Daniel Jacobs will face undefeated Polish dangerman Maciej Sulecki at Barclay Center, Brooklyn on April 28 on a huge night of action live on HBO and Sky Sports, as Katie Taylor aims to unify the Lightweight division against Victoria Bustos and Jarrell Miller and Johann Duhaupas clash in an eliminator for the WBA World Heavyweight title.

Jacobs is back in action at the scene of his biggest career victory, a stunning first round knockout of Brooklyn rival Peter Quillin in December 2015. Known as the “Miracle Man”, for his miraculous recovery from cancer in 2012, Jacobs is returning to battle following a dominant 12-round unanimous decision over then undefeated Luis Arias in November at NYCB Live, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Challenging for Middleweight supremacy in March 2017, Jacobs lost a very hotly contested and controversial 12-round decision to Gennady Golovkin in New York City, the first distance fight for Golovkin in nine years.

Jacobs is currently world ranked #2 by the WBA and #3 by the WBC, IBF and WBO in addition to being ranked #3 by ESPN.com. This will be his fifth time fighting in his hometown venue, Barclays Center and his second fight under new promoter Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing USA.

“I’m very excited to be back in the Barclays Center, it always feels like home fighting there,” said Jacobs. “I want to thank Eddie Hearn, HBO and Brett Yormark for making it possible.”

“I’m looking forward to fight Sulecki on April 28, he’s an undefeated guy that I know will be looking to make a name for himself by beating me. I’m looking to have a great training camp and get myself focused to really put on a show for the Brooklyn fans come April 28.”

A native of Warsaw, Poland, now living in Florida, Sulecki capped a very successful 2017 with a ten round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Jack Culcay in October at the Prudential Center in Newark. Over the course of his eight years as a professional, Sulecki has compiled wins against notables including Hugo Centano Jr., Grzegorz Proksa, Darryl Cunningham and Damian Ezequiel Bonelli. Sulecki is ranked #6 in the world by the WBO.

“This is an excellent opportunity for me to fight one of the very best Middleweights in the world,” said Sulecki. “I’ll be very well prepared to stay undefeated and defeat Jacobs in front of the Polish boxing fans at Barclays Center as I continue my march to become a world champion.”

Heavy-handed Miller scored two dominant stoppages in 2017. Fighting for the first time at Barclays Center in July 2017, Miller stopped former world title challenger Gerald Washington at the end of eight rounds.

Following that up most recently, Miller stopped former world title challenger Mariusz Wach in the ninth round in November 2017 at Nassau Coliseum.

Duhaupus stormed through 2017 with three dominant wins including an eighth-round stoppage of Newfei Quatah in December in Levallois-Perret, France.

Among the top names Duhaupus has battled over his thirteen-year professional career are WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder, Alexander Povetkin, Robert Helenius, Manuel Charr and Erkan Teper. Miller is currently world ranked #3 by the WBO, IBF and WBA while Duhaupus is world ranked #7 by the WBC.

“Nothing makes me more gratified and blessed to do what I love best and that’s to get back in the ring and continue to solidify my place as the next Heavyweight Champion of the world,” said Miller.

“This fight on April 28 is just the next step to being recognized as the best in the world and a training ground for Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Thank you HBO, Eddie Hearn and Dmitry Salita for this amazing opportunity. Big Baby Miller and Big Baby Promotions is here.”

“A top Heavyweight does not have to be heavy or light, fat or slim – a Heavyweight just needs to be strong,” said Duhaupas. “I will show on April 28 that I am strong enough to beat Jarrell Miller.”

Taylor puts her title on the line for the second time after the Irish star landed the title in Cardiff in October in Cardiff against Anahi Sanchez and successfully defended it against Chicago’s Jessica McCaskill in London in December.

Long-reigning IBF champion Bustos is in her sixth defence of the IBF strap she won back in September 2013, all in her native Argentina, and the 29 year old has also fought for the WBC Super-Lightweight strap in her impressive career at the top level.

Taylor is gunning to end Bustos’ run as champion in style on her return to Brooklyn where she boxed in July 2017, launching her bid to collect all the Lightweight titles in 2018.

“Becoming unified champion is very important to me,” said Taylor. “Last year was great but I’m not really one for looking back and it’s all about the next challenge. I believe that winning my first world title as a pro is just the start of it, I want to fight all the other champions and unify the Lightweight division.

“Bustos is one of the longest reigning champions in women’s boxing so I’m expecting a very tough fight. I’ve been back in training camp in Connecticut since the beginning of the month so the hard work has started and I’m excited to have the chance to win another World title.

“I got a great reception when I fought there last year so I’m really looking forward to boxing there again. It’s a unification fight and the Barclays Center is a fitting venue for a big fight like that.”

Additionally, fighting in separate 10-round bouts, former Heavyweight world title challenger ARTUR ‘The Pin’ SZPILKA, (20-3-0, 15 KO’s), of Wieliczka, Poland, returns along with emerging, unbeaten knockout artist SHOHJAHON ERGASHEV, (11-0-0, 11 KO’s), a native of Uzbekistan, now fighting out of Brooklyn, New York, against opponents to be announced.

“I’m delighted to stage our first show at Barclays Center – it’s a huge night of World Championship Boxing,” said Eddie Hearn, President of Matchroom Boxing. “Daniel Jacobs faces a tough test against Maciej Sulecki and I believe victory will lead him to the winner of ‘GGG’ and Canelo the following week. That’s what Daniel wants, that’s what HBO wants and it’s what the fans should demand.

“There is also a brilliant heavyweight match up between Brooklyn’s own Jarrell Miller and France’s Johan Duhuapas who we saw go 11 exciting rounds with Deontay Wilder stateside – the winner will progress to a shot at the Heavyweight World title.

“Also, the biggest star in women’s boxing, WBA Lightweight Champion Katie Taylor goes for unification glory against IBF Lightweight Champion Victoria Bustos and Polish Heavyweight contender Artur Szpilka will bring his Polish army of fans along for his return. Additionally, unbeaten knockout artist Shohjahon Ergashev is also in action following his impressive victory in January. There is plenty more to be added, this is going to be a stacked night of boxing from start to finish.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

#JacobsSulecki

Twitter

@DanielJacobsTKO

@BigBabyMiller

@KatieTaylor

@MatchroomBoxing

@EddieHearn

@HBOboxing

@BarclaysCenter

@BrooklynBoxing

Tampa, FL (February 18, 2018) – Lightweight contender William “Baby Face” Silva returns to the ring Saturday, March 3 to face rugged Rogelio Casarez at Banquet Master in Clearwater, FL.

The eight-bout card is promoted by Fire Fist Boxing Promotions. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com and tables can be purchased by calling 813-734-2461. Fans can also watch the card live for only $9.99 at Fite.tv/watch/lightweight-battle/2mzhw/. The first bout is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Hailing from Sao Paolo, Brazil but residing in Florida, Silva has an excellent 24-1 professional record with 14 of those victories by knockout. The former WBO Latino Lightweight titlist fought highly-touted Felix Verdejo on HBO in 2016 but came up short in a gutsy performance. Silva is looking to get back into the limelight but must first pass a tough test on the 3rd.

Known by his moniker “El Loco,” Casarez has proven his willingness to fight anybody, anytime, anywhere. The Arkansas native, who is 13-6 with 5 KO’s, fought 2012 Olympian Jamel Herring, undefeated Louis Cruz and two-division world title challenger Cesar Seda. In 2016, Casarez traveled all the way to China to capture the NABF and IBU 130 pound titles by outpointing previously unbeaten Ronnakit Boontree over twelve rounds.

The Silva-Casarez showdown is slated for ten rounds and is for the NBA World and IBO Continental 135 pound titles.

Popular Tampa cruiserweight Nicholas “The Showstopper” Iannuzzi returns to the squared circle for the first time in nearly four years to face Lemarcus Tucker of Arkansas in a six rounder. Known for his larger than life Personality, Iannuzzi has a solid 18-4 record with 10 KO’s. Tucker, 5-3-1 (3 KO’s), had all nine of his professional fights during Iannuzzi’s hiatus and looks for a second consecutive victory.

Ricky “Cowboy” Tomlinson of Thonotasassa, FL meets unbeaten Ernest Hall of Baltimore, MD in a four round featherweight contest. Tomlinson, 5-3-2 (3 KO’s) is a big local draw and fought his entire career in the Sunshine State.

Middleweight prospect Antonio Tarver Jr. of Orlando, FL looks to run his record to 5-0 when he meets Dallas, TX based veteran Carlos Dixon in a four round contest. Tarver Jr. is the son of former unified champion Antonio Tarver.

“We at Fire Fist Boxing are looking forward to an explosive night of boxing with championship bouts and a great undercard,” said Promoter Jody Caliguire. “I’m looking forward to seeing all the boxing fans for another great evening filled with international and local talent.”

In other undercard bouts, Joseph Fernandez meets Thomas Amaro in a six rounder, heavyweight Jordan Sanders challenges Rodriguez Cade over four rounds, Ozodbek Aripov faces Chaklit Ali Redwood in a four round junior middleweight tilt and Rufat Huseynov battles Emilio Rivera.

For more information, go to Firefirstboxing.net or Facebook.com/Firefistboxing.

Swedish heavyweights Otto Wallin (19-0, 13 KOs) and Adrian Granat (15-1, 14 KOs) will meet in a grudge match for the European Union title on April 21 at the Gärdehov ice hockey arena in Sundsvall, Sweden.

The 26 year-old fighters have been on a collision course since joining the professional ranks in 2013, and following years of speculation, now the time has come to see who is Sweden’s number one heavyweight.

Wallin, the current WBA Continental Champion, has a record of 19 wins and 0 defeats, while Granat, a former IBF International Champion, has suffered just 1 defeat in his 16 contests, and boasts a frightening near perfect KO ratio of 88%.

Having previously exchanged barbs in the press, there is no love lost between the warring heavyweights, and as anticipation for a fight has grown so to have their hostilities which have reached boiling point ahead of this championship contest.

“I don’t like him,” says Granat, who must travel to Wallin’s hometown of Sundsvall for the fight. “Boxing is supposed to be entertainment, but he’s not entertaining. He’s not got an entertaining boxing style or personality. I think he’s dull all the way through, and I’m 100% confident I will win this fight.

“He’s got a weak mind and no punch so it’s going to be difficult for him. He’s fought lower level journeymen his whole career so it’s going to be a big step up for him to face me, and I think he’s going to notice the difference.

“For me, it doesn’t matter that the fight is in Sundsvall. I think that’s great. It’s going to be fun. I look forward to the crowd booing me in, and they’ll be booing me even more at the end when Otto is lying on the canvas!”

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this fight and finally we will see who is the best heavyweight in Sweden,” said Wallin. “I’m very confident I will win. I’m confident in my ability and in my work rate. I know when I enter the ring, I would have prepared to the best of my ability and done everything possible to win.

“Granat is a big guy with some strength, but I believe I’m the better boxer. I’ve known him for many years since we were amateurs so I know what to expect. I don’t think he’s improved and I don’t think he understands what it takes to become something in this game.

“He’s always tried to do things the easy way. He’s disrespected me and he’s disrespected his other opponents. I want to show him that’s not the way to behave. This is a gentleman’s sport, and I plan to teach him a lesson.”

“This is going to be a fantastic fight,” said Wallin’s promoter Nisse Sauerland. “It’s a fight the fans wanted and we’re very happy that we’ve been able to deliver it. On April 21, Sweden’s top two heavyweights will go toe-to-toe, and I believe the winner of this fight will go on to become a World Champion.”

Granat’s promoter Erol Ceylan adds: “I think that Adrian is well aware of his situation. He will give everything to defeat him. Wallin may have home advantage but he will need to withstand the pressure that comes with that first. I think he does not know how strong Adrian is. This is going to be a great fight. A huge heavyweight fight that will be talked about for years to come.”

Tickets for the EU Heavyweight title fight between Otto Wallin and Adrian Granat on April 21 at the Gärdehov in Sundsvall will go on sale Tuesday, February 20 at 12.00 and are available online via www.ticketmaster.se.

NEW YORK (Feb. 16, 2018) – Beginning next Friday, Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE serves up tripleheader action inside the squared circle. To open the weekend, the fan-friendly boxing and MMA streaming service partners once again with renowned promoter Jimmy Burchfield Sr. for a red-hot CES Boxing card to start the boxing year in New England. Fans from across the globe can catch all the action beginning at 8 p.m. ET live from Twin River Casino in Rhode Island on any device wherever Facebook is available.

“This is an exciting main event between two deserving championship contenders and there’s no better partner than FIGHTNIGHT LIVE to provide fight fans all around the globe a front-row seat to the action. Ray Oliveira Jr. has paid his dues though the years while other fighters in New England have had the opportunity to see their name in lights. Now he gets his shot to headline for the first time in his career while competing for his first championship,” said Burchfield, Sr.

Recently hitting the 1,000,000 views mark, Friday’s show rings the opening bell on FIGHTNIGHT LIVE’s Feb. 23-24 back-to-back-to-back Friday and Saturday shows spanning from the casinos of New England to the Boardwalk of Atlantic City.

“At this point, CES and FIGHTNIGHT LIVE are family,” said Mark Fratto, Principal of Linacre Media. “We know each other, we love working on shows with the Burchfield and CES Family and have relationships with the promoters and fighters that extend long past the bell. These are great people and great athletes and we’re excited as always to give them a platform to showcase their talent and tell their stories. What a great way to open a jam-packed weekend of Facebook fights.”

CES Boxing kicks off the 2018 Twin River Casino Fight Series on Friday, Feb. 23, with Fall River, Mass., junior middleweight Ray Oliveira Jr. (9-1, 1 KO) headlining for the first time in his career and vying for the World Boxing Union (WBU) Super Welterweight Canadian-American-Mexican (CAM) Championship in an eight-round showdown against New Haven, Conn., veteran Edwin Soto (11-2-2, 4 KOs), plus a six-round heavyweight co-feature between Sicilian Juiseppe Cusumano (13-1, 11 KOs) and battle-tested Pittsburgh, Pa., native Fred Latham (9-1-2, 5 KOs).

Over the first nine-plus months of programming, the numbers on the 12-show FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series have showed promise and potential for the new platform with an average of close to 90,000 fight fans tuning in per event and more than one-million fans served.

The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” from Resorts World Casino (225,000), the August CES “Super Saturday” from Foxwoods (203,000), the Sept. CES “Twin River Twinbill” from Lincoln, R.I. (157,000) all topped 150,000 views, and collectively the 12-show series saw a total of more than 21,000 total hours of Facebook video consumed by 1,067,435-plus users across all devices.

In addition to the raw viewership numbers, the fully-interactive, fan-friendly productions have seen more than 142,000 collective live post engagements (nearly 12,000 per show), including almost 97,000 “likes” or “loves,” more than 22,000 comments and almost 6,000 shares.

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE broadcasts are viewed by 76 percent men, 24 percent women. The top demographic is comprised of males ages 25-34, which encompasses approximately 30.0 percent of the audience, on average.

The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” set a new bar with 224,658 views and the Sept. 15-16 DiBella-CES doubleheader carried the series to three-quarters-of-a-million views in just over four months. The Feb. 10 Hard-Hitting Promotions “Philly Fight Night” show stands out individually with 3,421 live hours of content viewed, while the Sept. 15 DiBella card saw more than 40,000 viewer interactions including almost 39,000 “likes” or “loves.”

The FIGHTNIGHT LIVE page on Facebook has more than 80,000 fans and more than 82,000 followers. And Facebook itself has taken notice – the world’s No. 1 social network recently profiled FIGHTNIGHT LIVE on its “Success Stories” media blog, noting the series’ use of industry best practices for production and interactivity:
https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/success-stories/fightnight

Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has been delivered to fans absolutely free since its May 2017 launch courtesy of series corporate partners like Elite Heat Water, Montauk Iced Tea (montaukbev.com), Mr. Custom Made (mrcustommade.com) and BallWash (ballwash.com).

On Friday night, Feb. 23, live from live from Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., fans can expect a high-impact, multi-camera streaming experience complete with graphics, animations, replays, interviews and an announce team anchored by blow-by-blow announcer Michael Woods of the TalkBox Podcast, NYFights.com and The Ring and analyst Xavier Porter of BrooklynFights.com and Notorious Boxing. To provide spectators with a fully-interactive ringside experience, commentators will ask and respond to questions from the Facebook audience throughout the broadcast.

Created and produced by Linacre Media out of New York City, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series features professional announcers, multiple camera angles, television graphics, replays and behind-the-scenes access and interviews. The streamed shows are available globally wherever Facebook is available. The initiative not only enables fans from around the world to tune in, but also gives up-and-coming fighters a global platform to showcase their abilities, gives promoters an accessible “broadcast” solution and gives sponsors the ability to reach a mass audience via branded content.

More FIGHTNIGHT LIVE Winter/Spring 2018 dates will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE is available online at: https://www.facebook.com/FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE/

Follow all the action via social media at FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Facebook, @FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Instagram and@FIGHTNIGHTLIVE_ on Twitter, or by using the hashtag #FIGHTNIGHTLIVE. For the latest Linacre Media events and broadcast schedule, follow@LinacreMedia across all social platforms or use the tags #LinacreMediaEvents or #LinacreMediaOnTV.

WBC Welterweight World Title Eliminator

Danny Garcia – 146 ½ pounds

Brandon Rios – 146 ½ pounds

Referee: Kenny Bayless; Judges: Dave Moretti (Nev.), Glenn Trowbridge (Nev.), Steve Weisfeld (N.J.)

WBC Super Middleweight World Championship

David Benavidez – 167 pounds

Ronald Gavril – 167 ¼ pounds

Referee: Russell Mora; Judges: Robert Hoyle (Nev.), Glenn Feldman (Conn.), Julie Lederman (N.Y.)

IBF Welterweight World Title Eliminator

Yordenis Ugas – 147 pounds

Ray Robinson – 146 pounds

Referee: Robert Byrd; Judges: Tim Cheatham (Nev.), Dave Moretti (Nev.), Steve Morrow (Calif.)

FLASH QUOTES:

DANNY GARCIA:

“I have to go in there and prove myself, just like I do every other time. It’s the underdog on top. That’s how I go. I got that chip on my shoulder and I’m going to out there and perform and get the job done.

“I’m going to do what I want to do. It’s the Danny Garcia show. Prediction: Danny Garcia on top – I’m going to put him to sleep.”

BRANDON RIOS:

“I can win fighting my style, hell yeah. That’s how I won my world title. He’s nobody special. Everyone thinks he’s something special. He’s nobody special. I’m ready for that guy.

“When I do it right, when I’m disciplined and I’m concentrated and I’m focused, I’m an animal. I’m going to win this fight. At the end of 12 rounds, I’m winning.”

DAVID BENAVIDEZ:

“I have a game plan for you guys to see on Saturday night and I’m going to show you – I’m going to get the knockout.

“You’re going to have to tune-in to see. It’s going to be a war like I’ve been telling you all along.”

RONALD GAVRIL:

“I believe I won the first fight with the knock down. I’m ready for the rematch. I’m ready 100 percent. I’m coming to hurt him. I’m not coming to play.

“He knows me. Everyone knows me now. I only trained four weeks for the first fight. This time I had eight weeks. My prediction: the new WBC Super Middleweight Champion.”

# # #

For more information visit www.SHO.com/Sports and www.premierboxingchampions.com, follow on Twitter @SHOSports, @ShowtimeBoxing, @PremierBoxing, @MayweatherPromo, @TGBPromotions, and @MandalayBay or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ShoBoxing, www.Facebook.com/PremierBoxingChampions and www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions. Premier Boxing Champions is presented by Corona Extra, La Cerveza Mas Fina.

Los Angeles, CA (February 16, 2018) Former world champion and #1 ranked mandatory challenger JUAN FRANCISCO ‘El Gallo” ESTRADA, (36-2-0, 25 KO’s), closed his Hermosillo, Mexico training camp in style on Friday afternoon with a final sparring session in front of a huge crowd of local media and supporters. Estrada will challenge WBC Super Flyweight World Champion SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI, (43-4-1, 39 KO’s), in the 12-round headliner at the highly anticipated SUPERFLY 2 event set for Saturday, February 24, 2018 at the ‘Fabulous’ Forum and televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark® beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.

“I’m ready for The Champ, this has been a tremendous camp with great sparring, “ said Estrada who was accompanied by his trainer ALFREDO CABALLERO. “It’s great to be here in front of the media and my supporters, many of whom are coming to the fight.”

“As soon as I was offered the fight I accepted, it’s a great opportunity to become a world champion again and to honor Mexico.”

“I know how good Sor Rungvisai is from his last two fights with Roman Gonzalez, he’s very strong but I have the skills to defeat him. “

“The whole country of Mexico and boxing fans all over the world will be watching SUPERFLY 2 and I look forward to putting on a spectacular performance for them.”

Photos/Team Estrada

————————————–

SUPERFLY 2 is headlined by WBC Super Flyweight World Champion SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI, (43-4-1, 39 KO’s), of Si Sa Ket, Thailand, defending his title over 12-rounds for the second time against former world champion and #1 ranked mandatory challenger JUAN FRANCISCO “El Gallo” ESTRADA, (36-2, 25 KO’s), of Sonora, Mexico. The event will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark® beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. The bout is also being contested for the vacant RING Magazine title.

Co-featured on the HBO Boxing After Dark telecast, former WBC Super Flyweight World Champion, CARLOS ‘Principe’ CUADRAS, (36-2-1, 27 KO’s), of Mexico City, MX faces hard-hitting, two-time world title challenger MC WILLIAMS ARROYO, (16-3, 14 KO’s), of Fajardo, Puerto Rico in an outstanding ten round super flyweight clash.

Opening the telecast, the Fighting Pride of the Philippines and three-time world champion DONNIE NIETES, (40-1-4, 22 KO’s) will make the first defense of his IBF Flyweight World Title over 12-rounds against two-time world champion and mandatory challenger JUAN CARLOS REVECO, (39-3-0, 19 KO’s) from Las Heras, Argentina.

Headlining the non-televised portion of the event, four-time world champion in two divisions and #2 ranked BRIAN “The Hawaiian Punch” VILORIA, (38-5, 22 KO’s) of Los Angeles, CA via Waipahu, Hawaii will challenge undefeated and #1 ranked ARTEM DALAKIAN, (15-0, 11 KO’s), of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine in a scheduled 12-round bout for the vacant WBA Flyweight World Title.

Tickets for SUPERFLY 2, priced at $250, $150, $100, $60 and $30 are now on sale and can be purchased through Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.com, 1-800-745-3000) and the Forum Box Office. The Forum is located at 3900 W. Manchester Blvd, Inglewood CA 90305. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. on the night of the event.

SUPERFLY 2 is presented by Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions in association with Nakornluong Promotions and Zanfer Promotions. Cuadras vs. Arroyo is presented in association with Promociones del Pueblo and PR Best Boxing. Nietes vs. Reveco is presented in association with ALA Promotions. Viloria vs. Dalakian is presented in association with Teiken Promotions.

SOCIAL MEDIA

#SUPERFLY2

Twitter

@Srisaket_ssr

@GalloEstrafaOfi

@CuadrasOficial

@BrianViloria

@360Promotions

@TomLoeffler1

@ZanferBox

@ALAPromotions1

@HBOboxing

@theforum

ORANGE, Calif. (Feb. 16, 2018) – The scheduled championship fight between Erick Ituarte (19-1-1, 3 KOs) and challenger Jose Ramirez (27-6-2, 16 KOs) has been cancelled.

As a result, the 8-round bout between super bantamweights Isaac Zarate (13-3-3, 2 KOs) and Christian Ayala (12-1, 4 KOs) has been elevated as the main event at Friday’s “Path to Glory.”

The six-bout card originates from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif.

The 6-round co-feature remains the same with elite prospect Ruben Villa (9-0, 4 KOs) defending his unbeaten mark against Juan Sandoval (7-20-1, 4 KOs).

General admission ($40) and ringside ($100) tickets will be available for purchase today beginning at 5:30 p.m. local time from the will call booth at the Doubletree Ontario.

All fights will be live streamed on TB Presents: Path to Glory via our Facebook page and ThompsonBoxing.com.

The livestream starts at 8:00 p.m. PT / 11:00 p.m. ET with Beto Duran as the blow-by-blow announcer and Steve Kim providing expert color commentary.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. local time with the first bout at approximately 8:00 p.m. The Doubletree Hotel is located at 222 N. Vineyard Ave. in Ontario, CA 91764 and can be reached at 909-937-0900.

“Path to Glory” is presented by Thompson Boxing Promotions and sponsored by Everlast.

For more information, please visit ThompsonBoxing.com. To follow the conversation on social media, please use #PathToGlory, #TBPresents, and #ThompsonBoxing.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please check our Facebook Page, watch our YouTube channel on Thompson Boxing TV, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ThompsonBoxing.

Las Vegas, NV (February 19, 2018) – Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions has an opportunity for one of their stars to take that important next step from prospect to legitimate contender in just one night. Undefeated Texan, WBA #2 John “The Phenom” Vera 18-0 (11KO) will take on WBA #3 Michael Soro 31-2(21KO) on Saturday March 24 in Marseilles,France. Winner will be the mandatory contender at 154lbs and will receive a world title opportunity in 2018.

Back in November the World Boxing Association (WBA) ordered that the top two ranking contenders face each other for the final WBA eliminator, with the winner facing Erislandy Lara in 2018. Originally it was scheduled for WBA #1 Kanat Islam 25-0 (20KO) from Kazakhstan to face WBA #2 John Vera 18-0 (11KO) but for some reason Islam made himself “unavailable” to face Vera after several attempts to put a deal in place.

“This is what Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions has been working towards for John and we are excited to have John showcase his skills to the world,” stated Keith Veltre, CEO & Co-Founder of https://www.facebook.com/RJJBoxing/. “John is incredibly dedicated to his craft and will give 110% for this fight against Soro.”

After the failed attempt the WBA ordered that WBA #3 Michael Soro was the next in line for the opportunity. Soro, who fought for the “interim” WBA World Championship back on July 1st against undefeated Brian Carlos Castano 14-0(10KO) from Argentina fought gamely against the much smaller Castano losing a close SD12. Soro returned five-months later to defeat Ivan Montero 20-3(8KO) from Mexico securing another world title opportunity.

In order to get another shot, Soro will have to defeat the ultra talented, former NABA Champion and undefeated WBA #2 contender John Vera from Ft. Worth Texas.

“Folks are in for a night of action on March 24th,” stated John Vera. “As always my team and I won’t cut any corners and are making calculated moves to ensure we are ready to be victorious. Fighting in France is a huge motivator for me and Its time to show the world who John Vera is”

Vera will definitely pose a problem for Soro with his six-foot frame, southpaw stance and footwork. Vera is very good and controlling the distance and dictating the pace with his long jab and his ability to change directions with his footwork. Vera was last seen in action on September 29th in Dallas Texas when he defeated Sunday Ajuwa 15-2(13KO) by TKO3.

Vera vs. Soro for the mandatory position is a very intriguing match up in styles. Can the more conventional fighter in Soro use his pressure to disrupt the boxing prowess of Vera? Or will Vera sturdy Texas chin and boxing IQ be to much for the Frenchmen to over come? On Saturday March 24 we will all find out.

INFORMATION: This event is scheduled to be televised on https://www.mycanal.fr/ Follow John “The Phenom” Vera on his road to victory on IG: https://www.instagram.com/johnverajr88/ &
Facebook http://@johnverajr88

Kathy Duva: Welcome everyone to the Sergey Kovalev vs. Igor Mikhalkin and Dmitry Bivol vs. Sullivan Barrera international media conference call. This is Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events. I just want to, on a personal note, tell everybody it’s great to have you back after these few months. This is a long cold winter. Happy to be able to get back into action.

Thank you to all the media who have dialed in on this call today to discuss two sensational championship fights in the light heavyweight division. Both bouts will air on HBO World Championship Boxing®, live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden, on Saturday, March 3rd at 10:05pm, ET/PT.

The main event between Sergey Kovalev and Igor Mikhalkin is a 12-round match-up for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title. The co-main event, which features WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion, Dmitry Bivol vs. Sullivan Barrera is a 12-round title fight.

Tickets range from $50 to $300. They are moving very well and are available online at ticketmaster.com, in person at Madison Square Garden box office, and directly through Main Events by dialing our office at 973-200-7050, or sending an email to boxing@mainevents.com. The event is promoted by Main Events, Krusher Promotions and World of Boxing in association with EC Box Promotions and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®.
We’ll also be featuring, for those who can be there in person, a fantastic undercard. Jolene Mizzone has always outdone herself and we will be featuring 11 bouts of all young prospects, some local, some from Eastern Europe and all over the world, who are going to be in great, competitive fights. It’s a good night to be there in person.

Sullivan Barrera: I feel alright. My training camp, we are going well too. I have been waiting my whole life for the title fight, so that’s the day finally here. Very important fight for me, so I’m very happy for that.

Question: Sullivan, can you tell us what went into your decision to take the Bivol fight over fighting Kovalev in the main event that night?

Barrera: I was offered the Sergey Kovalev fight initially for a substantial amount more money than the second time but at that time there was no title fight on the line. I felt that after the Wardfight, I was worthy of finally fighting for a title. The second time around when they offered me the Kovalev fight, it was for considerably less money, and they wanted to extend my contract. That is the reason why I decided to fight Bivol.

Question: Sullivan, can you tell us what you think of Bivol so far and if you think what people have been saying about him is justified based on what he’s done in the ring thus far.

Barrera: I respect all fighters. Bivol is a young, talented fighter. I respect anyone that gets in the ring. At the end of the day, when he steps into the ring, he’s going to have to prove everything that all the writers are saying about him.

Question: Why would this fight be different than Bivol’s previous fights? Because Sullivan obviously is the most experienced or most accomplished fighter that Bivol will have fought.

Barrera: All of my opponents have been younger than me. The importance here is that it’s a title fight and I am going in there knowing that it’s a title fight. I am preparing like this is the most important fight. I understand that Bivol is a younger guy and I’m used to that.

Question: What does Sullivan expect from fighting Bivol?

Barrera: I think in the past he hasn’t fought anyone with the experience that I have had and it should be a very competitive fight.

Question: Cuban boxers have had some recent defeats. The fighters that are left are [Luis] Ortiz, Erislandy Lara and Sullivan Barrera. Do you think you can be the show face for the Cuban boxing system?

Barrera: Of course, yes. I believe so.

Question: Kathy, why was Sullivan offered less money to fight Bivol than Kovalev?

Duva: Well, actually, while we were discussing the Kovalev fight, a lot of numbers got thrown around, but as far as the offer is concerned, it was the same, the actual offer. That’s my recollection of the negotiation.

Question: Sullivan also made a reference about extending the contract but I’m a little confused by that. Wouldn’t him becoming champion extend the contract?

Duva: Not at that time, no. Sullivan has been with Main Events a long time, that contract was running out and we were working on another one, where that was not featured in the contract. We did absolutely ask for options, it’s a voluntary defense and that’s typically the way things work.

Question: Sullivan, what weaknesses do you see in Dmitry Bivol that you feel you’ll be able to expose on March 3rd?

Barrera: The biggest difference is the experience. I feel that I’ve fought a lot more experienced fighters and I believe, strongly, that that will be the biggest difference come March 3rd.

Question: If Main Events was able to take you from a virtually unknown commodity of the United States, to a world champion who’s fighting on HBO, why wouldn’t you want to extend your contract with them?

Barrera: I never said that I was never going to re-sign with them or to continue to do business with them. Just that the offer that was made to me initially for the Kovalev fight was something that wasn’t up to par with what I wanted, and I am very thankful for everything Main Events has done for me and continues to do for me. What the future holds is after this fight.

Question: In this fight, is Sullivan betting on himself to improve the offers that he receives from Main Events?

Barrera: Yes, once I am a champion, the WBA champion, of course, I’ll be a champion, the offers do get much better.

Duva: Thank you Sullivan. Dmitry Bivol is the WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion. He is a fantastic fighter. We are partners with World of Boxing on this promotion and delighted to be working with him.

Question: Dmitry, earlier Sullivan said that the reason that he took the fight against you as opposed to Kovalev was about money. Why do you think that he took the fight?

Dmitry Bivol: I do not have any reason not to believe that Sullivan took the fight was because of the money, but at this point, it doesn’t matter why he decided to do it because now the only thing that’s left is the fight itself.

Question: Do you think that Sullivan views him as an easier opponent than Kovalev?

Bivol: At first, those were the thoughts that I might have had that maybe he thought I was a weaker opponent, but now that Sullivan has stated that it’s because of the money, I understand that maybe Sullivan is correct, he just did it because of the money. I don’t necessarily have a reason to not believe Sullivan.

Question: Dmitry, what is your opinion of Sullivan Barrera who obviously has a lot of international experience and has fought some top light heavyweights?

Bivol: Of course, I know that Sullivan has lots of experience and lots of fights behind him, but I know that I also have a lot of experience, might not as much as Barrera, but still lots of experience, good quality fights. I believe that I’ve got good qualities that I can trust. I can trust in myself to win this fight.

Question: How much do you feel that you have to prove yourself in this fight because Sullivan obviously is the best opponent that you have faced?

Bivol: I am definitely aware that Barrera is probably one of the best fighters that I’ve ever faced, probably the best fighter. But to me, every fight is important, and every fight, everything’s on the line, so I need to go out and do my best and make sure that I show my best qualities and do my best fighting.

Question: Dmitry, do you believe that perhaps because of the fact that you’ve only had 12 fights and you were a champion at an early age, you’re considered a rookie, so to speak, and that Barrera accepted you because of the fact that you were the lesser opponent in terms of a championship fight as opposed to Sergey Kovalev, or Superman Stevenson who’s fighting Badou Jack?

Bivol: I said before, at first, I might have thought that maybe Barrera decided to fight me because I’m a weaker opponent between the two. But, as Barrera stated, he accepted the fight over Kovalev specifically because of the money. So now, I know that that is why that fight was arranged. At the end, though, I am very happy that Barrera decided to fight me and I have no reason not to trust Barrera that he picked me specifically because of the money. So that is why I’m happy that we get to fight.

Question: Knowing that this is your title fight, you’re defending your title fight against, as expected, the veteran, which is Barrera, who’s fought Andre Ward and fought Joe Smith and guys with more fights than you. Without giving out any trade secrets, what are you doing extra to make sure that your hand is raised in victory March 3rd in terms of training?

Bivol: I believe that a person must do what he knows how to do. I know my good qualities and I make sure that every time I’m in practice, I’m perfecting the art of boxing. I’m perfecting my skills. I know that I’m not perfect but I want to make sure that I keep on working towards perfection. Nothing specific new is happening in camp; camp is always tough and camp is always good. It’s pretty much the same, the only thing that’s different maybe is tougher sparring partners, but other than that, I know my skills and I know that I want to continue doing what I do best, which is boxing.

Question: Dmitry, this is your New York City debut. How do you feel about fighting at the Theater at Madison Square Garden?

Bivol: I’m very excited about my debut in New York and, of course, to be fighting at Madison Square Garden. My trainer’s dream is to have his main fighter fight in the main event, in Madison Square Garden. This is a small step towards that dream for him.

Question: What are Barrera’s strengths and weaknesses that you’ve seen in his fight?

Bivol: Every fighter has his own weaknesses. I don’t necessarily want to discuss what Barrera’s weaknesses are. I think the best way to see it is just to see the fight and see where he was stronger and where he was weaker.

Question: We saw Andre Ward handle Sullivan Barrera rather easily. Will Dmitry look to deploy some of the same tactics?

Bivol: Ward showed a lot of good speed in a fight. He showed a lot of good movement, a lot of body movement in the fight, and possibly this is some of the things I would like to use in the fight as well.

Question: We’ve seen Sullivan go down in the first round of each of his last two fights. Will you look to jump on him? Do you see yourself getting off to a fast start knowing that in the last two fights whether he came out cold or for whatever the reason he’s been down early?

Bivol: I’m not lining up to necessarily knock him down or send him down in the first round. I’m going to assess the situation to see how the fight is going. And, of course, if there’ll be opportunities where I’m able to capitalize on them, for sure I will do it, but I will have to decide on my feet. I am training for all 12 rounds. I’m not sure if it’s going to go that long, but I’m training my stamina to make sure that I’ve got enough energy for all 12 rounds.

Question: It’s The Garden in New York, do you want this to be an all-out war, a dog fight, or would you prefer it to be a high IQ boxing match basically?

Bivol: When I come out to fight, I always try to fight with a high IQ. I want to make sure that I’m responsible for the movement that I make and I understand what’s going on. I’m always thinking on my feet. But, of course, after the fight, I want to make sure that the fight was also entertaining for the fans and the fans would like to see me fight again and are excited about me fighting.

Kathy: I would like to thank you Dmitry Bivol for joining us. Next on the line we have Igor Mikhalkin joining us from Germany with his promoter Erol Ceylan.

Question: Igor, I wanted to ask you, just looking at Kovalev fights in the past, will you focus on what everybody sees as his biggest weakness and go to the body? Is that something you’re going to stress going into this fight?

Igor Mikhalkin: I am going to judge it by the situation. I’m going to see how it goes, and try to hit in the head as well as go in the body. I’m going to assess the situation as the fight proceeds.

Question: Coming into The Garden, fighting on the big stage on HBO on the main event, if you could write the perfect script, how would he want this fight to play out?

Mikhalkin: [chuckles] Obviously, it’s a dream of every boxer to fight in the main event, Madison Square Garden. It’s obviously a dream fight for me. It’s very important for me. I’m very excited about it. And I’m not only fighting the main fight on the main card, I’m also fighting the main fighter in the light heavyweight division, so I’m going to write the perfect script on March 3rd and, hopefully, I’m victorious.

Question: Would you want it to end in a knockout or do you just want to win?

Mikhalkin: I’m going for points. I’m going for doing a good job boxing. I never was a puncher, so I never necessarily aim for a knockout. I conditioned to fight all 12 rounds, and I enjoy fighting all 12 rounds, so I’m going to go and fight technically and see how it goes.

Question: Igor, you’re making your debut in the Mecca of Boxing Madison Square Garden have you begun to develop perhaps a little bit of butterfly stage fright not only because this is your debut, but you’re fighting, like it was mentioned before, the number one. And what extra are you doing to make sure that your hand, not Sergey’s, is raised in victory on March third?

Mikhalkin: I’m conditioning and training really hard. I’m making sure I’m very well prepared for the fight. This is most likely the most important fight in my career. This is the greatest opponent I’ve ever fought. Before every fight, of course, there’s a little bit of butterflies. Because it’s Madison Square Garden as opposed to another arena, it’s not any more frightening than other places. I’m happy to be there. I’m happy to make my debut in Madison Square Garden, and I’m making sure that I’m training really hard to keep this fight in my favor.

Question: In terms of advantages or disadvantages, is the fact that he is a southpaw and fought very well, he has a very good record of 21 victories, nine knockouts, does a southpaw stance create advantage, you think?

Mikhalkin: Yes. The answer to your question is yes. I think being at southpaw is going to be to my advantage. The short answer is yes, I think so.

Question: Earlier, Igor, you said that you train for the distance and there is evidence of that in your record. Your last several fights, have gone to distance, but you haven’t been in there with somebody like Kovalev. Have you been sparring with bigger punchers than normal in an effort to try to simulate that power?

Mikhalkin: I have been inviting sparring partners that are bigger punchers that are trying to imitate, let’s say, the style of Kovalev. I’m prepared for when it’s time to fight on March 3rd.

Question: Are there any nuances? Is there anything else that you’re doing differently than normal?

Mikhalkin: Nothing specific. At the beginning of the training camp I thought maybe something needs to be changed, but then I realized that training is already good and so I am continuing to train very hard. Continuing to condition myself and make sure that everything goes well on March 3rd. So, not anything specific was changed, just hard training and training all the time.

Duva: I will like to thank Erol Ceylan and Igor Mikhalkin for joining us. Now we have two-time World Champion Sergey Kovalev on the line and Egis Klimas, his manager.

Question: Sergey, welcome back to New York City. This will be your second fight. You’re fighting a southpaw, what do you know about Igor?

Sergey Kovalev: Hi everybody. My pleasure to be back in New York fighting against Igor Mikhalkin. I know this guy from amateurs when I was maybe 17 or 18. And right now, we’re fighting in Madison Square Garden, so it’s interesting for me.

Question: What are his strengths and weaknesses that you know of Igor? If you’ve seen him in amateurs, you’ve seen him fight, maybe you just quarreled with him at amateurs?

Kovalev: I know that he is a nice guy and very good boxer. He’s IBO champion and that he wants to get the champion world titles. I will defend my WBO title March 3. I don’t know any more about him.

Question: Sergey, I was just wondering if you could tell us what Mikhalkin can do to make things difficult for you in the fight that you have to guard against. Being a southpaw, being a boxer, being a guy who moves, how do you guard against that to make sure you get the knockout?

Kovalev: I’m not going to do some something extra to get a victory over Igor Mikhalkin because I’m back already as champion of the world in my last fight. I should be ready for everything because I am very motivated right now. I think Mikhalkin is very excited about the fight with me. It’s going to be a very interesting fight because we are trained mentally, Russians, and never step back, just the fighting till the end. We’re ready to fight for the world title.

Question: Sergey, will you be disappointed if you’re not able to knock him out?

Kovalev: It’s not my goal to knock somebody out every round, every minute. I don’t think about it. I just get into the ring. We’ll get into the ring and I’m going to do my best job for boxing fans. What will happen, we will see. Everybody will see March 3rd. Watch HBO or come to Theater Madison Square Garden.

Question: Going into this fight, I know you talked a little bit about not worrying about the knockout, but you wouldn’t be “Krusher” Kovalev if you don’t knock the people out. That’s what people want. How important is it for you to be in this stage satisfying fans with this fight?

Kovalev: I will be very happy after the fight when I will get the victory over Igor by knockout. I’m really happy when my boxing fans are happy of results of the fight.

Question: Kathy, I want to ask you because I believe that you guys announced your date first, March 3rd, your fight with the main event with HBO. The other guys came in and they announced their date. Did they try to work with you at all or did anybody exchange any words saying, “Hey, look. We already got this date set in New York,” or is it just one of those things they announced it and everybody goes?

Duva: Nobody spoke to me. As you know, we announced this date on the night of Sergey’s last fight back in November. There are many dates that are held throughout the year for boxing events. They do not happen for various reasons. I can only worry about things I can control. Unfortunately, one of those things. We’re very happy with the response thus far from the fans with the ticket sales. At this point, we’ve already exceeded what we did last time. In fact, that was the case early on, actually, a couple weeks into the sales for the fight. We’re expecting a big robust crowd. I would advise anyone, especially, really not just the Sergey fans but the boxing fans, this is a great show, top to bottom. It’s not just about coming to see one fight, it’s about coming for the whole night. We will not disappoint you.

Question: Sergey, in your last several fights, you’ve been in there with pretty much nothing but the best of the best. Is it difficult for you to get motivated for a fight like Igor the same way as a Hopkins or an Andre Ward?

Kovalev: For me, every fight is like a call. It’s a call. Right now, this call I got Igor Mikhalkin, nobody except him. I’m ready to fight anybody. Who’s else right now is ready? Only Igor Mikhalkin. We have the best guys right now. Somebody can come and they have another belt and they defend the title against another challenger. And I’m fighting anybody who is ready to get into the ring against me. And Igor Mikhalkin got the call.

Question: Okay. You haven’t fought any southpaws since 2014 when you fought [Cedric] Agnew and [Blake] Caparello, two southpaws back-to-back. Who were some of the guys you’ve been sparring with to prepare for your first lefty in about four years?

Kovalev: It’s a little bit difficult to find somebody who looks like Igor Mikhalkin. But I’m ready because I have sparred already like three weeks with a southpaw. And day-by-day, spar-by-spar, I feel much better and more comfortable against southpaw. And this thing that will be interesting fight. I’m really excited that I’m fighting early on this year already and I’m really happy that I’m back on the high level to box high stakes.

About March 3: The Saturday, March 3 main event between Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev and Igor Mikhalkin is a 12-round match-up for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The co-main event features WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Dmitry Bivol versus Sullivan Barrera in a 12-round title fight. Tickets range from $50 to $300 and are available at TicketMaster.com and the Madison Square Garden box office. The event is promoted by Main Events, Krusher Promotions and World of Boxing in association with EC Box Promotions and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® at 10:05 p.m. ET/PT.

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New York City (February 16, 2018) Top local prospects will be featured at the debut event presented by Evander Holyfield’s Real Deal Sports & Entertainment at the historic Kings Theatre on Saturday, March 10, 2018.

Advance tickets for ‘Real Deal, Showcase Series II’, presented in association with World of Boxing, priced at $150, $125, $75 and $50 are now on sale online through the Kings Theatre website, www.KingsTheatre.com.

Among the fighters featured on the card is undefeated middleweight knockout artist, Edgar ‘The Chosen One’ Berlanga, (7-0-0, 7 KO’s) of Brooklyn. Only 20-years-old, Berlanga has stopped all seven of his foes as a professional in the first round. Most recently he stopped Jaime Barboza on January 26 in the first round in Philadelphia, PA. Barboza had previously gone the distance in his previous five fights against top contenders and prospects including Gary O’Sullivan, Esquiva Falcao, Nick Brinson, Kyrone Davis and Russell Lamour.

Berlanga will face-off against battle tested veteran Elie Augustama, (6-7-0, 3 KO’s), of Haiti in a scheduled six round bout. Augustama has clashed with a number of top prospects, most recently going the distance with undefeated Nicklaus Flaz on October 28, 2017.

Undefeated Mexican/American, Brooklyn native Julian Sosa, (10-0-1, 3 KO’s), will look to kick-off his 2018 campaign in style facing Dominican Wilmer Rodriguez, (9-1-0, 7 KO’s) in an eight-round junior welterweight battle.

The 22-year-old Sosa closed 2017 with a unanimous decision over Erick Daniel Martinez on October 14. Rodriguez will look to stay in the win column following a fourth-round knockout of Oscar Leon on January 26 in Santo Domingo.

Former New York Golden Gloves Champion, ‘The Brooklyn Torch’ Justin Biggs, (2-0, 2 KO’s), will also look to stay undefeated in his third professional bout. The junior middleweight followed up his knockout victory in his professional debut with a third-round stoppage of Simon Sayes on November 18, 2017.

Undefeated junior flyweight prospect Natalie Gonzalez, (3-0-0, 1 KO), of New Rochelle, New York will look to jump-start her career with her first bout in fifteen months. Gonzalez will face battled test Hungarian veteran Judit Hachbold, (4-3-0), in a scheduled six rounder.

Ukrainian heavyweight prospect Iegor Plevako, (5-0-0, 3 KO’s), will also be making the first start of his 2018 campaign at Kings Theatre on March 10. With three victories in 2017, Plevako returns to action following a unanimous decision victory over Sherman Artis Jr. on November 18.

Making his highly anticipated United States debut will be undefeated junior welterweight prospect Batyr Ahmedov, (2-0-0, 2 KO’s) of Crimea, Russia. Ahmedov was a quarterfinalist representing Turkey in the 2016 Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and finished with an amateur record of 88-8.

Also featured in separate bouts on the Real Deal Boxing event at Kings Theatre is undefeated cruiserweight prospect Joe Jones, (9-0-0, 7 KO’s), of Jersey City, New Jersey and welterweight newcomer Cesar Francis, (3-0-0, 2 KO’s) of Brooklyn, New York along with Ridgewood, New York welterweight Mathew Gonzalez, (3-0-0, 2 KO’s), and undefeated super bantamweight Khalid Twaiti, (2-0-0, 1 KO) of Brooklyn.

Rounding out the card, Bronx native, junior welterweight Josue ‘The Prodigy’ Vargas, (9-1-0, 5 KO’s), will battle in a scheduled six rounder.

Further details on these bouts will be announced shortly.

Real Deal Sports & Entertainment is proud to partner with Medical Arts Radiology (www.medicalartsradiology.com) and Venum (www.venum.com).

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Former heavyweight contender David “Nino” Rodriguez, well-known former boxing manager Ivaylo Gotzev and Laredo, Texas-based businessman and boxing historian Arturo Ortiz are proud to announce the formation of Lone Star Boxing Promotions, LLC.

The trio, with Gotzev acting as CEO, Rodriguez as President and Ortiz as Vice-President, say they plan to bring big-time, televised and competitive fights back to the state of Texas, as well as across the country.

Lone Star Boxing Promotions will present its first event on Saturday, April 7, at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas, featuring former multiple-time world champion Ricardo Mayorga taking on hometown veteran Rodolfo “Cobrita” Gomez Jr. in a super middleweight 10-rounder.

Lone Star was formed, Rodriguez says, after his retirement from fighting (due to a spinal injury), when he called up his trusted friends Gotzev and Ortiz to talk about stepping into the promotional arena.

“The difference between Lone Star Boxing and other promotional firms is that we will treat the fighters ethically and fairly,” said Rodriguez. “I spent 20 years as a boxer and contender and I know the good, the bad and the ugly sides of boxing. I will not treat any fighter that signs with Lone Star any different than I would want to be treated myself. I will be honest and upfront with every fighter, therefore setting a new standard of ethics and honesty in our sport. We hope to make Lone Star the standard of boxing when it comes to our fighters’ welfare.”

“We won’t be afraid to get our hands dirty and will plant ourselves in the location of the fight for a month or more leading up to the shows,” added Gotzev, who may be best known for his outstanding work with former WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter. “We want to deliver the best shows by putting together great match-ups and then getting the excitement going straight to the fans from the area. We’re not going to be promoters on paper and at the mercy of network executives giving away handouts. We are ready to work the old-fashioned way and make history.”

The pair say the addition of Ortiz, heavily connected to the Texas boxing scene, will prove extremely advantageous to their mission.

“Arturo knows the people we need to know to make our first show a smashing success,” said Rodriguez. “He is well-respected in Laredo and his name adds a great deal of credibility to our endeavor.”

The plan, however, is to branch out to multiple towns around the United States and the world.

“This is only the beginning,” said Gotzev. “We are already planning events in other cities and signing fighters to our promotional stable. I’m very happy to be in business with these two friends and looking forward to a bright future for Lone Star Boxing Promotions.”

MIAMI (February 16, 2018) – Unbeaten heavyweight contender Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz is finally nearing his first world title opportunity as he prepares to take on WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder Saturday, March 3 live on SHOWTIME from Barclays Center, the home of BROOKLYN BOXING™.

The Premier Boxing Champions event will see undefeated former 154-pound champion Jermall Charlo take on Hugo Centeno, Jr. for the interim WBC middleweight title in the co-feature. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with top super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell battling hard-hitting Jose Uzcategui in a rematch for the IBF Interim 168-pound world title.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and TGB Promotions, start at $50 and are on sale now. To purchase tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, or call 800-745-3000. Tickets for the event can also be purchased at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center.

Ortiz spoke on a variety of topics as he heads into the highly anticipated showdown with Wilder. Here is what Ortiz had to say from training camp in Miami:

On Deontay Wilder…
“He’s talking too much. He’s going to have to back that up in the ring. He says he’s going to kill ‘King Kong.’ He’s going to knock me out. I want to watch him try. I’m not like those other guys he fought. I’m a real fighter. Tough and with a lot of experience. I’ve been fighting since I was 10 years old.

“He doesn’t intimidate me. His trash talk makes me laugh. It’s just a lot of noise. I’m hungry. I’m doing this for my family. He better take me seriously because he’s going to find himself on the canvas before he knows it. I’m going to show the world who ‘King Kong’ is.”

On his confrontation with Wilder after Ortiz’s last fight…
“Someone told me Wilder was in the crowd, I smiled. I was glad to see him. I knew what he wanted.

“I’m not the kind that likes to trash talk, but I’ve had it with this guy. He talks too much. He has a big mouth. He has insulted me and has said too many dumb things. So when I saw him ringside I told him to get inside the ring and to tell the world once and for all that he was going to fight me. He says he wants to fight the top fighters. I’m a top fighter. Let’s do it.”

On testing positive for a banned substance during training for the first scheduled fight against Wilder…
“A lot of people that believe in me and know me well, know that I would not do anything that can jeopardize my future as a boxer. I have too much at stake: my family, my children and the possibility to provide for them.

“I had been taking that medicine for two years. It was my mistake not to disclose that prescription drug in the paperwork. I never thought a prescription was going to bring me so much trouble. I was taking this medicine to treat high blood pressure, but apparently it’s also used to go to the bathroom a lot and mask other things. I drink two gallons of water per day. I go to the bathroom a lot already. I never put two and two together. I’m clean. The dose they found in my system was too low to mask anything at all. If I would have known this prescription drug was not allowed, I would have told my trainer and my doctor.

“I’m a heavyweight I don’t need to make weight. Why am I going to go to the trouble of taking an illegal substance that makes you go to the bathroom a lot? I have no need. I simply didn’t know it was banned. If I would have known, I would have said something to my trainer or to the doctors.

“I think the fight was not meant to be at that point in time last year. Destiny played a part. It was supposed to be postponed. Now there are no excuses.”

On how important this fight is for him…
“Every fight I’ve had in my career has been important. The key is always to avoid thinking that it’s win or die because that can put you off center. So the way I see it is that this fight is important for me because I have to win it. And I’m going to. It’s a world championship, but for me it’s just another day at work. My only goal is to win this fight. Win. Win. Win. By winning this fight, everything else unfolds. I get a title and I help my family.”

On what’s going to happen on fight night…
“When I get in the ring, all I will be thinking about is the strategy we put together in the gym. My family is always there. They go to every fight. That was my promise to them when I had to leave them behind in Cuba to come to the United States. They will come with me wherever I go. If I gas out, I look at them and they keep me going. They are my motivation and they will help me achieve this victory.”

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For more information visit www.premierboxingchampions.com,
follow us on Twitter @PremierBoxing, @LouDiBella, @TGBPromotions, @BarclaysCenter, @Brooklyn_Boxing and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/barclayscenter,
and www.Facebook.com/DiBellaEntertainment. PBC is sponsored by Corona Extra, La Cerveza Mas Fina.

George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr. went nose to nose and eye to eye for a very last time at a tense weigh-in before their Ali Trophy semi-final Saturday at the Manchester Arena.

“I told him he’s not ready, I can see it in his eyes … ,“ said Eubank Jr. after weighing in at 76 kg in front of a packed crowd.

“George doesn’t want to be here. I want this more than anything I’ve ever wanted. He doesn’t realize the danger he’s in. I am going to knock him out cold!”

Groves (75,8 kg), who is the underdog with the bookies, said:

“I’m excited, I made weight, I’m ready to go!”

“I’m in the prime of my career, fighting better than ever.”

On an enticing 50-50 undercard of Saturday’s semi-final, Tommy Langford (72,2 kg) defends his British middleweight title against Jack Arnfield (67,2 kg) and Ryan Walsh (57 kg) faces Isaac Lowe (57 kg) for the British featherweight title.

For details on how to watch the hotly anticipated Ali Trophy semi-final and the undercard, go to itvboxoffice.com.

A limited number of tickets are available here.

ORANGE, Calif. (Feb. 16, 2018) – Los Angeles native and WBA Super Bantamweight Champion Danny Roman (23-2-1, 9 KOs) arrived in Tokyo on Thursday and held a media workout the next day in advance of his first world title defense.

Roman defends against No. 11 rated challenger Ryo Matsumoto (21-1, 19 KOs) of Japan on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

The 12-round world championship fight, dubbed “The Challenge,” is promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions in association with Ohashi Promotions and will take place from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

On Thursday, Roman was greeted by the Japanese media upon arriving at Tokyo International Airport. The following day, Roman took part in a media workout for the local press.

“I’m ready and well prepared to defend my title,” Roman said. “Matsumoto presents a tough challenge, but that’s nothing new for me. I’m going to fight my fight and not let him get comfortable.”

The “Baby Faced Assassin” decided to arrive approximately two weeks prior to his title defense to acclimate to the weather and time change.

“I came in early last time I was here in September so we decided to follow the same script,” said Roman, who is trained and managed by Eddie Gonzalez. “It makes sense to get used to the new time zone and develop a routine and comfort zone before my big fight against Matsumoto.”

Roman traveled to the island nation in September and knocked out former champion Shun Kubo in the ninth round.

Roman, 27, dominated the fight from start to finish. He won every round on every scorecard with the exception of the first round on one score sheet. He battered Kubo on multiple occasions, dropping him in the seventh and eighth rounds before finishing him off in the ninth.

To watch Roman’s KO win over Shun Kubo that earned him the WBA championship, please click here.

For more information, please visit ThompsonBoxing.com.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please check our Facebook Page, watch our YouTube channel on Thompson Boxing TV, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ThompsonBoxing.

The final batch of tickets for the World Heavyweight title unification blockbuster between Anthony Joshua MBE and Joseph Parker at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on March 31 will go on sale at midday on Monday February 26.

Joshua and Parker clash for the WBA Super, IBF, IBO and WBO belts at the Welsh national stadium and fight fans have already snapped up over 70,000 for the event, which also features Ryan Burnett defending his WBA World Bantamweight title against Yonfrez Parejo, Alexander Povetkin putting his WBA Inter-Continental and WBO International titles against Liverpool favourite David Price, Joe Cordina fighting for his first pro title against Andy Townend with the WBA International Lightweight title and more undercard action to be announced soon.

Tickets will go on sale at midday on Monday February 26 through official ticketing partner StubHub priced at £40, £60, £80, £300 and £600 from www.stubhub.co.uk

Limited tickets remain on sale for the event priced at £300 and £600 from www.stubhub.co.uk

Coach packages are on sale via www.seetickets.com with various pick up/drop off locations available throughout the UK.

For accessibility and wheelchair tickets – please contact the Principality Stadium via 02920 822432.

Official hospitality packages are available to purchase directly from Principality Stadium Experience. Both private suite and premium lounge packages are available to purchase, with prices starting from £450 per person + VAT. For further information please call the team on 02920 822 413.

Official Hospitality packages are also available via Sportsworld via www.sportsworld.co.uk or by calling 0208 9712966

Authorities are strongly advising fans to allow plenty of time to get into both Cardiff and Principality Stadium and to plan their travel before purchasing a ticket. Details can be found via the Information tab at: http://www.principalitystadium.wales/events/v/joshua-v-parker-2018-03-31

Philadelphia, Penn./ORANGE, Calif. (Feb. 16, 2018) – Rising featherweight talent Ruben Villa (9-0, 4 KOs) of Salinas, Calif. faced some fight week uncertainty after his initial opponent, Ruben Tamayo, fell in and was replaced by Juan Sandoval (7-20-1, 4 KOs) of San Bernardino, Calif. late Wednesday.

The “Path to Glory” co-feature between Villa and Sandoval is set for 6-rounds and originates from the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif. Tonight.

Villa, a former two-time Golden Gloves winner, gave his take on tonight’s last minute match up, his early dominance on the scorecards, and what its like sparring against heavier competition.

Your main sparring partners for this training camp were Joel Diaz, Jr. and Andy Vences. Both fight at a heavier weight class than you (135-140 lbs.). What kind of advantage will that give you on Friday night?

“It’s a tremendous advantage. My trainer, Max Garcia, wanted me to spar bigger, longer guys with respectable records. Both Joel and Andy have hit the 20-fight mark and are highly skilled. I went four-minute rounds with them to make sure I was prepared for Tamayo. They gave me excellent work.”

Is there anything specific that you dialed in on for this training camp?

“I’m trying to use more angles so I can attack in different ways. Also, trying to mix up my movements so I don’t telegraph what I’m trying to do.”

Your opponent, Juan Sandoval, was added at the last minute. How does this affect your preparation?

“It’s boxing. This type of stuff happens all the time especially when you’re first starting out. I’m not too worried. I put in an excellent training camp and I’m prepared for everything.”

Of your five wins that have resulted in unanimous decision victories, you’ve managed to win every round on every scorecard. Did you expect that kind of dominance early on?

“Staying in the gym pays dividends, but at the same time you should see that type of dominance in a prospect. The ability to impose your will boosts your confidence. I see every round of every fight going my way. It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence and you need that belief otherwise you’re in trouble.”

Villa is promoted by Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing.

All fights will be live streamed on TB Presents: Path to Glory via our Facebook page and ThompsonBoxing.com.

The livestream starts at 8:00 p.m. PT / 11:00 p.m. ET with Beto Duran as the blow-by-blow announcer and Steve Kim providing expert color commentary.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. local time with the first bout at approximately 8:00 p.m. The Doubletree Hotel is located at 222 N. Vineyard Ave. in Ontario, CA 91764 and can be reached at 909-937-0900.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please check Banner Promotions Facebook Page , and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @BannerBoxing

RENO, NV (February 15, 2018) – San Antonio’s undefeated super-featherweight prospect, Ignacio Holguin Jr. (5-0-1, 5 KOs), takes a major step up in competition when he faces Robson Conceicao (5-0, 4 KOs), who captured Gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Holguin, who’s trained by Rick Nunez, took the fight on short notice, and has made weight for their scheduled 6-round bout that will take place at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, NV, on the Ray Beltran vs. Paulus Moses card, promoted by Top Rank.

“This is a big fight for me and I’m ready to shock the world and give Conceicao his first loss.” said Ignacio Holguin Jr., who arrived in Reno, NV this morning. “We finalized the fight last night, and I’m ready to go. I took this fight on short notice because I believe in myself, and my ability to come out victorious. I’m in great shape and ready to bring the heat.”

LAS VEGAS (Feb. 15, 2018) – Two-division world champion Danny Garcia and former world champion Brandon Rios faced off Thursday at the final press conference for their WBC Welterweight World Title Eliminator this Saturday, February 17live on SHOWTIME from Mandalay Bay Events Center, and presented by Premier Boxing Champions.

Garcia, who returns for his first bout since a unification showdown with Keith Thurman, promised to put on a show, while a confident Rios assured he was 100 percent prepared for what he deemed a “make or break” fight.

Saturday’s co-main event stole the show Thursday as undefeated WBC Super Middleweight World Champion David Benavidez promised to send top-rated contender Ronald Gavril into retirement in their anticipated rematch of a thrilling 2017 split-decision. Gavril, who floored Benavidez in the final minute of their Fight of the Year nominee, promised a different outcome in Saturday’s rematch.

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXINGtelecast begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with welterweight contenders Yordenis Ugas and Ray Robinson facing offin an IBF 147-pound title eliminator.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and TGB Promotions, are on sale now and are available at AXS.com.

Here is what the fighters had to say from Rhythm & Riffs Lounge in Las Vegas:

DANNY GARCIA
“I took a little under a year off just to enjoy my life. I’ve worked hard my whole life; I’ve been boxing for 20 years. I just wanted to be a regular person and let my mind rest, spend time with my daughter and enjoy some of my money.

“More than anything, I just felt like I needed the rest. It wasn’t about the hunger because I’ve always had passion for the sport. I love boxing. I love the competition.

“I’m back now and I’ve been in camp for three months. I’m training hard. I feel great and I feel confident.

“It was a close fight against Thurman. I walked out of there with no injuries. Thurman was the one with the elbow injury, so he took more punishment than me. I could easily be unified champion of the world right now. At the end of the day, I’m a champion. That’s my mindset. What doesn’t break me, makes me stronger.

“It feels great to be from Philly right now. The atmosphere is crazy. When the Eagles won the Super Bowl, it felt like I won. They motivated me to go out there and do what I have to do.

“It’s the Danny Garcia show so I’m going to go in there and do what I want to do. I’m going to dictate the pace. If we want to bang, we can bang. If we want to box, we can box.

“I’ve faced fighters that came straight at me before. I’ve faced fighters that moved. I’m prepared for whatever. I’m a young veteran in the sport and what made me a true champion is adapting to anything and overcoming adversity. If I have to overcome adversity on Saturday night, then I’m going to do that because that’s what I was built for.

“I need to get a victory on Saturday night. I can’t overlook anybody. I’ve seen some crazy things happen in boxing. One punch can change everything, so I’m just focused on Saturday night.”

BRANDON RIOS
“I’m ready 100 percent. I’m ready to give the fans an exciting show and that’s what I’ve prepared for. That’s my style. I always come forward and I come to fight. We ain’t dancing, we’re going to be fighting.

“Robert Garcia has always been my brother. He’s a brother from another mother. It felt great to be back with Robert Garcia and I’m just ready for the fight now. Him and Donald Leary have me confident in myself, and that’s the most important thing.

“I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity. This can make or break me. I’m doing everything right in training and dieting. I usually say I can’t wait until weigh-ins but this time I can’t wait until Saturday.

“There’s no weight issue at all. I’m perfectly on-weight right now. I’m perfectly fine health-wise, there’s no injuries. I’m 100 percent ready.”

DAVID BENAVIDEZ
“I’m going to put Gavril into retirement after this fight. I’m going to knock him out. This is going to be the fight of the night so you guys don’t want to miss it. He’s not going to want to box again after I get done with him.

“He dropped me but I wasn’t hurt at any point of that fight. I got back up and smiled. I did not feel his power at all.

“It wasn’t a tough decision to give him a rematch because it was a great fight. I just want to give the fans the fights they want to see. They said the first one was a war, let’s make this one a war too.

“I’m not offended by Gavril’s talk because he’s a good fighter. This is just more hype for the fight and more motivation for me to go in there and make it a war.

“This time, there’s going to be a little bit more boxing. I really want to put this guy away so in order to do that, I need to step up every part of my game.”

RONALD GAVRIL
“In the first fight, I proved to everybody that I have the skill and the power to be the best in this division. I thought that I won the fight, especially with the knockdown. So now, I had more than eight weeks to prepare for this fight when I only had four weeks for the first fight. I’m better now.

“I was not surprised Benavidez gave me the rematch because it was such a good fight. I think Benavidez talks to much. He said before the first fight that he was coming to stop me in four rounds or five rounds. He cannot stop me. And now, he said the same thing before this fight. He can’t do that. Why do you think he got a new fitness coach?”

YORDENIS UGAS
“Moving up from 140 to 147 in 2016 has been great for me. Putting on the extra weight only makes me stronger.

“I’m ready to fight Robinson. I feel 100 percent and after I fight him on Saturday, I’m looking forward to fighting (Errol) Spence if I’m successful.

“I’m going to jump on the fact that I have length and reach on him. I have the height advantage. I can find a way to come in and attack the body first.

“This is definitely the biggest fight of my career. It’s an eliminator so I’m going for the win on Saturday night.”

RAY ROBINSON
“At one point, I used to put a lot of pressure on myself because of my name. I put so much pressure on myself that I even think I lost a couple fights. I look up to Sugar Ray Robinson, but I’m here to put my own footprints in the sand.

“I have learned from every fight and gotten better every fight as a pro and as a person. I have a great team now and they have only added to my craft.

“I feel confident. I did all of the hard work in the gym with my team. This is the easy part. I can box with a blindfold on. That’s the one thing I know how to do – fight. On Saturday, all of my hard work is going to pay off.”

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For more information visit www.SHO.com/Sports and www.premierboxingchampions.com, follow on Twitter @SHOSports, @ShowtimeBoxing, @PremierBoxing, @MayweatherPromo, @TGBPromotions, and @MandalayBay or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ShoBoxing, www.Facebook.com/PremierBoxingChampionsand www.facebook.com/MayweatherPromotions. Premier Boxing Champions is presented by Corona Extra, La Cerveza Mas Fina.

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 15, 2018): NABF and NABO Featherweight Champion Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, Jr. (25-0, 13 KOs) and former world champion Victor “Vikingo” Terrazas (38-4-2, 21 KOs) hosted a media workout today at Azteca Boxing Club ahead of their 10-round main event fight on the Feb. 22 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Also participating in the workout was Christian “Chimpa” Gonzalez (18-1, 15 KOs) who will kick off the ESPN3 coverage facing Laguna, Philippines’s Rey “Flash” Perez (21-9, 6 KOs). Manny “Chato” Robles III (14-0, 6 KOs), who is trained by his world-renowned father, Manny Robles, Jr., will participate in an eight-round featherweight affair facing Tucson, AZ’s Martin Cardona (24-10, 16 KOs). Power punching prospect Edgar “Kid Neza” Valerio (12-0, 7 KOs) of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl by way of South Central, Los Angeles, Calif. will participate in an eight-round battle against Victor Proa (28-5-2, 21 KOs) of Monterrey, Mexico in the 126-pound division. San Diego’s Genaro “El Conde” Gamez (6-0, 4 KOs) will participate in an eight-round lightweight fight, and Hector “El Finito” Tanajara, Jr. (11-0, 4 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas will open up the card in a scheduled eight-round super featherweight fight.

Here’s what today’s participants had to say at the media workout:

JOSEPH “JOJO” DIAZ, JR., NABF & NABO Featherweight Champion:

“I’m going to showcase my power, speed, experience and ring intelligence. I know [Victor] Terrazas is a former world champion, but my skill is the best at 126 pounds. I’m excited to headline this fight because I’ll be kicking off the year for Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN. I’m going to take advantage of this and put all the champions at featherweight on notice. Hopefully after this fight, I’ll finally get that world title shot.”

VICTOR “VIKINGO” TERRAZAS, Former World Champion:

“I’m still in my prime. I feel I still have a lot to give. This is an important fight not just for me, but for Joseph Diaz as well. I’ve been training hard in Mexico with my coach, Alejandro “La Cobrita” Gonzalez, and I’ve been having really good sparring as well. I have a lot of experience dealing with world-class fighters and quick southpaws, so it will be a battle of youth vs. experience on February 22.”

CHRISTIAN “CHIMPA” GONZALEZ, Lightweight Prospect:

“I’m going to be in a tough fight. I’m looking forward to the challenge because he’s [Rey Perez] experienced. They call him ‘Flash’ for a reason because he’s really quick, so we’re expecting nothing easy on Feb 22. If everything comes out well, I’ll be looking forward to 10-round fights on ESPN cards.”

MANNY “CHATO” ROBLES, III, Featherweight Prospect:

“I’ve been working on sitting on my punches and working on the inside. In this camp, I’ve been working with former fighter Rudy Hernandez and getting great sparring as well. Fans can expect to see a different Manny Robles next Thursday. I’ll be more aggressive and I’ll be more affective on the inside. If I see the opportunity, I’ll get the knockout.”

EDGAR “KID NEZA” VALERIO, Featherweight Prospect:

“Would I be a ‘Guru’ if I told you that I’d start the year off sensationally? I’m not fighting the toughest opponent of my career, HE is. At the end of the day, we’re all in the hurt business.”

HECTOR “EL FINITO” TANAJARA, JR., Super Featherweight Prospect:

“I’ve been working really hard since my last fight. No matter who I fight, I’ll be ready to knock him out. It’s been great training with Robert Garcia. There are a lot of world champions in our training camp, and I learn a lot every day. I expect to be busy this year in exciting fights and fighting more rounds.”

GENARO “EL CONDE” GAMEZ, Lightweight Prospect:

“Training camp has gone really well, and I’m really focused for this fight. I know my opponent has had tough fights and that he’s a warrior. This year I hope to demonstrate to all who Genaro ‘El Conde’ Gamez is. The lightweight division is very tough, and every fight features with quick punchers. Don’t go on a bathroom break during the fight because you might miss the knockout!”

Diaz, Jr. vs. Terrazas is a 10-round fight for the NABF and NABO Featherweight Titles presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING” and Hennessy, “Never Stop, Never Settle.” The fights will take place on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Doors to the Special Events Center open and the first televised bout begin at 5:00 p.m. PT. ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will air the fights beginning at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT, and stream live on ESPN3 starting at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

Tickets for the event start at $25 and are available at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino box office, by calling 1-800-827-2946, or by purchasing online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com andhttp://www.espn.com/boxing/; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @ESPN, and @ESPNBoxeo; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing; and follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @OscarDeLaHoya. Follow the conversation using #GBPonESPN.

Photos and videos are available to download by clicking here or copying and pasting link: http://bit.ly/DiazTerrazas into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

EL PASO, TX. (February 15, 2018) – Former world champions Victor Ortiz and Devon Alexander went face to face Thursday two days before they enter the ring for their Premier Boxing Champions on FOX and FOX Deportes main event showdown this Saturday, February 17 from Don Haskins Center on the UTEP campus in El Paso, Texas.

Also in attendance at Thursday’s press conference were undefeated contender Caleb “Sweethands” Plant and Rogelio “Porky” Medina, who battle in a super middleweight world title eliminator. Televised coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and also features 2016 U.S. Olympian Karlos Balderas battling Jorge Rojas.

IBF Female Featherweight World Champion Jennifer Han was also at Thursday’s press conference in her hometown, as she prepares to take on top contender Lizbeth Crespo in a world title defense.

Here is what the fighters had to say Thursday from Don Haskins Center

VICTOR ORTIZ

“We’re ready to go once again. I’m here for what’s mine, and that’s a victory. Alexander is a nice fighter and I’m sure it’ll be a war.

“The victory is the only thing on my mind. I’m here to defeat Devon Alexander. I just need to trust my training and I know it’ll give the result I want.

“I’m definitely looking for the knockout. I want to put on a great performance for these fans. They’ve supported me throughout this promotion and I owe them something memorable.

“Devon and I have known each other for a long time, but that all goes out the window on fight night. It’s going to be a brawl. We’re going to do what we have to do to get this win and move on to the next step of my career.”

DEVON ALEXANDER

“No one wants to hear me say what I’m going to do. People want to see me beat Victor Ortiz. Nothing else matters. I’m prepared to come in and win this fight. I’m going to win and get back to the top.

“I’m so blessed to be in this position. I’ve had ups and downs in my life and career, but it’s all been leading to this moment and this part of my career. I’ve got something special coming for the fans.

“I’m really excited to be fighting in El Paso. This is clearly a fight town and I can’t wait to give them a great show on Saturday.

“This fight is so important to me. I know how important it is to Victor too. We both need these wins to get to where we want to be in the future. Only one of us can move on, and It’s going to be me.”

CALEB PLANT

“This has been the best camp of my life. Everyone always says that, but this has truly been the best one I’ve ever had. I have a great team that I’m very lucky to have.

“It’ll come down to who has the will to win. There’s a stigma that people on the ‘A side’ haven’t been through trials and tribulations. But I’ve been through more than anyone can imagine.

“I’m not playing around. This is no joke to me. This is all I’ve ever had. When I was a kid with no heat and the lights were off, boxing was all I had. Saturday night I’m getting my hand raised and I’ll be one step closer to a world title.

“Saturday night is going to be fireworks. There’s no secrets what’s going to happen when I fight ‘Porky’ Medina. He’s coming to break me down, and I’m coming to box.”

ROGELIO MEDINA

“I am honored to be a part of this card and compete in a big fight like this in a fight city like El Paso. I’m looking forward to putting on a great show for the fans.

“I’m determined to get this win. Caleb Plant is a good fighter, but he’s never fought anyone as tough as me. I don’t think he’s going to be ready for my pressure.

“I’m always going to come forward and look for the knockout. That’s what we train for and that’s the only thing on my mind. I have to go right through Caleb Plant to earn another world title shot.”

JENNIFER HAN

“I want to thank El Paso for always being there to support me. I couldn’t do what I do without all the fans.

“I’m truly blessed to have the help and support of me team. We work hard together and we win together.

“I’m thankful to Lizbeth Crespo for coming to El Paso. I’ve had problems in the past getting opponents here who are ready. She looks ready to go and we’re going to put on a great show.

“This is such a talented card full of world class fighters. If the fans show up, we’re going to keep having big events like this in El Paso.”

LIZBETH CRESPO

“I am thrilled to be here. It’s an honor to be fighting Jennifer Han. She’s the queen of El Paso and I’m excited to fight her in her backyard.

“I’m focus and determined to win this fight. I’ve had a wonderful training camp and I’m looking forward to taking home the victory for Argentina.”

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Fans can live stream the fights on FOX Sports GO, available in English or Spanish through the FOX or FOX Deportes feeds. The fights are available on desktop at FOXSportsGO.com and through the app store, or connected devices including Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, Xbox One and Roku. In addition, all programs are also available on FOX Sports on SiriusXM channel 83 on satellite radios and on the SiriusXM app.

For more information visit www.premierboxingchampions.com, www.tgbpromotions.com, http://www.foxsports.com/presspass/homepage and www.foxdeportes.com.
Follow on Twitter @PremierBoxing, @TGBPromotions, @FOXTV, @FOXDeportes and @Swanson_Comm and become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PremierBoxingChampions and www.facebook.com/foxdeportes. Highlights available at www.youtube.com/premierboxingchampions.PBC on FOX & FOX Deportes is sponsored by Corona Extra, La Cerveza Mas Fina.

On Saturday, March 17, the “Argentinean Lomachenko,” two-time Olympian Alberto “Impacto” Melian, will challenge for his first professional title in only his second professional fight.

Fighting in his hometown of Villa Dolores, Cordoba, Argentina, Melian (1-0, 1 KO) will take on Argentine Super Bantamweight Champion Javier Aristule (32-8, 16 KOs) over 10 rounds.

The event, presented by Sampson Boxing in partnership with Tello Box and JEB Boxing, and entitled “Night of the Olympians,” will also feature promising former Olympian Alberto “Beto” Palmetta (6-1, 2 KOs) and will be televised live on TyC Sports and VTV Uruguay (available in HD) for all of Latin America, The United States and the Caribbean.

Considered by several experts as the best Argentine amateur boxer of the last decade, Melian represented Argentina in numerous international tournaments, including his double Olympic participation, at the Olympic Games in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

After knocking out the former world title contender Diego Ricardo Santillan in the fifth round in his debut (who entered the ring at 23-2), Melian received the challenge of Aristule, who was present at ringside. Melian accepted the challenge, but asked Aristule to put his national title on the line.

Among Melian’s outstanding amateur victories were wins over Cuban Olympic champion Robeisy Ramirez and Frenchman Khedafi Djelkhir, Olympic silver medalist in Beijing 2008 and APB Series World champion. In 2014, he was awarded the “Firpo de Oro” as the best boxer in the country, amateur or professional, by the Boxing´s Journalist Union of Argentina (UPERBOX).

Palmetta, former captain of the Argentinean Olympic team that participated in the Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro 2016, will return to the ring after suffered his first defeat as a professional in a fight that had dominated on the cards against Gonzalo Coria.
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.

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (Feb. 15, 2018) – Laila Ali will become the first child of a Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame inductee to be enshrined when she is inducted into the NVBHOF on Saturday, August 18 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Tickets to the induction gala, priced from $95 to $500, go on sale at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT today and can be purchased at www.nvbhof.com (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nevada-boxing-hall-of-fame-6th-annual-induction-dinner-tickets-43144441185) Caesars Palace is once again offering a discounted room rate for the event. Rooms can be reserved now via this link: Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.

Ali, the daughter of legendary former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, headlines an elite 14-member class.

“I am so excited about our latest class, because we not only do we get to honor some of the greatest boxers ever, but also because of the historic connection between Muhammad Ali and his daughter, Laila,” said Michelle Corrales-Lewis, the CEO of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. “Just like her father, who was known as ‘The Greatest,’ Laila was believed by many to be the best female boxer during her career.

“It’s also exciting for us to induct Sen. Harry Reid. Sen. Reid was a boxer himself, and loved the sport and used his influence over the years to help boxing and boxers in his beloved State of Nevada. We can’t wait for our fans to be able to see these great people receive recognition for their amazing careers.”

Of the 14-member class, nine are being elected as boxers and five as non-participants. The living inductees are Laila Ali, Chris Byrd, Todd duBoef, Kevin Kelley, Don Minor, Shane Mosley, Sen. Harry Reid, Jerry Roth and Earnie Shavers.

Alexis Arguello, Henry Armstrong, Jack “Doc” Kearns, Bill Miller and Aaron Pryor will be inducted posthumously.

Here are brief career highlights of the 14 members of the Class of 2018:

· LAILA ALI – Born Dec. 30, 1977 … Was 24-0 with 21 knockouts in career that went from 1999 to 2007. … Her father, Muhammad Ali, is one of the greatest boxers who ever lived and is a member of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015. … At various points in her career, Ali held the IBA, WIBA, IWBF and WBC super middleweight title as well as the IWBF light heavyweight championship. … She became the first woman, along with Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, to headline a boxing pay-per-view when they met in Verona, N.Y., on June 8, 2001. … She fought twice in Nevada, both times in Las Vegas. She stopped Suzy Taylor in the second round on Aug. 17, 2002, and stopped Valerie Mahfood in the eighth on Nov. 8, 2002. … Her husband, Curtis Conway, had an 11-year NFL career with four teams.

· ALEXIS ARGUELLO – Born April 19, 1952. Died July 1, 2009. … Arguello was 82-8 with 65 KOs. … Held world championship at featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight. … Lost two bids for a super lightweight title to Aaron Pryor, both of which are among the greatest bouts of the 20th century. … He was named the No. 1 super featherweight of the 20th century by The Associated Press. … Was 20th in a Ring Magazine story on the 100 greatest punchers of all-time. … Made his debut in 1968 and retired for good in 1995. … Arguello was 6-2 in fights in Nevada. … Scored notable wins over Ruben Olivares, Bobby Chacon, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, Jose Luis Ramirez, Jim Watt and Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

· HENRY ARMSTRONG – Was born Henry Jackson Jr. on Dec. 12, 1912. Died on Oct. 24, 1988. … Was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. … Held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight belts simultaneously in 1937 and 1938. … Compiled a record of 151-21-9 with 101 KOs. Widely regarded among the top five boxers who ever lived. … Was niced “Hammerin’ Hank’ and ‘Homicide Hank.’ … Was 27-0 with 26 KOs in 1937 alone. … The following year, he was 14-0 with 10 KOs.

· CHRIS BYRD – Born Aug. 15, 1970 … Was 41-5-1 with 22 KOs as a pro and won a version of the heavyweight title on two occasions. … Lost in the 1988 Olympic Trials at light welterweight to Todd Foster, but made the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. He won a silver medal as a middleweight in Barcelona. … Despite being a smaller heavyweight, fought most of the big names of his era, including Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, Evander Holyfield, Ike Ibeabuchi, David Tua, Alexander Povetkin, Fres Oquendo and Jameel McCline. … Posted a 5-2-1 record in world title bouts … Attended Flint, Mich., Northwestern High School, which also produced two-time boxing gold medalist Claressa Shields. … Was 1-1 in fights in Nevada … Retired in 2010 and has become a trainer.

· TODD duBOEF – Born Aug. 18, 1967 … duBoef is the president of Top Rank, a position he has held since 2005. Joined Top Rank in 1993. … Though Top Rank founder Bob Arum, a member of the inaugural Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame Class of 2013, remains the public face of the promotion, duBoef runs the company on a day-to-day basis and has played a key role in bringing the company into the digital age. … Considers himself a boxing evangelist and points to large crowds and high television ratings for fights around the world as reasons for optimism. … Shepherded a multi-year deal with ESPN to not only get Top Rank regular shows on the powerful all-sports network, but also pre- and post-fight shows as well as regular coverage during the week on the network.

· JACK “DOC” KEARNS – Born Aug. 17, 1882. Died July 7, 1963. … Was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. … Kearns is best known as the long-time manager of heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. With Dempsey, helped generate the first million-dollar gate in boxing history, when Dempsey fought Georges Carpentier on July 2, 1921. Kearns arranged for Dempsey to fight in Nevada numerous times… He is given credit for staging the first fight in Las Vegas, a card that had a main event between Archie Moore and Nino Valdes. … After Dempsey, Kearns managed other greats such as Moore, Mickey Walker and Joey Maxim.

· KEVIN KELLEY – Born June 29, 1967 … Nicknamed “The Flushing Flash,” Kelley finished his career with a 60-10-2 mark with 39 KOs. … Defeated Goyo Vargas in Reno on Dec. 4, 1993, to win the WBC featherweight title. … Known for his fast hands and explosive power, Kelley faced most of the top starts of his day. His most memorable bout was a Dec. 19, 1997, loss to Prince Naseem Hamed. Kelley and Hamed were down three times apiece before Hamed finished the fight late in the fourth. … Also fought Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Manuel Medina, Humberto Soto, Derrick Gainer, Luisito Espinoza, Bones Adams and Troy Dorsey. … Has done working as an expert analyst on television since retiring.

· BILL MILLER – Miller was one of the top promoters in Las Vegas in the 1960s and 1970s. … He promoted a fight involving the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson at The Hacienda on The Strip on July 12, 1965, a bout Robinson lost to Ferd Hernandez. … Miller also promoted shows at The Castaways, but is best known for his weekly shows at The Silver Slipper. The fights began in 1968 and were held every Wednesday night. The series continued into the late 1970s. … Miller was known for promoting evenly matched fights which generated plenty of toe-to-toe slugfests. … He promoted numerous fights involving fellow 2018 Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Don Minor.

· DON MINOR – Boxing came of age in Las Vegas in the 1960s and Minor was among the more popular fighters on the local circuit of the era. … He was 19-2 with nine knockouts in a brief pro career that began in 1961 and ended in 1965 after a hand injury. … Minor fought of all his fights in Nevada, with 18 in Las Vegas and three in Reno. … His biggest win was a victory over previously unbeaten Ernie Lopez for the North American welterweight title in 1964.

· SHANE MOSLEY – Born Sept. 7, 1971. … Compiled a 49-10-1 record with 41 knockouts. … Scored a pair of victories over long-time rival Oscar De La Hoya. … Held world titles at lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight. … Was a fan favorite because of his power and his fast hands. … Scored notable victories over De La Hoya twice, as well as Fernando Vargas twice, Luis Collazo, Ricardo Mayorga twice, Antonio Margarito and Phillip Holiday. … Suffered losses to Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Winky Wright, Vernon Forrest, Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez. … He was 15-7 with 12 KOs in world championship fights.

· AARON PRYOR – Born Oct. 20, 1955 and died Oct. 9, 2016. … A member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Pryor was 204-16 as an amateur but lost a spot on the fabled 1976 U.S. Olympic boxing team when he was outpointed in the box-offs by Howard Davis Jr. … A powerful puncher with a great chin, Pryor was 39-1 with 35 KOs. His only career loss was by stoppage in 1987 to Bobby Joe Young. Only four of the 40 pro fights he was involved in went to the cards. … He is best known for his pair of victories over Alexis Arguello in 1982 and 1983. He stopped Arguello in the 14th round in Miami on Nov. 12, 1982 and then knocked out Arguello in the 10th in a heavily hyped rematch in the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace. … Won the WBA super lightweight title on Aug. 2, 1980, knocking out Antonio Cervantes in four. Pryor made eight defenses of it. He won the IBF super lightweight title by decisioning Nick Furlano on June 22, 1984 and made one defense.

· SEN. HARRY REID – Born Dec. 2, 1939 in Searchlight, NV … Reid is best known as a politician, and served Nevada as a U.S. Senator for 30 years. He was the Senate Majority Leader for eight years. Reid also served in the House of Representatives and was Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. … Reid loved boxing and boxed as an amateur while at Basic High School in Henderson. One of his teachers there, Mike O’Callaghan, served as his boxing coach. O’Callaghan later became Nevada governor with Reid as his lieutenant governor. … Reid played a key behind-the-scenes role in helping boxing promoters and regulars with fights in Nevada. … He was frequently seen at major fights in the state.

· JERRY ROTH – Born May 12, 1941 … Roth was one of boxing’s best judges in a 35-year career that began in 1990. … Among the major fights he judged were the heavyweight title fight between Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney; Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad; Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.-Meldrick Taylor I; all three Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe heavyweight title fights; Roy Jones-James Toney and Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales III. … Was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame and will be inducted in June. … Was regarded as one of the small handful of the best judges in the world for more than 20 years.

· EARNIE SHAVERS – Born Aug. 31, 1945 … Shavers was one of the most feared punchers in the heavyweight division and was renowned to be the hardest puncher in boxing during his career, which went from 1969 until 1995. … Shavers was 74-14-1 with 68 KOs. … Fought for the heavyweight title twice. Was outpointed by Muhammad Ali on Sept. 29, 1977 at Madison Square Garden. In 1979, he knocked Larry Holmes down in the seventh round of their title fight at Caesars Palace, but Holmes got up to stop Shavers in the 11th. … Ali nicknamed Shavers “The Acorn.” … His most notable win was a first-round KO of Ken Norton at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1979. … He also knocked out ex-champion Jimmy Ellis in 1973, also in one. … He scored 23 first-round knockouts in his career and ended 50 bouts in the first three.

The Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame is an IRS 501 (c)3 charity and all donations are tax deductible. The Hall’s charitable contributions over the five years since its formation have helped boxers in need and boxing-related charities. Donations are welcome.

The Hall was founded in 2013 by noted boxing broadcaster Rich Marotta.

Tijuana, Mexico (Feb 15, 2018) – On Friday night, a fan friendly fight between two exciting Super Flyweights will take place. Dewayne “Easy” Beamon is looking to make some noise in the division by making a statement in this fight. The confident Beamon says he will knockout Angel “Diablito” Ramos. Angel is a tough hard hitting boxer who earned the name “Diablito” or “Little Devil” because he has a come forward style and one punch knockout power. He signed to a contract fight because he believes by beating Beamon, an up and coming fighter, he can get the attention from network TV. Beamon has his sites on fighting the champions of the flyweight division as the division has heated up in the past few years with HBO’s Super Flyweight triple-headers and the rise of former number one fighter Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

“Our cards every fight night get better and better as more fighters want to fight on our cards, ” said Saul Rios CEO of Borizteca Boxing. Saul believes that by giving fighters exposure to a global audience with Best In Boxing he has increased his visibility within the sport of boxing. “I am contact on a regular basis with promoters to have their fighters fight on our cards and I believe it has something to do with the exposure I am able to give them.”

Also on the card hard hitting Armando Tovar, 19 year Mario “Guero” Ramirez and hot prospect Kevin Torres. “Kevin Torres is something special. The boxing world is going to know Kevin Torres when he is done with his career. He has all the skills to be a world champion and he has the looks and personality to become a super star in the sport.” Saul Rios has all the confidence in the world that his developmental series is going to produce world champion in a few years.

“Working with Saul Rios and Borizteca has been a real blessing as we develop our Best in Boxing series.” Armando Bareño founder of Best in Boxing series has expanded on the series by partnering Borizteca and Best in Boxing with Fight Hub TV. Fight Hub is the largest and most subscribed to digital platform for boxing in the world and second biggest in all of combat sports. Boxing fans and combat sport fans have truly found Fight Hub TV to be a great source of information on their favorite fighters and events. “I’m very happy in joining Global Sports Streaming and Borizteca Boxing in this venture. It’s the perfect opportunity to provide live fights that provide knockouts to our core subscribers and fight fans via our platform. We look forward to this event and others that will see Fight Hub TV move into broadcasting live fights and events in 2018.”

This Friday’s fights kickoff at 7 PM at the Salon Mezzanine in Tijuana, Mexico. Tickets are $10 general admission and $20 for VIP ringside tickets. “Where in the US can you get 13 fights for only $20? We are right over the board from San Diego in a beautiful venue with inexpensive tickets, food and drinks.” Saul Rios said. If you can’t make it to the fights in person the next best thing is watch it online. YouTube.com/FightHub kicks off the night with seven fights and passes off to BestInBoxing.com at 9 PM for five fights including the main event between Dewayne “Easy” Beamon vs Angel “Diablito” Ramos.

BESTINBOXING.COM PPV $2.99
9 PM PST
MAIN EVENT

DEWAYNE BEAMON 13-0 vs ANGEL RAMOS 22-1-1

ARMANDO TOVAR 8-1 vs JORGE VALENZUELA 6-1
MARIO “GUERO” RAMIREZ 9-1 vs JORGE LUIS BABUCA 5-24-2
KEVIN TORRES 6-0-1 vs CRISTOPHER GARCIA 0-1
ROBERTO MEZA 8-1 vs JAVIER MERAZ 6-10-1

FIGHT HUB TV ON YOUTUBE
YOUTUBE.COM/FIGHTHUB
7 PM PST

MAIN EVENT
SIMON TORRES vs GIOVANNI PONCE

BRANDON VALDEZ vs JONATHAN PEREZ
BRANDON CRUZ vs MARIO DIAZ
ALIMKHAN JUMAKHANOV vs SAUL GONZALEZ
DILAN MIRANDA vs CARLOS ESCOBEDO
OSVALDO HERNANDEZ vs MANUEL GUILLEN
YAHO GABRIEL BLACKWELL vs ESTEBAN SOSA
JORGE MUñOZ, JR vs GABRIEL VILLAR (Swing)

For More information on Borizteca Boxing:

www.boriztecaboxing.com or on Social Media:

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NEW YORK (Feb. 15, 2018) – The million-view mountaintop has been summitted by the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series, with sights set only higher for what is to come in 2018. The ten month-old, fan-friendly Facebook platform has already featured two outstanding fight cards in the first six weeks of the New Year – and up next: Feb. 23-24 back-to-back-to-back Friday and Saturday shows spanning from the casinos of New England to the Boardwalk of Atlantic City.

The interactive series that – among other aspects – prides itself on the real-time conversations held between fight commentators and the viewing audience recorded new high-marks with 5,033 in-show comments and 3,421 total hours viewed in Philadelphia last Saturday. The ultimate result of all of the show-by-show views, the series interactivity and the global reach of the Facebook platform throughout the U.S.A. and also to significant audiences in the U.K., Mexico and South America – FIGHTNIGHT LIVE surpassed a new milestone by reaching its 1,067,435th view in only its 12th show.

And Facebook itself has taken notice – the world’s No. 1 social network recently profiled FIGHTNIGHT LIVE on its “Success Stories” media blog, noting the series’ use of best practices for production and interactivity: https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/success-stories/fightnight

“THANK YOU, fight fans! We’re extremely proud that Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has provided free, action-packed events for more than a million fans in just over nine months, by posting a show-by-show average audience of nearly 90,000,” said Mark Fratto, Principal and Director of Business Development, Linacre Media. “But beyond the numbers, we’re really pleased with the way the shows have been presented, using multiple promoter-friendly production models. We’ve been able to showcase up-and-coming fighters to fight fans all over the world, and help them expand their bases. And we’ve been able to invite our viewers to be part of the action by fostering real-time interaction between our broadcasters and viewers on the fight activity, the decisions and the knockouts; it’s the next-best thing to having a ringside seat.”

Over the first nine-plus months of programming, the numbers on the 12-show FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series have showed promise and potential for the new platform with an average of close to 90,000 fight fans tuning in per event and more than one-million fans served.

The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” from Resorts World Casino (225,000), the August CES “Super Saturday” from Foxwoods (203,000), the Sept. CES “Twin River Twinbill” from Lincoln, R.I. (157,000) all topped 150,000 views, and collectively the 12-show series saw a total of more than 21,000 total hours of Facebook video consumed by 1,067,435-plus users across all devices.

In addition to the raw viewership numbers, the fully-interactive, fan-friendly productions have seen more than 142,000 collective live post engagements (nearly 12,000 per show), including almost 97,000 “likes” or “loves,” more than 22,000 comments and almost 6,000 shares.

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE broadcasts are viewed by 76 percent men, 24 percent women. The top demographic is comprised of males ages 25-34, which encompasses approximately 30.0 percent of the audience, on average.

The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” set a new bar with 224,658 views and the Sept. 15-16 DiBella-CES doubleheader carried the series to three-quarters-of-a-million views in just over four months. The Feb. 10 Hard-Hitting Promotions “Philly Fight Night” show stands out individually with 3,421 live hours of content viewed, while the Sept. 15 DiBella card saw more than 40,000 viewer interactions including almost 39,000 “likes” or “loves.”

The FIGHTNIGHT LIVE page on Facebook has more than 80,000 fans and more than 82,000 followers.

Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has been delivered to fans absolutely free since its May 2017 launch courtesy of series corporate partners like Elite Heat Water, Montauk Iced Tea (montaukbev.com), Mr. Custom Made (mrcustommade.com) and BallWash (ballwash.com).

Many FIGHTNIGHT LIVE cards are called by world-renowned blow-by-blow announcer Ray Flores of Premier Boxing Champions, Showtime Boxing, HBO Boxing and CBS Sports Networks. Often joining Flores ringside are analysts like Michael Woods of the TalkBox Podcast, NYFights.com and Ring TV. Marc Abrams of AWE, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 15Rounds.com and AbramsBoxing.com and Xavier Porter of BrooklynFights.com and Notorious Boxing are frequent contributors while pro fighters like former IBF and WBA World Champion Paulie Malignaggi and Top Ten world-ranked light heavyweight Mike Lee have provided expert analysis from the broadcast booth. Locally-based ringside reporters with significant social media followings are often employed for weigh-in day “behind the scenes” taped interviews and post-fight reports.

Created and produced by Linacre Media out of New York City, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series features professional announcers, multiple camera angles, television graphics, replays and behind-the-scenes access and interviews. The streamed shows are available globally wherever Facebook is available. The initiative not only enables fans from around the world to tune in, but also gives up-and-coming fighters a global platform to showcase their abilities, gives promoters an accessible “broadcast” solution and gives sponsors the ability to reach a mass audience via branded content.

More FIGHTNIGHT LIVE Winter/Spring 2018 dates will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE is available online at: https://www.facebook.com/FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE/

Follow all the action via social media at FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Facebook, @FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Instagram and @FIGHTNIGHTLIVE_ on Twitter, or by using the hashtag #FIGHTNIGHTLIVE. For the latest Linacre Media events and broadcast schedule, follow @LinacreMedia across all social platforms or use the tags #LinacreMediaEvents or #LinacreMediaOnTV.

Callum Smith believes he will face George Groves in the final for the Muhammad Ali Trophy.

“Groves-Eubank is a good fight, a very good one. The winner will become an even bigger name after the weekend,” said Smith.

Smith is fully focused on his semi-final against Germany’s Juergen Braehmer next weekend at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung in Nuremberg.

But he is keeping an eye on Saturday’s event in Manchester.

“I have been following the build-up a bit and I will watch the fight at home. One of them will be my opponent in the final and as a boxing fan, it’s a good fight. I am fully concentrated on my own fight, but I will watch this one on the telly.“

“They both have strength and weaknesses at different points. Groves has got the jab, the boxing brain and the size on his side. I think his weakness is his stamina issues whereas Eubank’s strength is his stamina. Eubanks weakness might be his boxing ability at distance, where I feel Groves is the better man.”

“If would have to pick, I will pick Groves on points. I believe he will win the early rounds, a few rocky moments later on, but in the end, he will win on points,” said Smith before talking about his upcoming challenge:

“I am very confident that I will beat Juergen Braehmer next Saturday in Nuremberg. And I am confident that I will beat the winner of this weekend’s semi-final. I entered this tournament to win it.”

Tickets for the Ali Trophy semi-final Smith vs. Braehmer at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung, Germany on February 24 are available via eventim.de.

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 15, 2018): Ryan “Kingry” Garcia (13-0, 12 KOs), the 2017 consensus prospect of the year out of Victorville, Calif., will put his Junior NABF Super Featherweight Title on the line in his first headlining bout on the March 22 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. Garcia, a rising phenomenon of modern boxing, will also fight for the vacant NABA USA Super Featherweight Title as he faces the tough Mexican pugilist Fernando Vargas (32-15-3, 24 KOs) in this ten-round affair. ESPN and ESPN Deportes will air the fights beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT, and stream live on ESPN3 starting at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.

Garcia has star potential written all over him. The 19-year-old won multiple national championships as an amateur before turning professional in 2016 at the age of 17. After several fights in Mexico and in the United States, Garcia signed with Golden Boy Promotions to finish off the year. Since then, he has won every fight by knockout, including a highlight-reel knockout of Miguel Carrizoza to win the Junior NABF Super Featherweight Title on the Sept. 15 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN. Garcia is eager to defend his title for the second time in his headlining debut.

“I’m excited to fight on ESPN in my first main event fight,” said Garcia. “I look forward to showing the fans a great fight as I continue to build the “Kingry” Army. This is a big responsibility, and I appreciate the trust and confidence Golden Boy Promotions has in me. This March 22, I will not disappoint!”

“I have said from the minute we signed him that Ryan Garcia has the potential to be the next megastar in the sport of boxing,” said Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya. “Ryan is charismatic, has an incredible amateur pedigree and has one-punch knockout power. He is the real deal.”

Vargas is an aggressive brawler from Tijuana, Mexico. Vargas has fought the likes of Horacio “El Violento” Garcia, current world champion Jamie McDonnell, and has a victory against former world titlist Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. The 29-year-old will look to derail Garcia’s rise with an upset victory.

“We are ready to take on this big challenge,” said Vargas. “We know that Ryan [Garcia] is a good fighter and that he is following in the footsteps of Oscar De La Hoya. We know that the fight is tough, but winning it is not impossible. We will come well prepared and ready for the upset.”

In the televised co-main event, two tough contenders will battle it out for a chance to rise in the 147-pound rankings. KeAndre “The Truth” Gibson (18-1-1, 7 KOs) St. Louis, Mo. will face Eddie “EBoy” Gomez (20-3, 11 KOs) of the Bronx, N.Y. in a 10-round fight. Both are coming off a tough challenge in a common opponent, Alejandro “El Elegido” Barrera on previous editions of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN.

Joet Gonzalez (18-0, 10 KOs), the Glendora, Calif. native who developed into a legitimate contender in 2017, will battle Rolando Magbanua (26-6, 18 KOs) of Cotabato, Phillipines in a scheduled 10-round fight in the 126-pound division. Gonzalez, who was a decorated amateur before turning professional, is coming of a third-round knockout victory against the experienced Isao Carranza, where he utterly destroyed the Mexico native.

East Los Angeles, Calif.’s Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro (12-0, 6 KOs) will take on Cesar Valenzuela (7-2, 2 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in an eight-round 140-pound fight. Raul “El Cugar” Curiel (2-0, 1 KO), the welterweight prospect who participated in the 2016 Olympic Games representing Mexico, will return in the six-round swing fight against Quantavious Green (1-1, 1 KO) of Shreveport, La.

Emilio Sanchez (16-0, 11 KOs) of Pacoima, Calif. will return in an eight-round super bantamweight fight against a soon-to-be-announced opponent in the first bout of the evening. Sanchez is an explosive puncher who is inching closer toward a regional title.

Tickets for the event go on sale Friday, Feb. 16 at 10:00 a.m. PT and start at $25. Tickets will be available at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino box office, by calling 1-800-827-2946, or by purchasing online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Media interested in attending Golden Boy Boxing: Garcia vs. Vargas must request credentials by emailing clavoie@fantasysprings.net by 5:00 p.m. PT on Friday, March 13.

Garcia vs. Vargas is a 10-round fight for the Junior NABF and vacant NABA USA Super Featherweight Titles presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING” and Hennessy, “Never Stop, Never Settle.” The fights will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2018 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. ESPN and ESPN Deportes will air the fights beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT, and stream live on ESPN3 starting at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and http://www.espn.com/boxing/; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @ESPN, and @ESPNBoxeo; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing; and follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @OscarDeLaHoya. Follow the conversation using #GBPonESPN.

Photos and videos are available to download by clicking here or copying and pasting link: http://bit.ly/GarciaVargas into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

(Shirley, New York) – Boxing is full of big talkers. LeShawn “Lightning” Rodriguez (8-0, 7 KOs) isn’t one of them. The 24-year-old undefeated middleweight prefers to deliver his big statements in the boxing ring and relishes the opportunity to entertain his fans at every bout.

“Of course, I want to be an entertainer,” says the hard-hitting Rodriguez. “When I go see boxing, I want to see a show. When I go into the ring, I put on the best show I can.”

Rodriguez gets his next chance to entertain in his return to The Theater at Madison Square Garden on the non-televised undercard of Sergey Kovalev vs. Igor Mikhalkin and Dmitry Bivol vs. Sullivan Barrera on Saturday, March 3. Rodriguez hopes to extend his knockout streak to seven in a row against opponent Martez Jackson (4-1-2, 2 KOs) of Valdosta, Georgia.

Rodriguez says he gets energy and motivation from his growing fan base, who’ve picked up on the buzz about him and like what they see. “The new fans, I’m getting a lot of support from them and congratulations on social media. ‘Great KO power’ and ‘You’re going to be a superstar.’ When people come to support me, I put on an even better show so they’ll come back again and watch again,” said Rodriguez.

As a result, Rodriguez can be his toughest critic when assessing his efforts. Although his last bout ended in a third round TKO, he gave himself no more than a “B-plus … I could have done it a little sooner. I took my time … It’s true, I’m my biggest critic, honestly. I always want to be better than the last time. I work harder and I push myself. It’s a benefit, I think,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez channels his competitive drive into everything he does outside the boxing ring as well as inside. He still shows up at his local fitness center and plays basketball, showing no mercy to his friends or any new players unfamiliar with the knockout artist who’s coming down the floor at them.

If your competitive tastes run to video games like the popular “Call of Duty,” you better watch out for online player “PeakKnight123.” Yes, it’s Rodriguez, a big gamer who plays Xbox One games to relax. “Of course, I’m competitive in everything!” admits Rodriguez.

Rodriguez knows his next opponent, Martez Jackson, scored draws with two previously undefeated fighters, and he doesn’t want to make it three. “I’m going to take that into consideration, and do my best.”

Rodriguez says he hopes to be 13 or 14 and 0 by the end of 2018, with a title shot opportunity in 2019, all with an eye toward his knockout percentage.

Rodriguez has a final word for his fans: “Come out, watch the future of boxing. Get in on the ground floor. I’m going to keep my knockout streak going for you!”

About March 3: The Saturday, March 3 main event between Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev and Igor Mikhalkin is a 12-round match-up for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The co-main event features WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Dmitry Bivol versus Sullivan Barrera in a 12-round title fight. Tickets range from $50 to $300 and are available at TicketMaster.com and the Madison Square Garden box office. The event is promoted by Main Events, Krusher Promotions and World of Boxing in association with EC Box Promotions and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® at 10:05 p.m. ET/PT.

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Bethlehem, PA (February 15, 2018) – This past Tuesday night, junior welterweight Mykal Fox took an eight-round unanimous decision over tough Ricardo Garcia in the main event of an eight-bout card at the
Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

The card was promoted by King’s Promotions.

Fox of Forestville, Maryland remained undefeated by using his long reach, as he used his jab and nice left hands. Garcia landed haymaker shots from time to time, but over the second half of the fight, Fox made the proper adjustments and timed Garcia lunging in. The damage inflicted by Fox was evident as Garcia’s left eye began to swell midway through the fight. In round seven, with his eye nearly shut, Garcia ate a right hook that put him on the canvas.

Fox, 141.8 lbs of Forestville, Maryland took the decision by scores of 78-73 twice and 77-74 to further his perfect mark to 16-0. Garcia, 142.1 lbs of Dominican Republic dropped his 2nd straight fight, and is now 14-2.

Former two-time world welterweight champion Kermit Cintron and Marquis Taylor fought to a no-contest after an accidental headbutt caused a bad cut on the right eyelid of Cintron.

The end came at 35 seconds of round three of the scheduled eight-round super welterweight bout.

Cintron, 153.7 lbs of Reading, PA is 39-6-3. Taylor, 153.8 lbs of Houston, TX is 8-1.

Colby Madison fought through a cut on the bridge of his nose to win a six-round unanimous decision over Dante Selby in a heavyweight bout.

Madison, 247 lbs of Owings Mills, MD won by scores of 60-54 & 59-55 twice to remain undefeated at 6-0-1. Selby, 230 lbs of Philadelphia is 2-4-1.

Blake Mansfield stopped Darryl Bunting in round five of their scheduled six-round middleweight bout.

The bout was entertaining as the two landed good shots on each other. Bunting was cut over his right eye from a punch in round two. Mansfield was deducted a point in round four as his mouthpiece came out several times.

Mansfield ended the fight in round five when he landed a hard combination that had Bunting in trouble on the ropes. Several hard an unanswered punches later, the fight was stopped at 36 seconds.

Mansfield, 162.4 lbs of Burington, NC is 6-1-1 with four knockouts. Bunting, 163 lbs of Asbury Park, NJ is 3-3-2.

Michael Coffie won a four-round unanimous decision over tough Nicoy Clarke in a heavyweight bout.

Coffie, 269 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won all cards 40-36, and is now 2-0. Clarke, 206.8 lbs of Jersey City, NJ was making his pro debut.

Juan Sanchez stopped Sergio Aguilar in the final scheduled round of the their four round featherweight bout.

Sanchez scored knockdowns in round one, two in round two, and finished the show with a hard left that sent Aguilar down and out with just five seconds remaining in the bout.

Sanchez, 125.5 lbs of Allentown, PA is 5-0 with two knockouts. Aguilar, 123 lbs of Homestead, FL is 2-7.

Kendall Cannida made a successful pro debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Leroy Jones in a cruiserweight bout.

Cannida, 175.1 lbs of Philadelphia won on all cards by 40-36 scores. Jones, 174.5 lbs of Newark, NJ is 2-2.

Martino Jules won a four-round unanimous decision over Malik Loften in a battle of previously undefeated featherweight’s.

Jules scored a knockdown in round two and won by scores of 39-38 and 37-37 twice.

Jules, 127.1 lbs of Philadelphia is 3-0. Loften, 125.8 lbs of Suitland, MD is 1-1.

King’s Promotions returns with a terrific night of action on Friday, March 2nd at The SugarHouse Casino.

HOUSTON (Feb. 15, 2018) – Undefeated 140-pound contender Regis “Rougarou” Prograis remains focused on the prize despite the recent change in opponent for his March 9 showdown for the Interim WBC Super Lightweight World Championship. Prograis will now face former unified world champion Julius Indongo in the 12-round main event of a SHOWTIME BOXING: SPECIAL EDITION live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT from Deadwood Mountain Grand in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The southpaw Indongo replaced Viktor Postol, who was forced to withdraw from the bout on Monday with a hand injury.

“Lou called and told me about what happened to Viktor Postol and that Indongo could be the new opponent and I said yes immediately,” said Prograis. “I always want to fight the best and with Indongo being a former unified champion, he brings a great deal of credibility to the fight. Both of his titles were won on the road in Russia and Scotland, so I know how fearless and determined he will be.

“I had to switch up my training a little for sparring with Indongo being a lefty and a little taller, but I’m sparring with middleweights. I’ve heard how hard he hits and I want to be fully prepared. Maybe down the line Postol and I could still fight, but I’m only focused on Indongo now. This is my time and my year to shine. I’m ready to put on a spectacular performance on March 9.”

“This fight came together in a matter of two phone calls – one to Prograis and one to Indongo – and that speaks volumes about the championship mentality of both fighters,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “Prograis wanted to fight the best fighter available, even if that fighter presented a different style and was recently a unified champion. Indongo immediately jumped at the opportunity to again be a champion. They are true professionals and their desire to fight will be evident in the ring.”

The event is presented by DiBella Entertainment, in association with Fight Promotions Inc., Holden Productions and Sauerland Promotions. Tickets, priced at $200, $80 and $60, are on sale now and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com or by calling (877) 907-4726. The doors open and first bout begins at 5:30 p.m. More information on Deadwood Mountain Grand can be found on their website at www.DeadwoodMountainGrand.com.

Fighting out of Namibia and now training in Omaha, NE, Indongo (22-1, 11 KOs) is a former unified champion who held the IBF and WBA 140-pound titles.

In 2016, Indongo traveled to Moscow, Russia, to dethrone IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Eduard Troyanovsky with a stunning first-round knockout. In his first defense, Indongo traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, for a unification bout with WBA Champion Ricky Burns. The 35-year-old won a 12-round unanimous decision to become unified champion.

In his first bout as a unified titleholder, Indongo made his U.S. debut against fellow undefeated and unified champion Terence Crawford in a showdown to determine the undisputed champion of the 140-pound division. It was the first championship bout with all four major world titles at stake since Jermain Taylor dethroned Bernard Hopkins in 2005. Indongo lost to Crawford to suffer the only defeat of his professional career.

Prograis (20-0, 17 KOs), of Houston by way of New Orleans, has scored knockouts in 13 of his last 14 fights and is a rising star in the wide-open 140-pound division. Indongo represents the toughest challenge of his career.

In the 12-round co-feature, undefeated 140-pound contenders Ivan Baranchyk (17-0, 10 KOs) and Anthony Yigit (21-0-1, 7 KOs) will square off in a Junior Welterweight World Title Eliminator to become the mandatory challenger for IBF champion Sergey Lipinets. Lipinets will defend his belt the following day, March 10, on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® against undefeated three-division champion Mikey Garcia.

Savage Southampton Super-Feather Ryan Garner might have been absent from the public eye for the past seven months following a short suspension for an out of ring transgression but the one the call ‘The Piranha’ certainly hasn’t been profligating.

A one time European schoolboy king and triple national junior champion, the classy yet clinical 20 year old executioner has been sharpening his tools and collecting props in world class company ahead of his highly anticipated ring return at London’s York Hall on February 24th.

‘I doubt I’ll be that rusty as I’ve been sparring up and down the country,’ claims iron Ryan who has won six straight since storming the pros in June 2016.

‘I went up to Doncaster to help (Commonwealth Featherweight boss) Isaac Lowe and I worked with (IBF and WBA bantam boss) Ryan Burnett for his unification fight in October.

‘I was sparring the Walsh brothers (champions Liam and Ryan) before I even turned pro and last summer I was doing six to eight rounds, three times a week for three weeks with Carl Frampton. Recently I’ve sparred Mitchell Smith and Charlie Edwards.

‘They’re all older and far more experienced but if I can hold your own in that company after just five fights, it shows what level I should be able to compete at.

‘For these top guys, you travel to their gyms where they feel they have to show they’re ‘The Man’. That adds pressure but my timing was there and I feel good.

‘To be honest, I’m learning far more sparring that level than I would fighting journeymen who just come to survive. Sparring better people, I can show more variety. In longer fights, my body shots will come more into play. In the amateurs or four rounders, they can take it…but they’d fold over ten or 12.

‘These spars can only help me progress and I’m improving every aspect of my game. I’m becoming stronger physically and mentally more focussed. During my suspension, I’ve been able to focus on improving my overall technique as opposed to getting myself ultra fit to fight.’

A former streetfighter with natural combative instincts, the aptly named ‘Piranha’ needed less than three completed rounds to shred five of his six paid victims yet insists his skill set extends beyond a heavy punch and executioner’s mien.

‘Some dismiss me as just a come forward banger but I can make people miss and counter off the back foot,’ he claims.

‘My fifth opponent (50 fight Nicaraguan veteran) Rafael Castillo was really tough and I couldn’t walk through him so last two rounds I just boxed. It might have been my best performance.

‘Hatton was my childhood hero but, of the current crop, I like ‘Loma’, an aggressive, exciting, front foot counter puncher.

While the city’s population exceeds a quarter of a million, it’s boxing history and ring accomplishments thus far are surprisingly sparse. And that’s something that Garner – in tandem with Pound for Pound gym mate Joe Pigford – Southampton’s obscenely heavy-handed 13-0 super-welterweight – intend to alter.

‘Southampton’s a rough old port but unfortunately, before us, local fighters never had much of a chance,’ explains the Wayne Batten coached prospect who has started just twice in his home city but has accrued a large band of travelling fans.

‘Wayne’s the only professional boxing trainer in Southampton. Before myself and Joe signed with Frank Warren, he went under the radar a bit but he’s got exceptionally quick hands and is probably the best pad man I’ve seen, never mind worked with. He’s also done so much for me outside of boxing.

‘Though the Guildhall has the most mental atmosphere’s I’ve known, it only holds about 1100. Then the Rosebowl cricket ground and St Mary’s are both outdoor. But Joe and me are both big Saints (Southampton FC) fans since day dot and I intend to be a flag bearer and headline at St Mary’s……one day!’

Limited remaining tickets for Saturday 24th February are available to purchase from www.ticketmaster.com and directly from fighters on the bill.

Media accreditation: Media and photographers wishing to attend the show can apply via the event page on the Frank Warren website: https://www.frankwarren.com/allevents/yarde-v-averlant/. The deadline for applications is 5.00pm on Friday 16th February.