York will put himself back in the middle of the Heavyweight picture and most likely see action in a significant bout this summer.

The very next night, Final Forum staged a seven-bout card at Pac Plex in Brooklyn and in the main event, Heavyweight Natu Visinia remained perfect with a 6-round unanimous decision over Jon Bolden.

Visinia of California and of Samoan decent is now 10-0 with 8 knockouts and his promoter Sal Musumeci is very happy with the progress of the power puncher.

“It was a great weekend. First off, Derric showed people that he still is more than just a viable Heavyweight and he can beat lot of guys. I have never stopped believing in him and I feel with a couple wins like he had on Friday night he could definitely get a title shot,” Said Musumeci.

“As for Visinia, he has a chance to be special. He has showed that he can punch with anyone in the division and I look forward to being able to move him into bigger and better fights.”

Musumeci had one more special announcement for the boxing public.

“I am back. I have been fighting through a couple of medical issues over the last couple years and the best is yet to come for Final Forum. In fact we are just days away from making a major announcement where we will be showing live boxing on a major national sports network which will also be televised worldwide in the premiere venues for worldwide for boxing.” Finished Musumeci.

LOU DiBELLA: Hello everyone and thanks for joining us on the call for what will be a great event. Cotto-Martínez, or Martínez-Cotto as we like to call it, for the Middleweight Championship of the World, Sergio Martínez against future Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cotto. Sergio began his training in Spain and spent about a month and a half there has moved his training camp to Miami, Florida where it has gone very well. We are expecting a sell-out and right now are moving in that direction. Tickets are still available to the public at $750, $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50 and can get them at the Madison Square Garden box office or any Ticketmaster outlet.

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I would like to than everyone that is present for their interest in the fight and for taking place in this media conference.

How are your knees holding up and have you been able to run in training?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: My knees are feeling great. I have been running in the mornings on the treadmill. It’s been a great camp and I am feeling great and haven’t felt this good in a long time.

What is your take on Miguel Cotto being just a couple pounds over the weight 30-days out?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: That is more than likely the strategy of Miguel Cotto. It shows that he is in great shape coming into this fight but once the bell rings Miguel Cotto will be the lighter man in the ring.

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: The recuperation was very painful. I was on crutches for nine months and it is very hard to come back from that, but this is the road that I chose and I enjoy the achievement of coming back from something like this. Everything is going to be fine come fight time.

How close are you to being 100%?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: Right now I am just the same as when there were no knee problems. I have overcome all obstacles.

Regarding your comments at the opening press conference as well as the HBO Face-Off this past weekend, it seems as though Sergio has dislike for Cotto, which is odd for him…

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: There is no hatred. I am a professional. Any hatred whatsoever is left behind. I am only focused on training for the fight and to beat Cotto on June 7.

No animosity towards Miguel?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: Right now we are down the stretch. The words are over and my focus is getting in the ring. Those words mean nothing now. I am just getting ready for the fight. Wait for the bell to ring and it’s on.

Lou, you have seen Sergio and he was always mild-mannered towards other opponents.

LOU DIBELLA: There was a bit of a chip on his shoulder with [Julio César] Chávez Jr. because the title was taken from his waist outside of the ring and not inside the ring. There was a chip during the promotion but when you get closer to the fight, like he said, his focus is now on the fight. This was not an easy negotiation – we had to keep calling Sergio with more concessions that a champion doesn’t generally have to make and at that time he was not pleased and I think that came out at some of the press conferences very clearly as well as some of the interviews. If you saw the Face-Off with Max Kellerman you could see that he was upset about certain things but I think he has channeled that to his benefit. Right now he is fixated on giving Cotto a beating and walking out of Madison Square Garden the middleweight champion. Look there were a lot of concessions that were made due to Cotto’s star value and concessions that he wanted that a champion doesn’t normally give, but Sergio’s attitude was that he wanted Miguel Cotto and he wanted this fight badly. He thought it was a great opportunity and he always wanted to fight in the big room at Madison Square Garden before he retired and to prove himself at the Mecca of Boxing, and in order to get the fight we had to swallow some things we didn’t want to swallow.

Do you believe that his knee is good?

LOU DiBELLA: I believe that his knee is as good as it was before the Chávez fight and I believe that he is in great shape. I saw him train in Florida and I saw some things I haven’t been able to see in some of the other fights where his knees were bothering him. I saw great lateral movement. He could plant and throw with real authority and power. Particularly the fact that he could move in all directions without any kind of severe pain. I would like to be in my early 30’s than my early 50’s and I’m sure that Sergio would rather be in his early 20’s than his late 30’s but I think in terms of his physical health, the year off – a year to rehabilitate, a year to rest – and just work in terms of strengthening his body – I think is going to be a huge advantage for Sergio Martínez – for his knee, for his hand, for his elbow, for everything that ached him and I think you are going to really see a great Sergio Martínez on June 7.

Is the fight at 159 lbs?

LOU DiBELLA: It is 159 lbs. or less and that is one of the concessions that we had to make. In my mind a pound off is just silly. It’s a middleweight title and it should be 160 lbs, but frankly Sergio has never weighed in at 160 before so I don’t think it’s going to be a big issue to weigh in at 159. But that is one of those concessions that we found annoying during the course of the negotiations.

Are you bothered because you are not receiving the credit you deserve as a champion?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: No, it does not bother me at all. It is something I have to keep working on, in order to achieve it… However, his demands rob on the absurd.

Why are you training in Miami?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: Because it is very close to New York and Madrid as well. My doctor has to travel from Madrid. If I had decided to train in California, I would have had to cross the entire country to get to New York.

Freddie Roach said Miguel is really throwing the hook to the body so hard that they are making it through his chest protector – do you fear Miguel’s power?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: Right now we just hope that Miguel doesn’t hurt Freddie too bad so that Freddie can’t make it to the fight on June 7. That is my main concern right now.

What do you think about Cotto’s power?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: Of course I realize that Miguel does not have the same power at this weight that he had at 147, but I am the one that has the power in this case. I am the power-puncher of the two of us. But the most important fact in this fight is going to be the intelligence that I am going to be able to use in this fight.

How do you imagine this fight with Cotto?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I think it will be a great fight for the fans, very good for boxing fans. It will be a fight that when I start to find my rhythm, my timing and the right distance, the fight will be over.

Do you think you will win the fight by KO?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I’m sure that I will win the fight by knockout because I’m training in a very hard and intense way and with such motivation that everyday I’m hitting harder, throwing more punches. Whatever Cotto will do in the ring, doesn’t matter to me, I don’t care. What is important is for me to be the day of the fight in the same state that I’m working right now.

You already have 39 years, you have a year without fighting and with accumulations of injuries. You think this could be your last fight?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: Could be, but I hope it isn’t. It could be. But first we have to finish our contract with HBO. We have one more fight and I have to respect that.

Do you feel disrespected?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I don’t consider it a lack or respect, just absurd requests and absurd demands. I have put that in the past and I am totally focused on wrapping up training and fighting on June 7.

Are you worried about the Cotto NYC crowd and how it will affect the outcome of the fight?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: As far as the judges are concerned – they won’t have to do much work that evening because this fight is definitely not going the distance – it will end before the scheduled number of rounds.

Do you think with a win Sergio will get respect that he deserves?

LOU DiBELLA: I think he will get respect and I think he should also get respect for the obstacles he has overcome in the course of a career fighting well into and has had a string of fights and title defenses that rival any of the opposition that Cotto has fought and he has also fought through injuries as well as the politics of boxing. I think ultimately he will get the credit he deserves.

LOU DIBELLA: We had the same issues when we fought Chávez. He had to give up his title to fight Dzinziruk instead of the mandatory and Chávez went on to get the belt in a fight with Zbik in a fight on the same network that Sergio fought on. We have had to overcome a lot of treatment that was inappropriate to a fighter of his stature and he’s proven himself time and time again and he going to prove himself again on June 7 in front of sold out Madison Square Garden and a huge pay-per-view audience, so his legacy keeps growing. The people that know give him the respect that he deserves and before he’s done that respect will be universal.

Do you think he needs to win to get universal respect?

LOU DiBELLA: He shouldn’t have to but this is a huge fight in the most famous arena in the world against the most proven pay-per-view fighter he has ever fought and the biggest name fighter he has ever fought, so in terms of Sergio’s legacy I’m not going to pretend – this fight is huge.

SAMPSON LEWKOWICZ: I agree with everything that Lou has said but I would like to add that Sergio Martínez has passed all the tests – MRI on the knee and MRI on the hand – everything was perfectly done and he is 100% healthy, not 80% or 90% – just to make sure that everyone knows he will come in healthy and it will be a great fight and I think it will be the pay-per-view of the year.

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: When I win I will get the universal respect. This is a very, very important fight – one of the biggest of my career. I do feel that I have earned respect form the boxing community but it will be universal after June 7.

How important do you feel this fight is?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: This fight is right up there with Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik – a very important fight in my career.

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: This fight is bigger – bigger than the Chávez fight which was just as important as Williams and Pavlik – because of the timing of this fight because we are at a crucial point in our careers.

Do you feel you will fight the same style or will you change for Cotto?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: It is basically going to be the same Sergio Martínez you have always seen with a strong desire and the will to win. The only think that will be different will be the strategy I will use – I don’t always use the same strategy on different opponents. The only difference will be the strategy that I will use in this particular fight.

Can you give us some insight to your strategy?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I can’t reveal my strategy yet because it is not completed. The plan is not totally devised…and I would prefer that my plan be a surprise to Miguel Cotto.

Who did the contractual demands come from?

LOU DiBELLA: Well, we sat in a room with Miguel Cotto so I think the majority of it did come from Miguel Cotto himself. It came directly from Miguel Cotto.

Which were the most annoying demands?

LOU DiBELLA: Calling the fight Cotto-Martínez instead of Martínez-Cotto and Miguel being on the left side of the poster instead of the right – I found that annoying. I am not a big fan of catch-weights – so I found that a bit annoying. But it doesn’t matter because in terms of making this fight, Sergio is really the boss. Sergio’s marching orders were do the best you can and make the best deal you can and make sure this fight happens. So I made sure this fight happens.

Does Sergio still let it get to him?

LOU DiBELLA: You were at the press conference and I think he made himself clear, but at this point, Sergio is a pro’s pro, a true professional. I don’t think he’s focused on anything at this point but beating up Miguel Cotto.

I understand from your training you plan to pick up the pace throughout the fight and use your speed at the end.

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I am training and preparing for a hard fight and I will adjust as I go along.

Why did you begin sparring so late into training camp?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: It’s the way I have always done it. I have three sparring sessions this week, three sparring sessions next week, and then the following week is the week of the fight. It’s nothing new – it’s the way it’s always been throughout my career.

Why do you think guys like you and Bernard Hopkins and Juan Manuel Márquez are still able to compete at a very high level at their age?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: Basically, many more boxers would be able to do it if they took care of themselves by living the way you are supposed to live – eating healthy for example – if many did many would continue to box at an older age.

SAMPSON LEWKOWICZ: This fight will be the biggest pay-per-view of the year and it will be the best quality fight. It will be an historic day for boxing. Without a doubt, Cotto-Martínez will be a great pay-per-view event..

A million buys, or more?

SAMSPSON LEWKOWICZ: I don’t know if it will reach one million but it will be bigger than any that have happened so far this year.

LOU DiBELLA: I’m not going to make a prediction on the buys, but I know it will do a lot of business and it will be a great fight. You know Sergio and Miguel Cotto and their styles – this fight is going to be a brawl and the fans are really going to enjoy it. The only think I would worry about is seeing a great fight in the ring, which I know will happen. I know Sergio is prepared. I am not going to sit here and make a prediction on pay-per-view – I don’t think the fans care about that – I hope the fans care about the fight and they are watching.

What makes you so sure, that you will go on record that the fight will end early?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: By January I have been training for this fight and my body has responded perfectly. The way training camp has been going, and the way I feel physically, it is going to be an early stoppage.

Cotto is saying he is going to work on a body attack. What is your take on that?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: That is of no concern to me. The only thing that is going to matter in this fight is going to be what Sergio Martínez does in this fight.

Do you feel that since you are a bigger man and stronger man in the ring, it will be to your advantage?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: That’s not the case. The real difference is going to be my intelligence and my ring generalship in this fight.

Do you feel the year lay-off will affect you?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: When someone has been in boxing for twenty years and taken a year off, it’s not a problem because you have twenty years of experience, so that year lay-off is not going to affect me in the least.

When was the last time you felt this confident you were going to knock out your opponent?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I am always 100% confident by of winning by knockout in every fight but I haven’t felt like this since the Paul Williams rematch.

When you won against Chavez Jr you did not look impressive…

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: If winning 11½ rounds out of twelve is not impressive, I don’t know what I could do – what is being impressive?

If the fight went another couple of rounds – do you think you would have made it?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: If the fight would have lasted another two or three rounds, Chavez would have run out of gas and I would have stopped him.

Do you feel you have the power?

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ:I knocked out Dzinziruk and I showed power. I knocked out Paul Williams and I showed power.

LOU DiBELLA: To say that this guy doesn’t have power as a middleweight is sort of absurd considering he knocked out Dzinziruk and knocked him down five times and basically ended his career. He knocked out Paul Williams like a tree was falling. He knocked out Matthew Macklin and he knocked out Darren Barker and he literally beat Julio César Chávez Jr into a bloody pulp. I joked with him in Florida about it that he was trying to knock him out when he should have just taken the 12-0 shutout that resulted in him getting hit in the first place. To be honest, whoever asked those last questions seems to have an axe to grind. So be it but I just don’t think they are accurate.

In Closing…

LOU DIBELLA: I just want to remind everyone that there are still tickets available, but we do expect a sellout. Whatever you want to call it, Cotto-Martínez or Martínez-Cotto, it is going to be a great fight and that’s what it’s all about. I want to thank my partners at Top Rank, Miguel Cotto and his promotional company Miguel Cotto Promotions and we look forward to a great fight week and a great fight on June 7.

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ: I want to thank everybody for taking part in this and we’ll see everybody on June 7

***********************************

Promoted by Miguel Cotto Promotions, Top Rank®, DiBella Entertainment and Sampson Boxing, in association with Maravilla Box, PS4, Tecate and Madison Square Garden, the Cotto – Martínez World Middleweight Championship event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.

“2 Days: Sergio Martínez” premieres This Saturday! May 24 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

HBO’s Emmy-Award-winning series “24/7 Cotto/Martinez” premieres Saturday, May 31 at 11:15 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

Face Off: Cotto/Martinez HBO Replay Schedule (All times ET/PT):
May 23 (5:30 p.m.), 24 (10:45 a.m.), 27 (11:45 p.m.) 29 (4:45 p.m.)
30 (9:45 p.m.) and June 3 (12:45 p.m. & 3:45 a.m.), 5 (1:00 a.m.)
6 (8:00 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.) and 7 (10:30 a.m.)

Cotto (39-4, 31 KOs), of Caguas, Puerto Rico, who has sold more tickets to The Garden than any other fighter in this millennium, will attempt to become Puerto Rico’s first four-division world champion while Martínez (51-2-2, 28 KOs), of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina, who has never lost a world championship fight, defends the title he first won in 2010. Both gladiators boast a combined record of 89-6-2 (59 KOs) – a winning percentage of 92% and a victory by knockout ratio of 66%.

Remaining tickets to the Cotto vs. Martínez world middleweight championship event, priced at $750, $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50, can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008), and online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, www.hbo.com/boxing, www.dbe1.com, www.sampsonboxing.com, www.promocionesmiguelcotto.com and www.maravillabox.com, Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/DiBellaentertainment, facebook.com/TopRankMiguelCotto, facebook.com/maravillabox, and facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, twitter.com/dibellaent, twitter.com/SampsonBoxing, twitter.com/hboboxing, twitter.com/realmiguelcotto or twitter.com/maravillabox. Use the Hashtag #CottoMartinez to join the conversation on Twitter.

Chicago, IL (May 20, 2014) Plans for a World Boxing Association (‘WBA’) “Regular” Heavyweight Title bout between Chicago’s Fres Oquendo and Ruslan Chagaev of Hamburg, Germany for Saturday, JUNE 7 in Grozny, Russia were addressed today by the Windy City’s leading boxing promoter, Bobby Hitz of Hitz Boxing.

“Along with Roy Jones’ Square Ring Promotions, Hitz Boxing has an exclusive promotional contract with Fres Oquendo” said Hitz. “The contract which we have, provided Fres the opportunity to stay active and continue his path towards becoming a world champion, a goal we set forth as a team when we signed him.”

“My understanding is this bout with Chagaev has been negotiated without our knowledge or input, a clear violation of the contract Hitz Boxing and Square Ring Promotions have with Fres.”

Continued Hitz, “At this point both of our entities, Hitz Boxing and Square Ring Promotions, will pursue legal remedies against all parties seeking to engage Fres Oquendo in this bout as they will be in tortious interference of our contract.”

Unfortunately as Hitz states, the pattern of Oquendo’s management team interfering in his role as a promoter has been a continual problem.

“This exact fight was previously approved by the WBA at their most recent convention with Hitz Boxing and Square Ring’s involvement, however when Fres’ manager entered him in the proposed World Boxing Council (‘WBC’) heavyweight tournament, the WBA refused to sanction this bout. All this while John Wirt of Square Ring was negotiating the WBA fight.”

“Fres should know that he will be in a much bigger legal fight before he gets in the ring if he and his manager continue down this path.”

Sporting a record of 37-7-0 with 24 knockouts, Oquendo is currently ranked #6 by the WBA and has won five bouts in a row.

ABOUT HITZ BOXING
Since its debut in 1991, Hitz Boxing has been the Midwest’s leading boxing promoter. Led by Bobby Hitz, who boasted a 21-4 record with 18 KO’s as a boxer, Hitz Boxing is the longest running boxing promoter in the Chicago area dating back to the bi-monthly boxing series the “Ramada Rumble,” held at the former Rosemont Ramada Inn. The organization currently promotes the wildly popular “Fight Night at the Horseshoe” at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN and is the subject of the actuality show “Hitz Boxing,” a web series that has amassed over 5 million internet views. Over the years the organization has produced matches that have included some of the top names in boxing such as James Toney, Antonio Tarver, Montell Griffin, Iran Barkley, Andrew Golota and “Fast” Fres Oquendo.

For more information, please visit: www.hitzboxing.com.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, undefeated Middleweight Matt Korobov will make his HBO debut when he takes on Jose Uzctegui in a Middleweight bout on June 28 on the Terence Crawford – Yuriorkis Gamboa undercard in Omaha, Nebraska.

“It’s what [HBO’s] ‘Boxing After Dark’ is really about — two undefeated fighters risking a lot in the hopes of getting to the next level,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN.com after finalizing Korobov-Uzcategui. “I applaud [HBO executive] Peter Nelson for coming up with this matchup and, obviously, the fighters for taking the risk.

“Both fighters are undefeated, but undefeated records are sorta like bikinis. They show more than they reveal.”

New York, NY (5/21/14) – DiBella Entertainment will have four members of the DBE stable all looking to pick up victories this week across the border in Canada. Top-rated contender Ionut “Jo Jo” Dan Ion (32-2, 17KO’s) and Francy Ntetu (11-0, 3KO’s) will both step into the ring tomorrow night in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, while fellow top-rated contender Charlie Ohta (24-1-1, 16KO’s) and Michael Medina (26-4-2, 19KO’s) box in separate bouts on Saturday night.

Dan will compete against Lukasz Janik (11-5-1, 5KO’s) in an eight-round welterweight matchup, while the undefeated super middleweight Ntetu faces Bartlomiej Grafka over six scheduled rounds.

On Saturday night, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, on the undercard of the eagerly anticipated light heavyweight championship bout between Adonis Stevenson and Andrzej Fonfara, Ohta will square off against highly regarded, undefeated junior middleweight contender Jermell Charlo (23-0, 11KO’s), while Medina meets fast-rising undefeated prospect Julian Williams (15-0-1, 9KO’s). The Ohta-Charlo contest is scheduled for 10 rounds and will be one of the featured undercard bouts shown live on SHOWTIME®, while Medina-Williams is scheduled for eight rounds and will air on Showtime Extreme.

The Harlem-native Ohta, who now lives and trains in Japan after moving overseas following the time he spent stationed there with the U.S. Navy, is ranked as the WBO #6, WBC #9 and IBF #9-rated junior middleweight in the world. Ohta made a name for himself fighting in Japan, picking up the OPBF and Japanese light middleweight titles, and becoming one of the most popular fighters in the entire country. Then in early 2012, Ohta, who is promoted by Teiken Boxing Promotions, signed a co-promotional contract with DBE and returned home to his native New York, making his U.S. debut in March 2012, at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Sergio Martinez’ middleweight title defense against Matthew Macklin. Ohta is 18-0-1 in his last 19 fights, dating all the way back to 2007 and he knows that a win over the highly regarded Charlo on the nationally televised Showtime network will move him a major step closer to challenging for a world championship.

The IBF #2, WBC #6 and WBA #8-rated Dan is coming off his most impressive showing to date, a grueling 12-round decision over previously undefeated Kevin Bizier back in November of last year. The bout was an absolute war from start to finish. Dan, the former two-time world title challenger, pulled out the highly impressive victory in the championship rounds. He is looking for another shot at a world championship in 2014 and has offered up his services to all of the respective welterweight titleholders, but has yet to hear his name called out. Dan is hoping to land a shot against IBF champion Shawn Porter, but he must first take care of business against the upset-minded Janik tomorrow night.

LAS VEGAS (MAY 21, 2014)–Featherweight prospect Tevin “The American Idol” Farmer is in camp and is sparring with Featherweight title challenger Vasyl Lomachenko in Las Vegas.

Farmer of Philadelphia is giving Loamachenko some good southpaw work as the Ukranian amateur legend prepares for his WBO Featherweight title fight against undefeated former U.S. Olympian Gary Russell Jr. on June 21 in Carson, California.

Farmer (15-4-1, 3 KO’s) himself is also preparing for a June 5 bout against undefeated Emanuel Gonzalez in Boston on Fox Sports 1.

“I am here learning, getting experience and helping him prepare for his fight,”said Farmer.

“Just training and being in the camp has helped my confidence as I prepare for my own fight. I know on June 5, I will be more than prepared and put on a good show for the fans. They will want to see me again. I have been waiting for this opportunity my whole life. It is here and I am ready to take it.”

“This a great experience for Tevin, said Club 1957 manager Mark Cipparone.

“Lomachenko is considered one of the greatest amateur fighters in history as he won two gold medals and to be able to absorb knowledge from him is priceless. We hope that being in this camp will help Tevin in his own career going forward,” finished Cipparone.

Fans can follow Tevin Farmer on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Teamfarmerboxing?fref=ts

On Instagram and Twitter @tevinfarmer22

LONDON (May 21) – BoxNation’s bulging summer calendar has got even more crammed with the addition of two huge Golden Boy Promotions shows featuring Gary Russell Jr against Vasyl Lomachenko on June 21 and Erislandy Lara taking on Canelo Alvarez on July 12.

The two bills join an already jam-packed schedule which has recently seen WBC middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez’s clash with Miguel Cotto added, plus names such as Adonis Stevenson, Terence Crawford, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Tyson Fury, Dereck Chisora and many more featuring live and exclusive over the coming months.

The impending battle between Russell Jr and two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko will see two of boxing’s best craftsmen compete for the vacant WBO featherweight world title.

Lomachenko made an historic bid for the world title in only his second professional bout when he was beaten via split decision by Mexican warrior Orlando Salido, who missed his chance at claiming the title at the scales by not making the featherweight limit.

Subsequently, Lomachenko gets his second bite at the cherry following a valiant display against Salido, but will be in against an equally adept foe in the unbeaten Russell Jr, who is looking to kick start his career following a lack of activity over the past year and a half.

The stacked card at the StubHub Center in Carson, California also welcomes back Floyd Mayweather challenger Robert Guerrero who takes on big-hitting Japanese welterweight Yoshihiro Kamegai, who has knocked out 21 opponents in his 24 wins.

Further night’s action will see the return of former two-weight world champion Devon Alexander who will be looking to bounce back from his world title defeat to Shawn Porter last December when he takes on the tough and respected Jesus Soto Karass.

Then, on July 12th, live and exclusive from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, BoxNation will bring viewers one of the very best fights of the summer when Cuban ace Lara looks to prove he is among the elite when takes on Mexican superstar Alvarez.

The 23-year-old Alvarez is still regarded as the next true superstar of boxing, despite his loss to pound-for-pound king Mayweather last September, with his convincing comeback win over the relentless Alfredo Angulo proving that he remains among the best around.

In Lara though, he goes up against one of the trickiest and skilled men in the sport, honed and polished in the fabled Cuban amateur schools, with ambitions of cementing his own place at the very top.

The victor will no doubt propel himself into the biggest money fights and a shot at a world title.

Also on the night, bantamweight stars Tomoki Kameda and Pungluang Sor Singyu will meet for Japanese hotshot Kameda’s WBO world title, with Juan Manuel Lopez back following his impressive victory over Daniel Ponce De Leon when he challenges undefeated Francisco Vargas.

To subscribe to BoxNation (Sky 437/490HD & Virgin 546) for only £12 a month (plus a one-off registration fee) please visit www.boxnation.com.

-Ends-

About BoxNation
BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated subscription boxing channel. For £12* a month and no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.

BoxNation is proud to support Fight for Peace, a charity that uses boxing and martial arts combined with education and personal development to realise the potential of young people in communities that suffer from crime and violence. Buy LUTA (www.luta.co.uk) clothing and support Fight for Peace.

Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Khan vs Diaz and Mayweather vs Alvarez.

The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Virgin (Ch.546), online at Livesport.tv and via iPhone, iPad or Android. BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.

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For more information visit www.boxnation.com

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (May 21st, 2014) — Philadelphia boxer Hank Lundy doesn’t see colors when it comes to targeting a potential opponent for a world-title bout, except, perhaps, green, which he could make a whole of in his next big fight.

To paraphrase the self-proclaimed “Can Man” himself, Adrien Broner — another possibility for Lundy — “Anybody can get it!”

“If my mom wants to rumble, we’ll rumble if the money’s right!” Lundy said with a laugh.

Coming off a big win over Angelo Santana four months ago on Showtime’s ShoBox: The Next Generation, Lundy (24-3-1, 11 KOs) is within earshot of his first world-title bout. He’s ranked No. 9 in the World Boxing Council (WBC) among lightweights and has won back-to-back fights since losing to Viktor Postol in March of 2013.

The time is now, and a win next weekend against tough, Mexican challenger Pipino Cuevas Jr. at Mohegan Sun could set the stage for Lundy’s most important, and most lucrative, fight against any of the current title-holders.

“I hope it’s real soon,” said Lundy, whose 10-round bout against Cuevas Jr. is the main event of Classic Entertainment & Sports’ pro-am boxing card Saturday, May 31st, 2014.

“I’ve been dying to fight for a world title. I’ve paid my just dues. I’ve fought undefeated fighters. Everyone they’ve put in front of me, I’ve fought. I never ran from nobody. When my time comes, it better come soon.”

Tickets for the event are priced at $40, $65 and $125 (VIP) and can be purchased by calling 401-724-2253/2254, online at www.cesboxing.com or www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Mohegan Sun Box Office. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Cuevas Jr., the son of former welterweight world champion Pipino Cuevas with 28 fights under his belt and 15 wins by knockout, might be considered a small obstacle on Lundy’s path to championship glory, but Lundy knows better than to look too for ahead.

In July of 2012, Lundy stepped into the ring against little-known journeyman Raymundo Beltran on ESPN2, putting his 22-1 record and No. 1 world ranking on the line. Lundy lost the bout by majority decision, costing him a shot at Antonio DeMarco’s WBC title. DeMarco eventually lost it four months later to Broner while Lundy instead traveled to the Ukraine to face Postol, who beat him by unanimous decision to push him further out of the rankings.

Lundy’s worked hard to get back into the championship picture at 135 pounds, beating former world-title challenger Olusegun Ajose and Santana in back-to-back fights, so Lundy is taking nothing for granted next Saturday against the heavy-handed Cuevas Jr.

“With the Santana win and the win over Ajose, everyone started taking notice again,” Lundy said. “This is a different ‘Hammerin” Hank you’re seeing. I’m back on top.

“I feel better than ever. I’m ready to fight for a world championship tomorrow.”

No one with a world title at 135 pounds has taken the bait yet, forcing Lundy to stay busy and press the issue with the sanctioning bodies by continuing to win and win decisively — no risk, no reward, regardless of what’s at stake with each fight.

“There are a lot of guys who think they can beat me, but won’t fight me, so I have to keep taking fights like this against guys with records like mine where I can go in there and show them I’m a force to be reckoned with and I’m not going to be beat,” Lundy said.

The list of names on his radar hasn’t changed much, whether it’s fighters he was supposed to face once before (Lucas Matthysse), fighters he’s already beaten who now have world titles (World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion Richar Abril), or those who’ve flown under the radar, until now, such as unbeaten World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Terence Crawford or interim WBA lightweight champ Yuriorkis Gamboa. The winner of the Gamboa-Crawford showdown scheduled for June 28th could decide Lundy’s next opponent, pending the outcome of next weekend’s fight.

Lundy wouldn’t even mind taking a swing at Broner, a former sparring and training partner who recently came under fire for what the WBC deemed racially-insensitive remarks following his decisive win over Carlos Molina on May 3rd, a post-fight outburst Lundy felt sent the wrong message to boxing fans.

“I respect everybody,” Lundy said. “When we get in that ring, it’s war, but at the end of the day, I try to treat everybody as a human being in this world. We have so much negativity going on with race. Growing up, we got along with every color and race. I see no color. We’re all people at the end of the day.

“The question isn’t whether or not I’d fight him,” he continued. “The question is whether or not he’d fight ‘Hammerin” Hank. Everyone knows what I’m about. I just finished camp with him, but at the end of the day it’s about making money and getting to that next level.”

With Broner now fighting at 140, and sometimes higher depending on the opponent, and Lundy trying to reestablish himself in the 135-pound division, a showdown between the two might never happen, but as long as Lundy continues winning in dominant fashion like the way he did against Santana, his time will come. The brash, outspoken Philadelphia slugger hopes it’s sooner rather than later.

“I want that shot at a world title. You might even catch me at 147!” Lundy said. “At the end of the day, I’m a veteran in this game. I’m crafty. I’m ready to take these guys to a dimension different than anything they’ve ever seen before.”

Lundy’s 10-round fight against Cuevas Jr. headlines a dynamic card that also features the return of female bantamweight sensation Shelito Vincent and light heavyweight slugger Kevin Cobbs, plus the addition of an exciting amateur undercard replete with the region’s most sought-after talent, including Gary Balletto Jr. and Ray Oliveira Jr., sons of two well-respected fighters who dominated the regional circuit at the turn of the 21st century.

Cobbs (7-1, 2 KOs), a veteran from Willimantic, Conn., will face Willis Lockett (13-13-5, 5 KOs) of Maryland in a four-round bout in Cobbs’ first fight in more than a year. Also on the undercard, New Haven, Conn., junior middleweights Jimmy Williams (5-0-1, 2 KOs) and Christian Lao (5-2-1, 2 KOs) will battle for state bragging rights in a six-round bout; and female welterweight Aleksandra Magdziak-Lopes (10-2-1, 1 KO), a former world-title challenger, will face Althea Saunders (3-0-1) of Atlantic City in a six-round bout. In other regional action, Hartford, Conn., light middleweight Joe Wilson Jr. (1-1) faces Ethan Pena (2-1, 1 KO) of Providence, R.I., in a four-round bout.

On the amateur portion of the show, Oliveira Jr., a 165-pounder who trains out of On Point Boxing in New Bedford, Mass., will face Adam Paolino of Warwick, R.I. New Haven, Conn., middleweight Godfrey Campbell faces Miguel Teo of Marlboro, Mass.; and Smithfield, R.I., light welterweight Anthony Marsella Jr. battles New Bedford’s Scott Sullivan. All amateur bouts are three rounds, unless otherwise noted.

NEW YORK (May 20, 2014) – WBC Light Heavyweight World Champion Adonis Stevenson and Andrzej Fonfara participated in a media conference call on Tuesday as they reach the apex of preparation for this Saturday’s world title showdown live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

The 36-year-old Stevenson (23-1-0, 20 KOs) laid his claim as the world’s No. 1 light heavyweight with an exceptional 2013 campaign that included knockout victories over Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud, earning him The Ring Magazine award for “Fighter of the Year.” The 26-year-old Fonfara (25-2-0, 15 KOs), of Chicago by way of Warsaw, Poland, is the No. 3 contender in the WBC and holds victories over three former world champions in his last five fights. Fonfara has won 15 fights in a row, 12 by knockout, and has never been defeated as a light heavyweight.

In co-featured fights this Saturday, May 24, on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, power-punching, world-ranked Montreal middleweight David Lemieux (31-2, 29 KOs) meets Fernando Guerrero (26-2, 19 KOs) of Salisbury, Md., in a 10-round bout, and Houston’s unbeaten rising star Jermell Charlo (23-0, 11 KOs) takes on Japan’s Charlie Ohta (24-1-1, 16 KOs) in a 12-round junior middleweight match.

On SHO EXTREME (7 p.m. ET/PT) from the Bell Centre, Julian “J-Rock” Williams (15-0-1, 9 KOs), of Philadelphia, faces Michael Medina (26-4-2, 19 KOs), of Modesto, Calif., in a 10-round junior middleweight scrap and world-ranked Eleider Alvarez (14-0, 8 KOs), of Montreal by way Colombia, collides with Alexander Johnson (15-1, 6 KOs), of Washington, D.C., in a 10-round light heavyweight bout.

Here’s what the participants had to say on Tuesday’s call:

Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President & General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports:
“This event is a long time coming, at least for us here at SHOWTIME. We’ve wanted Adonis to fight on SHOWTIME for quite a while. Personally, I became interested a few years back when Emanuel Steward first mentioned Adonis to me. We had Adonis scheduled to fight on SHOWTIME back in 2012 until some bad luck intervened. So, we’ve been waiting for Superman, if you will, for some time.

“Andrzej is not someone to look past. He is a very good puncher. He is a very good boxer and I think his boxing skills are underrated. I believe this Stevenson-Fonfara main event is going to be a lot tougher than many of you may think. I said it about Matthysse-Molina a couple of weeks ago. And I said the same for Mayweather-Maidana. I expect a very competitive fight in our main event.”

Q: How devastating would it be if Adonis was to lose this fight?

“I don’t think devastating is the right way to describe it. My sense of Adonis is that he’s got his own motivation; whether it’s losing the title or a unification fight, that’s all secondary. He wants to win because he’s used to winning and he wants to keep winning. … No one should be ashamed in losing this fight. This is a well-matched, competitive fight. Here at the network, our goal is to televise a title unification fight eventually. We don’t have any particular preferences on who the titlists are. We would just like to be able to televise and bring to the fans a fight that would result in a unified light heavyweight title. I will say that a good amount of the fascination with Adonis and his popularity is that he is such a big puncher and he has these highlight-reel knockouts. That’s something that’s not going to go away with a loss here or a loss there. It does throw a wrench in his plans for a unification fight, but there’s still plenty of value and interest in Adonis as a fighter.”

Yvon Michel, Adonis Stevenson’s promoter:
“Adonis has won his last 10 fights by knockout. While you progress in the rankings and when you get better opposition, usually the knockout ratio starts slimming down. But it has been the other way around for Adonis. The better the opposition, the more he wanted to win the fight, and the easier it became to get better timing and knock out his opponent.

“(Adonis) is an exceptional puncher with both hands and can hurt you and knock you out with one punch at any time in the fight. Anytime a fighter comes into the fight with a plan, all that strategy goes out the window the very first time he gets hit by Adonis.”

Adonis Stevenson:
“I’m very focused for this fight. I’m not overlooking him. I know he’s going to be ready and I’m training for just him. I take it one fight at a time and I will take care of business. I’m ready for this fight.

“I’m not here to lose. I’m a champion and I’m here to win. By knockout. That’s it and I’m not concerned about anything else.”

Q: What are your motivations for seeking a path that would lead you to a fight with Bernard Hopkins as opposed to one that was talked about with Sergey Kovalev?

“You know, I want to be a legend and I want to be on par with all the boxing legends so that gives me a lot of motivation to push my body very, very hard and at a high level and keep training and focus fight by fight. I’m very motivated.”

Q: How do you respond to some of the people who look at the decision you made and say, ‘Bernard is a great name and (Adonis) has a tough fight with Fonfara, but he’s ducking Kovalev because of the deal that you accepted.’ How do you respond to those people?

“Those people don’t understand that boxing is a business. That’s our mentality. That we negotiate with the network and we make sure that everyone gets paid. That’s why I took it because I’m working with the best managers in the world and they make sure everything is right with the network, and everything. It’s not about ducking, it’s about business. I don’t have a problem fighting Kovalev. I have a feeling that Yvon Michel will one day make that happen.”

Q: You came up as a fighter who worked with Emanuel Steward. What affect did he have, not only on your professional career, but what impact did he have on you as a person inside the ring and outside?

“You know, Emanuel gave me a lot of advice and motivation. And it’s not just about training. He was a friend to me and we spent a lot of time talking about life. And we talked about boxing and what it would be like to be a world champion. A couple of years ago he didn’t have any money, he didn’t save nothing. And he explained that to me and I took his advice. He told me I was going to be the world champion and that I was going to be a star.”

Q: What is Fonfara’s style, his strengths and his weaknesses?

“I don’t know. I’m gonna knock him out. That’s what I’m going to do. I don’t know his game plan. I’m going to knock him out.”

Q: Is Bernard Hopkins next up for you?

“I don’t care about Hopkins now. Fonfara is in front of me, and that’s it. After the fight we can talk about Hopkins.

“When you used to watch Mike Tyson fight, you knew someone was going to get knocked out. That’s what is going to happen on SHOWTIME. Somebody’s going to get knocked out.”

Leon Margules, Andrzej Fonfara’s promoter:
“Andrzej is a great young fighter and we believe a future champion. We’re not discrediting the year Adonis Stevenson had and we’re certainly not predicting an easy fight, but Andrzej believes, and I believe, that he can win the world title on Saturday night.

“When I first saw Andrzej Fonfara I asked him of all the champions and all the fighters and all the opportunities that you may have, who do you want to fight? Anybody you want. And for any world title you want. And he said, ‘I want to fight Adonis Stevenson for the WBC light heavyweight championship.’ So, he is very, very excited and I know he’s thrilled to be on SHOWTIME because it will be his first experience on premium television.”

Andrzej Fonfara:
“Everything is going right. My training camp is almost ended. We trained for a couple of weeks in Chicago and then we flew to Big Bear in California. We trained in Abel Sanchez’s gym in Summit for like three weeks and then we came here. I’m ready for this fight and I’ve had good sparring partners and have had good preparation.”

Q: Do you think you’ve been overlooked by Adonis, and if so how is that beneficial to you?

“No. I don’t think like that. This business is like that and you must think about your next fight. Adonis should think about his next fight. I want to focus on this fight and it’s not a problem to talk about that. It’s normal.”

Q: What is your game plan?

“I don’t want to say it here. You will see when I get into the ring. I don’t want to say anything about my plan.”

Q: Is there a different preparation or approach you have to take when facing a guy with the knockout power as Adonis Stevenson?

“No. We do the same preparation as always. We change a little bit because he’s a southpaw and he has a different style. We have good sparring partners and I am ready physically and mentally.”

NEW YORK, NY / MIAMI FL (5/20/14) – World Boxing Council (WBC)/The Ring middleweight champion and Argentina’s favorite son, SERGIO “Maravilla” MARTÍNEZ, along with promoter Lou DiBella, held an international media conference all earlier today in anticipation of his upcoming world title defense and the most eagerly anticipated boxing event of 2014 against three-division world champion and the Pride of Puerto Rico, MIGUEL COTTO.

Below are a few quick notes from the call. A complete transcript to follow.

SERGIO MARTINEZ: My knee is feeling great and I have been running in the mornings. I haven’t felt this good in a very long time.

I am the same as I was before there ever were any knee problems. I have overcome all of the obstacles and all of the problems my knee caused in the past.

There is no hatred toward Miguel, we are both professionals. I am totally focused on the fight and totally focused on the task at hand, which is beating Miguel Cotto.

Miguel does not have the same power at this weight as he does at 147lbs. I am the power-puncher out of the two of us. The most important factor in this fight, though, is the level of intelligence that I will use on June 7th.

I am not worried about the judges being swayed in this bout or any questionable decisions, because there is no way that this fight is going the distance.

This fight is right up there with Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik as one of the most important of my career.

LOU DIBELLA: This was not an easy negotiation. We had to keep calling Sergio with constant changes that we had to make for this fight to happen, and it bothered Sergio. That came out in the initial press conferences, where everyone could see that Sergio was clearly agitated. Sergio has since channeled that to his benefit and he is now totally focused on the fight, and singled in on giving Cotto a real beating and walking out of Madison Square Garden on June 7th with his championship belt.

Sergio is a true professional so at this point in his training and this close to the fight, his only concentration is beating up Miguel Cotto.

SAMPSON LEWKOWICZ: This is a historic event that is happening on June 7th. Sergio is 100% healthy, and if not 100% then he is 99%. Like Lou said, this is a huge fight for Sergio and his career, arguably the biggest. This is by far the Pay-Per-View of the year.

Promoted by Miguel Cotto Promotions, Top Rank®, DiBella Entertainment and Sampson Boxing, in association with Maravilla Box, Tecate and Madison Square Garden, the Cotto vs. Martínez World Middleweight Championship event takes place Saturday, June 7, at the “Mecca of Boxing,” Madison Square Garden and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.

HBO’s Emmy-Award®-winning reality series “24/7,” which has captured 18 Sports Emmys in its first seven seasons, returns with an all-new edition when “24/7 Cotto/Martinez” premieres Saturday, May 31 at 11:15 p.m. (ET/PT) on HBO.

Cotto (39-4, 31 KOs), of Caguas, Puerto Rico, who has sold more tickets to The Garden than any other fighter in this millennium, will attempt to become Puerto Rico’s first four-division world champion while Martínez (51-2-2, 28 KOs), of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina, who has never lost a world championship fight, defends the title he first won in 2010. Both gladiators boast a combined record of 89-6-2 (59 KOs) – a winning percentage of 92% and a victory by knockout ratio of 66%.

Tickets to the Cotto vs. Martínez World Middleweight Championship are on sale now andpriced at $750, $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50. Tickets can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008), and online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, www.hbo.com/boxing, www.dbe1.com, www.sampsonboxing.com, www.promocionesmiguelcotto.com and www.maravillabox.com, Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/DiBellaentertainment, facebook.com/TopRankMiguelCotto, facebook.com/maravillabox, and facebook.com/hboboxing, and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, twitter.com/dibellaent, twitter.com/SampsonBoxing, twitter.com/hboboxing, twitter.com/realmiguelcotto or twitter.com/maravillabox. Use the Hashtag #CottoMartinez to join the conversation on Twitter.

Philadelphia, PA (May 20, 2014)–THIS FRIDAY, The finals of the Boxcino 2014 tournament will take place at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino and the stakes just got bigger for the four fighters that will compete in the lightweight and middleweight championship bouts.

The show is promoted by Banner Promotions and will be broadcast live on ESPN 2, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN and will begin at 9 PM ET.

In the lightweight finals, Petr Petrov will take on Fernando Carcamo while middleweight Brandon Adams will square off with Willie Monroe Jr.

Each has won two fights and because of their willingness to step up and fight top competition, the WBA has recognized each fighter with a world ranking.

Carcamo is ranked-11 & Petrov is ranked-12 at lightweight. In the middleweight division, Adams is ranked-6 while Monroe Jr. checked in at 14.

“We are very proud of all four fighters and want to congratulate them on stepping up to the plate and winning these fights,” said Banner Promotions president Arthur Pelullo.

“This is exactly what we envisioned when we put Boxcino together. Fighters fighting other top fighters and they will be rewarded with rankings that will facilitate their careers into title opportunities and big fights. I want to thank everyone at ESPN for having the same vision and putting this tournament together.”

LAS VEGAS (May 20, 2014) – The lineup for World Series of Fighting’s most impressive card to date is now complete with 12 total contests supporting an amazing championship triple-header.

The previously announced featured contests for “World Series of Fighting 10: Branch vs. Taylor” include a main event of David Branch (13-3) vs. Jesse “JT Money” Taylor (27-9) for World Series of Fighting’s inaugural middleweight title, as well as dual co-main events with World Series of Fighting featherweight champion Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan (23-3-1) vs. Rick “The Gladiator” Glenn (14-2) and the world’s best female strawweight and current World Series of Fighting champion Jessica “Jag” Aguilar (17-4), who will defend her belt against Japanese contender Emi “The Kamikaze Angel” Fujino (13-7).

Additionally, the main card will include intense matchups of lightweights Tyson Griffin (16-7) vs. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (17-6) and featherweights Nick Lobosco (7-0) vs. Lance Palmer (7-1).

Those five bouts air live on NBCSN at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time) and follow a now-confirmed seven-bout preliminary card of heavyweights Dave Huckaba (21-5) vs. Derrick Mehmen (17-5), bantamweights Rudy Morales (3-0) vs. Timur Valiev (6-1), middleweights Angel DeAnda (11-3) vs. Krasimir Mladenov (10-0), women’s bantamweights Marciea Allen (3-1) vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith (2-0), bantamweights Brandon Hempleman (9-2) vs. Andrew Yates (7-1), lightweights Justin Jaynes (2-1) vs. Jimmy Spicuzza (3-0) and debuting lightweights Tanner Cowan (0-0) vs. A.J. Williams (0-0).

The preliminary bouts kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT local time) and will stream live on NBCSports.com.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 10: Branch vs. Taylor” start at just $39 and are currently on sale at AXS.com.

The hard-hitting Dave “Bad Man” Huckaba earned a knockout victory in his World Series of Fighting debut and has won four-straight fights and 10 of his past 11. The 39-year-old Californian brawler who boasts 17 knockouts among his 21 career wins now meets Iowa’s Derrick Mehmen, who previously defeated Rolles Gracie and Scott Barrett under the World Series of Fighting banner to extend his current winning streak to five fights. His knockout over Gracie was a viral sensation that earned him “KO punch of the year” honors at the 2013 Bazzie Awards.

“Ruthless” Rudy Morales makes his World Series of Fighting debut with a perfect 3-0 mark that includes a pair of hard-fought split-decision wins. He now meets Russian import Timur Valiev, who lost his professional debut in September 2010 but has gone undefeated in his next six outings.

Angel “The Dream” DeAnda made his World Series of Fighting debut in a tough assignment against light heavyweight Tyrone Spong at World Series of Fighting 4, going the distance before losing a hard-fought decision. Meanwhile, Krasimir “The Wrestler” Mladenov is a Bulgarian athlete who competed most recently at this past June’s World Series of Fighting 3 against Kendrick Miree. Mladenov earned a decision win, maintaining his perfect career mark.

Ashlee Evans-Smith returns to action for the first time since her shocking ground-and-pound TKO win over Fallon Fox. She now faces Marciea “Black Widow” Allen, whose lone career loss to date came to current UFC fighter Jessamyn Duke.

Brandon “Hot Rod” Hempleman made his promotional debut in August, losing a hard-fought decision to the top-ranked Marlon Moraes but impressing many with his incredible heart. He now meets Andrew “The Golden Boy” Yates, who suffered the first professional loss of his career in a technical submission loss to Chad Robichaux at World Series of Fighting 6.

Justin “Guitar Hero” Jaynes is an Xtreme Couture fighter who makes his World Series of Fighting debut against Robert Drysdale protege Jimmy Spicuzza, who picked up an impressive submission win over Gil Guardado at World Series of Fighting 9.

In the first fight of the evening, Utah’s Tanner Cowan and Nevada’s A.J. Williams will each make their professional debut.

About “World Series of Fighting” (WSOF)

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a world wide premier profesional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

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.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

LAS VEGAS, NV (May 20, 2014) — Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, is pleased to announce that Top Rank has signed an agreement with Manny Pacquiao and MP Promotions extending their promotional agreement through December 31, 2016.

“We are pleased that together with our partners at HBO we will continue presenting to the public fights of the great Manny Pacquiao through the end of 2016,” Arum said.

“The partnership among Manny, Top Rank, MP Promotions and HBO has been a wonderful one for all parties and for the public and it’s great that is will continue for the years to come,” Arum said.

LONDON (May 20) – BoxNation has added three more thrilling shows to its stacked summer calendar including two world title main events headlined by champions Terence Crawford and Guillermo Rigondeaux, plus the exciting York Hall bill led by rising star Frank Buglioni.

It will be Ricky Burns’ conqueror Crawford who will be out first on June 28th when he makes the first defence of his WBO lightweight title against the feared Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

The unbeaten Gamboa has long been regarded as one of boxing’s next stars having enjoyed a glittering amateur career that culminated in him claiming Olympic gold at the 2004 Athens Games.

Having been out of action for over a year by the time he enters the ring on June 28th, he will have his work cut out against the skilled Crawford who has the talent to reach the very pinnacle of the sport and is unbeaten in his 23 fights.

‘The Channel of Champions’ will also bring viewers a domestic fight feast when rising star Frank Buglioni looks to prove his shock loss in his last bout was only a minor setback as he takes on the wily Sam Couzens at the York Hall on July 16th.

Two unbeaten contenders in Mitchell Smith and Peter Cope are also set to go at it as they compete for the vacant English super-featherweight title in what is set to be an all-action affair, with welterweight prospect Bradley Skeete also featuring on the night.

Then, on July 19th one of the world’s very best will be looking to showcase his box of tricks with Cuban ace Rigondeaux putting his WBA Super and WBO super-bantamweight titles on the line against knockout artist Jonathan Guzman.

Taking place at the Cotai Arena in Macao, China, the Dominican Republic’s Guzman will look to capture his first world titles by continuing his fearsome undefeated record which has seen him knockout 16 opponents in his 16 wins.

British and Irish interest will be high in the fight as Belfast’s Carl Frampton and Bury’s Scott Quigg eye a future clash with the 122 pound division’s top dog in Rigondeaux.

The exhilarating additions to the BoxNation calendar follows hot on the heels of the news that the channel will be broadcasting the megafight between WBC middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez and superstar Miguel Cotto live and exclusive on June 7th.

Further good news for BoxNation viewers is that the channel will be the only place to see the award-winning 24/7 series previewing the build up to Martinez-Cotto at Madison Square Garden in New York, with episode one set to premiere on Tuesday the 3rd of June at 7pm.

BoxNation will also be the only place to see this summer’s eagerly anticipated heavyweight world title eliminator between kingpins Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora on July 26th.

To subscribe to BoxNation (Sky 437/490HD & Virgin 546) for only £12 a month (plus a one-off registration fee) please visit www.boxnation.com.

-Ends-

About BoxNation
BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated subscription boxing channel. For £12* a month and no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.

BoxNation is proud to support Fight for Peace, a charity that uses boxing and martial arts combined with education and personal development to realise the potential of young people in communities that suffer from crime and violence. Buy LUTA (www.luta.co.uk) clothing and support Fight for Peace.

Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Khan vs Diaz and Mayweather vs Alvarez.

The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Virgin (Ch.546), online at Livesport.tv and via iPhone, iPad or Android. BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.

BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.

For more information visit www.boxnation.com

*Plus £8 one off registration fee for Sky TV and new Livesport.tv customers.

Las Vegas, Nevada –The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization can reveal the English-language version of The Ultimate Fighter® Latin America will screen exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS® for US subscribers.

Filming is already underway in Las Vegas, with UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez leading a Mexican team against No.1 contender Fabricio Werdum’s squad of fighters from across Latin American. The season is scheduled to premiere on UFC FIGHT PASS®, the UFC’s digital subscription service, in August with new episodes uploaded weekly.

“I’ve been waiting 15 years for this,” said UFC President Dana White. “Passion for fighting is unrivaled in Latin America. It’s part of their history and their culture. There’s a lot of potential in this season’s cast and I know they’re going to bring it every fight. Adding a little extra rivalry – pitting Mexico versus the rest of Latin America – doesn’t hurt either.”

Fans from the following countries will be able to catch the season on their respective free to air networks: Argentina: CN5, Bolivia: Red Uno, Mexico: Channel.5, Nicaragua: Channel 13, Panama: NexTV, Paraguay: Telefuturo and Uruguay: Channel 10. The season will premiere on these Networks the week of August 18, though dates and weekly episodes will vary per country. Viewers should check their local listings for further information.

More networks will be confirmed prior to the series premiere and, additionally, subscribers to the UFC Network in Latin America will also get the chance to catch replays and watch exclusive content.

In the first Latin American edition of the series, the 27th edition overall, the eight bantamweight (135 lbs) and eight featherweight (155 lbs) fighters have been divided into two teams – Team Mexico, coached by Velasquez – and Team Latin America, coached by Werdum. Over the course of 12 weeks, they will face off in the most challenging sports tournament on television and compete for a six-figure contract with the UFC®.

The coaches will then face off in the famed UFC Octagon® for the heavyweight championship of the world on Saturday, November 15 at UFC® 180: VELASQUEZ vs. WERDUM at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City.

The list of finalists was trimmed from more than 600 applicants, with the final fighters hailing from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. The competitors are listed by weightclass and alphabetical order (Name, professional MMA record, age, hometown):

TEAM VELASQUEZ
TEAM WERDUM
Bantamweight
Bantamweight
Marco Beltran (5-2), 27, Morelia, Mexico
Guido Cannetti (5-1), 34, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Henry Briones (13-4), 33, Tijuana, Mexico
Fredy Serrano (1-0), 34, Bogota, Colombia
Alejandro Dominguez (22-6), Tlatenango, Mexico
Bentley Syler (5-0), 31, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Jose Quinonez (10-1), 23, Tlatenango, Mexico
Marlon Vera (5-1), 22, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Featherweight
Featherweight
Gabriel Benitez (16-4), 25, Tijuana, Mexico
Humberto Brown (4-4), 29, Panama City, Panama
Masio Fullen (6-4), 27, Guadalajara, Mexico
Leonardo Morales (4-0), 21, Managua, Nicaragua
Yair Rodriguez (2-1), 22, Parral, Mexico
Diego Rivas (5-0), 22, Temuco, Chile
Rodolfo Rubio (12-6), 27, DF, Mexico
Alex Torres (1-1), 25, Bogota, Colombia

Front row (left to right): Quinonez, Rubio, Briones, Dominguez, Velasquez, Werdum, Serrano, Cannetti, Syler and Rivas.
Back row (left to right): Benitez, Beltran, Fullen, Rodriguez, Brown, Morales, Torres and Vera.

The Ultimate Fighter® has launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters and produced UFC champions such as Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Matt Serra and season winners including Michael Bisping, Ryan Bader and Nate Diaz. Mexico-born Efrain Escudero captured the season eight lightweight title, while Mexican-American Diego Sanchez was the first ever winner of the franchise, defeating Kenny Florian, a fighter of Peruvian descent, at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale in 2005. Other Mexican Americans to follow in his stead include, Tony Ferguson, season 13 winner, Kelvin Gastelum, winner of season 17 and the first ever female winner of the series, Juliana Pena, winner of season 18.

For more show information, bios, videos and photos, visit UFCFIGHTPASS.com and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @UFC_FightPass or on Facebook.com/TUF.

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About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Beijing, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries to 800+ million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT® (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and on Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO (May 20, 2014) – It will be a festive night in Puerto Rico on Thursday, June 19 when FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes’ Golden Boy Live! returns to Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon with a thrilling slate of world-class boxing action headlined by a 12 round IBF Flyweight Title elimination bout between Fajardo, Puerto Rico rising star McWilliams Arroyo and unbeaten Digos City, Davao del Sur, Philippines’ Froilan “The Sniper” Saludar. Plus, in the 10-round super bantamweight co-main event, another Puerto Rico favorite, Cesar Seda of Juana Diaz, will face an opponent to be determined.

Arroyo vs. Saludar, a 12-round IBF Flyweight Title elimination bout, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and PR Best Boxing and sponsored by Corona and O’Reilly Auto Parts. The FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes broadcast airs live at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets priced at $15 and $30 plus applicable taxes and service charges are on sale now at www.tcpr.com or by calling (787) 792-5000.

A boxer since the age of 12, 28-year-old McWilliams Arroyo (14-1, 12 KOs) compiled one of the most impressive amateur boxing resumes Puerto Rico has ever seen, representing the island in the 2008 Olympic Games (along with his twin brother McJoe who fought on the last Golden Boy Live! card in Puerto Rico) and winning a 2009 world title. Arroyo became a professional in 2010, defeating standouts like Lorenzo Trejo and Luis Maldonado and earning the WBO Latino Title. In his most recent bout, Arroyo knocked out Miguel Tamayo in four rounds.

Froilan “The Sniper” Saludar (19-0-1, 12 KOs) a 25-year-old highly decorated boxer from Digos, The Philippines who turned pro in 2009 and compiled an undefeated record while winning several regional titles. On June 19, he’ll be fighting for the first time outside of the Philippines and he’s eager to show fight fans in Puerto Rico why he’s nicknamed “The Sniper.”

Back in action for the first time since his courageous 12-round showdown with Two-Division World Champion Leo Santa Cruz last December, Puerto Rican slick southpaw Cesar Seda (25-2, 17 KOs) is looking forward to returning to the ring and kicking off a new winning streak like the five-fight stretch of excellence that earned him his shot against Santa Cruz. With the added incentive of fighting at home in Puerto Rico for the first time since 2012, the 28-year-old Seda will be fired up to deliver another impressive performance for boxing fans.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.prbestboxing.net, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, follow the conversation using #GoldenBoyLive, become a fan on Facebook at Golden Boy Facebook Page or www.facebook.com/PRBestBoxing and visit us on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing. For more information on FOX Sports 1 visit www.FOXSports.com/FOXSports1 and become a follower on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@FOXSports @FOXSports1 and @FOXSportsPR.

Uruguayan-born, Las Vegas-based promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, President of Sampson Boxing LLC, proudly announces the signing of exciting junior middleweight KO artist Jorge “Demonio” Cota to a co-promotional agreement, along with Kochul Promotions.

A free-swinging slugger with extremely heavy hands, Cota hails from Los Mochis, Mexico, and boasts an outstanding record of 22 wins (21 KOs) with only one defeat.

The 26-year-old is trained by the Montiel Family at their world-class Kochul Gym with superstar stablemates that include three-time world champion Fernando “Kochulito” Montiel, two-time world champion Hugo “El Increíble” Cázares and five-time world champion Jorge “El Travieso” Arce.

Cota has already notched a stoppage victory over former world champion Luis Ramon Campas in eight rounds. His only career loss came against current WBC Middleweight Champion Marco Rubio in just his twelfth fight.

“I am very excited to be given this opportunity,” said Cota. “Sampson is the promoter who can bring me the international fights that showcase my talent and punching power. I will make him and my original promoters, Kochul, very proud with my training and performances.”

Lewkowicz, the man credited with bringing boxing superstar “Maravilla” Martinez to the world as a then-unknown 154-lb fighter, says Cota has the style and ability and to become a star in boxing.

“Jorge Cota is the kind of puncher who fears no one,” said Lewkowicz. “He believes in his power and will stand and trade with anyone. He makes for terrific fights every time because he is only interested in landing his bombs, which he does from every angle. Even in his loss, he was able to shake Rubio several times and it was a terrific war. I am looking forward to a strong run at the world championships with Jorge and his wonderful team at Kochul Promotions and the Montiel family.”

ABOUT SAMPSON BOXING

After a very successful run as a matchmaker and adviser, Sampson Lewkowicz switched over to the promotional side of professional boxing in January 2008.

Sampson Boxing has grown into one of the world’s most prestigious promotional firms, representing many of the world’s best fighters and most promising young contenders.

Sampson Boxing has promotional partners all over North and South America, Africa, Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Central America and Sampson Boxing events have been televised on such premiere networks as HBO, Showtime, ESPN, VS. and several international networks.

BROOKLYN (MAY 20, 2014)– On Thursday night in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, cruiserweights Steve Bujaj and Junior Wright engaged in a ten-round battle on a Star of David Promotions card which many in attendance regard as a legitimate Fight of the Year candidate.

Promoter Dmitriy Salita and the fans and media at the Millennium Theatre waited with anticipation as the scorecards were tabulated after the back and forth rumble between the New Yorker Bujaj and the Chicago-based Wright, with the WBC International Cruiserweight title up for grabs.

Wright and Bujaj
The judges called it a split draw, but more importantly for the fight fans who were there live, and the ones which will see highlights on a television presentation–details to come!– of the eight-bout card, it was a classic scrap.

Neither man deserved to be tagged with their first loss, promoter Salita said afterwards.

“Both Junior Wright and Steve Bujaj are champions,” Salita stated. “The fight lived up to expectations and more. Both guys showed world class skill and world class heart. They fought their heart out for the fans and for an opportunity to be recognized as among the best in the world… and now they are. These two cruiserweights are for sure the best in their weight in the US and in the mix with best cruisers in the world.”

One man who saw the battle up close at the venue was manager Ivan Edwards, who made the 2011 Fight of the Year, a draw between his boxer, Pawel Wolak, and Delvin Rodriguez.

“I was ringside for both fights,” Edwards said. “Bujaj versus Wright was much better. They went to war, both hurt each other. Two true warriors. Neither cared if they lived or died. This sort of fight is what fans want to see.”

Michael Woods, the editor of TheSweetScience.com, who called the feature, along with analyst Nirmal Lorick, took to Twitter post-fight, and opined that a rematch should land on ESPN, or perhaps “ShoBox.”

“The volume was incredible, the swings in momentum between Bujaj and Wright were intense, and each man had their fair share of moments,” Woods said. “Absolutely, a rematch makes infinite sense, and I can state with certainty that these two boxers deserve an even larger audience next time.”

Bujaj (12-0-1), who shrugged off a fractured jaw in round four, said he’d welcome another crack at Wright (10-0-1). He had surgery to repair the jaw days after the bout, but is keen to meet Wright again, for revenge. “I would love a rematch if TV buys it,” he said. “I’d do better next time, because I’d have a real mouthpiece made for me, and I won’t have to fight with a broken jaw.”

Salita and Miller
Several other fighters also stood out on the superb card. Heavyweight Jarrell Miller was mobbed after his TKO2 win over Joshua Harris, and many in the crowd were buzzing about the 9-0 hitter, wondering if he can bring some heavyweight buzz back to NYC, in the manner of Riddick Bowe, a fellow Brooklyner.

Steven Martinez lands on Fernandez

Steve Martinez (15-1), a junior middleweight slugger, scored a TKO5 win over Antonio Chaves Fernandez, turning in another one of his fan-friendly performances. Martinez is a power puncher who looks to hurt his foe with every shot, and Salita is looking to insert him in a title fight in the not too distant future.

Dimash Niyazov

Classy prospect Dimash Niyazov, from Kazakhstan, and living in Staten Island, NY, rose to 6-0, with a UD4 over Jose Del Valle. Salita is high on Niyazov’s longterm prospects.

Salita is already planning his next action-filled card. Log on to dsalita.com regularly for updates on the next Brooklyn Brawl!

BOLTON (May 19) – Rising star Haroon Khan will be back in action on June 7th when he faces 24-year-old Kyle King at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.

The super-flyweight ace will fight for the first time in his hometown since turning professional in April last year, when he features in a six-round contest on the stacked VIP Boxing Promotions bill put together by promoter Steve Wood.

The 23-year-old has made an emphatic start to life in the paid ranks having blasted his way past all four opponents including a stunning stoppage of Vincente Medellin in Atlantic City on his US debut.

Looking to go from strength-to-strength following his decisive points win over Francis Croes in February, the 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist can’t wait to get back in action when he takes on the tricky King who has won four of his seven fights.

“Since the last time I fought I’ve been itching to get back in the ring,” said Haroon. “I’ve been ticking over in the gym and had some great sparring that’s really been of huge benefit to me. I think in this fight I’ll show how much I’m progressing under Oliver Harrison and all his team. We’re building something, and on June 7th I aim to show all the hardwork we as a team have been putting in. I can’t wait to fight at the Reebok Stadium and I’m determined to get another win under my belt to continue my progression to what I believe will one day be the very top.”

Older brother, welterweight superstar Amir Khan, who is coming off an excellent victory over Luis Collazo earlier this month, is also set to be in attendance as he overlooks the career of his younger sibling.

“I’ve been spending some time with Haroon and watching him train, giving him tips and helping out where I can,” said Amir. “It’s noticeable to me the progress he has made since I last saw him fight. He’s been putting in the hours in the gym and he’s developing a really exciting, fan-friendly style that I’m sure he will once again show on June 7th at the Reebok Stadium. I remember when I fought at the Reebok Stadium against Mario Kindelan and it was really special for me, I’m sure it will be much the same for Haroon fighting on home turf. We’re expecting some big things from Haroon and I know he has all the tools to deliver.”

Tickets for Haroon Khan’s fight on June 7th are priced at £30 and £70 ringside. To buy, call Saj Mohamed at Khan Promotions on 01204 535 332 or email saj@premuk.com.

Team Sauerland are proud to announce the signing of George Groves (19-1, 15 KOs). The 26 year-old super middleweight star has put pen to paper and signed a long term promotional contract with Europe’s leading boxing promoter ahead of his Wembley Stadium mega-fight with Carl Froch for the WBA and IBF World Super Middleweight Titles.

‘’I am extremely pleased to have signed with Team Sauerland,’’ said Groves. ‘’I have boxed on their shows in the past and have known Kalle and Nisse (Sauerland) for years. The shows they put on in Europe are phenomenal. This is definitely a step in the right direction for me as I look to build my name not only across Europe but all around the world. I feel that now I have the right team in place to help me achieve everything I need to in boxing.’’

Said promoter Kalle Sauerland: ‘’We are proud to have won the race for George’s signature and look forward to guiding one of the most exciting talents on the planet. We are sure that George will write boxing history and delighted that we will be a part of the journey on a personal and business level.’’

Groves joins Team Sauerland’s stable of champions which includes former five-time world champion Mikkel Kessler, WBO Super Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham, WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck, IBF Cruiserweight Champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez, WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Juergen Braehmer and British heavyweight star David Price.

Pound for pound king, Floyd Mayweather will return to the ring on September 13 according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Floyd will go on Sept. 13 and we looking at who he’s going to fight and where he is going to fight,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe. “Obviously, Las Vegas is his home and the MGM Grand is always the leading candidate but we will take a look at our other options.”

“[Barclays Center chief executive] Brett [Yormark] and those guys at the Barclays Center made a tremendous offer for the Maidana fight and I’m sure they’ll be looking to be in the Floyd Mayweather business again come September, but the MGM is Floyd’s home and they are always the leading candidate,” Ellerbe said.

“We’re looking at opponents now,” he said. “In the next two weeks we’ll have that part figured out.”

There was a lot of postfight discussion about a Mayweather-Maidana rematch because of how competitive and entertaining the fight was. Mayweather said immediately afterward that he would consider fighting the Argentine brawler again and Maidana, of course, said he would like another crack at him.

“He’s definitely in the mix,” Ellerbe said. “He’s a very dirty fighter. He used a lot of dirty tactics, but Floyd handled him easily and he gave the fans a great fight. But there’s a long list of opponents. Everybody wants to be in the Floyd Mayweather sweepstakes. Several guys have made it clear they want to be next.”

“If Amir Khan wants to flight Floyd Mayweather, we’re going to fight on Sept. 13,” Ellerbe said.

The pay-per-view figures for Mayweather-Maidana have not been reported yet, but Ellerbe said they will be soon.

“When we have the information together to put out an accurate number we will do so,” he said.

Various industry sources have said the fight did not reach 1 million buys and some say it sold considerably less. Ellerbe said he does not know what the fight generated yet.

“We’re still going through our accounting. In this day and age accounting takes a little longer because the pay-per-view universe is different than it was just a few years ago,” he said. “In order to get an accurate number it takes a little longer. When we put out the number we want to put out the right number.”

Verona, NY (May 19, 2014)–This Friday Night, The finals of the popular Boxcino 2014 lightweight and middleweight tournaments will be held at the Turning Stone Resort Casino.

The fights will be broadcast live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes & WatchESPN at 9 PM ET.

After 3 months of great action, 4 men will battle for 2 belts to be called 2014 Boxcino Champion.

In the lightweight finals, Petr Petrov (34-4-2, 16 KO’s) of Madrid, Spain via Russia will take on Fernando Carcamo (17-5, 13 KO’s) of Ciudad, Mexico.

In the middleweight championship, undefeated Brandon Adams (14-0, 9 KO’s) of Los Angeles, CA will take on Willie Monroe Jr. (17-1, 6 KO’s) of Rochester, NY.

Petrov reached the finals with a 6-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Fedor Papazov and a 4th-round stoppage of Chris Rudd.

Carcamo reached this point with a 2nd-round stoppage over previously undefeated Samuel Neequaye as well as a 8-round split decision over Miguel Gonzalez.

Adams and Monroe will be in familiar surroundings as they each won their semifinal bouts at the Turning Stone Casino Resort on April 18.

Adams scored a 4th-round stoppage over Daniel Edouard and then followed that up with his semifinal split decision win over Raymond Gatica on April 18.

Monroe went into the hometown of Donatas Bondorovas and took home a split decision. In his semifinal bout, he boxed his way to a 8-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Vitalii Kopylenko.

“This has been a great tournament and these four guys have a tremendous opportunity on May 23,” said Banner Promotions president Artie Pelullo.

“I want to thank ESPN for getting behind Boxcino and I know they have been happy with the fights so far. These are two excellent match ups for the finals and we are excited to crown 2 champions.”

(San Diego, CA) – The tag Fight of the Year gets thrown around pretty liberally in the sport of boxing. With thousands of fights each year, most of them not shown on any network or even on YouTube, it has always been very difficult to narrow it down to truly find the best fight of a particular twelve-month period. Most of the time Fight of the Year honors goes to the most action-packed twelve rounds broadcast on either HBO or Showtime.

In the final Bobby D. Presents fight card for 2013 held last October at the Crowne Plaza Hotel headlined by Vista, California featherweight Aaron Garcia’s technical knockout of the tough Kevin Hoskins of Los Angeles, the sold-out crowd present witnessed the best fight in San Diego. The four-round war was waged by San Diego’s “Smoking” Joe Perez (4-0-1, 3KOs) and Victor Capaceta (3-6-3, 2KOs) of Tijuana in the featherweight division.

In the opening bout of the night Perez and Capaceta went at it, each scoring with their full arsenal of punches to home with a justly scored draw that brought the crowd to their feet.

New York, NY (5/19/14) – “Yuri Foreman has been training hard for his fight on June 7th against Jorge Melendez. At this moment, there is a dispute within Yuri’s team that does not involve DiBella Entertainment. Yuri has worked very hard on his comeback to get to an opportunity like this. Lou DiBella and DBE have a great working and personal relationship with Yuri. We are awaiting a phone call and hope to see him fight on June 7th at MSG. This will be resolved very shortly.”

Las Vegas (MAY 19TH, 2014) – Rival Boxing Gear & CEO Russ Anber has confirmed that they will appear and have a Booth Area at the inaugural Box Fan Expo this September at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Rival Boxing Gear is a leading, international, high-quality brand name offering stylish and innovative products developed specifically for Boxing market. Many world champions and contenders are wearing the improved Rival Guerrero Pro Fight glove. Some of the best fighters in world have said that it’s “the best glove I’ve ever put on”. World champion Jean Pascal, World ranked contenders like Edwin Rodriguez, power punching Keith Thurman, and World Champions like Leo Santa Cruz and Yuriorkis Gamboa have trusted their hands to the new Rival Guerrero Pro Fight glove. Recognized by all as a “Punchers Glove” this piece of equipment continues to be the “Crown Jewel” in their line.

What is becoming recognized as THE leader in the industry is Rival’s custom made boxing apparel. From Sergio Martinez to 4 round beginners, Rival apparel has captured the eye and imagination of the whole boxing world.

“I am so excited that Rival will be on hand and have a presence at the upcoming Box Fan Expo. We are so proud to be part of this inaugural event and I look forward to meeting everyone from our industry at this event. Whether you’re a fan or industry professional, it’s going to be so much fun for all us to meet and talk about the sport we all love so much.”

Every year, one of the biggest boxing weekends of the year is Mexican Independence Day. In 2014, that weekend has just got bigger, better and more fan accessible with the announcement of the FIRST-EVER BOX FAN EXPO.

Box Fan Expo will take place on Saturday, September 13th, 2014 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and will run from 10am to 6pm.

To Purchase tickets click: http://www.BoxFanExpo.eventbrite.com

Box Fan Expo is the ultimate fan experience that was created to promote the entire boxing industry and to allow fans to celebrate, Meet and Greet their favorite boxers and boxing celebrities. The event will feature boxing legends, today’s superstars, Hall of Famers, future prospects and the stars of today all under one roof.

The event will also feature major promoters, ring card girls, sanctioning organizations as well as trainers, referees, commentators and announcers. Anyone that directly or indirectly represents the sport of boxing will have a chance to showcase themselves to the boxing fans and whole industry. Also in attendance will be exhibitors, sponsors, television broadcasters and media.

Box Fan Expo will also feature different activities such as autograph sessions, photo ops, weigh in, face off with your favorite fighters and buy merchandise.

Throughout the next several months, there will be weekly updates on the many stars that have already committed their appearance at the Box Fan Expo.

For anyone in the industry who would like to be involved and reserve a booth, contact

Box Fan Expo at:

U.S.A Telephone Number: (702) 997-2099 or (514) 572-7222

Email info@boxfanexpo.com

For more info go to:www.boxfanexpo.com

Follow Box Fan Expo on twitter: https://www.twitter.com/BoxFanExpo

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoxFanExpo

PLEASE NOTE : see link at bottom of page for our Press Media kit.

Box Fan Expo is committed to helping the Retired Boxers Foundation which is a nonprofit organization that helps improve the quality of life for retired fighters. This is a fantastic opportunity for sponsors, retailers and anybody involved in the boxing industry to get involved and be a part of this once in a lifetime event and help out this great cause.. Box Fan Expo is proud to announce that part of the proceeds from the event will help the Retired Boxers Foundation

HAYWARD CA, (May 19, 2014) – Gary Shaw Productions and Antonio Leonard Promotions undefeated Super-Middleweight contender, Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales (18-0-1, 12 KOs) ranked IBF # 3, is in beast mode for his upcoming showdown with IBF # 4 James DeGale (18-1, 12 KOs) for the IBF mandatory position. The 12-round bout is set to take place at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom on May 31, 2014, on the undercard of Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KOs) vs. George Groves (19-1, 15 KOs).

Gonzales on the current status of his career…
“My promoters Gary Shaw and Antonio Leonard, along with my manager James Prince are doing a great job with my career. I’m in a big fight and I can’t ask for anything more. Now it’s up to me to bring home the victory. I’m very happy with the current standing of my career.”

Gonzales on training with Virgil Hunter…
“Virgil and I got a great game plan for this fight. We see some weaknesses in Degale’s defense that I’ll be taking advantage of. Sparring is almost wrapped up and I got good work with elite level guys. I’ve been training extremely hard for this fight. My mind is in beast mode and I can’t wait to get in the ring.

Gonzales speaks on traveling overseas to fight in hostile territory…
“I know my back is against the wall traveling to DeGale’s home turf and getting a decision will be difficult, but I’m confident that the judges will be fair. With 80,000 people rooting against me, I’m going to be extra motivated to silence the crowd. I’ll be looking to end the fight early but if I need to go all the way then I’m prepared to go the distance. ”

Gonzales comments on his match up with James DeGale…
“I’m anticipating a very strategic approach from DeGale but that won’t matter because I’m going to be dictating the pace and setting the tone. He’s accomplished winning an Olympic Gold Medal so we know he has great boxing skills that got him to this point in the pros. So with that being said, I’ll have to implement my game plan and make adjustments as the fight goes on.”

Gonzales addresses his hunger to be a world champion…
“This is the biggest fight of my career. A win puts me in the mandatory position with the IBF. I know if I come out on top, I’ll most likely be fighting the winner of Froch vs. Groves for the IBF Middleweight title. I’m a hungry fighter and nothing is going to stop me, I’m on a mission to be the best. My dream of becoming a world champion is so close I can taste it.”

NEW YORK (May 19, 2014) – Talented junior middleweight Julian “J-Rock” Williams (15-0-1, 9 KOs), of Philadelphia, and world-ranked light heavyweight Eleider Alvarez (14-0, 8 KOs), of Montreal by way of Colombia, will put their unbeaten records on the line in 10-round junior middleweight and light heavyweight bouts against Michael Medina (26-4-2, 19 KOs), of Modesto, Calif., and Alexander Johnson (15-1, 6 KOs), of Washington, D.C., respectively, live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® (7 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) on Saturday, May 24, from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Both fights will air prior to a SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING tripleheader from the Bell Centre live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT) that is headlined by the network debut of hard-hitting Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (23-1, 20 KOs), of Montreal, the 2013 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year who defends his WBC light heavyweight championship against third-ranked contender Andrzej “The Polish Prince” Fonfara (25-2, 15 KOs), of Chicago.

In two 10-round fights on SHOWTIME, power-punching, world-ranked Montreal middleweight David Lemieux (31-2, 29 KOs) meets Fernando Guerrero (26-2, 19 KOs) of Salisbury, Md., and Houston’s unbeaten rising star Jermell Charlo (23-0, 11 KOs) takes on Japan’s Charlie Ota (24-1-1, 16 KOs) in a junior middleweight match.

Williams, 24, turned pro in May 2010. He’s won three in a row since his bout last Sept. 13 with Hugo Centeno ended in a fourth-round no-contest after an accidental head butt (at the time of the stoppage, Williams was leading 30-27 on the three judges’ scorecards).

In his last start this past March 17, Williams overpowered veteran Freddy Hernandez, winning by third-round knockout. Williams scored a knockdown with a right hand in the first round — the first punch of the fight, then scored another knockdown with a left hand in the third. Hernandez was counted out at 0:35.

Medina, a former NABF 154-pound champion and onetime sparring partner of boxing superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather, is 8-3 in his last 11 outings. He will be making his first start since suffering a broken right ankle in a first-round knockout loss to Willie Nelson on March 1, 2013. Medina went down twice. Each time he thought he’d twisted an ankle. Only later, after x-rays were taken, did he learn that he had fractured the ankle.

Alvarez, a top-flight amateur, represented Colombia in the 2008 Olympic Games. Since turning pro in August 2009, he has campaigned exclusively in Montreal. He’s currently world-ranked in the WBO, WBA and WBC at 175 pounds. Two outings ago, the boxer-puncher registered a career-best 10-round unanimous decision over former super middleweight contender Edison Miranda on Sept. 28, 2013. In his lone start this year, Alvarez took a 10-round decision over Andrew Gardner on Jan. 18.

Johnson, who owns a noteworthy victory over previously undefeated Philadelphia prospect Farah Ennis, will be making his 2014 debut. A natural right-hander who fights southpaw, Johnson is a solid boxer with good skills and movement. He’s won three in a row since suffering his only defeat on a six-round decision to Luis Garcia on Dec. 30, 2011, on ShoBox: The New Generation. He won his most recent outing on a six-round decision over De Leon Tinsley on Dec. 14, 2013.

Brian Kenny will host the SHOWTIME EXTREME telecast, with Brian Custer calling the action and Steve Farhood serving as ringside analyst. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is hosted by Kenny with Mauro Ranallo calling the action, Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and former world champion-turned analyst Paulie Malignaggi serving from ringside and Jim Gray reporting. For SAP, Alejandro Luna will call the blow-by-blow with former world champion Raul Marquez serving as color commentator. The executive producer is David Dinkins Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.