HBO’s late-night boxing series presents two intriguing battles when HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: JUAN DIAZ VS. MICHAEL KATSIDIS AND ROCKY JUAREZ VS. JORGE BARRIOS is seen SATURDAY, SEPT. 6 (10:15 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT) from the Toyota Center in Houston, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of blow-by-blow announcer Bob Papa, commentator Max Kellerman and expert analyst Lennox Lewis will cover the action at ringside, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino..
In the evening’s main event, two former world champions – Houston’s Juan Diaz (33-1, 17 KOs) and Australia’s Michael Katsidis (23-1, 20 KOs) – meet in a scheduled 12-round, 135-pound contest. The engaging Diaz became a world champion at age 20, thanks to an exceptionally quick pair of hands. Outside the ring, Diaz is a college student, a community activist and one of the city’s most celebrated personalities. With an extensive resume of thrilling fights, Katsidis is an exciting, all-action fighter who has scored 20 knockouts in 24 bouts, forging a reputation as one of the biggest, most relentless punchers in the lightweight division.
The evening’s co-feature highlights two ambitious contenders, as Houston’s Rocky Juarez (27-4, 19 KOs) squares off against hard-punching former champion Jorge Barrios (47-3-1, 34 KOs), of Tigre, Argentina, in a 12-round junior lightweight bout. Juarez is a 2000 Olympic silver medalist and hometown favorite looking to rebound after losing to Juan Manuel Marquez last November. Barrios is an experienced and exciting fighter who is hungry to regain his title.
The executive producer of HBO BOXING AFTER DARK is Rick Bernstein; producer, Jon Crystal; director, Mike Sheehan.
CASSIUS BALOYI VS. JAVIER ALVAREZ HEADLINES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT CARD
Arthur Pelullo’s Banner Promotions and Rodney Berman’s Golden Gloves will present a sensational world championship fight card on Saturday, September 13, 2008, at Emperors Palace, located at 64 Jones Street in Kempton Park, South Africa. Featured fights will be televised live on Supersport.
In the main event scheduled for 12 rounds, International Boxing Federation jr. lightweight world champion Cassius Baloyi, 35-3-1 with 18 knockouts, of Johannesburg, South Africa, will defend the title against Javier Osvaldo Alvarez, 35-7-1 with 16 knockouts, of Resistencia, Argentina.
33 year-old Baloyi is a two-time IBF jr. lightweight world champion. A 13-year pro, he won the vacant title for the first time with an eleventh-round TKO against Manuel Medina in May, 2006, and lost it in his first defense agianst Gairy St. Clair two months later. He won the title for the second time with a twelve-round majority decision against defending champion Mzonke Fana in April, 2008, and is making his first title defense since then. He is undefeated – 3-0-1 – in his four fights.
Alvarez, now 31 years old and a 10-year professional veteran, is ranked IBF No. 13 at jr. lightweight. He is a former South American and two-time WBO Latin American jr. lightweight champion. He is also a former jr. lightweight world title challenger – he fought then-champion Mzonke Fana for the IBF jr. lightweight world title in August, 2007, but was stopped in the ninth round. He has come back with one win since then.
More exciting bouts will be featured on the undercard. All bouts subject to change without notice.