By Peter Mark Heintzelman, at the scales – Photos by Peter Mark Heintzelman — weigh-in photo gallery — Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut, in association with Lisa Elovich’s Pugnacious Promotions, LLC, hosts ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights this Friday, in a spectacular card of professional boxing..
Headlining the card is the highly touted Irish middleweight southpaw, Andy Lee, of Limerick, Ireland, undefeated to date, with a record of 15-0-0, 12 KO’s against Contender participant, Brian Vera, 15-1-0, 9 KO’s, of Austin, Texas.
Lee, from Limerick, Ireland, fights out of Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward’s Kronk gym in Detroit. He represented Ireland in the 2004 Olympics and is widely considered a future world champion.
Steward added that “Andy Lee is the most exciting young fighter and the future middleweight world champion.”
Vera is upset minded, and is coming to win. In his last fight, he defeated fellow Contender Max Alexander (14-2-1, 2 KOs) by six-round unanimous decision on The Contender 2007 finale.
“Other than Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II, this is the fight fans want to see!” said Steward.
Irish boxing fans round the world, having witnessed John Duddy and James Moores recent international exposure, will now have the opportunity to measure up another Irish contender, Andy Lee, and the fans will surely weigh in as to their favorite.
With Mohegan Sun’s boxing commissioner , Michael Mazzulli at the scales, the weights this afternoon were:
Main Event: 10 Rounds Middleweights
Andy Lee, Limerick, Ireland 15-0-0, 12 KO’s weight: 158 ¾ lbs
v. Brian Vera, Austin, Texas 15-1-0, 9 KO’s weight: 162 lbs
8 Rounds Middleweights
Aaron Pryor, Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio, 8-0-0, 6 KO’s weight: 162 ¼ lbs
v. Alphonso Williams, Pittsburgh, PA, 10-3-0, 8 KO’s weight: no show
6 Round Featherweights
Matt Remillard, Manchester, CT, 12-0-0, 7 KO’s weight: 131 lbs
v. Jesus Perez, Columbian, now in Miami, FL, 25-18-3, 14 KO’s weight: 131 lbs
6 Round Featherweights
Guillermo Sanchez, Buffalo, NY, 3-0-0, 1 KO weight: 127 lbs
v. Harvey Murray, Rochester, NY, 2-0-2, 1 KO weight: no show
4 Rounds Light Heavyweights
Brian Macy, Ledyard, CT, 2-0-0, 1 KO weight: 170 ¼ lb
v.Rafal Jastrzebski, Poland, now of Toms River, New Jersey, 0-5-1, O KO’s weight: 167 lbs
4 Rounds Super Featherweights
Francisco Palacios, Stamford, CT, 1-3-4, 1 KO weight: 136 ¼ lbs
v. Anthony Cusumano, Old Forge, PA, 2-2-1, 1 KO weight: 139 lbs.
Tickets are $75, $40, and $25, and are available at the Mohegan Sun Box Office and through Ticketmaster.com
ESPN2 is scheduled to broadcast live at 9:00 p.m. EST, 6:00 p.m. PT