Chicago-April 8th, 2010-Hitz Boxing is headed back to the “VENUE” at the Horseshoe Casino, in Hammond, IL, and is bringing “Ice’ in case anyone needs it! Former Olympian, Montell “Ice” Griffin, is looking to round off his winning record, currently standing at 49 to career high of 50, when he headlines the power packed Hitz Boxing card on May 29th. Griffin, a Chicago native, has seen it all and done it all, having faced and won against two of the most spectacular boxers ever to glove up: James ‘Lights Out” Toney and the iconic Roy Jones Jr,. Jones; experienced his FIRST professional loss at the hands of Griffin..
“I cannot imagine fighting for my 50th win, anywhere else other than in front of my hometown fans… their support has followed and motivated me as I have traveled the globe; I couldn’t be happier about May 29th I look forward to putting on a fantastic show”-Griffin
“I have known Montell since he was a scrappy 10 year old kid, and to see his success over the years is something to marvel at. Even with the record that he has, he’s always remained humble, that’s a rarity in this business nowadays; I am thrilled to have him headline my May 29th Hitz card”-Bobby
TICKETS GO ON SALE FRIDAY APRIL 9TH-STARTING AT A FAN APPRECIATION PRICE OF $10-AT THE “VENUE” BOX OFFICE TICKETMASTER.COM AND ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS.
May 21 Ballroom Brawl! tickets on sale this Saturday at 10am!
Tampa, FL: One Punch Productions is pleased to announce that the next installment of the Ballroom Brawl! Professional boxing series is set for Friday May 21st, at the Tampa Westshore Doubletree Hotel. The fight card, with 11 bouts already scheduled, and 2 additional bouts currently in negotiations, is likely to be the largest fight card in the Tampa Bay area in many years.
The main event features Bronx, NY transplant and Ocala’s adopted son Danny Santiago (30-4-1, 19 KO’s), Santiago has battled some of the best light heavyweights in the world, including Antonio Tarver, undefeated Zsolt Erdie, and also holds a knockout victory over Elvir Muriqi, who was 30-1 at the time. Local fight fans might also recall Santiago’s epic slugfest with Olando Rivera in St. Petersburg, a fight remembered as a hometown version of Gatti-Ward.
The card continues with Sarasota favorite Adam Jaco (8-3-1) in a 6 round co-feature bout. Jaco is coming off a dominant performance against Marcus Hall (11-3) in his previous fight on January 22.
The huge undercard consists of the best and brightest talent from Florida and beyond. The undercard includes:
Cordaro Simpkins (4-0) in a 4 round bout at 130 lbs.
Marcus Willis (4-0-2) in a 4 round bout at 154 lbs.
Azea Augustama (6-0) in a 6 round bout at 175 lbs.
Sherali Dostiev (5-0) in a 4 round bout at 122 lbs.
Manny Woods (3-0) in a 4 round bout at 156 lbs.
Ray Cepeda (2-0) in a 4 round bout at 147 lbs.
Enrique Rios (pro debut) in a 4 round bout at 124 lbs.
The undercard also features the professional debut of female amateur standout Christina Swanson at 135 lbs., as well as the professional debut of Phil Alessi prospect Marquis Davis at 160 lbs.
Tickets are priced at $20, $35, and $75, and go on sale this Saturday at 10:00am at all Ticketmaster locations and ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available by calling 813-503-8109. The Doubletree Westshore is located at 4500 W. Cypress St., 1 block west of Westshore Blvd. Doors open at 7pm, and the action will start promptly at 7:30pm. More information is available at www.onepunch.net.
NABF PRESIDENT JOE DWYER ANNOUNCES ANNUAL AWARDS
New York, April 9 – President Joe Dwyer has announced the winners of the NABF’s yearly awards, to be presented at the organization’s annual convention which will take place from June 9-12, 2010, at the Royal Sonesta in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“We had a great year, and all of the recognition accorded to the winners is hard-earned and well-deserved,” said Dwyer, who refers to the NABF as the Triple A of professional boxing.
“As good of a year as we’ve had, we are not going to rest on our laurels,” he continued. “There is a lot of good boxing in store for the future.”
This year’s recipients are:
Fight of the Year
Johnathan Banks TKO 6 Travis “Freight Train” Walker: The hard-punching Walker, 34-4-1 (28 KOS), outweighed Banks, now 24-1 (17 KOS), by 20 pounds when they squared off for the vacant heavyweight title in Germany in March. The fight was filled with many ebbs and flows, but when the dust settled it was Banks whose hand was raised in victory. The bout was promoted by K2 Promotions, as the lead-in to the Wladimir Klitschko-Eddie Chambers world heavyweight title bout.
Fighter of the Year
Wilbert Uicab, 27-5-1 (16 KOS), of Mexico has already made 5 defenses of the NABF flyweight title that he won in January 2009. Although his last bout, against Anthony Villarreal in February 2010, was ruled a no contest because of an accidental clash of heads, it is expected that the always busy Uicab will be back with a vengeance in the very near future.
Most Dramatic Fight
Willie Lee W 10 Alex Bunema: Lee or Bunema are never in dull fights, but their August 2009 thriller for the vacant light middleweight crown exceeded all expectations. Both well-traveled warhorses were hurt and looked as if they could have been stopped on several occasions. In a fight that could have gone either way, the Mississippi-based Lee, now 17-6 (11 KOS), eked out a spilt decision over Bunema, now 31-7-2 (17 KOS), a native of the Congo who fights out of Tennessee.
Prospect of the Year
Vanes Martirosyan: Less than one month after stopping Willie Lee in three rounds to win the vacant NABF light middleweight title, the 23-year-old Martirosyan, a 2004 Olympian, enthusiastically embarked on the biggest challenge of his career. He squared off against the rugged and resilient former world champion Kassim Ouma of Uganda. In a seesaw battle of wills, Martirosyan, now 27-0 (17 KOS), outworked the crafty Ouma, now 26-7-1 16 KOS), and secured his spot as a legitimate top-10 contender.
Female Fighter of the Year
Irma Sanchez: The 22-year-old flyweight from Mexico turned professional in August 2006, but has already won multiple titles, including the vacant NABF crown from Susana Morales in October 2010. Since that sterling victory, she has fought twice more, picking up the WBC female youth title along the way. With a record of 17-3-1 (5 KOS), she is all-action, all the time.
Female Promoter of the Year
Hector Garcia: Having promoted his very first card just four years ago in a venue with a capacity of 100 people, Garcia has moved forward at a breakneck pace. He has made boxing a thriving sport in Guadalajara, Mexico, which was the site of many of the 11 female championship bouts and 40 male title bouts that he has promoted.
Matchmaker of the Year
Bobby Goodman: The Hall of Fame matchmaker has decades of experience in developing future champions. Long considered one of the few matchmakers by which all others should be compared, Goodman works for Square Ring Inc., which promoted numerous NABF contests over the past year
Promoter of the Year
Square Ring, Inc.: With John Wirt as its CEO, Square Ring kept the career of the legendary Roy Jones Jr. alive in 2009. Promoting fights between Jones and Omar Sheika and Jeff Lacy, led to much bigger bouts for Jones against local hero Danny Green in Australia and a long-awaited grudge match against Bernard Hopkins. On the undercard of Jones-Hopkins were two highly competitive NABF title fights, featuring super featherweights Jason Litzau vs. Rocky Juarez and light heavyweights Ismayl Sillakh vs. Daniel Judah.
President’s Award
Gale Van Hoy: One of the original members of the NABF, Van Hoy’s long and meritorious contributions to the organization are tremendous. Each year he runs a memorabilia auction that raises funds for the NABF treasury. Whenever he is asked, and even when he isn’t, Van Hoy is quick to assist in any endeavor that will enhance the reputation of boxing in general, and the NABF in particular.