Boxing promoter/rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson intends to parlay the tremendous excitement from James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland’s awesome performance this past weekend into a memorable evening of entertaining boxing on Friday night, December 20 as his company, SMS Promotions, presents “Big Apple Boxing” at Resorts World Casino NYC in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs), who is the most recent boxer signed by 50 Cent’s SMS Promotions, destroyed previously unbeaten and world-rated Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia (20-1, 12 KOs), live on HBO last Saturday night from Atlantic City (NJ). Fighting for the first time since March 24, 2012, when he defeated current International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior middleweight champion Carlos Molina, Kirkland’s SMS Promotions debut stole the entire show in an thrilling, all-out war that mercifully ended in the sixth round as referee Steve Smoger halted the action with Kirkland unloaded powerful shots on an overmatched Tapia.
Now, 50 Cent has shifted his focus to “Big Apple Boxing,” featuring seven of the best under-25 boxing prospects in the world.
“The prospects on this card are well prepared and highly motivated,” 50 Cent said. “We saw a lot of action this weekend in Atlantic City and will continue the excitement at our next installment of Big Apple Boxing.”
Unbeaten junior lightweight prospects Joel Diaz, Jr. (13-0, 11 KOs) and Wanzell Ellison (9-0-1, 5 KOs) headline “Big Apple Boxing” in a 10-round bout. The 21-year-old Diaz, fighting out of Palmdale, California, faces his toughest test to date in Newark’s (NJ) 24-year-old Ellison.
A 10/12-round junior welterweight match between 23-year-old undefeated Amir “Young Master” Imam (11-0, 10 KOs), of Albany (NJ), and cagey Mexican veteran Sergio “Sirenito” Perez (28-15, 9 KOs) has been added to the card as the co-feature.
Arizona junior welterweight “Magic Man” Luis Olivares (6-0, 4 KOs), 21, puts his undefeated record on the line against Tony “Sugar Boy” Walker (5-3-1, 3 KOs) in one of five six-round fights. The others include undefeated Puerto Rican junior middleweight Emmanuel “Pirata” De Jesus (8-0, 5 KOs), 20, vs. Antonio Fernandez-Chaves (4-13-2), from Brockton, Massachusetts by way of the American Virgin Islands; Washington D.C. super bantamweight Thomas “KO” Snow (16-1, 10 KOs) vs. Hartford’s Nate Green (4-0, 1 KO), and 23-year-old Cincinnati welterweight Donte Strayhorn (3-1) vs. New York’s Sam Moura (0-2).
Scheduled to fight in four-round matches are former U.S. amateur star, 20-year-old Tennessean Ryan “Blue-Chip” Martin (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Las Vegas lightweight Eric Jamar Goodall (1-2), and pro-debuting Brooklyn bantamweight Mafato Kamogawa vs. native New Yorker Michelle Cook (0-0-1).
All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets, priced at $350.00, $125.00, $85.00 and $35.00, are available to purchase by calling Resorts World Casino NYC at (718) 215-2828, or visiting www.etix.com/ticket/online/venueSearch.jsp?venue_id=9244. The $350.00 ticket holders will also receive a pair of autographed SMS Street by 50 Cent on ear headphones.
Doors open at 6 p.m. ET, first bout scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.