LA-Chenko Media Workout Notes & Quotes: Lomachenko and Crolla Talk STAPLES Center Showdown

LOS ANGELES (April 9, 2019) — WBA/WBO lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko felt right at home Tuesday at the Ukrainian Culture Center, site of Tuesday’s media workout. Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs) won a pair of Olympic gold medals (2008 and 2012) for his native Ukraine.

For the first time as a professional, Lomachenko will headline a STAPLES Center card, a short drive from his United States training base in Ventura County.

Lomachenko will defend his world titles against the hard-charging Anthony Crolla (34-6-3, 13 KOs), while longtime WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (39-0, 25 KOs) will dip his toe in the light heavyweight waters versus veteran Tommy Karpency (29-6-1, 18 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature.

Lomachenko-Crolla and Ramirez-Karpency will stream exclusively Friday, April 12 at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on ESPN+ — the leading multi-sport streaming service.

The undercard broadcast (ESPN+, 8 p.m. EST) will feature unbeaten 140-pound contender Arnold Barboza Jr. (20-0, 7 KOs) against former world champion Mike Alvarado (40-4, 28 KOs) in a 10-rounder and welterweight contender Alexander Besputin (12-0, 9 KOs) versus Alfredo Blanco (20-7, 11 KOs) in a 10-rounder for Besputin’s USBA belt. Besputin is ranked No. 1 in the world by the WBA.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Matchroom Boxing USA, tickets priced at $310.50, $207, $103.50, $77.65, $51.75 and $25.90 (including facility fees) are available now and can be purchased by visiting AXS.com.

Three days before taking center stage at STAPLES Center, this is what the fighters had to say.

Vasiliy Lomachenko

On fighting Crolla

“I anticipate a good and entertaining fight. I want to enjoy {myself} during the fight. All of my fights, I have enjoyed.”

“Before the fight, you’re nervous a little bit, but when you step in the ring, it’s your place. You step into your house, relax and enjoy the fight.”

On headlining in Los Angeles

“On April 12, I am going to show my best style and give the fans a great show. I am excited to fight at STAPLES Center. The fans in Los Angeles are special and appreciate my boxing style.”

On a potential Mikey Garcia fight

“I still want that fight, 100 percent, but it is up to Mikey. Can he cut the weight? I don’t know. But if he can make 135, I want to fight.”

“My goal is to unify all the titles. If it’s {IBF champion Richard} Commey later this year, that would be a great fight. Any champion, I would want to fight. I want IBF and WBC belts. I want to go down in history as a great champion.”

Anthony Crolla

“It’s been a long camp and the hardest of my career, physically and mentally, but I am in a great place and I’m raring to go.”

“He’s seen by many as the best fighter on the planet and I know that I have a huge challenge ahead of me, but these are the kinds of fights that I got into the sport for at the age of 10. I’ve dreamt about nights like this and it’s almost time.”

“He’s a very unique fighter, his movement is exceptional and he creates great angles. You can see what all the praise is about. He’s one of the greatest amateurs ever and he’s taken that into the pro ranks. It’s unbelievable what he’s done in a short space of time in the pros, but I am here not just to test myself against the very best but to give it everything I have to shock the world.”

“People aren’t giving me a chance, but that doesn’t matter to me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The motivation to me is attaching my name to one of the biggest upsets in British boxing history, without a doubt, and I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn there. As a boxing fan and someone that lives and breathes the sport, that’s all the motivation I need. I’ve been the underdog all throughout my career and I know that this is by far the biggest challenge I’ve faced, but it’s one I can’t wait to get stuck into.”

“I’ve boxed at the elite level before, I’ve been boxing at the world title level for years and I’ve earned this shot, it’s not been given to me. I know that I have to pull off something massive, but I do belong at this level and I’ll prove it. I won’t be in awe. I’ve worked far too hard to let that happen and I am confident. It’s just me and him in the ring. Like any sport you need that little bit of luck, but I have worked immensely hard to get as lucky as I can, but we’re going in with a good game plan and I cannot be better prepared.”

Gilberto Ramirez

On his move to 175 pounds

“It had become more difficult for me to make 168 pounds. I spent most of my career at that weight and my body was maturing. I’d return to super middleweight if there was a really big fight available to me, like Canelo or Golovkin.”

On working with new trainers Julian Chua and Joel Flores

“I have changed my entire team. This is a new beginning for me. Julian and Joel have brought a new element to my game. and the result of this training will show on April 12.”

“I was the first Mexican fighter to win a super middleweight world title. Now, I want to become the second Mexican to win a light heavyweight world title {the late Julio Gonzalez was the first}. I want to make history in boxing. Whether it’s at 168 or 175 pounds, the future is bright for me.”

Arnold Barboza Jr.

“This is a great fight for me on a great stage like the STAPLES Center and against a warrior like Mike Alvarado. He is a great fighter, but I come well prepared and ready to win this fight.”

“We accepted this fight because I want to show the world that I am ready for the big fights. I want to show that I am ready to fight for a world title. I want to face the guy from Fresno. I want to take the title from Jose Ramirez or Maurice Hooker. ”

Mike Alvarado

On the irony of being the veteran fighting the young contender

“I was thinking about that the other day. I was fighting Cesar Bazan on the Margarito-Cotto 1 undercard in Las Vegas. I was like, “This guy is hungry.’ I knew then and there that I have to be more focused and dial in with my technique.”

On what he expects from Barboza

“He’s going to try and be real crafty and slick and whatnot. He’s going to have to put on his goggles because we’re going into deep waters. I’m going to bring in a different type of tactic, a whole different type of technique along with relentless pressure.”

On returning to a big stage near the top of the bill

“It means a lot. I know in my heart that I’m ready for it. I deserve it. I’ve won six in a row, and I’ve earned my way back to this level. This fight will solidify that I’m ready to be a world champion again.”

Alexander Besputin

“I am the WBA’s top contender, and I want a title shot soon. This is a great opportunity for me on a big card to show everyone why I am a top welterweight. After I win this fight, I want all the big names. The time for me is now.”

“I am not overlooking Alfredo Blanco. He has won four fights in a row and views me as his shot to earn a top world ranking.”

“I hope to see my Russian fans at STAPLES Center on Friday. It’s been a long time since I’ve fought in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has some of the greatest fans in the world, and I want to put on a show for them.”

About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN. It reached 2 million subscribers in less than a year and offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks, along with premium editorial content.

Programming on ESPN+ includes hundreds of MLB and NHL games, exclusive UFC, Top Rank boxing and PFL fights and events, top domestic and international soccer (Serie A, MLS, FA Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL Championship, EFL Carabao Cup, Eredivisie, and more), thousands of college sports events (including football, basketball and other sports), Grand Slam tennis, international and domestic rugby and cricket, new and exclusive series, acclaimed studio shows and the full library of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 films. Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and can cancel at any time.

ESPN+ is available as an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices) and ESPN.com. They are the industry-leading all-in-one digital sports platform, delivering a rich, personalized experience to tens of millions of fans every month.

Media Workout Notes & Quotes: Lomachenko and ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez Prep for April 12 Card @ Staples Center

LOS ANGELES (March 11, 2019) — WBA/WBO lightweight world champion Vasiliy “Loma” Lomachenko and WBO super middleweight world champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez came to Fortune Gym in Hollywood on Monday for a media workout as they prepare for their respective bouts, April 12 at Staples Center.

Lomachenko, the pound-for-pound Picasso, will defend his world titles in the main event against the hard-charging Anthony “Million Dollar’ Crolla, while Ramirez will dip his toe in the light heavyweight waters versus veteran Tommy Karpency in the co-feature.

Lomachenko-Crolla and Ramirez-Karpency will stream exclusively April 12 at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Matchroom Boxing USA, tickets priced at $310.50, $207, $103.50, $77.65, and $51.75 (including facility fees) are available now and can be purchased by visiting AXS.com.

In front of a packed media contingent, this is what they had to say.

Vasiliy Lomachenko

On his weight

“Right now, I am a lightweight, but lightweight is not my ideal weight category. My goal now is to unify all four titles, and then, we’ll see. Maybe I’ll move back down to 130 pounds and win world titles there for a second time.

On Anthony Crolla as a fighter

“I don’t know too much about him. I know him from his two fights with Jorge Linares. I do know he is an aggressive fighter, and I like to fight guys who come forward.”

On preparing for Crolla

“I prepare like always. We are training hard. I’ve been training for a couple months already and will put on a great performance for my fans in Los Angeles and on ESPN+. I will show everyone my best style and hope everyone enjoys it.”

On future opponents

“I want to fight the best. But now, Crolla is the best choice. He is the mandatory challenger and wanted to fight me. That is why I accepted this fight.”

On whether he thinks he’ll dominate Crolla

“I don’t know. I can’t see in the future. It depends how he fights. We’ll see.”

On Teofimo Lopez

“I’m ready for everyone. I need the belts. If you have a belt, you can come in the ring and I’ll fight with you.”

Gilberto Ramirez

“I made history when I became the first super middleweight champion in the history of Mexican boxing, and now I’m moving up to the 175-pound division to continue making history.”

“I want to face the best fighters and clean out the division. I want all the titles. I want to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I’m ready to prove I’m an elite fighter.”

Programming on ESPN+ includes hundreds of MLB and NHL games, exclusive UFC and Top Rank boxing events, top domestic and international soccer (Serie A, MLS, FA Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL Championship, EFL Carabao Cup, Eredivisie, and more), thousands of college sports events (including football, basketball and other sports), Grand Slam tennis, international and domestic rugby and cricket, new and exclusive series, acclaimed studio shows and the full library of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 films. Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and can cancel at any time.

Gilberto Ramirez moving to Light Heavyweight

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBO Super Middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez will move to light heavyweight.

“I am looking for another belt. That’s why I am moving up. Also, last time I fought it was a little bit hard to make the weight, 168. My body is asking to move up,” Ramirez said Friday before the weigh-in for the rematch between light heavyweight world titlist Eleider “Storm” Alvarez and former two-time titlist Sergey Kovalev, who meet on Saturday night (midnight ET, ESPN+) at the Ford Center at the Star, the practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys.

“I am looking for those belts,” Ramirez said. “They are really tough fighters. I want to be the Mexican idol. So I am looking for a challenge and an opportunity.”

“He came to us. He was having trouble maintaining his weight at 168 [pounds] and thought he would be much stronger at 175,” Ramirez promoter Bob Arum said. “So without giving up his 168 title, I think we’re going to put him in a good fight at 175, and then if he comes through that we’ll match him with one of the champions to fight for a title.

“He knows as well as we do who he matches up well with. He has sparred with Gvozdyk so he feels he can handle Gvozdyk. He’s watched Alvarez fight. Our matchmakers think he’s competitive in either fight. With Beterbiev, who knows what you have.”

“Bob told me, ‘Maybe you want to move up, fight, and after, if I don’t give you a really good fight like [one against] Canelo Alvarez or [Gennady] Golovkin or Callum Smith, something like that, then we’re going to look for a title at light heavyweight,'” Ramirez said. “It’s a big challenge for me. I am really motivated to get another belt and be a champion in two divisions.”

“I think he’s a big guy whether at 168 or 175, and if he feels stronger by not having the sacrifice to make the weight he will be a lot better puncher,” Arum said. “He’s a great boxer. The question is if he will develop a good punch. I think going up in weight will help that.”

El Zurdo serves for the win in South Texas

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Their first match in 2017 was close and controversial. Their rematch was closer but less controversial.

Friday at American Bank Center in an entertaining scrap for the WBO super middleweight title televised by ESPN+, Mexican heartthrob “El Zurdo” Gilberto Ramirez (39-0, 25 KOs) remained undefeated by narrowly decisioning North Philly boxer-puncher Jesse “Hollywood” Hart (25-2, 21 KOs) by majority scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-113.

The 15rounds.com ringside card also sided with Ramirez, 116-114, scoring rounds 3 and 10 even.

“I hurt my left elbow in round eight,” said Ramirez afterwards in his native Spanish. “It wasn’t worth dick then.”

After a tentative first round, where neither guy wanted to lead but both wanted to counter hardy, Hart began to absorb left uppercuts from Ramirez in the second. By the fourth Ramirez began to piece Hart up, making Hart relent in a mouth-agape retreat, forcing Hart to exert and punch back harder than planned, which made round 5 the best of the match’s opening half.

Both men presented their chins for uppercuts, and both made tasted and served them, but Ramirez, of the two men, committed far more to bodypunching. Ramirez, too, feinted Hart out of position often, making one wonder about Hart’s confidence or conditioning.

“If I hadn’t hurt my elbow, I would have knocked him out,” said Ramirez of his advantage in the fight’s first half.

With Ramirez no longer fit and right in round 8, though, Hart’s improved physicality changed everything. Hart’s leaning on Ramirez revealed El Zurdo to be an immobile and often lazy infighter of limited leverage and creativity in the ninth.

“I pressured him, I boxed him,” said Hart after the match. “I really don’t know.”

For reasons that were unclear, after his two best rounds of the fight, in round 10 Hart returned to Ramirez’s preferred range and lost some advantage before returning to a more favorable, smothering attack in the 11th.

Round 12 was both excellent and brutal, with Ramirez doing what a champion must, seizing the initiative from Hart and retaining his belt despite a final-minute rally by the Philadelphian. If the decision was close, it was also popular, as Friday’s small crowd was passionate and partisan-Mexican.

ARNOLD BARBOZA VS. MANUEL LOPEZ

Friday’s comain featured a good boxer, California super lightweight Arnold Barboza (20-0, 7 KOs), against a decent one, Coloradoan Manuel Lopez (14-3-1, 7 KOs). The better boxer won, by three scores of 100-90, in a fight that served as a proper – by not being overly compelling – appetizer for the main event to follow.

Barboza is very good but also lightfisted. He leverages his punches correctly, and they sound robust when they land, but as evidenced by his knockout ratio, his opponents suffer surprisingly little damage. Ringside and cheering Barboza on, with near-constant suggestions, was the former master of 140 pounds, Terence Crawford.

The delta between Crawford and Barboza is exactly the delta between Barboza and Lopez.

JOSHUA GREER VS. DANIEL LOZANO

Chicagoan Joshua Greer (19-1-1, 11 KOs) looks the part and punches the part, when he connects, which he did often Friday night, and had to, too, in order to chop down stonechinned Floridian Daniel Lozano (10-6, 3 KOs) and secure a WBC Continental Americas title. Wearing a frilly red-and-white outfit with tennis-ball-green boots, Greer used his speed to discourage Lozano early and often.

In the last minute of round 7 Greer then used power he’d not shown in the preceding stanzas, dropping a four- or five-punch combination (fast as it was, could’ve been either number) that finished with a crisp righthand that put Lozano on the seat of his trunks. Lozano beat the count comfortably and made it to round’s end.

But with their man prohibitively far behind on the scorecards, Lozano’s handlers did the compassionate thing, stopping their man from answering one more bell.

UNDERCARD

The evening’s final nontitle match featured California lightweight Gabriel Flores Jr. battering about the ring Maryland designated opponent Edward Kakembo in a contest that comprised but one doubt: Will Flores stretch Kakembo or not? Not won, and so did Flores: 60-52, 60-52, 60-52.

Mexican super bantamweight Jesus “Veneno” Arechiga (7-0, 6 KOs) began Friday’s match having stopped every opponent inside the distance and in round 1 looked primed to waste Mexican David “Choko” Martino (6-6, 4 KOs) quickly, but in a scheduled execution the condemned survived with some grit and some wiles and some decent punching, and the muscular Arechiga’s faded power, too, Martino made it to the final bell of a fight Arechiga nevertheless won easily by three scores of 40-36.

Friday’s first title match, a super featherweight scrap between Los Angeles’ Mikaela Mayer (9-0, 4 KOs) and Colombian Calixta Salgado (17-11-3, 12 KOs) for the NABF title, finished with a wide decision victory for Mayer, 80-72 three times. The rangey Mayer proved herself superior in every category, from physicality to body punching to footwork, putting a comprehensive eight-round beating on her outmatched if rugged opponent.

In the undercard’s third match BoMac-trained New York lightweight Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring (19-2, 10 KOs), a lighthitting southpaw, decisioned Brazil’s Adeilson Dos Santos (19-6, 15 KOs) by three scores of 80-70, after successfully wearing-down Dos Santos late with left uppercuts.

Before that Mexican bantamweight Ruben Vega (11-0-1, 5 KOs) drew over six rounds with Dallas’ Oscar Mojica (11-5-1, 1 KO).

Friday’s first match saw Panamanian welterweight Roberto Duran Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) use manos-jovenes-de-piedra to make instant work of Brownsville target Leonardo Pena (0-3), finishing the local fighter in under a minute.

Opening bell rang on a cavernous American Bank Center at 5:17 PM local time.

Zurdo Ramirez-Hart 2 Weigh-In Results

ESPN+ (10 p.m. ET)

• Gilberto Ramirez 167.25 lbs vs. Jesse Hart 167.5 lbs
(Ramirez’s WBO Super Middleweight world title – 12 Rounds)

• Arnold Barboza Jr. 139.25 lbs vs. Manuel Lopez 139.5 lbs
(Vacant NABF Super Lightweight title – 10 Rounds)

ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET)

• Gabriel Flores Jr. 132.5 lbs vs. Edward Kakembo 131 lbs
(Lightweight – 6 Rounds)

•Joshua Greer Jr. 117.75 lbs vs. Daniel Lozano 117.75 lbs
(Vacant WBC Continental Americas title – 10 Rounds)

Mikaela Mayer 129.5 lbs vs. Calixta Silgado 127.75 lbs
(Mayer’s NABF Super Featherweight title – 8 Rounds)

Jamel Herring 132 lbs vs. Adeilson Dos Santos 132 lbs
(Super Featherweight – 8 Rounds)

Ruben Vega 117.5 lbs vs. Oscar Mojica 117 lbs
(Bantamweight – 6 Rounds)

Jesus Arechiga 122.25 lbs vs. David Martino 121.5 lbs
(Super Bantamweight – 6/4 Rounds)

Roberto Duran Jr. 145.75 lbs vs. Leonardo Pena 144.25 lbs
(Welterweight – 4 Rounds)

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zapari Boxing Promotions, tickets to the Ramirez-Hart 2 world championship event are on sale now. Priced at $100, $65, $45, and $30, tickets may be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, at the American Bank Center Box Office, Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST, or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

About ESPN+

ESPN+, which surpassed one million paying subscribers in just five months, is the premium multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN. It offers fans thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks, along with premium editorial content.

Programming on ESPN+ includes hundreds of MLB and NHL, thousands of college sports events (including football, basketball and multiple other sports), domestic and international soccer (Serie A, MLS, FA Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL Championship, EFL Carabao Cup, Eredivisie and more), exclusive Top Rank boxing, UFC (beginning in 2019), Grand Slam tennis, international and domestic rugby and cricket, new and exclusive documentary films and series, acclaimed studio shows and the full library of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 films. Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.

ESPN+ is an integrated part of the ESPN App, the leading sports app and the premier all-in-one digital sports platform for fans. The ESPN App is a showcase of the company’s culture of innovation, delivering a rich, personalized experience that curates all of ESPN’s content around each fan’s individual tastes. ESPN+ is also available through ESPN.com.

Gilberto Ramirez: “I Want to Finish the Year With a Knockout!”

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Dec. 12, 2018) – Undefeated WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (38-0, 25 KOs) and No. 1 contender Jesse “Hollywood” Hart (25-1, 21 KOs) have been here before. The two fought in September of last year, with Ramirez prevailing via tight unanimous decision.

The two will renew acquaintances Friday evening at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, in a main event that will be streamed live on ESPN+ (10 p.m. ET). Undefeated 140-pounder Arnold Barboza Jr. (19-0, 7 KOs) will take on Manuel Lopez (14-2-1, 7 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature.

2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer, 130-pound contender Jamel Herring, and bantamweight contender Joshua Greer Jr. will all look to steal the show on the undercard broadcast (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET).

At Wednesday’s final press conference, this is what the fighters had to say.

Gilberto Ramirez

On the first Hart fight

“I dominated that fight. This fight will be no different. It will be only one side. My side.”

On returning to Corpus Christi, where he knocked out Habib Ahmed in February

“I’m really happy to be back in Corpus Christi. I started the year with a knockout in Corpus Christi, and I want to finish the year with a knockout, too. I hope everyone enjoys it.”

On a potential Canelo Alvarez fight

“I need to beat Jesse Hart and he needs to beat Rocky Fielding. Mexican versus Mexican, everybody would love to see that. If he wins and I win, let’s do it!”

Jesse Hart

On gaining revenge against Ramirez

“Things will be different because we corrected the little mistakes that didn’t go right the first time. I think with the mistakes that {trainer} Fred Jenkins corrected with me, and being on that stage and on that platform, I believe you will see a change in the outcome.”

On fighting for his father/trainer (Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, who won’t be attending the fight because of an illness)

“It means everything for my dad, to myself. Like I said, since I started boxing, me and my dad, we never dreamed of nothing else but being a world champion. I’m very blessed and very humbled by this opportunity I have again. I’m just going to go out there and put on the best performance I possibly can to bring home the victory.”

Manuel Lopez

On fighting as the co-feature

“It’s a huge blessing, for sure, and the fact that I’m going to be right before my main man here, Jesse Hart, makes it a whole lot better. We went to school together, so it makes it an even better opportunity. I’m very, very happy about it.”

On what it will take to beat Barboza

“It’s going to take hard work as it’s been. Hard work, dedication, and hopefully it will happen on Friday night. His birthday present is going to be his first ‘L.'” (Barboza’s birthday was Dec. 9)

Arnold Barboza Jr.

On fighting as the co-main event and potentially fighting for a world title in 2019

“We just put our head down and train. We’d been getting ready for a fight in November, which got moved to December. We’ve been training since our last fight ( a KO victory August 25 against Luis Solis). I wand to thank Top Rank for giving me the opportunity. I feel like I’ve passed every test that they’ve given me. From Mike Reed to tall fighters, pressure fighters, everything. He says he’s gonna give me a birthday present. My birthday present is gonna be celebrating my win. I’m going to look better than I ever have. I’ve been training the best I ever have, and I’m read to go.”

Mikaela Mayer

On her first full year as a pro {Friday will be her sixth fight of 2018}

“It definitely exceeded my expectations and my team’s. Top Rank has done a great job of moving me and I think given me the right fights, too, kind of just testing my skills and seeing where I’m at. I think that’s exactly what this next fight is going to be. They want to see where I am and see how much they can step me up in 2019, so I want to show them that I’m ready. I hope they keep me just as busy.”

On training in Colorado Springs alongside people like Jamel Herring.”

“I think it’s just the environment that makes it more exciting because I came from Team USA, where I’m training around teammates and it’s always a fun atmosphere. When you turn pro, sometimes you lost that team environment. Being able to train around fellow Olympians like Jamel, {in addition to} Terence Crawford, and still being close to the {U.S. Olympic} Training Center, it definitely keeps it exciting and more fun.”

Jamel Herring

On his 2018 campaign and training with Brian McIntyre and Terence Crawford

“It’s been great. As you can see, the proof is in the pudding. {From} my first fight with them and Top Rank back in May until now, we’ve been getting better. Like I said, the chemistry is great. I’m happy and honored to not only be with my new {training team}, but with Top Rank as well. We’re looking to close out the year strong and move on to bigger and better things in 2019.”

“I feel that with a good performance this weekend, a title opportunity will come in the new year. I’m very close. That’s why we wanted this fight. It’s very important to me. Not only to me, but to my team and my career.as a whole. Having Top Rank behind {me} has given me a lot. With a great performance this Friday, a lot of great things will come in the new year.”

Joshua Greer Jr.

On fighting for a regional title belt

“It feels good. All the hard work is paying off. I gotta thank Top Rank for the good job they’re doing, and I’m going to continue to do my part.”

On what he’s going to bring to the ring

“I got something real special for him. A new pillow. I went pillow shopping, so everything is going to come together.”

ESPN, 10 p.m. ET

Gilberto Ramirez (champion) vs. Jesse Hart (challenger), 12 rounds, WBO super middleweight world title

Arnold Barboza Jr. vs. Manuel Lopez, 10 rounds, super lightweight

ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET

Mikaela Mayer vs. Calixta Silgado, Mayer’s NABF super featherweight title

Joshua Greer Jr. vs. Daniel Lozano, 10 rounds, vacant WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title

Jamel Herring vs. Adeilson Dos Santos, 8 rounds, super featherweight

Gabriel Flores Jr. vs. Edward Kakembo, 6 rounds, lightweight

Ruben Vega vs.Oscar Mojica, 6 rounds, super flyweight

Jesus Arechiga vs. David Martino, 6 rounds, super bantamweight

Roberto Duran Jr. vs. Leonardo Pena, 4 rounds, welterweight

About ESPN+

Corpus Christi Workout Notes & Quotes: Zurdo and Hart Prepare for Super Middleweight Title Rematch

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Dec. 11, 2018) – Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez is seeking a fifth successful title defense. Jesse “Hollywood” Hart is out for revenge.

Ramirez (38-0, 25 KOs) will defend his WBO super middleweight world against Hart (25-1, 21 KOs) Friday at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, site of his February knockout of Habib Ahmed. Ramirez bested Hart via unanimous decision last September in one of the finest world championship fights of 2017.

In the co-feature, unbeaten 140-pound contender Arnold Barboza Jr. (19-0, 7 KOs) will face Manuel Lopez (14-2-1, 7 KOs) in a 10-rounder.

Ramirez-Hart 2 and Barboza-Lopez will stream live at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN. The entire undercard, including appearances by female fighting sensation Mikaela Mayer, 130-pound contender Jamel Herring, Gabriel Flores Jr., and big-punching bantamweight Joshua Greer Jr. will stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Hart and Ramirez worked out for the media Tuesday at Corpus Christi Boxing Club. This is what they had to say.

Gilberto Ramirez

“I’m coming to Corpus Christi to give the fans a great fight. I have very good memories of the last time I fought here. They treated me well. I felt right at home, and that’s why I asked to fight here again. I will not let them down. I will close the year the same way I started it, with a knockout win in Corpus Christi!”

“I don’t take this fight as a rematch. The first one was a good fight, but I beat him clearly. For this fight, I’m coming better prepared mentally and physically. I’m focused on taking care of business and winning convincingly.”

Jesse Hart

“Camp was great. It was real tough because I did things l never did before. I chopped wood for the first time. I climbed rope. Going into camp this time, I was in tremendous shape. I didn’t take any time off after my last fight. I knew the rematch was looming, so I stayed hungry and ready to go. After I win this title, I’m definitely going to take a vacation and spend time with my daughter and my family.”

“Right after the decision, I wanted to fight Gilberto again. When you look at all of his opponents, I was his only opponent that came close to beating him. He’s fought a lot of credible guys, but no one came as close as me.”

“I’ve never been more ready for a fight in my life. Gilberto Ramirez is going to see a different fighter this time around. All I can do is keep honing my craft and get better.”
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December 14: Arnold Barboza Jr.-Manuel Lopez Set for Co-Feature on Ramirez-Hart 2 Card

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Nov. 29, 2018) – Arnold Barboza Jr. is hungry for a 140-pound world title shot. The Los Angeles native, who has fought all but one of his 19 professional bouts in California, will head to Texas intent on staking his claim as one of the division’s top contenders.

Barboza will face Manuel Lopez on Friday, Dec. 14 in a 10-rounder for the NABF junior super lightweight title at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Barboza-Lopez will be the co-feature to the previously announced rematch featuring WBO champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and No. 1 contender Jesse “Hollywood” Hart.

“I have heard that a world title shot is in my future, but I never take a fight for granted,” Barboza said. “I have trained really hard this fight. Lopez is a tough guy who I know from the amateurs. I am excited to have the opportunity to showcase my skills on a big platform. I never want an easy fight. This is a step-up fight, and I am ready to show the fans what I am made of.”

Barboza (19-0, 7 KOs), a native of Los Angeles, is 2-0 in 2018, including a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision against Mike Reed on March 10 in Carson, Calif. Lopez (14-2-1, 7 KOs), a native of Denver, is entering this fight on a six-bout unbeaten streak dating back to a competitive 2015 decision loss to then-undefeated Kevin Watts.

The undercard stream will feature:

Mikaela Mayer (8-0, 4 KOs), the 2016 Olympian and one of the brightest stars in female boxing, will defend the NABF super featherweight title in an eight-rounder against Calixta Silgado (17-10-3, 12 KOs).

Big-punching Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer Jr. (18-1-1, 10 KOs) will take on Daniel Lozano (15-5, 11 KOs) in a 10-rounder for the vacant WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title. Greer, who has won seven of his past eight bouts by knockout, is coming off a third-round TKO against Giovanni Delgado on Sept. 28 in Oakland, Calif.

Gabriel Flores Jr. (10-0, 5 KOs), the 18-year-old fighting sensation from Stockton, Calif., will make his sixth ring appearance of 2018 against Edward Kakembo (10-5, 3 KOs) in a six-round lightweight bout.

Top junior lightweight contender Jamel Herring (18-2, 10 KOs) will continue his march toward a world title shot when he faces former junior featherweight world title challenger Adeilson Dos Santos (19-5, 15 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

Top prospect Ruben Vega (11-0, 5 KOs), from Mazatlán, Mexico, will clash with Oscar Mojica (11-5, 1 KO) in a six-round super flyweight battle.

In a six-rounder at super bantamweight, Jesus Arechiga (6-0, 6 KOs) will look to keep his knockout streak alive against David Martino (6-5, 4 KO).

Roberto Duran Jr. (1-0, 1 KO), son of the all-time great, will see action against Leonardo Pena (0-2) in a four-rounder at welterweight.

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ESPN+, which surpassed one million paying subscribers in just five months, is the premium multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN. It offers fans thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks, along with premium editorial content.

Gilberto Ramirez-Jesse Hart 2 to Headline ESPN+ Card in Corpus Christi December 14

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Nov. 13, 2018) – It was one of the best fights of 2017. WBO super middleweight world champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez had Jesse “Hollywood” Hart down and nearly out in the second round, only for Hart to come back with a furious late-rounds rally. Ramirez ultimately prevailed via unanimous decision that September evening in Tucson, Ariz., but Hart, the Philadelphia native with the legendary last name, had rematch on his mind immediately after the decision was rendered.

His wish has finally come true.

Ramirez will make the fifth defense of his world title against Hart, Friday, Dec. 14 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Ramirez-Hart 2 and a soon-to-be announced co-feature will stream live and exclusively at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ in the United States— the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN. The entire undercard will stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zapari Boxing Promotions, tickets to the Ramirez-Hart 2 world championship event will go on sale Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. CST. Priced at $100, $65, $45, and $30, tickets may be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, at the American Bank Center Box Office, Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST, or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

“This will be a good fight. I feel better prepared than the first time and even more convinced that I will finish him,” Ramirez said. “I’ve always said that I wanted to be the king of the division. I’ve been waiting for unification fights, and I’m still patient. I’m at my best, and against Hart, I want to show why I’m the best.”

“I’m very grateful and humbled for this opportunity,” Hart said. “I just want to go out there and perform to the best of my ability. I have nothing derogatory to say about Gilberto Ramirez. At this point, I just want to go out there and perform.”

Ramirez (38-0, 25 KOs), the first Mexican-born super middleweight champion, will be defending the title he won from Arthur Abraham via shutout decision on April 9, 2016. A hand injury put Ramirez on the shelf until April 22, 2017, but he didn’t miss a beat, dominating Max Bursak en route to a unanimous decision victory. In his most recent outing, June 30 in Oklahoma City, Ramirez used his boxing skills to win a unanimous decision against Alexis Angulo. Ramirez, from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, is a nine-year pro who is no stranger to Corpus Christi. He headlined a show at the American Bank Center on Feb. 3, knocking out the previously unbeaten Habib Ahmed in the sixth round to retain his title.

Hart (25-1, 21 KOs), the WBO No. 1 contender, is a former amateur standout, winning the 2011 National Golden Gloves and U.S. National championships at 165 pounds. A 2012 U.S. Olympic alternate, Hart turned pro in 2012 and won his first 22 bouts prior to challenging Ramirez. Hart last fought as the ESPN co-feature Aug. 18 in Atlantic City, battering Mike Gavronski en route to a third-round stoppage. After more than a year of calling out Ramirez for a return match, Hart has his shot at redemption. A proud native of Philadelphia, Hart is the son of Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, a feared middleweight contender in the 1970s who never received a world title shot. With Eugene Hart in his corner as head trainer, Jesse Hart will seek to bring a world title home to the City of Brotherly Love.

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Jennings stops Dimitrenko in 9

Bryant Jennings got off the deck to come back and stop Alexander Dimitrenko in round nine of the their scheduled 12-round heavyweight bout at The Ocean Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey

In round four, Dimitrenko put Jennings on the canvas with a hard right to the head.

In round eight, Jennings landed a perfect left hook that buckled and eventually put Dimitrenko on the canvas. Jennings ended things in the next round when Jennings landed a booming uppercut that dropped Dimitrenko, and the fight was stopped immediately at 1:56.

Jennings, 225 lbs of Philadelphia is now 24-2 with 14 knockouts. Dimitrenko, 257 lbs of Hamburg, GER is 41-4.

“I was prepared for a tough 12 rounds,” Jennings said. “I did what I had to do. I was in great shape. He’s a big dude. He’s not as slow as I thought. I made adjustments, and I got the job done.”

Said Dimitrenko: “I wanted to continue the fight. I don’t know why the referee stopped it.”

Jesse Hart made his case for a rematch with Gilberto Ramirez with a 3rd round stoppage over Mike Gavronski in a scheduled ten-round super middleweight bout.

In round three, Hart dropped Gavronski with a jab that was followed by a booming right hand. Seconds, later, it was another crushing right that sent Gavronski down, and the fight was stopped at 52 seconds.

Hart, 168 lbs of Philadelphia is 25-1 with 21 knockouts. Gavrnski, 166.5 lbs of Tacoma, WA is 24-3-1.

“When I looked at his eyes after the first knockdown, he got real scared,” Hart said. “He started holding, grabbing. With a guy like that, he got real scared. He was fighting for survival. There’s a difference between fighting to win and fighting for survival.

“{Ramirez is} who I want. Give me a chance to redeem myself. He’s talking about going up to 175. Why? I’m right here! Come on, man. Stop with the excuses. I’m right here in front of you.”

Shakur Stevenson remained undefeated by winning an eight-round unanimous decision over Carlos Ruiz in a featherweight bout.

Stevenson, 127 lbs of Newark, NJ won by scores of 80-72 on all cards, and is now 8-0. Ruiz, 126 lbs of Mexico City, MEX is 16-5-2.

“It was a good performance against a tough guy,” Stevenson said. “I did what I had to do and made it easy. He showed me some things in there. I boxed him and didn’t take any unnecessary chances. We’re looking forward to the next one.”

Christian Carto remained undefeated by winning an eight-round unanimous decision over Javier Gallo in a bantamweight bout.

Carto, 120 lbs of Philadelphia won by scores of 80-71, 80-72 and 79-73, and is now 16-0. Gallo, 119 lbs of Tijuana, MEX is 25-16-1.

“I was looking for {the knockout}, but it didn’t come,” Carto said. “Next time, I need to set shots up instead of loading up on one big one.”

Thomas LaManna won an eight-round unanimous decision over Matthew Strode in a super welterweight bout.

The two waged a war on the inside with each getting in some clean shots.

In round five, LaManna scored a knockdown with a right hand to the top of the head. In round eight, Strode was deducted a point for hitting in the back of the head.

LaManna, 150 lbs of Milville, NJ won by scores of 79-71 on all cards, and is now 26-2-1. Strode, 149.5 lbs of Marion, SC is 25-7.

Joseph Adorno remained perfect by stopping Augustine Mauras in round one of their scheduled six-round lightweight bout.

Adorno dropped Mauras with a hard left that followed by a vicious combination. Mauras was hurt and Adorno jumped on him. Adorno landed about 10 hard shots that forced the referee to step in at 1:39.

Adorno, 133 lbs of Allentown, PA is 9-0 with 9 knockouts. Mauras, 130.5 lbs of Lawrence, MA is 6-5-3.

“I’ve been working for five weeks. We had a great game plan,” Adorno said. “He’s gone the distance with tough fighters, and we knew it would be a tough fight. The hard work showed tonight.”

Oleksandr Teslenko remained undefeated with a six-round unanimous decision over Avery Gibson in a heavyweight bout.

In round one, Teslenko dropped Gibson with a right hand.

Teslenko, 216.5 lbs of Toronto, CAN won by scores of 58-55, 59-54 and 60-53, and is now 14-0. Gibson, 247.5 lbs of Los Angeles, CA is 9-9-4.

Former 130-pound champion Jason Sosa (21-3-4, 15 KOs) got back in the win column with a unanimous decision against Reynaldo Blanco (14-5, 8 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Sosa knocked down Blanco twice in the eighth round and prevailed by scores of 78-70, 77-72, and 79-69.

FOLLOW RAMIREZ – ANGULO LIVE!!

Follow all the action as Gilberto Ramirez defends the WBO Super Middleweight title against undefeated Alexis Angulo. The action begins at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT with a junior welterweight bout between Alex Saucedo and Lenny Zappavigna. Also Robson Conceicao takes on Gavin Guaman.

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12 ROUNDS–WBO SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE–GILBERTO RAMIREZ (37-0, 25 KOS) VS ALEXIS ANGULO (23-0, 20 KOS)
ROUND	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
RAMIREZ	10	9	10	10	10	10	9	10					78
ANGULO	9	10	9	10	9	9	10	9					75

Round 1: Jab from Ramirez..

Round 2: Right to the body…3 punch combination from Angulo..Right..

Round 3: Ramirez lands a left to the body..Combination..Right from Angulo drives Ramirez back..Left from Ramirez..

Round 4

Round 5 Right from Ramirez..Right from Angulo…Left from Ramirez

Round 6 Left to body from Ramirez…Combination..4 punch combination..Good straight left from distance

Round 7 Hard right from Angulo

Round 8 Ranirez gets in a left

RAMIREZ WINS 120-108 AND 119-109 TWICE

6 ROUNDS–SUPER FEATHERWEIGHTS–ROBSON CONCEICAO (7-0, 4 KOS) VS GAVINO GUAMAN (5-2, 1 KO)
ROUND	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
CONCEICAO*	10	10	TKO										20
GUAMAN	7	7											14

Round 1: Body shot from Conceicao..CONCEICAO DROPPED GUAMAN WITH A LEFT…..right hand and down goes GUAMAN

Round 2: Left from Conceicao..RiGHT HAND AND DOWN GOES GUAMAN,..BIG COMBINATION AT THE BELL AND DOWN GOES GUAMAN

Round 3: 4 punch combination..AND DOWN GOES GUAMAN…HE GETS UP BUT FIGHT IS STOPPED

10-ROUNDS-JR. WELTERWEIGHTS–ALEX SAUCEDO (27-0, 17 KOS) VS LENNY ZAPPAVUGNA (37-3, 27 KOS)
ROUND	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
SAUCEDO*	10	10	10	9	10	10	TKO						59
ZAPPAVIGNA	9	9	8	10	9	9							54

Round 1 Overhand right from Zappavigna…Right from Saucedo..Counter right

Round 2: Right backs up Zappavigna..Left hook and right..Right from Zappavigna..Double jab and left uppercut from Saucedo..Left from Zappavigna..Jab from Saucedo…Zappavigna is right eye.

Round 3: BIG RIGHT AND DOWN GOES ZAPPAVIGNA…Big combination and flurry to the body..Right to body..Right from Zappavigna

Round 4: Right from Zappavigna..Zappavigna has Saucedo in trouble..lands some vicious rights,..Huge rights…Saucedo bleeding down his face from his right eye…this is a war…

Round 5 1-2 from Saucedo…Left to body..Jab and right on the ropes..3 punch combo on ropes..Big right..Left hook from Zappavigna..Big right

Round 6: 3 punch combo on ropes from Saucedo…Zappagvigna swelling under left eye…Body shot from Zappavigna..Right from saucedo

Round 7: Doctor checks Zappavigna before round..Big right from Saucedo..Left..Right..Overhand right..Right…FIGHT STOPPED

Ramirez defends super middleweight title with unanimous decision over Angulo

Gilberto Ramirez defended the WBO super middleweight championship with a 12-round unanimous decision over Alexis Angulo at The Chesapeake Energy Center in Oklahoma City.

Ramirez was more consistent throughout the affair as he boxed nicely, while the challenger seemed to be looking for one shot that would turn the tide. Angulo got in a few decent power shots, but it was not enough as Ramirez took the bout 120-108 and 119-109 twice.

Ramirez of Mazaltan, MEX is now 38-0. Angulo of Bogota, COL is 23-1.

Alex Saucedo stopped Lenny Zappavigna in a seven furious round in a junior welterweight bout.

In round two, Zappavigna was cut around the right eye. In round three, Saucedo landed a big right that dropped Zappavigna to a knee. In round four, Zappavigna landed about 10 hard and flush right hand that opened up a bad cut around the right eye of Saucedo. Saucedo showed a tremendous chin in order to survive the round.

Zappavigna was bleeding very badly around both eyes, tried but kept getting drilled with overhand rights and finally bowed out of the fight at 2:31 of round seven.

Saucedo of Oklahoma City is 28-0 with 18 knockouts. Zappavigna of Leppington, AUS is 37-4.

Said Saucedo, “Tonight I proved it. That was a very tough 4th round, but I got through it because I’m mentally strong. It was a very long training camp and I thought of all the sacrifices I made to prepare for this fight. I did it. I got a big win against a great fighter and in front of my fans. We gave them an exciting fight. Now I’m ready to move on to bigger and better things. I want to become a world champion”

Robson Conceicao registered five knockdowns en-route to a 3rd round stoppage over Gavino Guaman in a scheduled six-round super featherweight bout.

The end came at 53 seconds for Conceicao of Bahia, BRA, who is now 8-0 with 5 knockouts. Guaman of River Falls, WI is 5-3.

Conceicao dropped Guaman twice in round one. Conceicao dropped Guaman twice more in round two

Mikaela Mayer scored a 2nd round knockdown en-route to a six-round unanimous decision over Sheena Kaine in a lightweight bout

In round two, Mayer dropped Kaine with a perfect right to the jaw

Mayer of Los Angeles won by scores of 60-53 on all cards to raise her mark to 6-0. Kaine of Edmonton, CAN is 5-1.

“It was definitely a different fight than I’ve ever had. She was taller than me and had more strength than most of the girls I’ve fought. She’s not technically sound, but when she did throw her shots, it was a good things my hands were up because I could definitely feel them. This was a great learning experience,” said Mayer

Trey Lippe Morrison kept his perfect knockout record intact by dropping five inside of three rounds of their heavyweight bout.

In round one, Morrison dropped Polley with a right hand. Morrison dropped Polley with a perfect straight right to the head which caused a cut over his left eye. Morrison sent Polley to the canvas in round two with another right hand. In round three, it was a left that sent Polley down for a 4th time. Morrison finished the deal with a leaping left hook that was reminiscent of his father, Tommy Morrison that left Polley flat on his back, and the fight was stopped at 1:39.

Morrison of Tulsa, Oklahoma is 15-0 with 15 knockouts. Polley of St. Joseph, MO is 30-23-1.

“I was looking for some big shots in the first round that I shouldn’t have been. I saw that right hand was really hurting him, so I tried to throw that a little more than I probably should have. In the third round, I tried to pace myself and box a little more, rely on my jab. When the jab started hitting him, I started seeing other openings off my jab,” said Morrison. “This was the most amazing experience of my life. Not only was it in front of my home crowd, but it was in the {Oklahoma City} Thunder arena. I grew up being a big sports fan, basketball, football. Just to be able to know I stood in the ring where Russell Westbrook and everyone runs down, that’s amazing to me.”

Former world champion Mike Alvarado stopped Martin Angel Martinez after round nine of their scheduled 10-round welterweight bout.

Alvarado was cut on the forehead, while Martinez was cut over the left eye.

The cut on Martinez was dripping badly as the 9th round came to a close and the bout was stopped after the round.

Alvarado of Denver, CO is 39-4 with 27 knockouts. Martinez of Empalme, MEX is 17-15-1.

“I felt like I did good. I was strong. It’s just that he was real awkward. I had been off for a long time, and I know what adjustments I have to make. I know what I got to do when I get back in the gym. I’m fine. I’ll be good. I’ll redeem myself. Time to get back to business,” said Alvarado

Christopher Zavala made a successful pro debut with a four-round unanimous deicison over Tyler Pacheco in a super featherweight bout.

Zavala of Los Angeles won on two cards by 40-35 scores while a 3rd card was 39-36. Pacheco of Abilene, Texas is 1-2.

“This was my first experience as a pro fighter. The atmosphere is different. I’m ready and hungry to keep improving with each fight that passes. I’m happy with my performance, but I know that I can do better. It was a good learning experience and it will help me to continue to grow as a fighter,” said Zavala

Aaron Morales remained undefeated by winning a four-round unanimous decision over David Martino in a bantamweight bout.

Morales, 118 1/4 lbs of Oklahoma City won by scores of 40-36 on all cards and is now 3-0. Martino, 118 1/2 lbs of San Felipe, MEX is 5-5

Oklahoma City Fight Night: Alex Saucedo and Gilberto Ramirez Press Conference Notes & Quotes

December 15, 2012, Houston,Texas — Welterweight Alex Saucedo remains undefeated at 7-0 after stopping Eddie Cordova in the 3rd round , Saturday, at Toyota Center from Houston,Texas. — Photo Credit : Chris Farina – Top Rank (no other credit allowed) copyright 2012

Oklahoma City (June 28, 2018) – The fighters sat on a podium atop the floor where the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder play, discussing Saturday’s ESPN-televised card (9 p.m. ET) at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The biggest card to hit The Sooner State in years will feature a local product, Oklahoma City native Alex “El Cholo” Saucedo (27-0, 17 KOs) against Lenny Zappavigna (37-3, 27 KOs) in 10-round junior welterweight bout. The ESPN main event will see WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (37-0, 25 KOs) defending his title against Alexis Angulo (23-0, 20 KOs).

Also featured on the ESPN telecast will be 2016 Olympic gold medalist, Robson Conceicao (7-0, 4 KOs), in a six-round super featherweight bout against Gavino Guaman (5-2, 1 KO).

The undercard will stream on ESPN+ (6:15 p.m. ET) and include the resurgent Mike Alvarado, female fighting sensation Mikaela Mayer, heavyweight knockout artist, and Oklahoma native Trey Lippe Morrison, and the pro debut of top amateur Christopher Zavala.

At the final press conference, this is what the fighters had to say.

Gilberto Ramirez

“Angulo is going to be a tough opponent. I expect a tough fight from him. He seems like a great fighter. His record proves it. From what I know, he’s a big puncher, and I know that he will try to knock me out. I’m going to try and knock him out, too. He doesn’t have a loss on his record, but he will on Saturday.”

Alex Saucedo

“It has taken a long time for me to get to this point, to fight in front of my home fans in the big arena here in Oklahoma City. It’s an honor. Lenny Z is a very aggressive fighter. He has almost 30 knockouts on his record and is a very dangerous fighter. I know that with the support of my people, I’ll be victorious once again.”

“I grew up in Oklahoma City. I’ve always wanted to come home, and after 27 pro fights, we made it happen. It’s been six years of working hard, and the hard work has paid off. ESPN is coming to town. This is incredible.”

“I spent 12 weeks in Big Bear preparing for this fight with my trainer, Abel Sanchez. That got me ready for this opportunity, and it’s almost fight night. I can’t wait.”

Alexis Angulo

“I don’t feel like he has any advantages. We both have two legs. We both have two arms. We both have two eyes. We are equals, and anything can happen when you get in the ring.”

“It has been my dream to fight for a world title, and now the opportunity is here. Gilberto Ramirez is a great champion, but my time is now.”

Lenny Zappavigna

“I’m going to go in there and box, but I know Alex likes to come forward and fight fire with fire. I know it’s going to be a great fight here in Oklahoma, and it’s the perfect opportunity to get me another world title shot, which is the ultimate goal.”

Robson Conceicao

“It’s a great honor to be fighting on ESPN, and I want to showcase my skills for everyone. I feel like I’ve progressed well in my pro career, and this will be the latest chapter as I go for a world title. I won a gold medal for Brazil {in the 2016 Olympics}. I can’t wait to bring a world title home as well.”

Mikaela Mayer

“I want to prove that there is a big market for female boxing. I’m thankful to Top Rank for the way that they’re moving me and putting me on these great cards. I can’t wait to be headlining a card in the future.”

Mike Alvarado

“I’ve always loved boxing. The re-invention of me defines how I’m going to perform. On top of that, I’ve reconstructed my team. They gave me a different type of mentality, and it’s just heightened my focus. This is a new experiment for me. It’s been a new experiment since I’ve changed my life and got on a good path back in 2015.”

“It’s a new Mike Alvarado. I’ve always had the heart, the natural warrior in me. I know how to go to war and fight with all my heart. That’s who I am. With all the other distractions interrupting me, I’ve released all that. I’m more content with myself without having to fight my conscience. I’m back in a big way.”

Christopher Zavala

“I want to thank Bob Arum and Top Rank for signing me. This is a big opportunity to make my pro debut on such a great card. I look forward to great things. This is only the beginning.”

###

Promoted by Top Rank, tickets to this world championship extravaganza are ON SALE NOW. Priced at $200, $100, $60, $40 and $25, not including facility and service fees, tickets may be purchased at the Chesapeake Energy Arena box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Use the hashtags #ZurdoAngulo and #SaucedoZappavigna to join the conversation on social media.
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Media Workout Notes & Quotes: Gilberto Ramirez and Alex Saucedo Bring the Thunder to OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 27, 2018) – The Azteca Boxing Gym in Oklahoma City hosted a media workout for the biggest fight card to hit the city in years.

In the main event, Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (37-0, 25 KOs) will defend the WBO super middleweight title against fellow unbeaten Alexis Angulo (23-0, 20 KOs). And, in the special co-feature, Oklahoma City native Alex “El Cholo” Saucedo (27-0, 17 KOs) will fight veteran Lenny Zappavigna (37-3, 27 KOs) in a 140-pound slugfest.

Ramirez-Angulo, Saucedo-Zappavigna, and Robson Conceicao-Gavino Guaman will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET. The undercard (6:15 p.m. ET, ESPN+) will include appearances by Mike Alvarado, female fighting sensation Mikaela Mayer, and heavyweight knockout artist and Oklahoma native Trey Lippe Morrison.

This is what the fighters had to say.

Gilberto Ramirez

“I am very excited to be in Oklahoma because since I arrived in the city I have been feeling the love and good vibes of my countrymen, from the fans and from the family of Saucedo. Everyone has shown their support.”

“The weather in OKC is like the warm weather of my hometown of Mazatlan, Mexico.”

“I feel that there will be a lot of Mexicans fans supporting me in the arena on Saturday night and that motivates me a lot. I come well prepared to defend my title and bring it back to my country.”

“I want to give the fans a good fight, and I want to show that I am the best fighter in the division.”

Alex Saucedo

“I grew up on the south side of town, right near the arena, so this is truly a homecoming for me. I used to ride my bike past the arena and go to basketball games and monster truck events here. I can’t wait to get in there, get the win, and feel the support of the home fans. It has been a long time coming.”

“I want any of the champions at 140 pounds. I want a title shot, and I know beating Lenny Z will help me earn a title shot.”

“I had a 12-week training camp in Big Bear, which was the longest camp of my career. All I did was eat, sleep, and train. In order to become a champion you have to make the sacrifices. I put in the work alongside my trainer, Abel Sanchez.”

Alexis Angulo

“I’ll give my best. I can assure that the fans will be very happy with the fight. We’ve worked to take the title to Colombia. It’s a long trip and it’s been a strong preparation, so taking the title home is the least we expect.”

“Ramirez is a great world champion, which is why I think it will be an interesting fight. I’m sure he will also be prepared to give his best. I know it will be an excellent fight.”

Lenny Zappavigna

“This is a great fight. Out of all my fights, this is one of the ones I’m really excited about. ESPN, it’s on a great card. Winning this fight will give me great opportunities after. This is massive for me. This is a fight I need to win to get back there on top of the world.”

“When you overcome {a hostile environment} to win, it makes it that much better. That gives me more adrenaline. It’ll be good. The crowd will be there for Saucedo, as they should be. When this opportunity came my way, I knew what I was up against. I’m ready.”

Mikaela Mayer

“Boxing is repetition, so we’re working on the same things we did last camp. {Trainer Al Mitchell} really wants me to start sitting down on my punches, stay behind my jab, and make the small but really important changes from the amateurs.”

“My opponent {Sheena Kaine} is the tallest fighter I’ve faced as a pro. I might be looking up a little bit this time around. I like fighting tall people. They’re open. She seems to be pretty straight up.”

Trey Lippe Morrison

“I’m so excited. Not only is the fight in Oklahoma, but it’s in the biggest arena. Just to step foot on the floor where the Oklahoma City Thunder play is incredible.”

“The hand injury kind of sucked and was kind of awesome at the same time. It sucked because I was out for so long, but it was awesome because I had a chance to learn. I never took any time off at the beginning of my pro career. The whole time my left hand was in a cast, I used my right. I worked on a lot of things that I needed to learn, since I didn’t have an amateur career. I’ve improved a lot, and I can’t wait to demonstrate it on Saturday.”

“I’m lucky my father {Tommy Morrison} did what he did. I admit I wouldn’t have much of a following if it wasn’t for him. I’d have to come up the same way any other fighter does. For me, as far as getting fans, it’s been a little easier because of who my dad was.”

Mike Alvarado

“My passion to have another opportunity in what I love to do is driving me. I’ve always loved boxing. I’ve cleaned my life up. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs and crazy episodes in my life that took a lot to overcome. I did it, and I praise myself and praise God. As I surrendered my life over to him, he opened the door. I am doing what I’m meant to do. I’m doing it 100 percent now.”

“I’ve always had the heart. I’ve always had the natural warrior in me. I know how to go to war. I know how to fight with all of my heart. That’s just the way I was raised and the type of person I am. I’ve released all of the distractions from my life. I’m more content.”

Robson Conceicao

“I fight for my Brazilian people, and I am looking forward to showcasing my talents on ESPN. This is an opportunity for boxing fans to see the real Robson Conceicao.”

“Brazil won today {2-0 over Serbia} in the World Cup, and just like my countrymen, I will be victorious come Saturday night.”

About ESPN+

ESPN+ is the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN. ESPN+ offers fans two exclusive, original boxing programs The Boxing Beat with Dan Rafael (Tuesdays) and In This Corner (twice monthly). In addition to boxing content, fans can watch thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks. This includes hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Grand Slam tennis, Top Rank boxing, PGA TOUR golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, the full library of ESPN Films (including 30 for 30) and more. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.

# # #

June 30: Mayer, Conceicao, and Alvarado Headline Oklahoma City Undercard

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 15, 2018) — Former WBO junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado, female fighting sensation Mikaela Mayer, and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao will see action on the June 30 undercard at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. The card will be headlined by WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez’s title defense against Alexis Angulo and 140-pound contender Alex Saucedo’s homecoming bout against the hard-hitting Lenny Zappavigna.

Alvarado (38-4, 26 KOs) will fight Martin Martinez (17-4-1-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout, Mayer (5-0, 3 KOs) will face fellow unbeaten Sheena Kaine (5-0, 1 KO) in a six-round lightweight contest, and Conceicao (7-0, 4 KOs) will take on Gavino Guaman (5-2, 1 KO) in an eight-round super featherweight bout.

Ramirez-Angulo and Saucedo-Zappavigna will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET, while undercard action will stream live and exclusively in the United States on ESPN+ starting at 6:00 p.m. ET. ESPN+ is the recently launched multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN.

“I’m really excited to be fighting alongside the champ, Zurdo Ramirez!” Mayer said. “Top Rank continues to put me on amazing cards with the best talent in boxing. Fighting in Oklahoma City is the perfect opportunity to meet more boxing fans and give them an exciting show as I continue my journey to a world championship!”

“I’ve been reconstructing my entire organization over the past three years. I am training now with one of the finest professors of the sweet science, Tony Aguilera,” Alvarado said. “I’m excited to showcase what I’ve stayed dedicated to working hard for. Come June 30, I’ll be one step closer to securing my legacy against anyone who stands in my way.”

“I am very confident of fighting in OKC. I’m having a great high-level training camp in Miami,” Conceicao said. “I’m evolving every day and I’m sure I will put on a great show for all the fans in OKC and those watching live on ESPN+.”

Also appearing on the undercard will be heavyweight knockout sensation Trey Lippe Morrison (14-0, 14 KOs) of Tulsa, Oklahoma; former amateur standout Chris Zavala making his professional debut in a four-round super featherweight bout against Tyler Pacheco (1-1, 0 KOs); Oklahoma City native Aaron Morales (2-0, 2 KOs) in a four-round bantamweight contest; and unbeaten 140-pound prospect Julian Rodriguez (16-0, 10 KOs) against Alejandro Barbosa (11-2, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

Alvarado has turned his career and his life around since personal problems derailed his career, as he’s won four consecutive fights (three by knockout). In his last bout, he scored one of 2017’s best one-punch knockouts with a third-round KO over Sidney Siqueira on the Terence Crawford vs. Julius Indongo undercard in Lincoln, Nebraska. Alvarado has been involved in multiple ‘Fight of the Year’ candidates, including the first fight of his trilogy against Brandon Rios, which won Sports Illustrated ‘Fight of the Year’ honors in 2012. Alvarado lost that fight via seventh-round TKO, but less than six months later, he outboxed Rios to win a unanimous decision.

Mayer, who is making her third ring appearance of 2018, is on the fast track to a world title shot. In her last bout, May 12 on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Jorge Linares card in New York City, she shut out the game Baby Nansen over six rounds. The Los Angeles native opened her 2018 campaign on March 10 in Carson, California, with a 35-second knockout over Maria Semertzoglou.

In 2016, Conceicao became the first Brazilian boxer to capture Olympic gold. He is 2-0 with a pair of decision wins in 2018, with his last bout coming April 28 in Philadelphia. On that evening, he shut out the game Alex Torres Rynn over six rounds.

For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook:facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo, @ESPNDeportes. Use the hashtags #ZurdoAngulo and #SaucedoZappavigna to join the conversation on social media.

—30—

About ESPN+

ESPN+ is the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN. It offers fans thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks.

The ESPN+ lineup includes 18 exclusive, live Top Rank events per year, dozens of fights from other Top Rank undercards, an unmatched library of the greatest fights in boxing history, and two exclusive, original boxing programs: The Boxing Beat with Dan Rafael (Tuesdays) and In This Corner (twice monthly).

It also features hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Grand Slam tennis, PGA Tour golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, the full library of ESPN Films (including 30 for 30) and more. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.

ESPN+ is an integrated part of the completely redesigned ESPN App. Already the leading sports app, the new ESPN App is the premier all-in-one digital sports platform for fans and is a showcase of the company’s culture of innovation. With a richer, increasingly more personalized experience, the new ESPN App curates all of ESPN’s incredible content into an experience unique to each fan’s individual tastes. ESPN+ is also available through ESPN.com.

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION GILBERTO RAMIREZ TO FACE KNOCKOUT KING ROAMER ALEXIS ANGULO LIVE AND EXCLUSIVE ON BOXNATION

LONDON (22 May, 2018) – Super middleweight world champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez will make the fourth defence of his WBO belt against the hard-hitting Roamer Alexis Angulo, live and exclusive on BoxNation.

Taking place at the home of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena on June 30th, 26-year-old Ramirez will face his third unbeaten challenger in a row as he defends his crown against the formidable Colombian Angulo.

Ramirez (37-0, 25 KOs), from Mazatlán, Mexico, became the first Mexican-born super middleweight champion when he shut out three-time world champion Arthur Abraham in 2016.

He has since gone on to beat Ukrainian Max Bursak, before a nip-and-tuck battle against No. 1 contender Jesse ‘Hollywood’ Hart, ultimately prevailing by unanimous decision.

In his last bout in February of this year Ramirez scored the first stoppage of his championship reign with a sixth-round TKO over Habib Ahmed.

His next challenge now comes against Angulo (23-0, 20 KOs), who has won his last five bouts by knockout, most recently winning the WBO Latino belt with a first-round knockout over Evert Bravo.

Now, as part of BoxNation’s exclusive output deal with promoters Top Rank, the pair will do battle next month live and exclusive in the UK and Ireland on ‘The Channel of Champions’ BoxNation.

“I want to prove that I’m the best fighter in the division. I’m willing to leave everything in the ring to defend my title,” Ramirez said. “I want to dedicate this fight to all the Mexicans and all the Latinos who reside in Oklahoma, I would like many of them to be present in the arena. That would motivate me even more. I’ll be waiting for you guys on June 30.”

Oklahoma City’s Alex ‘El Cholo’ Saucedo will also be on the bill as he looks to continue his march to a 140-pound title shot against Lenny Zappavigna in a 10-round special attraction.

Saucedo, ranked No. 3 by the WBO at 140 pounds, last fought in March against Abner Lopez, knocking him out in the seventh round with a left hook to the body.

Against Zappavigna, Saucedo will be fighting in his home city of Oklahoma City for the first time since 2014.

“We are looking forward to a great event in Oklahoma City. Zurdo Ramirez is always in great fights, and Angulo will give him a real battle,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, founder and CEO of Top Rank. “It’s also with great pride that we were able to put in Oklahoma City native Alex Saucedo against a world class fighter like Lenny Zappavigna.”

Jim McMunn, BoxNation Managing Director, said: “Gilberto Ramirez is one of the very best super-middleweights in the world and looks to be getting better and better each time we see him. Against Roamer Alexis Angulo he faces a real test against an undefeated and ferocious puncher who has everything to gain on June 30th. It’s going to be a great card, with Alex Saucedo also set to feature against Lenny Zappavigna, all live and exclusive on BoxNation.”

BoxNation is available on Sky/Freeview/Virgin/TalkTalk/EE/Apple TV/ online at watch.boxnation.com, via apps (iOS, Android, Amazon) and TV Player for just £12 a month. Buy now at boxnation.com.

– ENDS –

About BoxNation

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

Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Canelo vs Golovkin.

The channel is available on Sky (Ch.427), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), TV Player, online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (ios, Android, Amazon, Apple TV). BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.

Available on selected internet-connected Freeview products only, subject to coverage. Visit freeview.co.uk/availability.

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

For more information visit www.boxnation.com

*Plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV customers

Boxing Thunder in OKC: Gilberto Ramirez Defends Super Middleweight Title and Alex Saucedo Comes Home June 30 in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 1, 2018) — The Sooner State will welcome home its favorite fighting son and one of boxing’s elite champions for a special edition of Top Rank on ESPN Saturday, June 30 at Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez will make the fourth defense of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight title against the hard-hitting Roamer Alexis Angulo, while Oklahoma City’s Alex ‘El Cholo’ Saucedo continues his march to a 140-pound title shot against Lenny Zappavigna in a 10-round special attraction.

This world class doubleheader will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET.

Promoted by Top Rank, tickets to this world championship extravaganza will go on sale Friday, May 4 at 10 a.m. CST. Priced at $200, $100, $60, $40 and $25, not including facility and service fees, tickets may be purchased at the Chesapeake Energy Arena box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

“It’s a huge opportunity for me, and I am thankful to be fighting at home on ESPN. I’m going to train really hard, so I can put on a great show for my city,” Saucedo said. “It’s a dream come true to fight at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. I’m ready for the moment. I know what kind of style I bring. I’m going to put on an incredible show and get Lenny out of there.”

Ramirez (37-0, 25 KOs), from Mazatlán, Mexico, became the first Mexican-born super middleweight champion when he shut out three-time world champion Arthur Abraham on April 9, 2016. He was sidelined with a hand injury and didn’t make his first defense for more than a year but didn’t miss a beat in winning a shutout unanimous decision over Max Bursak. Ramirez closed out 2017 with a nip-and-tuck battle against No. 1 contender Jesse ‘Hollywood’ Hart, ultimately prevailing by unanimous decision. In his last bout, on Feb. 3 in Corpus Christi, Texas, Ramirez scored the first stoppage of his championship reign with a sixth-round TKO over Habib Ahmed.

Angulo (23-0, 20 KOs), from Bogota, Colombia, has won his last five bouts by knockout, most recently winning the WBO Latino belt with a first-round knockout over Evert Bravo. He has a well-worn passport, having gone on the road to win bouts in Turkey, Mexico, Germany, United States, and Dominican Republic.

Saucedo (27-0, 17 KOs) was born in Meoqui, Mexico, but his family moved to Oklahoma City when he was 7 years old. An accomplished amateur who won more than 150 bouts in the unpaid ranks, Saucedo turned pro in 2011 and served as a sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao. Saucedo, ranked No. 3 by the WBO at 140 pounds, last fought March 10 in Carson, Calif., against Abner Lopez, knocking Lopez out in the seventh round with a left hook to the body. Against Zappavigna, Saucedo will be fighting in Oklahoma City for the first time since 2014. Saucedo is also fighting for his place in Oklahoma City boxing history. He is seeking to become only the second Oklahoma City product to win a world title. Sean O’Grady captured the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title on April 12, 1981 with a unanimous decision over Hilmer Kenty in Atlantic City, N.J.

Zappavigna (37-3, 27 KOs) is a 12-year pro and a longtime contender at both 135 and 140 pounds. He challenged Miguel Vazquez for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight title on March 12, 2011 in Las Vegas, dropping a unanimous decision. Following a knockout loss to Amneth Diaz later that year, Zappavigna moved up in weight, winning 10 consecutive bouts before engaging in a bloody slugfest against then-unbeaten Sergey Lipinets on Dec. 10, 2016. Lipinets prevailed via eighth-round TKO and would go on to win the IBF junior welterweight title two bouts later. Zappavigna has won two straight fights since the Lipinets defeat.

For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook: facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo, @ESPNDeportes. Use the hashtags #ZurdoAngulo and #SaucedoZappavigna to join the conversation on social media.

Gilberto Ramirez looks beautiful in South Texas showcase on ESPN

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Saturday’s mainevent at American Bank Center was intended to be a coming-out party for undefeated Mexican super middleweight titlist “El Zurdo” Gilberto Ramirez (37-0, 25 KOs), and it succeeded as such in large part because of promoter Top Rank’s expert matchmaking.

Ghanian Habib Ahmed (25-1, 17 KOs) took his half-fight beating like a well-whiskered toughman then surrendered right on time, or his corner did anyway, at 2:31 of round 6.

“I took control of the fight real quick,” said Ramirez immediately afterwards. “And my goal now is to unify all the titles.”

Before the match Ahmed was fond of rattling away names of famous Ghanaian prizefighters to those who had the temerity to wonder who the hell he was, but during the match he fought like no Ghanaian so much as Joshua Clottey, showing little offensive imagination, fighting only when generally cornered and looking exactly the way his dossier got read during introductions – “the undefeated WBO number-four ranked challenger in the world”.

Ramirez is very good and gorgeous too, we’re told, but he makes some odd choices – such as attempting to duck counters from a man at least five inches shorter than him. Too, there’s Ramirez’s dangerous gambit of throwing uppercut leads while moving forward, rarely a good idea, even on an opponent limited as Ahmed.

“I’m telling Top Rank I want to fight in Mexico,” Ramirez added. “In my hometown of Mazatlan.”

This was a showcase match and Ramirez treated it as such, looking dominant before a national American television audience on ESPN.

JERWIN ANCAJAS VS. ISRAEL GONZALEZ

Saturday’s co-main, Filipino junior bantamweight Jerwain Ancajas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) against Mexican Israel Gonzalez (20-2, 8 KOs) featured what might best be described as a lightweight, actually junior-bantamweight, rendition of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, with Ancajas doing his imitative best to move slightly to his left, leap and blast, and Gonzalez having neither the quickness nor pop to dissuade him.

And unlike the last time Marquez and Pacquiao swapped fists, the Filipino won impressively by round-10 TKO.

This was a match that saw Gonzalez effective so long as he was in motion and tagged everytime he wasn’t. By round 4 there was a recurrent pattern: Gonzalez would bob his way in, flinch, feint, and gradually still his hands. Then he would freeze, flatfooted, and Ancajas would leap with a lefthand lead and tag him.

In the fifth Ancajas began to take over the match, outfighting and outfoxing Gonzalez, who found limited success only when jabbing his way in and testing the Filipino’s limited counterpunching prowess.

Through the middle rounds Ancajas’ speed and Gonzalez’s counterpunching partially neutralized one another, marking somewhat dull rounds Ancajas appeared to win in succession.

Having invested in left-cross stabs to Gonzalez’s body early, Ancajas was able to weather any punches Gonzalez landed after the ninth. Able to wade through Gonzalez’s punches Ancajas got audacious, and his audacity got rewarded.

Blasting Gonzalez with straight lefts, in homage to his hero Manny Pacquiao, Ancajas felled Gonzalez twice in round 10, the last time concussively enough to get the match waved-off at 1:50.

All told, it was Saturday’s most competitive match and marked an improvement in Ancajas’ prospects for stardom.

“‘Just be yourself, be patient’,” Ancajas said Pacquiao told him in a phone conversation before the fight. “‘Don’t put pressure on yourself’.”

From here the pressure to perform for Ancajas surely grows, and a deserved acclaim possibly awaits.

JESSE HART VS. THOMAS AWIMBONO

The evening’s singular punch belonged to Philadelphia super middleweight Jesse Hart (23-1, 19 KOs) who put a proper right uppercut on the lowered chin of overweight Ghanaian Thomas Awimbono (24-8-1, 20 KOs) and dropped him hard and early.

“I looked for the uppercut with the jab,” explained Hart. “The jab is everything. My coach told me not to look for the uppercut but to wait for it. As soon as I saw it . . .”

Awimbono, who missed weight widely and forced Hart to eat his way up to a catchweight and looked nowhere fit as his shredded opponent, rose unsteadily and collected another barrage before succumbing completely at 1:28 of round 1.

“I was mentally prepared,” Hart said about his looking sharper Saturday than in his last match. “Daddy, this is for you. I want to say, ‘Happy Birthday, Mom!’”

UNDERCARD

Saturday’s fifth match saw New York lightweight Teofimo Lopez (8-0, 6 KOs) remain undefeated by outboxing light-hitting journeymen Mexican Juan Pablo Sanchez (29-15, 14 KOs) in a match whose official cards went 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55. Despite being outgunned in every minute Sanchez nevertheless managed to open an ugly gash over Lopez’s eye with what Lopez declared a headbutt:

“Yeah, that’s a headbutt,” said Lopez. “He barely fucking hit me. He didn’t even hit me.”

Highly considered Top Rank super featherweight Gabe Flores (6-0, 5 KOs) made an impressive showing against Mexican Alex Solorio (4-3, 1 KO) in the evening’s penultimate undercard bout, stopping Solorio at 2:31 of the first round.

“Of all the young fighters Top Rank has,” said Flores afterwards. “I’m the best.”

The evening’s third match was a mismatch, as Australian super middleweight Rohan Murdock (22-1, 16 KOs) went right through Virginia’s Frank Filippone (23-7-1, 8 KOs), causing Filippone’s corner to stop the match after five rounds. Murdock looked solid if not particularly accurate, and Filippone was out of his depth from the opening round.

Before that Phoenix welterweight Jose Benavidez (26-0, 17 KOs) returned from a 20-month sabbatical to beatdown North Carolinian Matthew Strode (24-6, 9 KOs) and stop him at 2:21 of round 8. Benavidez, who was shot in the leg and told by a doctor he would need two years even to walk, looked nearly quick as fans remembered him, if not quite so sharp. The fight was a good one, Strode was awkward for a comeback opponent and took a punch well, and Benavidez knockedoff some of the rust he’ll need scrub in totality if he is to make a run at world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, who watched from ringside.

Told Crawford was unimpressed by his showing, Benavidez said:

“(Crawford) needs to sit his ass down. I’ll fight him whenever, wherever.”

Saturday’s card began with a victorious four-round professional debut for 17-year-old Israeli super welterweight David Kaminsky (1-0) against a local no-hoper Texan named Rafael Munoz (1-3-1). For all the talk preceding Kaminsky’s debut, there was more noise than effective aggressiveness – and after a very quick start Kaminsky mostly raised questions about his own power through the match’s remaining 3 1/2 rounds of frustration.

Opening bell sounded on a sparsely filled American Bank Center at 6:08 PM local time.

FOLLOW RAMIREZ – AHMED; ANCAJAS – GONZALEZ LIVE

Follow all the actions as Gilberto Ramirez defends the WBO Super Middleweight title against Habib Ahmed. The action kicks off at 10:15 PM ET as Jerwin Ancajas defends the IBF Junior Bantamweight title against Israel Gonzalez.

NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED, THE PAGE WILL UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY

12-ROUNDS–WBO SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE–GILBETO RAMIREZ (36-0, 24 KOs) VS HABIB AHMED (22-0-1, 17 KOs)
ROUND	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
Ramirez*	10	10	10	10	10	TKO							50
Ahmed	9	9	9	9	9								45

Round 1: Both guys trying to jab..Right hook from Ramirez..left..

Round 2 Right from Ahmed..Combination from Ramirez..Right uppercut..Right to the body..

Round 3 Ramirez cut over his left eye..Body shot from Ramirez..Cut ruled from an accidental headbutt..Doctor looking at the cut…Left hook from Ahmed..Straight left from Ramirez..

Round 4 Ramirez jabbing

Round 5 Right hook from Ramirez..another..Big left..Body shot..Big right hook..Left..Hard left

Round 6 Ramirez landing big uppercuts..body shots..Huge left,,,Ahmed taking a lot of punishment..Big head shots..CORNER THROWING THE TOWEL…RAMIREZ WINS BY TKO

12 ROUNDS–IBF JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE– JERWIN ANCAJAS (26-1-1, 18 KOs) vs ISRAEL GONZALEZ (20-1, 8 KOs)
ROUND	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	TOTAL
Ancajas*	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	TKO			89
Gonzalez	8	9	10	9	9	9	9	9	9				81

Round 1 HUGE LEFT AND DOWN GOES GONZALEZ…Gonzalez trying to jab..Straight left from Ancajas..Left from Gonzalez..

Round 2 Right from Gonzalez..Straight left from Ancajas..Right hook

Round 3 Combination from Gonzalez..Right..Left from Ancajas..left..

Round 4 Left from Ancajas..Straight left..

Round 5 Good exchange…Straight left from Ancajas..Right hook..Hard left…

Round 6 Ancajas lands straight left

Round 7 Left from Ancajas..Another left..Right hook…Sharp right..

Round 8 Jab from Ancajas

Round 9 Ancajas outlanding Gonzalez 110-38…Good left from Ancajas

Round 10 Right hurts Gonzalez..Combination AND DOWN GOES GONZALEZ..BIG RIGHT HOOK DOWN GOES GONZALEZ AND THE FIGHT IS STOPPED

Jerwin Ancajas to defend world title on Feb. 3 ESPN telecas

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (December 22, 2017) — Filipino fireball JERWIN “Pretty Boy” ANCAJAS will make his U.S. debut, Saturday, February 3, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX. A protégé of Filipino icon Senator Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, and promoted by Top Rank®, MP Promotions and Joven Sports, Ancajas (26-1-1, 18 KOs), of Cavite City, Cavite, Philippines, will be making the fourth defense of his International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior bantamweight world title against Top-10 contender ISRAEL GONZALEZ (20-1, 8 KOs), of Cabo San Lucas, México. The Ancajas – Gonzalez world championship fight will be the co-main event to the GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMÍREZ -HABIB “Wild Hurricane” AHMED World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight world title rumble. Both fights will be televised live and exclusively at 10:15 p.m. EST on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zapari Boxing Promotions, remaining tickets to the Ramírez – Ahmed / Ancajas – Gonzalez world championship doubleheader event are priced at $152, $102, $62, $42, and $27, including facility fees — the perfect fistivus holiday gift for your favorite boxing fan! They may be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, at the American Bank Center Box Office, Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

“I have had the opportunity to be ringside for Jerwin’s fights in Australia and in Macau and I see a lot of similarities to his co-promoter Manny Pacquiao,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Jerwin has a killer instinct inside the ring and he is a great finisher. Just look at his record. Jerwin has only gone the distance once in his last 14 fights!”

“Jerwin Ancajas, the IBF junior bantamweight world champion and MP Promotions’ first world title holder, is an exciting fighter who has not reached his full potential,” said Pacquiao. “I am pleased to announce that we will have the opportunity to get worldwide exposure through his upcoming fights being televised on ESPN, with the help of the legendary Bob Arum and Top Rank. We, at MP Promotions feel that this opportunity will open the floodgates for Jerwin to reach his full potential and continue to bring great honor to the Philippines. That begins on February 3 in Corpus Christi, Texas, live on ESPN, and we will be with him in every step of the way throughout his journey.”

“I am thrilled to have Mr. Arum and Top Rank promoting my career in the United States. As a Filipino boxer there is no higher honor than to have Mr. Arum and Top Rank Boxing promoting you,” said Ancajas. “I also want to thank MP promotions and Joven Sports for helping get me to this point in my career and I look forward to following in the footsteps of my Idol and promoter Manny Pacquiao. I want to be a champion for a long time.”

“We at Joven Sports are thrilled to be signing with Mr. Arum and Top Rank boxing. There was only one choice when we decided to go with a promoter in the United States,” said Joven Jimenez, president of Joven Sports and Ancajas’ co-promoter and trainer. “Mr. Arum has done so much for Filipino boxing over the years. We are honored to be promoted by him . Also I want to thank co-promoter Manny Pacquiao and MP Promotions for all they have done and we hope to have the tremendous success that our promoter Manny has had in boxing.”

Ancajas captured the IBF junior bantamweight world title last year, dethroning defending undefeated champion McJoe Arroyo via a dominate 12-round unanimous decision. It was the only fight Ancajas has gone the distance in his last 14 bouts dating back to 2012. He has successfully defended the title three times — all in 2017 and all by stoppage — against Jose Rodriguez (32-4) in Macau; Teiru Kinoshita (25-1-1) in Brisbane, Australia, under the Manny Pacquiao – Jeff Horn world title fight; and on November 18, Jamie Conlan (19-0), in Conlan’s native Belfast.

Gonzalez returns to the ring riding an eight-bout winning streak with five of those victories coming by way of knockout. The former WBC FECOMBOX super flyweight champion is currently world rated No. 9 by the IBF.

For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook: facebook.com/trboxing,facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo

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GILBERTO RAMÍREZ vs. HABIB AHMED HEADLINES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT!

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (November 14, 2017) — Top Rank on ESPN will kick off its 2018 season with a sensational Super Bowl weekend world championship event. GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMÍREZ , Mexico’s super middleweight champion with the matinee idol looks, defending his world title. Ramírez (36-0, 24 KOs), from Mazatlan, Mexico, will make his third defense of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight title against Top-Five world-rated contender HABIB “Wild Hurricane” AHMED (22-0, 17 KOs) from Accra, Ghana. The fight will take place on Saturday, February 3, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX, and will be televised live and exclusively at 10:30 p.m. EST on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App.

Ramírez and Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum will announce the fight at a press conference on Thursday, November 16, at 11 a.m. CST,in the Henry Garrett Ballroom C, located inside the American Bank Center (1901 North Shoreline Blvd., Corpus Christie, TX 78401).

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Zapari Boxing Promotions, tickets to the Ramírez-Ahmed world championship event will go on sale This Thursday, November 16, at 10 a.m. CST– the perfect fistivus holiday gift for your favorite boxing fan! Priced at $152, $102, $62, $42, and $27, including facility fees, tickets may be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, at the American Bank Center Box Office, Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

“Gilberto Ramirez has proven that he is the best of the super middleweights All you have to do is look at his world championship victories against Arthur Abraham and Jesse Hart,” said Arum. “Gilberto has quickly become the face of boxing on both sides of the border.

“Habib Ahmed is an undefeated fighter with a good knockout record. He is fighting outside of his home country for the first time and that makes him a very dangerous fighter,’ said Ramírez. “He knows that he has a great opportunity in front of him. I’m going to train even harder than for my last title defense. I think this will be a very good fight. My world title and our undefeated records will be on the line. I’m very motivated and focused on defending and retaining my title for the third time against a good opponent. I want to show the world why I’m the champion in the super middleweight division.”

“I have an important message for Gilberto Ramirez,” said Ahmed. “I am coming to America to take your title. I am going for the knockout. All of Ghana and all of my fans are going to be so proud, so happy. This is the opportunity I always wanted. I am taking Ramirez’s title with me to my homeland.”

Ramírez, a two-fisted super middleweight wrecking machine, made history in the co-main event to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley welterweight pay-per-view on April 9, 2016, when he became México’s first fighter to win a super middleweight world title. Entering the fight as the top world-rated contender, Ramirez gave a virtuoso performance over the defending WBO champion Arthur Abraham, a-three-time world champion in his own right.. All three judges scored it as a 120-108 blitzkrieg. “I took him to Méxican boxing school,” a jubilant Ramírez boasted as he put on the world championship belt . A sensational young champion, Ramírez had been scheduled to make his first title defense in July 2016, but a training camp injury to his right hand followed by surgery and rest sidelined him for the remainder of the year. He returned to the ring on April 22, winning a unanimous decision over Top-10 contender and one-time world title challenger Max “Tiger” Bursak and followed that up with another impressive unanimous decision victory, this time over undefeated No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger Jesse “Hard Work” Hart on September 22.

A former Ghanaian super middleweight champion, Ahmed has won eight of his last nine fights by knockout, including the six-bout victory-by-knockout streak he is currently enjoying. In his most recent fight, on March 17, Ahmed stopped Philip Kotey in the 11th round to capture the vacant WBO Africa super middleweight title. This will not only be Ahmed’s U.S. debut, it will be his first professional fight outside his native Ghana.

For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook: facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo
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Valdez / Ramirez / Hart / Arum Fight Week Transcript

TUCSON, AZ (September 21, 2017) — Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ and GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ will headline and exciting world championship event This Friday! September 22, at Tucson Arena (260 South Church Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701.) Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs), a two-time Mexican Olympian with strong roots in Tucson, will be defending his WBO featherweight title against the WBO’s No. 4 world-rated contender GENESIS SERVANIA (29-0, 12 KOs), of Bacolod City, Philippines. WBO super middleweight champion Ramirez (35-0, 24 KOs), from Mazatlan Mexico, will take on No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger JESSE “Hard Work” HART (22-0, 18 KOs), of Philadelphia, PA, in the grudge match of the year. The four warriors boast a perfect combined record of 108-0 (73 KOs) with nearly 70% of their victories coming by way of knockout. Here is what they had to say at today’s media workout:

BOB ARUM: I am looking forward to a great show Friday night. Two undefeated world champions – Oscar Valdez, the featherweight champion; and Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, the super middleweight champion, are in two tough title defenses; Mick Conlan is on the card. It should be a great night for boxing in Tucson and the whole world will be seeing this event thanks to our partners at ESPN.

OSCAR VALDEZ: I am feeling good and I’m very excited about this fight. We had a tremendous camp – my trainers and me and now I’m ready to get in that ring and show my people a good fight. I’m pretty excited that all my friends and all my family get to come it is only thirty minutes away from Nogales, all the people will be here in Tucson, so I’m pretty excited for this.

FRANK ESPINOZA: Like Oscar said – he’s put in a lot of hard work coming to Tucson and we are excited to be back at the Tucson Convention Center Arena and looking forward to a great fight. Servania is a volume puncher and I think it’s going to be a fan-friendly fight but I think Oscar will showcase his talent. I’ve been telling everybody all along that he has the Mexican style – he has that super style that I think he’s going to show his skills that evening.

BOB ARUM: The Mexican style maybe now will be called the Kazakhstan Style because last Saturday, one guy fought as a Mexican and the Mexican didn’t fight like a Mexican.

It’s been kind of a quick turn-around since your last fight . . .

OSCAR VALDEZ: Yes it was a pretty tough fight against Marriaga and I was a little sore but I only took a week off then I went back to run and hit the gym. It only took a week then I was good to go. I always stay active. Not train too hard in between but just enough – give it a thirty-minute run, hit the gym, shadow box, hit the bag – casual to maintain myself not to get inactive.

What do you know about Servania – he has a great record but it a bit of an unknown being from the Philippines?

OSCAR VALDEZ: I’ve seen him fight before and he is a tough fighter and he has a tough style. Not a lot of people know him. There was a point when no one knew who Manny Pacquiao and they come to America as an unknown and show their skills. I had the same questions about Marriaga because a lot of people didn’t know who he was and they found out Marriaga is a tough fighter. It was a tough fight and everyone saw he was a good fighter. Servania is a tough fighter and I definitely am not taking him lightly.

When did you live in Tucson?

OSCAR VALDEZ: I lived in Tucson and went to elementary school there they my father and I moved back to Nogales – from when I was 4 to about 9. My mother still lives there. I have some long-time friends that I played with when I was a kid and I have a lot of uncles here, cousins and uncles. My family is actually very big – I have family in Ohio, I have family in Arizona, I have family in Mexico and I have a lot of family here in Tucson as well.

Is it fair to say that Tucson is your second home?

OSCAR VALDEZ: Yes I consider Tucson my second home – I lived here for a while. Having the privilege of coming back and forth – coming back to Tucson when I live in Nogales.

OSCAR VALDEZ: I fought here two years ago but I wasn’t a champion in front of my fans and my people then but I was always going to bring back a title and now I get a chance to do it and I am very excited. I am always excited but for this a lot of my family is going to be there and support me in this fight.

Do you have plans for Oscar to fight regularly in Tucson?

BOB ARUM: Tucson is a great city and I really love it there and they have very enthusiastic boxing fans. We are going to do well at the gate – tickets are really flying out of the box office, so yes, why not use Tucson as a base, but we have big plans for Oscar. He is on the road, we believe, to superstardom. There will be a lot of places – Los Angeles and Las Vegas – clamoring for Oscar and his fights. We expect to have some really major fights for Oscar in the near term against guys who are big names in the featherweight division.

After last weekend are you concerned about the judging of the fight?

OSCAR VALDEZ: Not at all that is never on my mind. I don’t worry about my opponent. I don’t worry about judges. I don’t worry about the referee. All I care about is me and how I am doing. I am confident about the work we did in the gym, we had a tremendous camp and I am confident about how everything will go on Friday night.

What did you think about the Canelo – Triple G fight and do you think Canelo made a mistake going backward in the fight?

OSCAR VALDEZ: I think Canelo actually did a good job. A lot of people thought he lost. My personal opinion I thought he won the fight. He went back but a lot of the punches Golovkin was throwing were not landing. I think Canelo landed the stronger punches and that’s really what I think.

Do you feel you are fighting for that – to keep on proving that we belong in the United States?

OSCAR VALDEZ: If I get any chance to keep on proving that we belong in the United States – we come to this country not to rape or to be criminals – we only come to this country to do good things – to get a better life than we didn’t have back in our country.

How important is having a series such as this for a young fighter?

BOB ARUM: I think it’s very important for ESPN who is now going to be able to showcase Oscar on the worldwide leading sports network at least three times a year. We are going to have him matched against top-top featherweights and junior lightweights and the audience that we’ll be attracting starting September 22nd will be absolutely huge and so Oscar will go in the same realm as the other superstars in boxing. This development we have with ESPN is really a breakthrough and the guys that benefit most are talented young men like Oscar Valdez.

You had a streak of knockouts that ended with Marriaga – is a KO something you want to do?

OSCAR VALDEZ: I would love to get the knockout. It’s not something I look to do in the first or second round but if I hurt I would do my best to stop him but my mindset is always 12 rounds. If I don’t knock him out I am 100% ready to go 12 rounds, whether that’s going toe-to-toe or boxing, whatever. If I have the opportunity to give the crowd what they want – a knockout – I will try my best to do it if I hurt him but that’s not always the case. I will fight hard every singe round.

How do you feel about a lot more people being able to follow your career now?

OSCAR VALDEZ: I think it’s great and I am ready for this. I think it’s a great opportunity and a lot more people are going to be able to watch me now. That’s what I want. I want to be recognized and being on ESPN is going to be a great opportunity and I’m excited for that.

OSCAR VALDEZ: I think this division is a very tight division and there are a lot of great challenges out there – there are a lot of good fights to be made. Servania is no walk in the park that’s for sure. He is ranked #4 in the WBO and he has that typical Filipino style – he comes from different angles and it’s always going to be a hard fight. It’s not going to be easy for me. I know I have to be at my best to come out victorious that night and that’s what I’m planning to do.

Would the winner of Mares/Santa Cruz be on your radar?

OSCAR VALDEZ: I’m sure it would be on my radar. If everything goes well I will fight anybody and if were to be them I would gladly take the fight. Whoever it is I will gladly fight them. Whoever they put in front of me.

BOB ARUM: This is insane, the policy that we now have. These Dreamer kids are as American as my grandkids. They were raised in this country. They speak English. They go to American schools. The idea that we would send them back to other countries is ludicrous. Americans are supposedly held to higher ethical standards than this. I will fight to the last breath in my body for these kids. They belong in the United States, they can contribute to this country and we have to open our hearts to them because they deserve it. They came here – does it matter if their parents came legally or illegally? They were kids when they came here and I think every American has the moral obligation to stand up for these dreams

Would you like to unify the titles?

OSCAR VALDEZ: Yes of course

BOB ARUM: And also I read today that Carl Frampton, who is a tremendous featherweight, has signed on with Matthew Macklin’s group and Matthew manages Michael Conlan who will be on the card Friday night so there is a possible fight against Frampton that now becomes relatively easy to arrange.

Would you fight Frampton?

OSCAR VALDEZ: Of course, I am not looking ahead of this fight but I would definitely love to fight Frampton. After this fight I can think about that. I always have to think about this fight. I have confidence in my team that we did a great job in the gym and that we are 100% for Friday’s fight.

BOB ARUM: And also don’t forget the Puerto Rican kid who will be on the Lomachenko-Rigondeaux card at the Garden on December 9th – Christopher Diaz – a terrific young featherweight from Puerto Rico and as you know the great rivalries in boxing very often center around the Mexican kid against a Puerto Rican

ZURDO RAMIREZ

Jesse Hart has been talking a lot – how do you feel about that?

ZURDO RAMIREZ: I only hope that he comes in really prepared because he’s been talking a lot and it’s good because I am really prepared for this fight and very confident in my preparation.

BOB ARUM: Jesse has a very good punch – his father, Cyclone Hart, could knock down walls. He was the hardest punching middleweight of his time and he was a tremendous draw in Philadelphia during the heydays of the middleweights.

What does this fight mean to you?

ZURDO RAMIREZ: It’s a big fight and really exciting for me because he’s the number one contender and I want to put on a great show for all of the Mexican people.

Bob, assuming Zurdo is successful, what do you see moving forward?

BOB ARUM: The future for all of these guys is bright because of the alliance we have with ESPN so now he no longer waits six months before he gets in the ring again to defend his title, assuming he is successful he will fight regularly on ESPN. Maybe we will do a fight in Mexico – I think that would be a great idea. I know he has wanted to fight in Mexico. There are a lot of super middleweights around that we can match him with. There are guys like DeGale and Dirrell who are terrific fighters and David Benavidez who is the brother of Jose who fights for Top Rank – he just won the WBC super middleweight title. Zurdo is not going to lack for really good opponents.

Prior to the fight being made, there was a lot of talk from Hart’s side – do you have any bad blood with this guy?

ZURDO RAMIREZ: No, no, like I said he has been talking and talking a lot but I don’t like to talk too much. I let my fists do the talking in the ring. I talk in the ring and I come to keep my belt, keep my undefeated record and to prove to everybody that Zurdo Ramirez is a top pound-for-pound fighter.

You seem to have fought better competition that Hart – do you feel you are more ready than him for this fight?

ZURDO RAMIREZ: Yes I am ready, always ready and my team is making me feel very confident because we have been working very hard for this fight. We have been working in Mazatlan to do the hard training and the hardest part is done. Now we enjoy this fight week and everybody is going to see a great Zurdo Ramirez on Friday night.

Do you feel that he is ready for this fight? You are obviously the best opponent he has had today.

ZURDO RAMIREZ: He said he is ready. So let’s see if he’s ready.

Do you think the fact that Zurdo speaks English will make him a bigger star keeping in mind that Canelo does not?

BOB ARUM: Essentially his fan base will be the Mexicans so it is our obligation to make him fan friendly with the Mexican public which is big supporters of the sport of boxing – they certainly have rallied behind Canelo over the last few years and we hope that they will rally behind Zurdo if he continues to be victorious.

You said you want to be pound-for pound #1 – what do you think you need to do to get there?

ZURDO RAMIREZ: Keep winning every fight and beat every rival and opponents and keep doing my job.

Who did you have winning the Canelo-Golovkin fight?

ZURDO RAMIREZ: I had it a draw. The people were really surprised about Canelo because they expected Golovkin to destroy him but that was good.

BOB ARUM: Golovkin won the fight easy, EASY. I had the fight 8-4. I didn’t think there would be any controversy, and let me tell you as bad a Adelaide Byrd was that fight, what the hell was Trella watching in that 7th round when Golovkin beat the hell out of Canelo and he gave the round to Canelo – what the hell was that?

JESSE HART
JESSE HART: I am just ready to fight at this point. I really don’t have anything bad to say about the guy. I think he is a fine champion. He’s been doing a great job holding the belt. Now it is time to give it up. I am prepared to not only do 12 rounds; I am prepared to do 15 rounds. Training camp has been. Training camp has been the most, hardest of my whole life. Not just in the ring. There have been near death experiences in that gym. It was war. It was war. This training itself, you ask me about being ready for Ramirez, he will be nothing compared to the training that I have been through in this fight.

Your dad had all of these tremendous fights in the Philadelphia area for a number of years and never got a title shot – but here you are – what does it mean to get that opportunity with your dad at your side?

JESSE HART: It means a lot because of what you just said — we never had a belt in our household. My dad said, “Everything I didn’t do in boxing, I want my son to do” so he is pushing me to greatness. This is personal for my family. This is business but it is personal to bring the belt home – a world championship

Your father was tremendous for years but never got a title shot – can you tell me what that is like for you to get one with him at your side?

JESSE HART: Absolutely – When I go in there my dad’s heart is going in there with me. My dad started me at the age of 6 years old. We had to recognize the goal and how do we get there. The goal was to be a world champion. When I first saw all the great fighters of the past that my dad showed me – Henry Armstrong, Willie Pep, Sugar Ray Robinson, who was his favorite fighter – all of these great fighters that I just named, Joe Louis, all the great fighters of the past, when I was a kid my dad used to sit me by the TV and watch these guys day in and day out – that’s who I studied when I was a kid, that’s where it all came from. That’s what I wished for – for one day to become a world champion and that’s what my dad’s dream always was but he never got a title shot, so it definitely means a lot to him. He said everything I didn’t do in boxing I want my son to do. That’s why he is pushing me

How familiar are you with the great match-ups that your dad had? Do you know about your father when he fought? There had to be ten top contenders – Have you watched tapes?

JESSE HART: I think my dad was a tremendous boxer, puncher. He was a converted southpaw but he really fought on the right hand side so people didn’t really expect him to be as devastating as he was. People never expected that and they always say that the most dangerous punch in boxing is the one that you don’t see – the one you don’t expect. They didn’t expect that because like I said, he fought right-handed – he fought orthodox but he was really a southpaw. He was really left-handed – a converted southpaw. The great fighters that he fought – my dad fought a tremendous amount of great talent on his record – It was much tougher back then than it is now because back then you go 15 rounds – you go in the gym and you go 15 round wars and I like to say that the greatest fighters are from Philadelphia.

You have been waiting for years for a title shot and now it is upon you – how do you remain patient?

JESSE HART: I’d like to acknowledge Bob Arum regarding that. Bob always said ‘you’ve got to be patient.’ He said to me when I first turned pro, he said ‘there are boxing stars and there are superstars. Superstars sell themselves inside the ring and outside the ring. Boxing stars just sell themselves in the ring – they don’t know how to speak and they don’t know what to say. Box said I have all of the qualities to be a superstar because I talk well, I speak well, I have a smile and all of these things come into play to become a superstar. Things that Oscar De La Hoya had – and Bob built that. Things like the Floyd Mayweather smile. Bob builds superstars – don’t limit yourself. I have been waiting patiently to become a superstar not just to be a boxing star. I have more quality. I can fight as well but I can sell outside the ring as well.

You have been fighting the smaller titles for a while – you had a tough fight with Johnson – you hit the canvas – what do you learn from a fight like that?

JESSE HART: I took away little tricks of the trade – when to put weight on my punches and when not to put weight on my punches, when to step around a guy instead of throwing a combination. When to get a guy out of there – don’t always think about getting a guy out of there. When you look at a guy’s record like that the first thing that went thru my mind was I’m going to get this guy out of here. When I put something in my mind – that’s what I believe. Certain people’s mind are not set because they don’t have that belief – I believed that I was going to get that guy out of there. There was not a Plan B or a Plan C. I believed that I was going to get that kid out of their and that was immature – I was just looking at his record. Now I am more mature to see everything – when to box, when to move, when to tie a guy up, when to go to the body, when to throw a combination, when to step around – different things very second of every minute of every round. I had a strong belief in myself to get this kid out. Like Muhammad Ali said to Joe Frazier “you will fall, God said you will fall,’ and Joe said, “Well God ain’t here today.” That’s the belief I had in myself in that fight.

There is a lot of Philly history around you – does that mean anything to do this for the town as well?

JESSE HART: Absolutely – that means you have an upbringing – you have something behind you – you have to uphold and live up to. That means a lot of preparation. That means a lot of pride. People from Philadelphia take pride in this sport. We fight kids that are defending the neighborhood – there is a pride that we have about boxing that you have to live up to. There is a legacy and my dad always told me the best fights you fight are in the gym – there are a lot of gym fights in Philadelphia – we grew in the gym.

You were talking about being near death in the gym, Jesse?

JESSE HART: Yea, damn – Coach Jenkins pushed me a little bit to near death. Sometimes I thought, ‘Yo, am I still alive?’

How do you fill the void of no champions from Philly?

JESSE HART: Friday I become champion of the world and my team – everyone around me is keeping me focused. I just have to go out there and execute the game plan and I’ll be out there giving it my all. To become champion of the world I was told that you have to do things you have never done. You have to get to heights you have never been to, go up mountains you never thought you could climb, and I climbed that and I am here now. I have to put it all together Friday.

You were talking about becoming a superstar – how do you think you will separate?

JESSE HART: Bob Arum – he is the man with the plan. He is the guy that got me here. He is the guy that put me in position to fight, to be here. I listen to Bob so much, it’s not just about boxing, We can talk about my family he give me different advice – you want to do that you want to do this. Muhammad Ali was a superstar. Oscar De La Hoya was a superstar – Bob builds superstars. To be a champion, that’s OK but to be a superstar? How many superstars are over there with the PBC? We can’t say that but we can say that Manny Pacquiao is an international superstar. We can say that, that’s safe to say. Terence Crawford is becoming a superstar – we can say that. Felix Verdejo is becoming a superstar in this sport. Myself, I am becoming a superstar in this sport. Bob Arum builds superstars. And a lot of credit goes to him. Even for this title shot I want to thank Bob Arum for that – without him I would have never got this shot or in position to get this shot.

Your father never won a title – if you win the title Friday night what will that mean?

JESSE HART: My dad always said when I started, “I want you to be a world champion.” I was born to be a world champion. That was always my calling and I really believe that. I have dedicated my life since I was a kid I never gave up on it. Ya’ll have different things that drive you, but I was born to be a champion.

BOB ARUM: Jesse was very flattering. I have always had a real fondness for Jesse and his family – he knows that and if he comes through on Friday night, the sky is the limit because Jesse is very, very right. I am not going to be satisfied with him just being a world champion; I want to make him a world superstar in the sport of boxing. I have in my mind plans on how to do that. Jesse, one thing you can say about him is that he listens, so the sky is the limit. This is going to be a hell of a fight – two great, great young men – Ramirez representing Mexico and Jesse Hart the United States and Philadelphia. I can’t wait for this fight, I really can’t – talk about a competitive real interesting fight. That fight – the super middleweight championship Friday night is going to be something special.

BOB ARUM: By the way – the show will be televised starting at 10:30 p.m. EDT / 7:30 p.m. on the west coast and in Arizona – I am so excited for this car. I think that this card will demonstrate, as did first with the Lomachenko fight and the Crawford fight, what boxing has to offer with the help of ESPN we are going to make this sport back to where it was fwhen I first started, it was one of the leading sports in the world.

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The event will be further enhanced with the addition of Irish Olympic hero MICHAEL “MICK” CONLAN, 2016 U.S. Olympian MIKAELA MAYER and the battle for the vacant NABF welterweight title between EGIS KAVALIAUSKAS and MAHONRI MONTES. Conlan (3-0, 3 KOs) will rumble in six-round featherweight bout against Kenny Guzman (3-0, 1 KO), Kalispell, Montana, and Mayer (1-0, 1 KO) will take on Allison Martinez (1-2, 1 KO) from Spring, Texas, in a four-round lightweight bout.

Both world championship fights and Conlan’s six-round featherweight battle against Kenny Guzman (3-0, 1 KO), of Kalispell, Montana, will be televised live and exclusively at 10:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN app. The entire card will be available via the ESPN app beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT.

Promoted by Top Rank® and Peltz Boxing, remaining tickets to this world championship doubleheader are priced at $102, $77, $52 and $27. They may be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.Ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000, or by visiting the Tucson Convention Center ticket office.

For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo, facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo
@ESPNDeportes. Use the hashtags #ValdezServania and #RamirezHart to join the conversation on Twitter.

UNDEFEATED WORLD CHAMPIONS ÓSCAR VALDEZ and GILBERTO RAMIREZ UNDEFEATED OPPONENTS GENESIS SERVANIA and JESSE HART MEDIA WORKOUT QUOTES

TUCSON, AZ (September 19, 2017) — Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ and GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ will headline and exciting world championship event This Friday! September 22, at Tucson Arena (260 South Church Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701.) Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs), a two-time Mexican Olympian with strong roots in Tucson, will be defending his WBO featherweight title against the WBO’s No. 4 world-rated contender GENESIS SERVANIA (29-0, 12 KOs), of Bacolod City, Philippines. WBO super middleweight champion Ramirez (35-0, 24 KOs), from Mazatlan Mexico, will take on No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger JESSE “Hard Work” HART (22-0, 18 KOs), of Philadelphia, PA, in the grudge match of the year. The four warriors boast a perfect combined record of 108-0 (73 KOs) with nearly 70% of their victories coming by way of knockout. Here is what they had to say at today’s media workout:

ÓSCAR VALDEZ
“I worked so hard in this training camp with Manny [Robles]. I am prepared for Servania. He is rugged and strong. He has my upmost respect

“Bob Arum is a great human being helping the Dreamers. The Dreamers just want to work, raise families and be peaceful. Bob is doing all he can to help them. I want to thank him personally.

“ESPN is seen all over the world. It’s an honor to fight on this great network. Our fights will be seen everyplace imaginable.”

MANNY ROBLES
“Oscar had a great camp like he always does. He never looks past an opponent. He has a high level of respect of all who get into the ring against him. He is happy to be fighting in Tucson. His fans and family will be in the arena on Friday night. Oscar is ready. Trust me.”

GENESIS SERVANIA
This is my first time getting into the ring and fighting for a world title. It’s exciting. It’s my fight to win because I have trained so hard for this opportunity. It will be my hardest fight but you will soon see I came to Tucson to win and become the new world champion.”

GILBERTO RAMIREZ
“Jesse Hart is a good fighter. A tough fighter. He earned the right to be my mandatory challenger. But that does not give him the right to say bad things about me. I do my talking in the ring. On Friday night he will hear my response loud and clear.”

JESSE HART
“When I beat Zurdo for the world title I am going to wrap the championship belt right around my Dad’s waist. This fight on Friday is for my father Cyclone Hart and what he never got in all of those years in the big ring – a shot at the title.”

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Top Rank Donates 500 tickets to Sept. 22 Valdez vs. Servania / Ramirez vs. Hart Championship event at Tucson Arena to “Dreamers”

TUCSON (September 18, 2017) – In support of the thousands of young immigrants that could be affected by the termination the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, boxing promotional company, Top Rank®, led by Hall-of-Fame promoter Bob Arum, will donate 500 tickets to “Dreamers” in Arizona to attend the September 22 world championship event headlined by unbeaten Mexican world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ and GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ. Valdez and Ramirez are considered by many experts as the future of the boxing rich country of Mexico, and they will defend their respective featherweight and super middleweight world titles in action-packed bouts.

“Top Rank wants to make it clear that we stand in solidarity with the Dreamers. We are ashamed of the way they are being treated by the Administration in Washington. Americans are way better than this,” said Arum.

“To me it is a great honor to be able to be a voice that can bring light to this issue and defend those that are in need and don’t have someone that will stand up for them. I have family members that are in danger of being deported over the decisions taken by our government against DACA. I will not stand around and watch silently. I completely support this initiative taken by Top Rank and I want everyone to know that we will stand together and we will fight for what is right,” said Valdez.

To claim their tickets to the Valdez vs. Servania / Ramirez vs. Hart card, the “Dreamers” should bring their Employment Authorization Card to the Tucson Convention Center Box Office starting Tuesday September 19 during regular box office hours and for as long as supplies last.

For more information visit: www.toprank.com; Facebook facebook.com/trboxing, facebook.com/trboxeo; Twitter twitter.com/trboxing, twitter.com/trboxeo. Use the hashtags #ValdezServania and #RamirezHart to join the conversation on Twitter.

ESPN and Top Rank Announce Mega Comprehensive Multi-year Agreement for New Fight Series

ESPN and Top Rank today announced a vast and exclusive, multimedia agreement to make ESPN the home of Top Rank in the U.S. and Canada. Under the agreement, ESPN will televise live fights on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream them on the ESPN App, will stream fights and other Top Rank content on the recently announced ESPN-branded direct-to-consumer streaming service via BAMTech and deliver select pay-per-view (PPV) fight events. It will also air all Top Rank content in English and in French on Canadian sister networks TSN and RDS. The next Top Rank Boxing on ESPN fight card, scheduled for September 22 in Tucson, Arizona, features two WBO World Title Fights with Oscar Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs, Featherweight) and Gilberto Ramirez (35-0, 24 KOs, Super Middleweight) title defenses.

“ESPN is excited to announce this new relationship with Top Rank, the most comprehensive and innovative media agreement in the history of the sport,” Burke Magnus, executive vice president of programming & scheduling, ESPN said. “We believe in a new vision for boxing that will super-serve existing boxing fans and create legions of new fans through the highest quality boxing content across multiple ESPN platforms – 365 days a year. Together, ESPN and Top Rank will build the superstars of tomorrow through unrivaled exposure, original content and cutting edge technology.”

In the first year of the deal, ESPN will showcase 18 main events in the U.S. on multiple platforms, including television networks, the ESPN App, the direct-to-consumer service and PPV events, in both English and Spanish, and on Canada’s TSN in English and RDS in French. Top Rank on ESPN content will be widely accessible across multiple platforms, including the ESPN-branded multi-sport direct-to-consumer streaming service, and will feature all undercards, select main events, re-airs of all ESPN and PPV events, Top Rank archival fights and more.

“Top Rank is thrilled to enter into this relationship with ESPN, the top sports media brand in the world,” said Todd duBoef, President of Top Rank. “This unprecedented partnership offers a 360 approach to the entire boxing vertical, including live world class events, unparalleled coverage as well as access to historical moments in the sport.”

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) served as the media advisor to Top Rank on the landmark agreement with ESPN. Furthering its relationship with the leading sports and entertainment agency, Top Rank has retained CAA Sports to manage its official sponsorship sales efforts, working closely with ESPN.

“The deal puts Top Rank and its best-in-class stable of global fighters at the core of ESPN’s combat sports offering across television, PPV and OTT,” said Alan Gold, Head of CAA’s Sports Media Advisory practice. “Top Rank has consistently and successfully built many of their fighters into global brands, and now will benefit significantly from ESPN’s broad distribution, sales and marketing support and outstanding storytelling.”

The ESPN-branded multi-sport direct-to-consumer streaming service (being developed with BAMTech and debuting in early 2018) will be a key part of the Top Rank on ESPN multi-platform distribution. The service was announced earlier this month as part of The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of majority ownership of BAMTech. It will join a wide array of sports programming on service, including approximately 10,000 live regional, national, and international games and events, including Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis, college sports and more.

The new ESPN service will be accessed through an enhanced version of the current ESPN app and from authorized MVPDs. In addition to the multi-sport service, the ESPN app will continue to include the news, highlights and scores that fans enjoy today, and consumers who are pay TV subscribers will also be able to access the ESPN television networks in the same app on an authenticated basis.

“Top Rank will be a great partner with high-quality live content, perfectly fit for the new ESPN-branded streaming service we’re building,” said Michael Paull, Chief Executive Officer of BAMTech. “It’s another exciting opportunity for our direct-to-consumer platform to bring sports fans widespread access to their favorite sporting events.

–30–

About ESPN
ESPN, Inc. is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50 business entities. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN Plaza includes 950,000 square feet in 16 buildings on 123 acres (116 contiguous), with additional office space (400,000 sq. ft.) rented nearby. The company is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN. For more information, visit http://www.espn.com/boxing, @ESPN and @ESPNBoxeo.

About Top Rank
Innovation has been the mantra at Top Rank since it was established in 1966 by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. The boxing industry’s leading promotional company for half a century, Top Rank has shaped, developed and promoted the careers of top international pay-per-view superstars and Hall of Famers, including Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Erik Morales, Terence Crawford, and Vasyl Lomachenko. Known for creating strategic collaborations between athletes, sponsors and television networks, Top Rank launched in 1980, Top Rank on ESPN which ran for a historic 16 years. Top Rank then launched another very popular televised boxing series in 1996 titled Solo Boxeo.

Some of the most legendary and spectacular events in boxing history were promoted by Top Rank, which include: 26 Muhammad Ali Events; Leonard vs. Hearns: Arguello vs Pryor; Duran vs. Leonard; Hagler vs. Hearns: Leonard vs. Hagler; Foreman vs. Holyfield; Morales vs. Barrera and De La Hoya vs. Trinidad as well as one of the largest sporting events ever, Mayweather v. Pacquiao. In addition to the previously mentioned super fights, Top Rank possesses one of the largest sports libraries, which includes nearly 10,000 fights and dates back over 50 years.

Top Rank has been an architect of the global growth of the sport by staging high profile events in landmark settings around the world, including every major arena in Las Vegas, The Venetian Macao, Yankee Stadium, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, The “Fabulous” Forum and Cowboys Stadium to name a few. Top Rank has also been the leader within the boxing industry in creating unforgettable in-arena experiences for fans while also producing live telecasts which generate high ratings for our television partners.

About CAA Sports
A division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), CAA Sports represents more than 1,000 of the world’s best athletes, coaches, on-air broadcasters, and sports personalities, and leads all agencies in contract value under management exceeding $7.9 billion, according to Forbes. CAA Sports has completed more than $3.7 billion in new sponsorship business on behalf of its clients and orchestrated precedent-setting agreements for the new Yankee Stadium; the Marquee partnership deal at Madison Square Garden; the naming rights for the San Francisco 49ers Levi’s Stadium and Chase Center, the future home of the Golden State Warriors. CAA Sports Consulting advises, manages, and activates on more than $2.7 billion in sponsorship rights deals on behalf of leading global brands and includes an award-winning experiential marketing practice. Additionally, the agency’s media practice has structured and negotiated more than $37 billion in media rights deals. For more information about CAA Sports, visit sports.caa.com.

UNDEFEATED WORLD CHAMPIONS ÓSCAR VALDEZ and GILBERTO RAMIREZ TO DEFEND TITLES IN ALL-ACTION BATTLES

TUCSON, AZ (August 24, 2017) — Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ and GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ will headline and exciting world championship event on Friday, September 22, at Tucson Arena (260 South Church Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701.) Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs), a two-time Mexican Olympian with strong roots in Tucson, will be defending his WBO featherweight title against the WBO’s No. 4 world-rated contender GENESIS SERVANIA (29-0, 12 KOs), of Bacolod City, Philippines. WBO super middleweight champion Ramirez (35-0, 24 KOs), from Mazatlan Mexico, will take on No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger JESSE “Hard Work” HART (22-0, 18 KOs), of Philadelphia, PA. The four warriors boast a perfect combined record of 108-0 (73 KOs) with nearly 70% of their victories coming by way of knockout.

The undercard will feature undefeated Puerto Rico sensation and No. 1 lightweight contender FELIX “El Diamante” VERDEJO, Irish Olympic hero MICHAEL “MICK” CONLAN and undefeated junior welterweight contender ALEX SAUCEDO in separate bouts.

Both world championship fights will be televised live and exclusively at 10:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN app.

Promoted by Top Rank® and Peltz Boxing, tickets to this world championship doubleheader are on sale Now! Priced at $102, $77, $52 and $27, tickets may be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.Ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000, or by visiting the Tucson Convention Center ticket office.

“Fighting in Tucson is special to me because I know a lot of people there and I’m very happy to defend my world title in that great city. It’s a special treat for me and hopefully it will be a special treat for the fans.” said Valdez. “This will be my third title defense and God willing there will be many more. I want to represent my people of Mexico like all the legendary warriors from the past. My opponent is extremely tough and undefeated, which is a dangerous combination. I’m not underestimating him at all. I’ll be ready for his best. I prepare like I’m fighting the best of the best every time out. Fighting on ESPN is a big honor for me. Being able to reach a huge audience and to showcase my boxing skills is extremely important for my career. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I love Tucson. I grew up here, have family here and some of my best friends are here. I am proud to be a world champion. But I am facing a fighter who wants to take it all away from me in my hometown. That is why I am running longer, training harder to win and keep my world title. The greatest thing of being on ESPN is that they will show the world what all of us on this card are all about.”

“I am very excited about this bout because I have waited so long — several
years as a highly-ranked contender — for this chance at the world title. Thank you so much. to Top Rank for giving me this chance, and to the champion for accepting my challenge,” said Servania. “I respect Oscar Valdez. He has a great Olympic background, and has proven his ability as a professional. However, I am ready for this fight and I will do my best on September 22. I am training hard now in Japan to bring the belt back to Kashimi Boxing Gym in Kanazawa. Many thanks to all my family and friends in the Philippines and around the world for your love and support. I want to give a special thanks too to all the people in Japan supporting me and inspiring me to realize my dream of becoming world champion.”

“I was waiting for this fight way before I became a champion, but they said he wasn’t ready for me. It is ok that he has been talking a lot. I just hope that he is prepared to fight the same way he has been talking. I hope he is ready to fight and not to run, and to just try to survive,” said Ramirez. “I want to give the fans a great fight and I hope Hart comes with the same mentality, so we can make it happen. I ’m happy to be back in action and make my second world title defense. This is the first time that I will fight in Tucson and I’m really excited to fight in this great city. There will be a lot of Mexican fans in attendance and I want to give them a great show. I’m very excited to fight on ESPN. All the boxing fans will have the chance to watch the fight. This is a great opportunity on a very big platform where I can show the whole world why I’m the best champion in the super middleweight division. Jesse Hart made it personal, saying very bad things about me. He is going to pay for talking like this. I am going to hit him hard and drive him straight down to the canvas. You don’t talk about a champion the way he is talking about me. I worked hard starting in street fights in Mexico years ago. Then came professional boxing and now I am a world champion. This is my biggest fight and it’s on ESPN for all to really see what being a champion is all about.”

“I am going to be pitching some heat onto Ramirez. I am going to throw so much he will have to think for himself and not look to his corner for help like he does a lot during a fight. Either he’s going to quit in the ring or I am going to knock him out,” said Hart. “This is the big fight I’ve always wanted. My father ‘Cyclone’ is with me. Don’t tell me how tough Ramirez is. He hasn’t had a knockout in years. All of the pressure is on him, not me. This is my fight.”

“From top to bottom this is a card that will feature the stars of boxing’s new era,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Oscar Valdez and Gilberto Ramirez, young world champions, risk their world titles in battles of the undefeated, plus rising stars Michael Conlan, Felix Verdejo and Alex Saucedo will give the fans in Tucson, and those tuning into ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app, a night of exciting fights.”

“I’m happy have my hand in an outstanding promotion in Tucson, given its rich boxing history. It will be my first time promoting in the Old Pueblo,” said Russell Peltz. “It is an entire card of good fights and the fans are going to enjoy the show. I’m looking forward to seeing another Philadelphian (Jesse Hart) having the chance to win a world title.”

Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs), from Nogales, México, and who represented México in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, was the first Méxican fighter to qualify for two Olympic games. He is considered one of the bright lights of the featherweight division and a new face for boxing’s next generation. He will be making the third defense of the world title he won on July 23, 2016 via a second-round knockout of undefeated No. 2 rated Matías Rueda. Rueda entered that fight having won his previous 10 bouts by stoppage. In his first defense, which took place, on November 5, he blasted out No. 1 contender Hiroshige Osawa via a seventh-round TKO. In his 2017 debut, his first pay-per-view event that featured him in the main event, Valdez, 26, went toe-to toe for 12 rounds with No. 1 contender Miguel Marriaga, winning a unanimous decision. Marriaga, a three-time world title challenger, went into that fight having won 15 of his previous 19 bouts by way of knockout.

Servania (29-0, 12 KOs), who hails from Bacolod City, Philippines and fights out of Kanazawa, Japan, will be making his U.S. debut. Known for his aggressive style and good skills and movement, Servania is always in top condition. He returns to the ring in his first bid for a world title fresh from a second-round TKO victory of Ralph Lulu on April 29, for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific featherweight title. He is currently world-rated No. 4 by the WBO and No. 7 by the IBF.

Ramírez (35-0, 24 KOs), a two-fisted super middleweight wrecking machine who hails from Mazatlán, México, made history in the co-main event to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley welterweight pay-per-view on April 9, 2016, when he became México’s first fighter to win a super middleweight world title. Entering the fight as the top world-rated contender, Ramirez gave a virtuoso performance over the defending WBO champion Arthur Abraham. All three judges scored it as a 120-108 blitzkrieg. “I took him to Méxican boxing school,” a jubilant Ramírez boasted as he put on the world championship belt . A sensational young champion, Ramírez, 26, had been scheduled to make his first title defense in July 2016, but a training camp injury to his right hand followed by surgery and rest sidelined him for the remainder of the year. He returned to on April 22, winning a unanimous decision over Top-10 contender and one-time world title challenger Max “Tiger” Bursak.

Hart (22-0, 18 KOs), the son of Philadelphia boxing legend Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, has transformed from a sensational prospect into a hot contender. Trained by his father, the highly-rated middleweight contender of the late ’60s and early ’70s, the younger Hart, at age 28, enters this fight having won nine of his last 10 bouts by way of knockout. He captured the NABO and USBA super middleweight titles in 2015, knocking out Mike Jimenez in the sixth-round. He successfully defended those titles four times during his two-year reign, including a fifth-round stoppage of Alan Campa on April 8, en route to his No. 1 world ranking by the WBO.

Video: All In: World Championship Triple-Header | Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramírez

UNDEFEATED WORLD CHAMPIONS ÓSCAR VALDEZ, GILBERTO RAMÍREZ AND JESSIE MAGDALENO LOS ANGELES AREA MEDIA WORKOUT QUOTES

LOS ANGELES (April 13, 2017) — Let the intrigue begin! Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ, the ESPN Deportes Mexican Fighter of the Year, GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ, the Premios Univision Deportes Fighter of the Year, and JESSIE MAGDALENO, hosted a packed Los Angeles area Media Workout today at Manifico Gym. The three gladiators are in deep training for their respective title defenses which will take place Next Saturday! April 22, live on pay-per-view, from StubHub Center. Magdaleno, who is making the first defense of the title he won off the legendary Nonito “Fili[pino Flash” Donaire revealed that his team has spied Donaire in the gym working with Adeilson Dos Santos, Magdaleno’s opponent. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but it’s one Magdaleno intends to serve up to the Dos Santos/Donaire team using two red-hot leather utensils!

ÓSCAR VALDEZ

“This is the biggest, most difficult fight of my life. I want to be aggressive and take control but I need to be intelligent while doing it. I am a world champion but I am still hungry. I know how special this fight is and I know a win over Marriaga will make me a better champion. I’ve never worked harder for a fight. Marriaga is the real deal and we know it.”

GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMÍREZ

“I’m ready to get back in the ring and defend my title for the first time. I know there are a lot of fighters looking to fight me and challenge for my title, but right now I’m focused on my fight against Max Bursak. Let’s see what happens after that. I’ll fight anyone. I want the best. It’s an honor to fight at StubHub Center where there have been so many great fights. I know there will be a lot of fans supporting me.”

JESSIE MAGDALENO

“When you are a world champion you have a target on your back. Every challenger in my division wants a piece of me, including Dos Santos. I know he has been training in Las Vegas and I heard Nonito Donaire has been in the gym with him. That will not make any difference for Dos Santos. It’s hard to mimic my style. I am keeping the belt.”

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Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs), from Nogales, Mexico, will be making the second defense of his WBO featherweight title against NABO champion and No. 1 contender Miguel Marriaga (25-1, 21 KOs), from Arjona, Colombia; Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs), from Mazatlan, Mexico, will be making his first defense of the WBO super middleweight title against Top-10 contender Max Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs), of Kiev, Ukraine; Magdaleno (24-0, 17 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nev., will be making the first defense of his WBO junior featherweight title against WBO Latino champion Adeilson Dos Santos (18-2, 14 KOs), of São Paulo, Brasil.

The six world championship warriors have a combined record of 156-7-1 for a winning percentage of 95% with a victory by knockout ratio of 71%.

The pay-per-view telecast will also feature the pro debut of U.S. Olympic silver medalist SHAKUR STEVENSON

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Tecate, All Star Boxing, Zapari Boxing Promotions and Antonio Leonard Productions, remaining tickets to this world championship tripleheader are priced at $128.50, $77.50, $52.00 and $36.70. They may be purchased online at AXS.com, by phone at (888) 9AXS-TIX, or by visiting the StubHub Center box office. The world championship event will be produced and distributed live by Top Rank Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, or facebook.com/trboxeo,and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, or twitter.com/trboxeo, Use the hashtags #ValdezMarriaga, #ZurdoBursak, #MagdalenoDosSantos to join the conversation on Twitter.

BOB ARUM REVISITS HAGLER VS. LEONARD ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY ON THE SUPER FIGHT

LOS ANGELES (April 1, 2017) — With the 30th anniversary of The SuperFight: Hagler vs. Leonard just days away (April 6), Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum looked back at one of boxing’s most spectacular events. He shared his experiences of that promotion with undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ, GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ and JESSIE MAGDALENO, as well as 2016 Olympic silver medalist SHAKUR STEVENSON, who are headlining an exciting world championship tripleheader, and Stevenson’s pro debut, which will take place on Saturday, April 22, under the stars at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. It will be produced and distributed live on pay-per-view.

In turn, each fighter and his respective trainer took a break from training to watch a clean tape of the fight, minus audio and graphics, and score it. The fighters shared their views on the fight as well.

BOB ARUM: You are going to be hearing from these great young fighters that after reviewing the tape of the Hagler-Leonard fight will give you their opinions on who won the fight based on what they saw from the telecast which was given to them without any sound or graphics on it. Top Rank promoted that fight, which took place on April 6 — thirty years ago before any of these men were born and it was a momentous event in the world of boxing. I want to set the scene for that event particularly for the younger people who may not be aware. The scene was very important. Marvelous Marvin Hagler had come up the hard way in boxing. He had never been to the Olympics and he fought any fighter that would step in the ring with him. He’d have to go from Boston to Philadelphia and other places to find opponents who would fight him. Through intervention of the Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neil and Senator Ted Kennedy who sent letters to various people, including myself at Top Rank, they forced everyone to give Marvelous Marvin Hagler a shot at the middleweight title. His first shot, I thought he clearly won the fight against Vito Antifermo, but the judges scored it a draw. A year later he fought Alan Minter over in London and stopped Minter in the early rounds — bloodying him so much that the fight had to be stopped. Marvin was greeted by the great sportsmen in England by a barrage of bottles and cans so that everybody had to hide under the ring until the police were ready to restore order. But came back to the United States a real hero then he embarked on a streak of defending his middleweight title. His first big fight was in 1983 against Roberto Duran and then in ’85 in a major, major event he and Thomas Hearns fought a great middleweight championship battle and Marvin knocked Tommy out in the third round. Marvin wanted to retire from boxing at that point but his managers and myself as the promoter convinced him to carry on and in 1986 he fought John “The Beast” Mugabi and Mugabi was a tough hard-punching guy — they went toe-to-toe and in the eleventh round, Marvin knocked Mugabi out.

Ray Leonard had been retired for a number of years and he had been watching that fight and he saw what very few people saw – that Marvin was aging, he was slowing up and Ray, even though he was retired, felt he could come back and take on Hagler. When he announced that he was coming out of retirement, people were incredulous. Hagler went off as a 6:1 or 7:1 favorite in the fight because Leonard was retired and Hagler was this dominant champion – nobody gave Leonard a chance. To put it in perspective, remember the media frenzy when Manny Pacquiao fought Oscar De La Hoya? All of the media people were saying what a mismatch it was and De La Hoya was an overwhelming favorite. We remember, because it was fairly recent, what happened in that fight, Pacquiao dominated and won that fight, but the feeling was the same going into the Hagler-Leonard fight. Ray Leonard was a great fighter, retired, and then coming out of retirement against this dominant middleweight, Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

The country was mesmerized. Ray Leonard was extremely popular – he was the poster boy for boxing. I hope that young Shakur Stevenson will follow in the footsteps of Ray Leonard because he has that kind of personality, but Ray was the darling of America and the darling of boxing. Marvin was respected – everybody realized what a workman-like fighter he was. To sell that fight I called it ‘The Yuppie’ being Leonard who came out of the Olympics with a Gold Medal and had big television exposure from the beginning against the blue collar guy Marvin Hagler who had worked himself up and become the dominant middleweight of his time.

The closed circuit locations were filled. This was the first fight that really touched/started into pay-per-view in various parts of the country. It was a massive, massive event. The fight was sold out in one day and everyone was gathered for this terrific event. I’ll tell you I haven’t seen that fight in 30 years but I remember it as if it happened yesterday. We will talk to the fighters on the call that recently watched the fight and get their views.

ÓSCAR VALDEZ, Undefeated WBO Featherweight World Champion who defends his title against the No. 1 contender, Miguel Marriaga on Saturday, April 22, at StubHub Center, Live on Pay Per View: “First of all I want to say it was a great, great fight. I saw the fight when I was a kid because my dad always showed me tapes of the fights. Watching without the audio I thought that Hagler was the more aggressive fighter. Leonard was moving a lot in the early rounds but was trying to win the later rounds with that speed. I think Hagler did enough to win the fight and I had him winning 115-113.”

GILBERTO RAMÍREZ: Undefeated WBO Super Middleweight Champion, defends his title against top ten contender Max Bursack, also on April 22, live on pay per view: “That was really interesting and a great fight to watch – for me, for my trainer Hector [Zapari] and for the whole team – we watched the fight together. For me, I had Sugar Ray Leonard by three rounds because at the beginning of the fight Hagler pressured more but he looked a little bit tired later – he fought the whole fight going forward. I thought Leonard won the fight because he moved around the ring and he threw more punches.”

JESSIE MAGDALENO: Undefeated WBO Junior Featherweight Champion defends his title against Adeilson De Los Santos on the April 22 pay per view show at StubHub Center: “I scored the fight real close. It was a great fight. They both did a tremendous job and they went in there to pretty much kill each other, but I scored the fight 115-113 for Leonard. I thought Leonard controlled most of the fight. He never let Hagler get in the rhythm or get inside like Hagler usually does to use his power. Leonard really out-boxed him for the full 12-rounds and used his smarts, speed and footwork to keep Hagler away and that’s what got the victory for him.”

SHAKUR STEVENSON: 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist, makes his pro debut in a six-round featherweight bout on April 22, live on pay per view: “I would love to say that I thought Marvin Hagler won because he was from my hometown [Newark], but to be honest, watching the fight and watching Sugar Ray Leonard – Leonard was a beast. I had it 115-113, but Leonard was real good especially coming out of retirement.”

BOB ARUM: I thought it was a great fight. I thought Ray did a tremendous job, better than anybody expected him to do. I had it 115-113 for Marvelous Marvin Hagler. The same score that Lou Felippo – one of the judges had it for Hagler. The other judge from Las Vegas, David Moretti, had it 115-113 for Leonard. Jose Sulaiman’s appointed judge, Jo Jo Guerrero, who never judged another fight, had it eleven rounds to one for Leonard.

Many people thought Ray was stealing rounds with flurries at the end – did you see that?

BOB ARUM: Absolutely, but that was not a unique tactic for Sugar Ray and it was modeled after Muhammad Ali. Very often, in close rounds, particularly in the Norton fight, he would flurry at the end so that the impression he left in the judges’ minds was that he won the round. Obviously rounds should be scored for the full three minutes but there is no questions that human beings being human will give more credit for the last part of a round – not that that’s correct, but that’s how it works.

That pretty much tells the story of Sugar Ray’s smarts in the ring…

BOB ARUM: He was a brilliant fighter, because physically he couldn’t compare. at that point, to Hagler.

Did they not really like each other?

BOB ARUM: No. No No. Marvin could not do a fight unless he got himself into a position where he disliked the opponent. He would put a picture of his opponent up on his bedroom wall so that he would glare back at it. To motivate himself he was the kind of fighter that had to create a dislike for his opponent. Now the guy he really hated, when he fought him, was Hearns. Because when we had them on a tour, Tommy got under Marvin’s skin. But Marvin was disdainful toward Ray because he believed Ray had it so easy in boxing and that he, Marvin, had struggled so hard, but it wasn’t the same kind of hatred that he had for Tommy. I must say that now, many years later, these guys are great friends.

Why did Hagler quit after the fight?

BOB ARUM: Well, he wanted to quit after the Hearns fight – and I want these fighters to hear this. Then we got him to fight Mugabi, then he didn’t want to go any more – he didn’t want to fight Ray Leonard and what happened was, I remember driving through the night with Pat Petronelli, Hagler’s manager, from Boston to New Hampshire where Hagler had a house. We went through fog and everything. I waited and Pat started talking to him and Marvin was banging his hands on the table and afterwards I asked Pat ‘what was that about?’ He said well, I said to Marvin, my brother Goody, who is Hagler’s trainer, we were getting a third of his purse, and we would cut it down if he would take this fight, and he banged the table, Marvin did and said ‘I don’t know if I’m going to fight this punk, but if I do you better take one third.’ He was a hell of a guy, Marvin – he is a hell of a guy. Ray was great too. Ray, Tommy, Roberto – those four guys are examples for all fighters. They were terrific fighters and terrific people.

Shakur, how are you looking to make your pro debut?

SHAKUR STEVENSON: I am very excited and I can’t wait. I feel like I perform under the lights and I am actually excited to perform on April 22 and do what I’ve got to do.

Ray Leonard was not only a great boxer but also a pretty good showman. Do you pattern yourself after him?

SHAKUR STEVENSON: Actually, to be honest with you, I just started watching Ray Leonard. As I am watching, and watching more and more, I try and pick up certain things that he does and trying to add that into my style.

Any regrets about not making your debut in Newark?

SHAKUR STEVENSON: No regrets. I don’t care where I am at. I am a fighter and I am going to fight either way.

Bob, what do you think about Shakur’s prospects?

BOB ARUM: I think that Shakur is going to be a major star in boxing. He has the talent and he has the personality and he is managed by good people – James Prince and Andre Ward. I think the sky is the limit for him. I am really proud of this April 22nd card – introducing Shakur to professional boxing and to have my three great young world champions defending their titles. These three young kids, relatively young, Oscar, Gilberto and Jessie are tremendous young men and great fighters. They works their asses off – they really work hard. They are great role models now that they have been fighting for four or more years now. They are great role models for Shakur. We are looking for big things for all of them and as far as Shakur is concerned, I think he should emulate a guy like Sugar Ray Leonard, who was a great personality, as well as a great fighter.

Ray had an outgoing personality and a million dollar smile to match. How was Hagler?

BOB ARUM: Hagler was the polar opposite. He was relatively introverted. He didn’t show his emotions particularly but I got to know him over the years extraordinarily well and he was a real man and he was the kind of guy that if you were in a war and in a foxhole you would want to be with a Marvelous Marvin Hagler. But he didn’t affect the personality – that really wasn’t him. He was true to himself. In other words, he would never have the personality of a Sugar Ray Leonard or even try to have that personality. He always was Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Ray – that personality was natural. If you speak today to Ray, it is the same bubbly smile and the same personality many years later. So these two guys were true to themselves.

Where are they now?

BOB ARUM: Hagler is still in Italy and has an Italian wife. Listen you guys – this is for the young guys, for the fighters – Marvelous Marvin Hagler never spent 5 cents in a casino. All the time I knew him he never bought me a meal. Every dollar that he made he put away in the bank so that when he retired he had all the money that he would need for the rest of his life. He kept that money and he lived off the interest and also money that he got for speaking engagements and so forth. He is a wealthy man today because he was so frugal with his money. As Shakur said, he was born in Newark, went to Brockton, Massachusetts, in New England. New Englanders have a reputation for being frugal and he had an accountant that looked after his money. He was very conservative in his investments. Today he is a very wealthy guy and he enjoys himself in Italy and comes out from time to time to make speeches at conventions or boxing dinners and he never missed a Hall of Fame induction – he is just that kind of guy. Sugar Ray invested extraordinarily wisely. He is a very well to do guy. He is very active in charities. He lives a very good life. He has a wonderful family and I must say that both of these guys are extraordinarily happy people as their lives have turned out.

BOB ARUM: Ray does broadcasting from time to time, as a lark, because he is into other things. He plays a lot of golf but he is very active in charitable endeavors.

Does Marvin still act?

BOB ARUM: Well, he is getting to an age where he can’t play the gangster as well. I don’t know when they made their last ‘spaghetti western’ as they call it in Italy, but to listen to him speak Italian is hilarious. He speaks it with this American accent and it’s really funny.

How hard did you try to get a rematch?

BOB ARUM: I remember a year later at Caesars they were doing a big dinner to honor the fighters that had fought at Caesars and it was really a salute to boxing. At that dinner, Muhammad Ali was there and I was there, Ray, Marvin and Roberto Duran. Ray called me over and said “Bob, go speak to him (meaning Hagler) and say let’s do the rematch it will do a fortune of business.’ So I went over and talked to Marvin and said “Ray wants me to talk to you about a rematch.’ And Marvin looked at me with that scowl and said ‘tell that guy to get a life.’ That was it – we tried. Marvin was having no more of that.

Were these two the greatest to work with, along with Muhammad Ali?

BOB ARUM: They were great fighters and great people. They had a presence about them in the ring and they never ducked anybody. They were happy to take on any challenge that was there. Boxing had extraordinary popularity during the 80’s and a lot of that was attributable to Ray and Marvin and Tommy and Roberto Duran. They were the focus of boxing. Ali retired in 1978. He came back to fight Larry Holmes unfortunately. But the 80’s belonged to the Four Kings and boxing was extraordinarily prosperous then and boxing was on the tongues of sports people and non-sports people not only in the United States but all over the world.

How easy was it to sign the fight?

BOB ARUM: Nothing is easy in boxing and nothing was easy then. The two guys, once we got Marvin on board, now we knew the fight was going to happen and Ray had a lawyer named Mike Trainer, who has passed away, and Trainer wanted Ray to control the promotion. So he said the fight would only happen if Top Rank – Marvin’s promoter – was not involved. Marvin and the Petronelli brothers, who were loyal guys, said they were not interested in fighting unless Top Rank promoted the fight. So as a result of that, Trainer said ‘OK, Arum buy us out for $11M which was a big sum at the time, and still is a big sum, but at that time it was enormous, and I agreed to do that and I paid Marvin on a percentage and Marvin earned $19 million for the fight and Ray Leonard will never let me forget that.

Do you think Ray changed the perception that now you only had to win rounds to win a fight?

BOB ARUM: Well, the rules say that each round is scored separately and at the end of the fight the fighter that has the most rounds wins that judge’s scorecard. The idea that a challenger has to do more than a champion to win a round or the fight is something that isn’t part of the rules – it’s a myth. You score the fight individually by rounds, period, anyone that says the challenger has to take away the title from the champion by doing appreciably more than the champion – that’s nonsense and contrary to the rules.

But the perception?

BOB ARUM: That’s the perception because people, journalists talk about this and it is fake opinion. It’s not in accordance with the rules. They love to write about it ‘well, the challenger didn’t do enough to win the title’ well he doesn’t have to do more to win, other than to win the majority of the rounds – that’s what the rules say.

Can you think of another fight that has generated as much controversy?

BOB ARUM: Close fights always generate controversy. The Kovalev-Ward fight – people swear that Kovalev won the fight and other people say Andre won the fight. That’s part of what makes boxing really interesting are the very close fights. The second De La Hoya-Mosley fight – I thought Oscar won that fight easily and Mosley got the decision and that was a lot of controversy. The first fight between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield – Lewis won that fight easily – they called it a draw. You know, that’s the nature of the thing – when you have three judges that view a fight subjectively.

Sticking points to negotiations…

BOB ARUM: Well, at that point we were transitioning from 15 rounds to 12 rounds and Marvin obviously wanted 15 rounds but agreed to 12 rounds. That really was the only concession that was made that was of any significance.

The judge that scored the fight 118-110 for Leonard actually still judges fight believe it or not…

BOB ARUM: Yes, but not in the United States – we built a wall to keep him out.

Was that the worst scorecard you have ever seen?

BOB ARUM: Just about the worst – that was ridiculous. The other two scorecards, those of Moretti and Fillippo, they were in the realm, the reasonable realm, but Marvin got cheated because they had that Mexican judge who was rumored to be connected to the organizations which favored Leonard.

The fallout from that judge?

BOB ARUM: Well, that’s right – everybody realized somehow there was something that smelled wrong and nobody in the United States would allow him to judge a fight again. I didn’t know that he was still around even. You’re the one that said he was judging fights – I didn’t know that. I never heard of him after that fight.

He judges primarily in Mexico but he is 83 still judging…

BOB ARUM: Probably now doing a great job since his eyes are failing him – probably getting close to what the real score is.

Was there a fallout?

BOB ARUM: There was an investigation by the Nevada commission about the scoring on that fight.

Does Zurdo think he could hang with those guys [Kovalev and Ward]?

BOB ARUM: He doesn’t have to worry about hanging with those guys. The fight Gilberto wants if he is successful on April 22 is GGG and I would agree to take that fight winner take all. I think Zurdo destroys Golovkin the same way that he destroyed Arthur Abraham.

Many thought GGG was showing his age against Jacobs – do you agree?

BOB ARUM: Yes we all do, even me, I am 85 and I am showing my age. But yes, sure he is there is no question. The great A.E. Houseman poem, “To An Athlete Dying Young” — an athlete’s life is relatively short.

ÓSCAR VALDEZ: Hagler-Leonard was a great fight. It’s a new era where Jessie Magdaleno and Zurdo Ramírez and myself and of course Shakur Stevenson, a great fighter, I love his style. It’s a new era and these are examples that motivates us. Jessie and I work in the same gym every day and we push each other to the limit every single day. And we have a tough, tough fight ahead of us in Miguel Marriaga, the number one contender in the WBO and I can see in his eyes that he wants to accomplish his dream, to become a world champion. But I worked so hard to get this world title and be here and I’m not planning on leaving this anytime soon. I’m working very, very hard because I see these fighters want to take something away from me. I want to give a great fight to the fans at StubHub and those fans tuning into the pay-per-view.

JESSIE MAGDALENO: Hagler and Leonard made great history and now you have these young and up-and-coming new world champions who are ready to show the world what we’re able and capable of doing. April 22 is going to be a night of fireworks.

SHAKUR STEVENSON: Hagler-Leonard, that was a great era but now it’s our turn to begin our own legacy and create our own era where we have fights like that [Hagler-Leonard} down the line and I can’t wait for that to happen. But as of now, I’m focused on doing what I have to do on April 22, going in there and catching a knockout. That’s my plan.

BOB ARUM: Thirty years from now, we’ll be talking — I hope I’ll be talking (laughing) — about major, major fights that these young men will have had. And we’ll be looking back to those fights as being key points and key aspects of boxing in our era.

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Valdez (21-0, 19 KOs), from Nogales, México, will be making the second defense of his WBO featherweight title against No. 1 contender and NABO champion Miguel “Escorpión” Marriaga (25-1, 21 KOs), from Arjona, Colombia; Ramírez (34-0, 24 KOs), from Mazatlán, México, will be making his first defense of the WBO super middleweight title against Top-10 contender Max “Tiger” Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs), of Kiev, Ukraine; Magdaleno (24-0, 17 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nev., will be making the first defense of his WBO junior featherweight title against WBO Latino champion Adeilson “Dell” Dos Santos (18-2, 14 KOs), of São Paulo, Brasil, and Stevenson, the crown jewel of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team and the pride of Newark, NJ, will be making his eagerly-awaited professional debut in a six-round featherweight bout.

The six world championship warriors have a combined record of 155-7-1 (110 KOs) for a winning percentage of 95% with a victory by knockout ratio of 71%.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with All Star Boxing, Zapari Boxing Promotions and Antonio Leonard Productions, remaining tickets to this world championship tripleheader are priced at $128.50, $77.50, $52.00 and $36.70. They may be purchased online at AXS.com, by phone at (888) 9AXS-TIX, or by visiting the StubHub Center box office.

Produced and distributed live by Top Rank Pay-Per-View, the telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. and will be available on all conventional platforms, including all major cable and satellite systems, as well as Top Rank’s digital distribution via www.TopRank.tv and mobile devices.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, or facebook.com/trboxeo,and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, or twitter.com/trboxeo, To join the conversation on Twitter, please use the hash tags #ValdezMarriaga, #ZurdoBursak and #MagdalenoDosSantos.

ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUPERFIGHT: HAGLER VS. LEONARD, ÓSCAR VALDEZ, GILBERTO RAMÍREZ, JESSIE MAGDALENO AND SHAKUR STEVENSON WEIGH-IN WITH THEIR OWN SCORES

LOS ANGELES (March 31, 2017) — It took place on Monday, April 6, 1987 at Caesars Palace and it was promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank®. The SuperFight: Hagler vs. Leonard, with Marvin Hagler defending his middleweight title against Sugar Ray Leonard, making a return after a three-year absence from the ring and a big question mark about his surgically-repaired eye. It was one the biggest and most successful sporting events of that era. Caesars Palace was sold out with 15,000 spectators and an estimated 400 million more watching worldwide via closed-circuit or on pay-tv. The media credentialed for fight week was close to 1,1000. It was the quintessential promotion of that time and the foundation on which mega fights are now promoted. And the result? It is as hotly debated today as it was 30 years ago when the judges’ scores were read that night. Dave Moretti scored it 115-113 for Leonard. Lou Fillippo scored it 115-113 for Hagler. Jo Jo Guerra scored it 118-110 for Leonard, making him the new middleweight champion, and completing one of the greatest career comebacks in boxing .

Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champions ÓSCAR VALDEZ, GILBERTO “Zurdo” RAMIREZ and JESSIE MAGDALENO, as well as 2016 Olympic silver medalist SHAKUR STEVENSON, are headlining an exciting world championship tripleheader, and Stevenson’s pro debut, which will take place on Saturday, April 22, under the stars at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. It will be produced and distributed live on pay-per-view. Each fighter and his respective trainer took a break from training to watch a clean tape of the fight, minus audio and graphics, and score it. Here is who they thought won.

Óscar Valdez
“Hagler was the aggressor and he wanted to fight. Leonard was moving a lot early but he would try to steal rounds with flurries at the end of every round. It was a good, tactical fight and both guys had their moments, but I felt that Hagler did enough to win the fight by a slight margin.”
Hagler 115-113

Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramírez
“It was a very close fight, but I saw Leonard winning it. He boxed for twelve rounds, but he also stood his ground and exchanged with Hagler. His speed beat Hagler to the punch. Hagler was very strong and had better punching power, but Leonard had more resources. It Is one of the best fights I have seen.”
Leonard 115-113

Jessie Magdaleno
“I felt that Leonard controlled the pace of the fight and stayed with his boxing plan for the full 12 rounds. He never let Hagler get into the fight the way he wanted to and even though Hagler was aggressive, he was never able to display his trademark power and ferocity. It was a boxing match and it favored Leonard. A good close fight but I saw it for Leonard.” Leonard 116-112

Shakur Stevenson
The rounds Leonard won were clear cut and without question. The rounds I scored for Hagler were more of a pick ’em type — very close. Leonard was boxing beautifully and it was a classic case of the boxer vs. the brawler. Leonard’s boxing ability was the difference in the fight.”
Leonard 115-113

Manny Robles, trainer for Valdez and Magdaleno
“The first four rounds were all Leonard. He dictated everything in those rounds while Hagler fought out of orthodox stance which I still don’t understand. I gave Hagler the fifth round and Leonard the sixth. Then Hagler started coming on sweeping the seventh and eighth rounds. The ninth round was even. Leonard won the tenth round. And Hagler won the last two rounds. Hagler just dug himself too deep a hole in the first four rounds.”
Leonard 115-114

Héctor Zapari, trainer for Ramírez
“It was a great fight of great physical strain where both fighters showed great physical condition. It was a very even fight, but I saw Leonard winning by a small margin. He took Hagler’s power well and had better combinations when they were exchanging. His speed and boxing skills gave him the win in one of the best fights in boxing history.”
Leonard 115-113

Kay Koroma, trainer for Stevenson
“It was a very close fight. I think if it was this era, Hagler would have won because he was the aggressor. There were times in the fight that Ray was boxing beautifully and then times that Hagler was teeing off on him. It was a great fight. I’ve watched it many, many times. Hagler was switching from southpaw to orthodox and the southpaw stance was working for him. It made it a little difficult for Ray because once Ray stopped using his legs, the southpaw stance started working better for Hagler. When Hagler started going to the body first, he was finding Ray a lot easier. I believe if Hagler had gone to the body earlier, he would have won because it would have taken Ray’s legs away.”
Leonard 115-113

Bob Arum
“I had the same score as Lou Fillippo. I thought Marvin won the fight.”
Hagler 115-113

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The six world championship warriors have a combined record of 155-7-1 (110 KOs) for a winning percentage of 95% with a victory by knockout ratio of 71%.