“THE ROAD WARRIOR” HITS HALF-CENTURY MARK IN WINS, LOOKS FORWARD TO 2010 TITLE SHOT – HOLLYWOOD, FL, February 8 – It’s one of modern boxing’s most coveted milestones, and on Friday, February 5th, former world light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson his 50 wins in spectacular fashion, stopping fellow contender Yusaf Mack in six rounds at the NSU Arena in Fort Lauderdale to improve to 50-13-2 with 34 knockouts as a professional.
“This is a great moment for me and it came with a lot of hard work and dedication,” said Johnson. “What made it even better for me was that I was able to get this win in front of my family and friends in South Florida, the people who have been in my corner all these years..”
With the victory, which saw the 41-year old Johnson is prime form, he will now proceed to a 2010 title fight against IBF light heavyweight world champion Tavoris Cloud at a date and location to be announced.
“I’m looking forward to regaining the world title this year and making it one of the best years of my career,” said the popular ‘Road Warrior.’ “Tavoris Cloud is a solid, young fighter with a bright future that I respect – just like Yusaf Mack.”
Boxeo TELEMUNDO returns to Miccosukee February 19th
Miami, FL: The popular series of “Boxeo TELEMUNDO” will return to the Miccosukee Resort and Gaming in Miami, Florida on Friday, February 19, 2010.
In the main event former world title challenger William “Chirizo” Gonzalez of Managua, Nicaragua will face Jesus “Taquero” Vazquez of El Dorado,Sonora, Mexico in a bout schedule for 12 rounds with the WBO Latin vacant bantamweight title at stake.
Gonzalez is ranked #9 WBA #12 WB0 and #13 IBF, is 28 years old and brings a record of 23-3-20 KO’s. Vazquez is the former WBC Continental Americas Champion and brings a record of 19-3-1-17 KO’s. This is a classic battle between two power punching contenders.
Also former WBA World Champion Clarence “Bones” Adams (44-6-4-20 KO’s) of Henderson, Kentucky faces Mexican veteran Edel “Cuate” Ruiz (33-22-4-24 KO’s) with the vacant WBA NABA Featherweight title on the line.
Also in action in separate bouts undefeated prospects: Athens 2004 former Olympian Luis Franco of Cuba, undefeated prospect Xavier “X-Factor” Burgos of Miami, Patrick Teixeira of Brazil and Jose Torres of Homestead amongst others.
There will be a total of 8 fights schedule with the first bell at 8:30 PM. The event is being promoted by Tuto Zabala, Jr.and All Star Boxing, Inc. “The New Generation”. The Adams-Ruiz bout is in association with Sampson Boxing. The main event will be televised live at 11:35 PM by the Telemundo Network on HD.
Tickets are already on sale at the Miccosukee Resort and Gaming 500 SW 177 Ave., Miami, FL or by calling 1-800-741-4600 and at all www.ticketmaster.com Tel: (305)358-5885 or (954)523-3309.
Boxing’s New Promotional Powerhouse: The Dawn of a Boxing “Empire”
Although he has previously kept a lower public profile, Greg Cohen, Founder and CEO of The Empire Sports and Entertainment Inc., has long been a major player in boxing.
The former majority owner of Cedric Kushner Promotions (CKP) and partner in Duva Boxing has been promotionally involved with a number of heavyweight champions and top contenders, including former WBO Champion Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs from the very first day of his pro career.
He’s also had promotional ties to such boxing luminaries as Chris Byrd, Jameel McCline, David Tua, Hasim Rahman, Samuel Peter, Ike Ibeabuchi, Kirk Johnson, Larry Donald, Jesse “Boogieman” Ferguson and Oleg Maskaev, as well as future hall of famer “Sugar” Shane Mosley and former cruiserweight champion Alfred Cole.
So why did Cohen, along with his partner, well-known South Florida-based Venture Capitalist Barry Honig, decide to come out from behind the curtain and form The Empire?
“I view the boxing game right now as similar to the real estate market,” he explains, “It’s a great time for someone to step in and make something happen. The only major players are Golden Boy and Top Rank.”
Cohen and Honig have already begun amassing an impressive roster of fighters including two of the most compelling and memorable heavyweight champions in recent history. “Shannon Briggs and Hasim Rahman are not only fighting for us, they’re also business partners of mine. And they’re both very noticeable and charismatic guys. In addition to being our first two marquee names as fighters, they’ll also be recruiting new talent for our stable. I’m very excited about having them both aboard.”
Briggs is fighting in the main event on March 16 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida.
The Empire also has its share of young and promising talent including an undefeated (21-0, 14 KOs) 23 year old from Queens, New York, who has already proven himself a bankable television commodity. “We’ve signed future world champion ‘Mean’ Joe Greene to a promotional agreement. He’ll be fighting in late march early April.”
“And we’re very proud to announce we’ve signed several fighters from the Dominican National and Olympic Team including Juan Carlos Payano, the highest decorated amateur of all time from the Dominican. He lost by one point to (current WBA Featherweight Champion) Yuriorkis Gamboa in the Pan Am Games — his life’s mission is to avenge that loss.
Plus we’ve signed Jennefel Vicente (16-0, 10 KOs) and several other members of the Dominican Olympic and National Team. We’re doing a series of shows with Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx, New York, and we’re going to have Payano and all the Dominican kids featured on the show.”
A world-class roster needs world class trainers to put it over the top and Cohen says he’s ecstatic at the two men who have agreed to join his team. Emanuel Steward of Detroit’s Kronk Gym fame has signed on as The Empire’s Director of Boxing and former light heavyweight champion, and now highly coveted trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad will serve as Vice-President of Boxing Operations. “I can’t think of two better trainers to have on staff,” admitted Cohen. “In addition to their front-office jobs, they will evaluate talent and lend their formidable training skills to our fighters.”
The Empire will look to do 20 to 30 shows per year and form strategic alliances with other promotional firms. Cohen says he’s excited to be taking center stage and expects his company to take a top spot in the boxing promotional world. “What we’re building at The Empire is very similar to what Golden Boy Promotions are doing…. only we’re going to do it better!”
Chevelle Hallback’s Reprise
Reprise is a musical term, meaning “a repeated passage of music, or a return to an earlier musical theme.” Reprise also holds another definition as a transitive verb, meaning “take back or recover by force”. On March 26, Chevelle Hallback will return to Albuquerque, New Mexico to rematch Holly Holm, on the “Warrior Vengeance“ card, and this time, is looking to rewrite a passage in her career resume and soundly defeat the hometown heroine and multi world champion.
By all means, this is a tall order. Chevelle has not had a fight date since June 2008 in Albuquerque when she defeated Jeannine Garside to claim the IFBA lightweight crown. The Garside fight was a rousing ten round slug fest which saw Chevelle, the veteran and Jeannine, her challenger trade shot for shot- and steal the show from the Holm/Mary Jo Sanders main event. “The fight with Jeannine was a good fight,” Chevelle said. “She was a very tough fighter, took a lot of shots that almost had her out but she weathered the storm. Jeannine had decent power whenever she landed a punch and she fights with a lot of heart.’” A 21 month lay off, the same circumstance as when she faced Holm the first time looms before her now as she prepares for their next bout. Chevelle is aware of the issues surrounding this rematch. “My first fight with Holly was one of my worst performances for date,” Chevelle admitted. “I didn’t do anything in that fight but pretty much follow her the whole night. Holly is in superb shape and does very well keeping her opponent at bay. Other than ring rust and not being prepared for fighting at such a high altitude my major mistake was to follow her around the ring the whole night. Holly is very tough because the one good punch I was able to hit her with shook her up, but she came back stronger. She is a very conditioned, technical and disciplined fighter and that type of fighter will give anyone problems- and to top it all off,” Chevelle exclaimed, “She’s left handed!”
Chevelle has learned from her past mistakes in fighting Holly and is determined the outcome March 26 will be dramatically different, “You will see a VERY different fight this time around with Holly and I,” she promised. “I am in almost the same situation as I’ve not been in the ring in a while, but this time,” she continued, “ I have enough time to prepare for the altitude. I believe when I am in superb shape there is not one female fighter out there in my weight class or above my weight class that can beat me.”
Even though Chevelle’s career has been slowed because matches are difficult to find, she makes this promise for the Holm fight and the other fights she gets in 2010. “I plan to make a huge dent in female boxing not only for myself but for female boxing in general,” she said. “I am setting out to be one of the first female boxers to fight and be televised on HBO. With major exposure such as that, female boxing can not help but grow. Bottom line- female boxing needs mainstream exposure to survive and who better than myself to make it happen? I am on a mission and I will not stop until that mission is complete.”
Holly Holm has rematched three opponents- Terri Blair, Angelica Martinez and Mary Jo Sanders, winning all but the Sanders redo which was scored a draw. Chevelle is aware of the statistics, knowing everyone expects history to repeat itself and Holm to chalk up yet another victory. “That’s OK, she said. “I enjoy the role of the underdog. It makes me work harder and the victory that much sweeter.”
For more information on “Warrior Vengeance”, headlined by Chevelle Hallback and Holly Holm, Friday, March 26 at the Isleta Resort Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico call Fresquez Promotions, 505-884-7484