New York (October 2, 2008) – WBC # 2 rated contender Sergio Martinez will be looking to cement his status as the next superstar of the 154 pound division, when he battles Alex Bunema, this Saturday, October 4 on HBO’s Boxing After Dark from the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California..
The 33-year-old Martinez (43-1-1, 23 KOs) is a former IBO and WBC Latino 154 pound titlist, who earned his opportunity to fight for the interim WBC world title with a fourth round knockout over Saul Roman in April 2007. Most recently, Martinez demolished Archak TerMeliksetian via seventh round TKO on June 7 at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
“Alex Bunema is one of the top contenders in the junior middleweight division…he’s rated by every major sanctioning body, including # 1 by the WBA. When Sergio Martinez beats Bunema this Saturday on HBO, he’ll prove he’s the new man at 154,” said DBE president Lou DiBella.
Residing in Madrid, Spain, and having won and defended the IBO belt in the UK, Martinez is already an international entity, whose dream is to one day make a world title defense at the legendary Luna Park stadium in Argentina.
“With his last three knockout victories all coming in the United States, Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez has just begun to showcase his skills for American audiences. This Argentinean southpaw with movie-star good looks is not only the next boxing great from his country, but a future international star,” added Martinez’ advisor Sampson Lewkowicz.
The Martinez-Bunema twelve-round bout is part of an HBO tripleheader dubbed “Night of the Rising Stars II,” and will include a pair of ten round bouts featuring jr. middleweight Alfredo Angulo vs. Andrey Tsurkan and featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Marcos Ramirez. HBO Boxing After Dark will broadcast all three bouts live, beginning at 10:05 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast.)
Promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and Ringside Ticket, in association with Arena Box-Promotion, DiBella Entertainment, and Star Boxing, remaining tickets priced at $150, $100 and $50, can be purchased at Pechanga’s box office, by calling, toll-free, (877) 711-2WIN, or online at www.pechanga.com/tickets/Online .
Doors open at 5 p.m. PT, with the first bout beginning at 6 p.m. PT.
Dunne set for another Western
Bernard Dunne is heading back to the Breaffy House Resort in Castlebar, Co. Mayo on Saturday, November 15th on the next Hunky Dorys Fight Night which is being promoted by Brian Peters Promotions in association with Hennessy Sports.
Dunne, the former European Super Bantamweight champ could be just one impressive win away from a world title fight.
Manager Brian Peters is positioning the Dubliner for an assault on the world title early next year but first he will have to come through his assignment in Castlebar unscathed.
Dunne will be joined on the card by local hero Henry “The Western Warrior” Coyle.
The Geesala man has been based in Chicago since turning professional 18 months ago and has so far racked up 8 KO wins from his nine paid outings to date.
Coyle will be back on home soil though next month when he takes to the ring at the Breaffy House Resort for his Irish professional debut. Also set for action on the Hunky Dorys Fight Night are welterweight prospects John O’Donnell and Stephen Haughian.
For Dunne the November 15th fight will mark a return to the venue where he got back to winning ways following his shock defeat to Kiko Martinez. In April he headlined the first ever night of professional boxing in Mayo by outpointing former World Champion, Felix Machado in an impressive return to winning ways.
Dunne has since notched up a further win against Argentina’s Damian Marchiano in July to bring his record to 25 wins against just that one defeat to Martinez. Now manager Brian Peters believes he could be just one fight away from a momentous world title bid.
Dunne’s opponent for next month has yet to be confirmed but Peters says it will be a test of the Neilstown man’s world title ambitions. “We’re working on a shortlist of opponents at the moment.,” confirmed Peters. “We want someone who is really going to test Bernard so that he will prove he’s ready to step up to world title level.
“There’s no doubt the defeat to Martinez upset the applecart and set us back about twelve months but Bernard has had two good wins since then that have put him back in the world ratings. He’s now world ranked by the WBA, the WBC and the WBO so we’re pretty much back on track in terms of positioning Bernard for a World title fight.
Peters revealed that current World Champions at both featerweight and super bantamweight have already been enquiring as to the Dunne’s availability. He said, “We actually turned down a world title opportunity for Bernard earlier this year because we felt it had come too soon but if he can win impressively in Breaffy next month he’ll be ready for anyone.”
The card will also feature the return of Tyrone welterweight, Damian Taggart. The Omagh man will be hoping to take inspiration from his mentor, Tyrone’s All Ireland winning football manager Mickey Harte as he bids to get his career back on track following the first defeat of his career.
Taggart is trained by John Breen in Belfast but maintains a close relationship with Harte who proved with his All-Ireland winners this year that is possible to bounce back from an early setback and go on to achieve great things.
Another man hoping to do great things is Sheffield teenager, Steve “The Blue Steel Bullet” Barnes. The talented 17-year-old is a protégé of legendary Dublin born trainer, Brendan Ingle who believes he could prove to be one of his greatest ever finds.
Tickets for the Hunky Dorys Fight Night priced from €60 go on sale tomorrow (Friday, October 3rd) from 9am at Ticketmaster and all usual outlets.
The “Western Warrior” heads home
Henry Coyle says he will be fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition when he steps between the ropes at the Breaffy House Resort, Castlebar, Co. Mayo on the Hunky Dorys Fight Night on November 15th.
It will be the Mayo man’s first pro outing on home soil and it couldn’t be much closer to home for his sizable fan club from Geesala.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to fight as a pro in Ireland,” explained Coyle who has won 8 of his 9 pro fights by knockout.
“To get a chance right here at home in Mayo is the icing on the cake. The last time I fought at home was for my very last amateur fight so it will be great to come back as a professional now.”
Coyle will be having his first scheduled 10 rounder on the card which is headlined by former European Super Bantamweight Champion, Bernard Dunne. “It’s going to be some night,” predicted the Coyle before adding, “and I’ll be looking to put on a big show.” The light middleweight says he’s looking forward to showcasing the skills he’s developed since taking the difficult decision to leave home and relocate to Chicago eighteen months ago to launch his pro career.
The former Irish Senior Champion said, “I’ve worked a lot on sitting down on my punches and I’m definitely punching a lot harder now. I think when you make the move into the pro’s you’re life really is dedicated to boxing so it’s only natural you’ll start to improve in every area.“
With all of his 8 wins coming inside the scheduled distance Coyle is developing a reputation Stateside as a knockout artist but he’s refusing to get carried away. “To be honest I don’t read too much into the knockouts. Actually the main thing I work on in the gym is my technique because you could work on that every day of your life and still find things to improve on.”
Despite being based in the States Coyle has been able to keep his fans back home up to date courtesy of a regular column in the Western People. “It’s been great to keep a diary of what’s been going on since I moved to the States and it was only recently when I was at home I realised how widely it was read in Mayo. Old ladies were coming up to me in the street who I’d never seen in my life, wishing me luck and telling me that they were following my progress in the Western People.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing though for Coyle who suffered the lone defeat of his career in his third fight when he was stopped by Omar Bell. On reflection he admits that coming to terms with the defeat was more difficult than he could ever have imagined.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with”, admitted Coyle. “To be honest I didn’t sleep for a month and a half after that and it was on my mind every second of the day. It took me a while to come around but looking back on it now it taught me that you should always be cautious in that first round and let yourself get warmed up and in to a fight properly.
“It was the first time I’ve ever been down in my life but I got back up and I felt I was ok to continue but the referee didn’t give me that chance. If I’d been allowed to continue that night I’m certain I would have had my hand raised at the end of the night but the referee made the call and I accept that.
“It’s happened to the best of them, it happened Bernard Dunne and he’s bounced back and it happened Amir Khan recently so you just have to deal with these things and move on. In a sense it takes the burden of being unbeaten away from you because that’s a pressure in itself but it’s only made me doubly determined to succeed. I got into professional boxing to see how far I could go in the sport and I want to leave having absolutely no regrets. My goal is to win a world title and I believe I can bring one back to Mayo.”
Coyle’s not running before he can walk though and he insists his first priority is bagging an Irish title. “It would be an absolute honour to fight for an Irish title. I was Irish Champion as an amateur and it would mean so much to me to do the same as a professional. I’d also like to win the Illinois State title because I have a lot of loyal fans in Chicago and that’s another ambition of mine.”
The Irish title is currently held by Jamie Moore but Coyle doesn’t foresee a showdown between the two anytime soon. “Jamie’s a fantastic fighter who I’d love to spar with because I really admire him. I know I’m not in his league yet but that’s obviously what I’m working towards. I hear that Jamie will be fighting for the European title soon so he might vacate the Irish which might give me a chance to fight for it.”
In fact it’s another Moore that could feature in the opposite corner if Coyle does get his opportunity at the Irish light middleweight belt – James Moore from Co. Wicklow but like Coyle now based in the U.S.
“I’d fight James Moore in the morning,” enthused Coyle. “I think he’s said that he’d like the fight as well. I honestly believe that would be such a punishing fight that it would be a career ending fight for the loser but I can only see one winner. That would be something else though, we’d a great rivalry in the amateurs I’m sure it would be the fight of the decade if we met again in the pros.”
The undercard for the November 15th event at the Breaffy House Resort features welterweight prospects John O’Donnell and Stephen Haughian alongside Tyrone’s Damian Taggart and the pro debut of Sheffiled teenage protégé, Steve Barnes.
Tickets for the Hunky Dorys Fight Night priced from €60 go on sale tomorrow (Friday, October 3rd) from 9am at Ticketmaster and all usual outlets.