FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (April 30, 2009) – With six pro fights under his belt since turning pro last September for Seminole Warriors Boxing, unbeaten prospect Danny O’Connor is now ready to move up to 6-round bouts and preparing to go down to the lightweight division. 2004 U.S. Olympic Team alternate O’Connor (6-0, 2 KOs) is coming off an impressive win by 4-round decision against 22-fight veteran Travis Hartman (9-12-1, 7 KOs) last Saturday night on the Froch-Taylor undercard on Showtime at MGM Grand Foxwoods in Ledyard, Connecticut..
O’Connor twice floored Hartman, who had been in against Cesar Chavez, Jr., en route to his sixth victory by judges’ scores of 40-34 three times. “I’m really starting to feel like a professional boxer,” O’Connor said. “I’m comfortable with everything – what I eat the day of the fight, how to prepare in the locker room – and I was very relaxed in the ring. I’m a perfectionist and there must be 100 things I think I could have done better, but other than a few minor things, I was happy with my performance. I still think I could have come quicker off my defense like I usually do and used a few more angles. But I do think it was my best fight as a pro.
“I’m usually amped-up in a fight but when I knocked down Hartman, instead of rushing, I looked to Dave in my corner and was patient. I loved fighting on a big card like that. I could tell it was different from the weigh in with Froch having such a big cheering section. There was a Showtime environment. I wasn’t nervous, more excited, because I wanted to put on a good show for the Showtime people and fans watching that hadn’t seem me fight before. I think I’m ready for my first 6-rounder and over the course of time I’ll get down to 135. My next fight I’ll probably weigh 138-139. I just have to concentrate on my good diet and we’ll see how long it’ll take for me to fight strong at 135. Right now, it’s just one fight at a time.”
The 23-year-old O’Connor, who defeated 2008 Olympic Gold medalist Felix Diaz a year ago in a USA-Dominican Republic dual meet, hopes to be fighting again in June.
“I thought Danny looked real sharp and very relaxed in his fight,” head trainer and co-manager (with Rob Valle) David Keefe added. “He’s fought a lot of rounds (19) in his six pro fights and we believe he’s ready to step-up to fight 6-rounders.”
JENNIFER SALINAS RETURNS TO ACTION THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AT PATRIOT CENTER
HARD HITTING FEATHERWEIGHT PROSPECT RETURNS AFTER 2.5 YEAR ABSENCE
FAIRFAX, VA (April 30, 2009) Featherweight sensation Jennifer “THE BOLIVIAN QUEEN” Salinas will return to the squared circle this Saturday night, May 2nd in a scheduled four round bout against Christina Leadbetter at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.
Returning after a two and half year absence following the birth of second child, the now thirteen month old son, John-Pablo, the 26 year old Salinas is currently training under the tutelage of former world title challenger Daniel Attah in Reston, Virginia.
“The time off has given me the opportunity to refocus on my career. With the kids and a full time job, I have to truly make the most of my time training. Same thing with my fights, I want to be a world champion and I don’t want to waste any time in getting there” said Salinas.
Raw footage of Salinas’ most recent workouts can be viewed on the Youtube website http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjKrqPTHbNY
Prior to her break, the Grand Rapids, Michigan native had won four in a row to raise her record to 9-1-0 with three knockouts. In her last bout, Salinas swept the scorecards with a six round shutout win over Darnella Barnes on October 20, 2006, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, just outside of Detroit, Michigan.
The 20 year old Leadbetter, sports a record of 2-2-0.
Continued Salinas, “In this upcoming bout I want to grab the momentum back I had before I took the break. Keep fighting, keep winning and hopefully get that title shot soon.”
Presented by ICE Promotions, the May 2nd professional boxing card is headlined by a Junior Middleweight USNBC championship fight between Jimmy Lange, 29-3-2 (20KO’s) and Albany, New York’s Frank Houghtaling, 19-15-4 (4KO’s).
Doors open at 6:30pm with the first fight set for 7:30pm. Tickets, priced at $20, $50, $75, $100, $150, $200, $300 and $500 (plus applicable service charges), can be purchased through Ticketmaster by logging onto www.ticketmaster.com, calling 703-573-SEAT, 202-397-SEAT or 410-547-SEAT or by visiting any Ticketmaster outlet, including the Patriot Center box office. For group sales and sponsorship opportunities, please call (703) 536-6060.
“Chop Chop” Corley chasing one more world title shot
S VEGAS (May 1, 2009) – Former world light welterweight champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley is traveling halfway around the planet in hopes of keeping alive his dream of becoming world champion once again.
Corley, fighting out of Washington D.C., faces former Brazilian lightweight champion Sidney Siqueira (12-3-1, 7 KOs) in an 8-round bout May 9 on a star-studded card, headlined by undefeated light heavyweight sensation Beibut Shumenov against former IBF super middleweight champion Alejandro “Naco” Berrio, outdoors at Khadjimukan Stadium in Shumenov’s hometown of Chimkent, Kazakhstan.
The May 9 show, presented by KZ Event Productions, owned by the Shumenov brothers, Beibut and Chingis, will be taped live for later broadcasts in North America.
Corley (33-11, 19 KOs) has been on a comeback that took a bump hit this month when he was outright robbed, losing an 8-round decision to hometown favorite Hector Sanchez in Arizona.
“It was a great fight,” the slick southpaw Corley said. “I won but I lost. Everybody who saw it knew I won that fight. My head was down until I spoke to the promoter, Oscar (De La Hoya), who told me I really won the fight and he didn’t know what the judges were looking at. I felt better after that. We knew going in that I had to knockout my opponent to win. I tried to do that and hurt him, but he kept coming. Fans will be watching the rebirth of ‘Chop Chop’ on May 9th. I’m a different fighter today – much more aggressive. The Shumenovs are great promoters. They run clean shows, no delays. I’m looking forward to fighting on their show in Kazakhstan. I’m confident of a win and we’ll pick-up from there because I really want another world title shot. Right now, though, I’m trying to get somebody to translate ‘Chop Chop’ into Russian for me.”
The now 34-year-old Corley captured the WBO light welterweight title eight years ago, topping Felix Flores in the opening round, followed by two successfully title defenses via 12-round decisions against Ener Julio and Randall Bailey. Nearly half of DeMarcus’ pro losses have to world champions such as Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Zab Judah, Miquel Cotto, Junior Witter and Bailey.
2004 Kazakhstan Olympian Shumenov (7-0, 5 KOs), 2008 WBC Asian Boxing Council Organization’s Boxer of the Year, is already rated No. 8 by the WBA, No. 9 by the WBO and No. 16 by the WBC. His WBO Asia Pacific, WBC Asian Boxing Council and PABA Interim titles will all be on the line, as well as the vacant IBA world crown, versus Colombian knockout artist Berrio (28-5, 27 KOs), rated No. 9 by the IBF and No. 11 by the WBC.
Former IBF light middleweight Roman “Made In Hell” Karmazin will fight at home for the first time in seven years against Luis “Tyson” Augusto Dos Santos (24-15, 20 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature. Born in Russia, reigning NABF middleweight title-holder Karmazin (38-3-1, 24 KOs), rated No. 5 by the IBF and No. 10 by the WBC, was stationed in the military and later lived in Uralsk, Kazakhstan, where his son, Oleg, still resides and studies.
Also fighting on the May 9th card is 4-time Uzbekistan National amateur champion Gayrat Ahmedov (10-0-1, 6 KOs), making his KZ Event Productions debut, versus WBC Latino and Brazilian title-holder Luzimar “Tiger of Itacre” Gonzaga (25-4, 20 KOs), in an 8-round light heavyweight match.
The undercard is stacked from top to bottom with undefeated Uzbekistan light middleweight Ravshan Hudoinazarov (7-0. 5 KOs) vs. Andre Marcos Nascimento (13-2, 9 KOs), plus Chimkent hometown favorites such as light middleweight Kanat Orakbaev (2-0, 0 KOs) vs. Umid Soliev (1-1, 0 KOs) and pro-debuting heavyweight Doszhan Ospanov. All fights and fighters are subject to change.