HOLLYWOOD, FL, March 21 – It doesn’t matter if it’s Colombia, Florida, or London, England – super middleweight standout Edison “Pantera” Miranda is a hit wherever he goes. That was certainly the case Friday night at York Hall in the Bethnal Green section of London, as Miranda made a spectacular UK debut with a fifth round stoppage of Joey Vegas..
Miranda dropped Vegas twice in the third round before finishing his opponent two rounds later to improve to 32-3 with 28 KOs. Now the globe-trotting Colombian has his sights on the winner of the April 25th championship bout between Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch.
“I’ve been chasing Taylor for years, but unless I cut off my legs and become a featherweight, he won’t fight me,” said Miranda. “I’m stunned that he’s actually fighting someone his own size in Froch, and I’d like to see him win so I can force him to fight me. As for Froch, I won over a lot of British fans tonight, and a lot of them told me that they want me to send you packing. I’m ready for that, and I’ll even do it in England, because after tonight, I feel like it’s a second home. All I’ll say is, may the best man win on April 25th, because on April 26th, I’ll be waiting.”
Steve Molitor Ready for Ring Return
RAMA, ON – March 20, 2009 – Former IBF Junior Featherweight World Champion, “The Canadian Kid” Steve Molitor is officially on the comeback trail, and will return to the ring to face Mexico’s Heriberto Ruiz on June 26, at Casino Rama.
Prior to the main event at Rumble at Rama VII, in which Ruiz topped Panamanian Mauricio Martinez via unanimous decision for the vacant IBF Intercontinental championship, Orion Sports Management President Allan Tremblay announced that the winner of Martinez-Ruiz would in fact be Molitor’s next foe.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity,” said Molitor, who lost his world title last November to now unified WBA/IBF champion Celestino Caballero via fourth round TKO.
“And I’m very grateful to Casino Rama for continuing to give me a platform to perform, and to Allan Tremblay for putting me in a position to win back my IBF belt.”
For Tremblay, Molitor’s promoter, his star client’s return to the ring is all about desire, and positioning.
“I always wanted Steve back in the ring, not just hungry, but starving,” Tremblay said.
“I also wanted him to come back at the top end of the division so he’d be right back in the mix. And there’s no denying that (insert name) is as tough as they come. The winner will either go into an eliminator, or straight into a title shot.”
In undercard action from Friday’s Rumble at Rama VII, Canadian Heavyweight Champion, Greg “The Steel Pole” Kielsa (9-0, 4 KO’s) retained his title with a devastating 8th round KO of Winnipeg’s Arthur Cook.
A picture perfect left flattened Cook, who rose on wobbly legs before suddenly collapsing face first in the ring with an apparent right leg injury. Cook was on the canvas for several minutes receiving medical attention but eventually left the ring under his own power, his right leg bandaged from top to bottom.
Official time was 1:16 of the 8th round.
Kitchener, Ontario’s Jason Douglas ran his record to 6-1, with 3 KO’s with a fifth round TKO over Guadalajara, Mexico’s Hugo Lomeli Gonzalez.
Sudbury’s Phil Boudreault suffered the first loss of his pro career after an ankle injury at 1:50 of the fifth round gave the TKO win to Hamilton’s Justin Fountain, who improves to 4-1-2, with 2 KO’s.
Boudreault falls to 5-1.
Buffalo, New York’s Felix Mercedes improved to 2-0, 1 KO’s with a bruising four round majority decision over a very game Paul Watson, of Brantford, Ontario.
With the loss, Watson record falls to 2-3.
Chavez Jr / Soto / Montiel LA News Conf. Luncheon
LOS ANGELES (March 22, 2009) – Undefeated super welterweight contender JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ, JR., WBC super featherweight champion HUMBERTO SOTO, WBO junior bantamweight champion FERNANDO MONTIEL, Hall of Fame promoter BOB ARUM, and Mexican promoter FERNANDO BELTRAN will host a news conference luncheon, Tomorrow! March 23, to discuss their upcoming pay-per-view event. The news conference will take place in the Gold Ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel (506 South Grand Ave, Los Angeles, Calif. 90071). Lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by the news conference at Noon PT.
Chavez (38-0-1, 29 KOs), from Culiacan. Mexico, son of the legendary three-division world champion Julio Cesar Chavez, will risk his unbeaten record and Top-Three rating against Luciano Cuello (23-0, 9 KOs), from Buenos Aires, in the main event of Latin Fury 8: Tijuana Thunder, which will also feature world champions Soto (46-7-2, 29 KOs), defending his title against rugged Top-15 contender Antonio “T-Rex” Davis (26-4, 13 KOs), and Montiel (38-2-3, 28 KOs), stepping up in weight to fight Top-Five contender Diego Silva (24-1, 12 KOs), for the interim WBO bantamweight title, plus a fourth fight which will be announced soon. Promoted by Top Rank, Latin Fury 8 will take place Saturday, March 28 and will be televised live on pay-per-view from the 21,000-seat Plaza de Toros Monumental bullring in Tijuana, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.