19.01.07 – Don King Productions’ “Super Saturday” boxing card featuring three world championships will stay in Florida and take place on Feb. 3 at the Silver Spurs Arena at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Fla. The event, originally slated for Miami, will now make history as the biggest fight card ever in the greater Orlando area featuring three world championship matches: undefeated World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Tomasz “Goral” Adamek will defend his crown against fellow unbeaten and WBC No. 2-ranked contender “Bad” Chad Dawson.; International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Jesus “The Matador” Chavez will face IBF interim 135-pound champion Julio “The Kidd” Diaz; and Cory “The Next Generation” Spinks will make a mandatory defense of his IBF junior middleweight title against IBF No. 1-ranked “Smooth” Rodney Jones.
Tickets priced at $27, $52, $102 and $202, with a limited number of $502 Golden Ringside seats, will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. and can be purchased in person at the Silver Spurs Arena Box Office weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.; by phone (407) 839-3900; on the Web at www.ticketmaster.com; or at any Ticketmaster outlet. The event is being promoted by Don King Productions, with the main event presented in association with Gary Shaw Productions, LLC. Two of the world championship matches, Adamek vs. Dawson and Chavez vs. Diaz, will be televised on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
“The fight will stay in Florida which is good news,” King said. “Kissimmee answered my A.P.B. and now we’ll make history with the biggest fight ever staged there. It will be boxing at its finest with three world championships on the night before the big football game.”
King was made aware of the Silver Spurs Arena by Executive Director of the Florida Boxing Commission Tom Malloy.
“It was a complete coincidence,” Malloy said. “Robb Larson, the general manager at the Silver Spurs Arena, contacted me a few weeks ago and told me he would be interested in doing a boxing event. He jumped at the chance to host a Don King-promoted card when I called him last week.”
Osceola Heritage Park, a SMG-managed facility of which Silver Spurs Arena is a part, is the spring training home of the Houston Astros and also hosts numerous concerts, family shows and sporting events. [www.ohpark.com]
“Kissimmee is located in Osceola County, one of the fastest-growing counties in Florida,” Larson said. Osceola Heritage Park has been contributing to and riding on the crest of that wave. It is a logical progression for us as a part of the greater Orlando market to present a world-class boxing event.
“We’re flattered that Don King chose our venue to make history with the biggest fight card ever staged in this community.”
Don King Productions has invited an old friend in Tuto Zabala Jr. to assist in the marketing of the event. His Allstar Boxing put Kissimmee on the boxing map in 2001.
“I noticed a large Puerto Rican and Hispanic community that was growing larger in and around the Orlando area,” Zabala said. “I did my first boxing event in Kissimmee in 2001 and have done many more since. All of my fights have been broadcast on Telemundo and have grown more and more successful.
“I’m excited to be working with Don King again. Don’s promotional mastery is very evident here. Just like a boxer, he got knocked down in Miami, then gets up and scores a knockout for Kissimmee with three world championships on one show in one night.”
Don King Productions has promoted over 500 world championship fights with nearly 100 individual boxers having been paid $1 million or more. DKP also holds the distinction of having promoted seven of the 10 largest pay-per-view events in history, as gauged by total buys, including the top four: 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 has promoted or co-promoted 16 of the top 25 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; 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).