Commonwealth bantamweight champion Jason Booth faces a tough test to his year old title reign when two-time British super bantam title challenger Sean “Short Fuse” Hughes drops down a division to challenge Booth on Thursday, December 18, 2008 at The Helix on the grounds of City University in Dublin, Ireland..
The pair will face-off in support of European super bantamweight champion Rendall Munroe’s title defense against rugged Italian beltholder Fabrizio Trotta and the pro debut of 2008 Irish Olympic Bronze Medallist Darren Sutherland, who has already been tipped by insiders to ignite a major shakeup in the super middleweight division as his career gathers steam over the next few years.
26 year old Hughes, 15-7-1 (1), is hoping to capitalize on a significant size advantages against Booth. The Yorkshire southpaw stands a full five inches above the Commonwealth champion and has boxed at as high as 137 pounds while Booth turned professional as a flyweight and has only ventured above 120 pounds once, his most recent contest in which he managed a narrow six-round victory against Welsh featherweight Dai Davies.
Hughes has vowed to bring the Commonwealth title back to his hometown of Pontefract and will draw upon his experience in the ring against the likes of Michael Hunter, Steve Foster Jr, Esham Pickering, Billy Corcoran, Bernard Dunne and Marc Callaghan in order to wrest the belt from Booth.
But Booth, 30-5 (11), welcomes the challenge to improve upon a glittering resume that has seen him win the IBO super flyweight and British and Commonwealth flyweight titles as well as mount three very competitive but unsuccessful bids at the European flyweight crown.
The 31 year old from Nottingham is a treasury of slick moves and combination punching but will also need to be in complete control of his superb counterpunching skills if he is to take the confidence away from the hard-nosed Hughes.
Frank Maloney Promotions presents “Out To Conquer The World” headlined by the debut of Irish Olympic Bronze Medallist Darren Sutherland and European Super Bantamweight Champion Rendall Munroe’s title defense against Italian Champion Fabricio Trotta along with full undercard support, on Thursday, December 18, 2008 at The Helix in Dublin, Ireland.
Tickets, priced at €50, €60 and €100, are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office on 0871 226 1508.
Sky Sports will televise the action live on SS1 starting at 8PM.
Super Heavyweight Michael Hunter to Compete in the 2008 AIBA World Cup, December 10-14 in Moscow, Russia
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Super heavyweight Michael Hunter (Las Vegas, Nev.) returned to Moscow, Russia on Sunday to compete in the 2008 AIBA World Cup, December 10-14 at the “Megasport” Sport Palace. It will be the first bout for Hunter since the final Olympic Qualifier, April 25-30 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Hunter will be the only U.S. boxer competing in the invitation only event in Moscow. Eight boxers in each weight division will compete in the elite event, which is the first world-wide senior level competition since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The seven super heavyweights joining Hunter in World Cup action are 2008 Olympic Silver medalist Zhilei Zhang of China, Nigeria’s Onoriode Ohwarieme, Russia’s Niyaz Faysullin, Croatia’s Marko Tamosovic, Colombia’s Oscar Rivas, Ukraine’s Rouan Kapitonenko, and Cuba’s Robert Acea Alfonso. Hunter will look to avenge a loss in the final round of the Second Americas Qualifier to Alfonso if the two meet in Russia. Alfonso’s win in the previous bout qualified him for the 2008 Olympic Games while Hunter fell just one win short of earning an Olympic berth in all three qualifying events.
The event draw will kick off the tournament at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 9 with preliminary action beginning on Wednesday, December 10. Preliminary competition will continue through the 11th with December 12 serving as a rest day for all of the boxers. Semifinal action will be contested on Saturday, December 13 and the event will end with final round competition on Sunday, December 14.
All 2008 World Cup action will be contested at the newly created “Megasport” Sport Palace, a nine-floor building, decorated in Russian colors and resembling the propeller of an aircraft. The 14,000 seat area was initially created to serve as a hockey arena but can be transformed to host 22 different sport disciplines.
Coaches Barry Hunter (Fort Washington, Md.) and Roosevelt Sanders, Jr. (Jacksonville, N.C.) will lead Hunter into action at the World Cup while Don DeVerges (Los Angeles, Calif.) will serve as the AIBA official.
The 2008 edition is the first World Cup since 2006, in which the competition was contested in a team format with boxers advancing as a nation not individually.
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).
Season’s Beatings… Woops Greetings!
Don’t Miss The Last Show of 2008
Only 100 tickets remain for the December 11th, 7:30pm show and can be purchased at www.battleintheballroom.com.
Santa Ana’s best two boxing prospects will be featured on the same show, when the Irvine Marriott’s Battle In The Ballroom closes out their 24th season, Thursday, December 11th. 8-0 Luis Ramos, one of the country’s top lightweight prospects, takes a step up in competition, when he meets San Antonio’s 5-5 Justo Vallecillo in the Main Event, and to the winner will go the Battle In The Ballroom Title Belt.
A good female bout will be another highlight of the six bout show, when San Diego’s Carley Batey faces Coachella’s Johanna Tangaro at 117 pounds. Tangaro won her pro debut at the Marriott in October with a win over Michelle Nelson.
Rounding out the card will be jr bantamweight Angel Magdaleno looking for his first pro win after two straight draws and he faces pro debuter Ludwin Mondragon. Plus 4-0 Abraham Lopez faces Jonathan DeJesus at 128 pounds.
SEASON SEAT INFORMATION – For boxing fans thinking about Season Seats to the 25th Anniversary Season of the Battle In The Ballroom, they can email to boxing77@aol.com, and request a Season Seat packet be sent to them.