NEW YORK (Oct. 3, 2008) – History will be made on Saturday, Nov. 1, when World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight world champion Cristian Mijares climbs into the ring to face International Boxing Federation (IBF) world champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan at the The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Mijares and Darchinyan are fighting in the very first 115-pound World Championship Unification..
The historic showdown is being co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment, KO Entertainment and Gary Shaw Productions and will air live on SHOWTIME beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) with a 12-round super middleweight (168 pounds) special attraction – Andre Dirrell vs. Victor Oganov.
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday and are priced starting at $25 to $250 for ringside. Tickets may be purchased at The Home Depot Center Box Office, open 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster retail ticket locations, as well as www.Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster-Charge-by-Phone, by calling 213-480-3232.
The world championship fight is only the third time that multiple 115-pound titles will be up for grabs in the same ring. In 1997, Johnny Tapia outpointed Albuquerque, N.M., rival Danny Romero to unify titles. On May 17, 2008, Mijares won a decision against Alexander Munoz also to unify two belts.
Mijares (35-3-2, 13 KOs), of Gomez Palacio, Mexico, is coming off a third-round destruction of Chatchai Sasakul on Aug. 30, while Darchinyan (30-1-1, 24 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, by way of Armenia, won his title after knocking out Dimitri Kirilov in the fifth round Aug. 2 on SHOWTIME.
“I’m one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world,” Mijares said. “On Nov. 1, Darchinyan is going to find that out the hard way when I make history unifying this division.”
Said Darchinyan: “Mijares has what I want – the remaining major belts in the 115-pound division. Let’s see how great a matador he really is when he steps inside the ring and goes face-to-face with the Raging Bull. He won’t be yelling ‘Toro!’ He’ll be screaming ‘I surrender!’ ”
PHILADELPHIA’S YOUNG BOXING SENSATION
Back in action October 18, 2008 is Philadelphia tough kid, Danny “Swift” Garcia as he showcases his skills on the Bernard Hopkins vs Kelly Pavlik card televised live on HBO PPV.
The young 20 year old undefeated prospect will enter the ring with a perfect record of (7-0, 6 KO’s). In his last fight, Garcia stopped Tyrone Wiggins with a stiff body blow, followed by a two devastating left hooks to the head, forcing the referee to stop the bout at 1:04 of the first round.
Garcia brings a crowd pleasing style to the ring, a style that many media members are raving about. When asked about why his style is so appealing, Garcia went on to say, “I’m blessed to have power in both hands so the knockouts are coming. I’m aggressive and I let my hands go, I think the fans can appreciate that. The fans have shown great support and the media is also very supportive. It’s truly a blessing.”
The Pavlik vs. Hopkins pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Pavlik vs. Hopkins fight week updates, log onto www.hbo.com