Tampa, FL (September 19, 2005) — The televised portion of the Tarver vs. Jones 3 undercard is now set. Undefeated Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward will battle Glenn LaPlante in a middleweight match-up, top ranked Almazbek “Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov takes on Nate Campbell in a ten-round lightweight match and in a clash of “Heavyweights Trading Bombs,” Vinny Maddalone and Brian Minto meet in a rematch nominated as fight-of-the-year.. Tarver vs. Jones 3, “No Excuses”, will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fl., beginning at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT.
“We are proud that we will be giving the PPV fans non-stop action on the Tarver-Jones 3 undercard,” said Joe DeGuardia, President/CEO of Star Boxing. “The first Maddalone-Minto fight was one of the most thrilling fights I’ve seen, and the rematch promises more of the same. It is a fight that the fans have been asking for since it was one of last year’s fights of the year. The Kid Diamond-Nate Campbell fight is also one that will be a treat, where one of the top prospects in the World faces his toughest opponent yet. These fights and the Andre Ward fight will give fans a pay-per-view undercard that will be sensational.”
Andre Ward (5-0, 3KOs) from Oakland, CA became the first became the second US boxer since 1992 to win Olympic Gold and has not lost a boxing match since he was 14. Ward, known for his blazing hand speed and ring savvy began his professional career as super middleweight and has since gone down to middleweight where he has won his last two fights by TKO. The 21-year-old Ward has an impeccable work ethic. Prior to his last bout against Christopher Holt on August 18, Ward boxed a thirty-two minute round against two sparring partners (the first for twenty minutes and the second for twelve) in which over 1000 punches were thrown. Ward will battle Glenn LaPlante (9-2-1, 6 KOs) from St. Petersburg, FL in a six-round middleweight bout.
Almazbek “Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov (20-0-1, 12 KOs) was born in Bishkek, Kyrgystan and reside in Las Vegas, NV. He is coming off a 12-round draw against former super featherweight world champion Joel Casamayor on June 11 at Madison Square Garden in which many ringside observers thought Diamond deserved to win. Prior to that bout, Diamond had a string of five straight knockout wins. Raiymkulov, whose last name means “rough diamond” represented Kyrgystan, in the 2000 Olympics at 132 pounds. Diamond, who graduated college and speaks five languages and is presently ranked by all major boxing organizations, is “young and I am powerful. I have experience, too. I’m ready for the world title,” he said. ““My strategy? Step forward and destroy him, that’s it. I don’t have time to play.”
Nate Campbell (26-4-1, 22 KOs) from Jacksonville, FL is the former NABA super featherweight champion. He began his professional career in February of 2000 and was victorious in his first twenty-three bouts. On March 22, 2002 he won his first title, the NABA super featherweight championship and he became NABA and NABF Super Featherweight Champion on September 14, 2002 with a third-round Knockout win over Daniel Alicea.
The Maddalone vs. Minto bout will be a rematch of a knock’em down drag’em out heavyweight bout that took place on July 23, 2004 in Atlantic City, NJ, in an easy candidate for Fight of the Year. The night looked like a short one for Minto when he barely survived the first round after Maddalone knocked him down with a hard combination. Maddalone controlled the bout early on and bloodied Minto in the fourth, but the tide was turning in Minto’s favour as he began counter-punching Maddalone’s looping right hand and took the middle rounds and battered Maddalone to a bloody mess in the seventh. Maddalone showed incredible heart and courage and turned the tide again, hurting Minto in the eighth and ninth rounds. Prior to coming out for the tenth and final round, Minto was implored by his corner that he needed a knockout to win. He did just that flooring Maddalone with a huge left hook as he came forward for the knockout win.
Vinny Maddalone (25-2, 18 KOs) the “Heavyweight Highlight Film”from Flushing, NY, knocked out undefeated and never been knocked down Shannon Miller in his last bout on August 19, in Saratoga Springs, NY. It was another in a string of bouts where Maddalone and his opponent stood in the center of the ring and traded bombs. It was Maddalone’s third consecutive win by knockout, all inside six rounds. Maddalone, sans an amateur career, is trained by Al Certo, is a member of the Teamsters and began boxing as a professional after competing in a Tough Man competition as a 17-year-old. Vinny also pitched minor league ball for the Adirondack Lumberjacks.
Brian “The Beast” Minto (20-1, 11 KOs) from Butler, PA has won two of his last three bouts since knocking out Maddalone, his lone loss being a split decision defeat to former World Heavyweight Champion Tony Tubbs. Brian boxed and played football in high school, went to college on football scholarship and soon returned to boxing. He had 25 amateur fights and was the 2000 Golden Gloves winner.
The Tarver vs. Jones 3 pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9pm ET/6pm PT on October 1, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to over 50 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your daily Tarver vs. Jones 3 updates, log on to log onto www.HBOPPV.com