08.09.05 – Legendary boxing promoter Don King returns to the Gateway City and its Savvis Center on Sept. 30 with a fight card that includes three world championship matches. Record-setting light heavyweight Virgil “Quicksilver” Hill will meet undefeated World Boxing Association No. 1-ranked contender Valery Brudov for the vacant WBA cruiserweight championship; World Boxing Organization junior middleweight champion Daniel Santos will defend his title against undefeated North American Boxing Organization 154-pound champion Joe Wyatt; and International Boxing Federation junior bantamweight champion Luis “El Demoledor” Perez will risk his belt by taking on Hugo “Rambo” Ramirez.
Tickets priced at $25, $50, $100, $150 $300 and $500 are on sale now at the Savvis Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers including Famous-Barr, Schnucks Video Clubs, Streetside Records, the BlueNote Sports Shops and the IceZone at St. Louis Mills or by speaking to a sales representative by phone at (314) 421-4400 or (618) 222-2900. Tickets can also be purchased on the automated phone line at (314) 241-1888 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
For disabled access seating and information, call 314-622-5420. For further information, please call the Savvis Center Event Hotline at 314-531-SVVS or visit www.savviscenter.net. A $2 per-ticket facility fee will be added to all tickets purchased at all locations, including the Savvis Center Box Office. Additional Ticketmaster service charges apply to all tickets purchased at Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, by phone or online.
Don King will contribute $10,000 to the Salvation Army’s Hurricane Katrina relief effort to commemorate this event in addition to $100 from every $500 ringside ticket sold.
Hill (49-5, 23 KOs), from Williston, N.D., is a two-time WBA champion, once as a light heavyweight and later at cruiserweight, who still holds the record for most successful light heavyweight defenses at 23. He also won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics.
Hill moved to cruiserweight in 1998 and won the world title by defeating champion Fabrice Tiozzo in his native France in 2000. He lost the title in 2002 to French strongman—and now unified cruiserweight world champion—Jean-Marc Mormeck. Hill lost a close decision to Mormeck in a rematch in Carnival City, South Africa, in his last appearance on May 22, 2004.
Brudov (30-0, 23 KOs), from Pskov, Russia, will fight for the first time in America, having fought only in his native country and in France. His undefeated fight record and knockout ratio has delivered him to his first world title fight as the WBA No. 1 contender.
Santos (29-2, 20 KOs), from Puerto Rico, will make the fifth defense of his WBO 154-pound title. He won the WBO 147-pound belt in 2000 and successfully defended that crown four times before moving up and winning the WBO junior middleweight championship by defeating Luis “Yory Boy” Campas in 2002.
He has been idle for over a year, most recently when Jose Antonio Rivera pulled out of a scheduled match in Cleveland on Sept. 3 after sustaining a training injury. In his last appearance, Santos won a 10-round technical decision over highly regarded Antonio Margarito in Puerto Rico on Sept. 11, 2004.
Wyatt (21-0, 13 KOs), from Pittsburg, Pa., won the NABO welterweight title by defeating George Klinesmith in Chester, W.Va., on April 28. He moved up to 154 pounds in his last fight on Aug. 12 and defeated Daniel Neal in a unanimous six-round decision.
Perez won his title by defeating Felix “Macho” Machado by split decision on Jan. 4, 2003, in Washington D.C. He won a more convincing unanimous decision later that year in a rematch with Machado on Dec. 13 in Atlantic City, N.J.
In his last contest, Perez knocked out No. 1-ranked mandatory contender Luis Bolano in the sixth round at Madison Square Garden on April 30.
Ramirez (22-4, 16 KOs), from Reynosa, Mexico, stunned hot prospect Arturo Davalos in his hometown with a first-round knockout on July 29. Ramirez’s career highlight came when he defeated former world champion Melchor Cob-Castro by unanimous decision in 2003.
Savvis Center is a 21,000-seat arena in downtown St. Louis. Opened in 1994, the arena is home to St. Louis Blues hockey (NHL), Saint Louis University Billikens basketball (NCAA Division I) and St. Louis Steamers soccer (MISL), and also plays host to a wide variety of other sporting events, concerts and family shows. Nearly 2 million people enjoy 170 events each year at Savvis Center, and the facility is consistently ranked annually among the top 10 arenas in North America in tickets sold.
Don King Productions has promoted more than 500 world championship fights and holds the distinction of having promoted seven of the 10 largest pay-per-view events in history, as gauged by total buys, including: Holyfield vs. Tyson II, 1.95 million buys, June 1997; Tyson vs. Holyfield I, 1.6 million buys, November 1996; Tyson vs. McNeeley, 1.58 million buys, August 1995; and Bruno vs. Tyson, 1.4 million buys, March 1996.
DKP promoted or co-promoted 12 of the top-20 highest-grossing live gates in the history of the state of Nevada including the top five: Holyfield vs. Lewis II, paid attendance: 17,078, gross: $16,860,300 (NOTE: Also highest live-gate gross for any event in the history of the world.), date: Nov. 13, 1999; Holyfield vs. Tyson II, paid attendance: 16,279, gross: $14,277,200, date: June 28, 1997; Holyfield vs. Tyson I, paid attendance: 16,103, gross: $14,150,700, date: Nov. 9, 1996; Tyson vs. McNeeley, paid attendance: 16,113, gross: $13,965,600, date: Aug. 19, 1995; and De La Hoya vs. Trinidad, paid attendance: 11,184, gross: $12,949,500 (Also garnered the most pay-per-view buys for a non-heavyweight fight at 1.4 million.), date: Sept. 18, 1999.