The extremely popular junior middleweight James Moore, 16-1 (10 KOS), a native of County Wicklow, Ireland, who fights out of New York, severely injured his right hand while sparring, which resulted in him having to cancel his October 4 appearance on an Irish-themed fight card in Philadelphia..
Moore was scheduled to fight an eight rounder on a card headlined by Kassim “The Dream” Ouma, 25-5-1 (15 KOS), a native of Uganda who because of his relationship with promoter Tom Moran and several Irish fighters has described himself as being “Black Irish.”
He, as well as popular Irish middleweight Simon “Slick Fighting Irish” O’Donnell, 6-1 (3 KOS), a native of County Galway who fights out of Philadelphia, will still appear on the show, which will be held at the Northeast Philadelphia National Guard Armory.
While sparring at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York, Moore felt a sharp pain in his right hand. He is still awaiting the outcome of medical exams, but it has been suggested that he has torn tendons, which would necessitate a layoff of at least three months.
“I’m terribly disappointed,” said the 30-year-old Moore, who was hoping to fight at least four more times before year’s end. “There are as many Irish fans in Philadelphia as there are in New York, so I was really excited about fighting there. I hope to heal up as quickly as possible, and I will look forward to making my Philadelphia debut very soon.”
“Of course it’s a disappointment to not have James on the show,” said promoter Tom Moran, who once managed former heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon. “When the word went out that he was fighting here, my phone was ringing off the hook. There is still a lot of interest in the card, so the show will go on. It’s going to be a great night of boxing for Philadelphia fans, as well the fans in neighboring Bucks County.”
For ticket information, call 267-251-6109.
USA Boxing Receives a Two-Year Grant from the Daniels Fund
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) –USA Boxing has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the Daniels Fund to help bring the USA Boxing National Championships to Denver in both 2009 and 2010, as well as introducing the Gloves Not Guns program in Denver in 2009.
“The Daniels Fund is one of the most prestigious foundations in the country,” commented USA
Boxing Chief Executive Officer, Jim Millman. “We are thrilled to be associated with such a world-class organization. This grant will allow us to raise the stature and scope of our National Championships to the level it deserves.”
The Daniels Fund was established in 1997 by Bill Daniels, a former New Mexico Golden Gloves champion and pioneer in cable television. The organization operates the Daniels Fund Scholarship Program and Daniels Fund Grants Program in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
“USA Boxing is the proving ground for top athletes seeking to land a place on the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team,” said Linda Childears, president and CEO of the Daniels Fund. “We are delighted to help make it possible for Denver to host this prestigious athletic competition,” she added.
The premier amateur boxing event in the nation, the USA Boxing National Championships has taken place in the Pikes Peak region since 2003, but it will move north to Denver for both the 2009 and 2010 editions with the assistance of the resources provided by the Daniels Fund.
In addition, Gloves Not Guns, a USA Boxing program designed to give young people a free introduction to boxing, will launch in Denver in 2009. The initiative debuted in Chicago in 2007 in conjunction with the AIBA World Championships.
The Daniels Fund has consistently supported amateur athletics due to Daniels’ love of sports, particularly boxing. He sponsored many professional boxers, including Ron Lyle in his quest for the World Heavyweight Title, and established Denver Rocks, one of the first professional boxing organizations in Denver. He saw athletics as a way to teach discipline and teamwork, and established amateur sports as one of the program areas for his legacy at the Daniels Fund.
Over 250 amateur boxers from across the nation are expected to compete in the 2009 USA Boxing National Championships. The event has been held in Colorado Springs in 19 of the last 20 years with the 2002 event taking place in Las Vegas.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
Kotelnik defends his WBA belt in Lvov this saturday
Andreas Kotelnik defends his WBA jr. welterweight belt this saturday
First title defence against the japanese „Bird of Paradisel“ Norio Kimura in his hometown Lvov (Ukraine)
Universum fighter and WBA jr welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik will make his first world title defense against flamboyant Norio Kimura (34-5-2, 18 KOs) on Saturday in his hometown of Lvov, Ukraine.
Kimura, who is a star in his homeland Japan, is known in the boxing business as the ‘Bird of Paradise’, referring to his crazy outfits and individual hair style.
WBA world champion Kotlenik (29-2-1, 13 KOs) has meticulously prepared for the fight in Hamburg with super trainer Michael Timm. Andreas Kotelnik: “In this fight I will impose my boxing and fighting style upon the Japanese,” promised Kotelnik. He’s considered a ‘fighting machine,’ who can go for twelve rounds and is extremely dangerous, but after my KO victory in the world championship fight against Gavin Rees in March in Cardiff, I have finally showed all the experts what kind of a boxer I am. In front of my countrymen in Lvov, I’ll give everything and I will not allow him to snatch the world champion’s belt away from me. I plan to pluck the feathers off the parrot!”
He further said: „God will accompany and protect me in this fight. With his help I will win this fight.“
The event will be broadcast live on Ukrainian television and will be hosted by Universum partner AK1 Promotion.
The undercard will include heavyweight Dieter Roth (18-0, 12 KOs) who faces the Latvian Edgar Kalnars (17-14-0 (9)).