Boricua star Wilfredo “WV2” Vazquez, Jr. makes his first WBO Junior Featherweight title defense May 29 against unbeaten, No. 1 contender Zsolt “Mr. Lefthook” Bedak, headlining the “Undefeated Champions” pay per view event in the 12-round main event, airing live in the United States from Bayamon, Puerto Rico. “Undefeated Champions,” presented by PR Best Boxing in association with All Star Boxing, features three world title bouts. It is being distributed in the United States by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9 PM/ET – 6 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, and DISH Network, for a suggested retail price of only $34.95..
The Ring’s No. 9 rated Vazquez (18-0-1, 15 KOs), the first Puerto Rican world champion who is also the son of former world champion, doesn’t feel like others that defending a championship belt is tougher than winning a title for the first time. The 25-year-old Vazquez captured the WBO crown this past February, stopping Marvin Sonsona in the fourth round.
“I’m more relaxed now,” he said. “There’s less pressure but I’m working even harder. It’s going to be hard for somebody to take my belt away. Being world champion like my father is rare. Who could believe it? It’s something very special in our lives.”
The 26-year-old Bedak (14-0-1, 12 KOs), a native Hungarian now fighting out of Germany, captured the WBO European and WBO Inter-Continental super bantamweight titles last year.
“I let my father (and trainer) watch tapes, I just train and follow instructions,” Vazquez offered. “In my opinion, he (Bedak) is not better than Sonsona. I don’t make predictions and I will be ready to go 12 rounds, if necessary.”
Vazquez, Jr.-Bedak is one of three world title fights on “Undefeated Champions.”
WBO junior lightweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez (22-0-1, 14 KOs) makes his the second title defense in the 12-round co-feature against WBO No. 10 rated Gonzalo “El Destructor” Mungia (17-6-3, 13 KOs) Martinez, rated No. 3 by The Ring, takes on the reigning WBO Latino super featherweight title-holder, Nicaraguan challenger Mungia.
Females Hanna Gabriel (9-0-1, 5 KOs) and Gardy Pena (9-1-2, 6 KOs) square-off for the vacant WBO super welterweight crown in a 10-round bout.
Fighting on the undercard are the Arroyo twins, bantamweight McJoe (2-0, 1 KO) and super flyweight McWilliams (2-0, 2 KOs), the former Puerto Rican Olympians. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
WORLD CHAMPION BEIBUT SHUMENOV SIGNS WITH GOOSSEN TUTOR WON WBA LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CROWN IN RECORD FASHION
Los Angeles, CA (May 8, 2010) – In its nearly 30 years in the boxing industry Promoter Dan Goossen has grown accustomed to developing many young boxers from the amateur ranks into World Champions. Now, Goossen Tutor Promotions has entered into a promotional agreement with a boxer who holds a World Championship title belt with the goal of developing him into a Marquee World Champion.
“It is with great pleasure and honor that WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion, Beibut Shumenov, has agreed to provide Goossen Tutor with the privilege of being his promoter,” Goossen revealed at a press conference held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA just hours before his company’s “THE WEIGHT IS OVER” promotion featuring Paul “The Punisher” Williams against Kermit Cintron in a scheduled 12-round super welterweight bout.
“This is just another facet we’ve worked for so many years, World Champions having the trust and confidence in our organization to bring them to another level,” Goossen expounded, “we will not disappoint Beibut nor his very astute advisor, Cary Lynn Redlin.”
Shumenov carries the distinction of winning the Light Heavyweight World Championship with the fewest number of professional fights under his belt, having won the title in just his 10th professional bout in a January 2010 rematch of a controversial loss against Spain’s Gabriel Campillo.
An amazing accomplishment for a young man who is still developing in his own right!
A 26-year old native of Chimkent, Kazakhstan, currently living and training in Las Vegas, NV with renowned trainer Kevin Barry, the 6-2, 175 lb. Shumenov (9-1, 6 KOs) is among the most unique figures to explode on the boxing scene in recent memory.
Following an outstanding amateur career in which he represented his native country as a Silver medalist in the first-ever Afro-Asian Games in India in 2003; as a Gold medal winner in the 2004 Asian Championships in the Philippines; and as a member of its Olympic Boxing Team in Athens, Greece the same year, Shumenov and his brother, Chingis, moved to Las Vegas and formed KZ Event Productions, Inc. in 2007.
Shumenov then turned pro under his own promotional umbrella and debuted with a first-round stoppage of Walter Edwards in Wilson, NC. In his next seven fights, this remarkable warrior would go on to face – and defeat — a pair of former world champions in Montell Griffin and Byron Mitchell, as well as Epifanio Mendoza, who had an unsuccessful world title challenge against WBC champion Chad Dawson.
Then, in August of last year, came the disputed loss to Campillo by majority decision in Shumenov’s first attempt at a World Championship — in Beibut’s home country of Kazakhstan. A rematch was ordered by the WBA and Shumenov captured the title by split-decision in Las Vegas earlier this year.
In becoming the WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion in just his 10th bout, Shumenov shattered the previous record of 15 bouts by Jeff Harding back in 1989. He also became the fourth boxer from Kazakhstan to win a professional world title. The others were Anatoly Alexandrov (WBC Super Featherweight, in 1990), Oleg Maskaev (WBC Heavyweight, 2000) and Vassily Jirov (IBF Cruiserweight, 2001).
And now Shumenov – who, along with his brother, Chingis, will continue to sign and develop talent for KZ Event Productions, Inc. – has decided to have Goossen Tutor promote his boxing matches so he can give one-hundred percent focus on training and becoming the undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion of the World.
“I’m excited about this arrangement with Dan (Goossen), one of the leading promoters in boxing today,” Shumenov declared. “They get a lot of television dates and have a strong stable of boxers and they always seem to maximize the opportunity for their boxers. That is all I can ask for… I will do the rest.”
“Being a world champion and promoter and all the work that goes into that, especially when I’m in training for a fight, makes it very difficult for me. I need to concentrate on training, which I’ll now be able to do and let Dan and his great team at Goossen Tutor handle the business outside the ring. KZ Event Productions will still be promoting shows and my brother and I will still be involved with our KZ fighters and signing new talent. I look forward to even bigger and better things working with Goossen Tutor.”
Shumenov’s first fight under the Goossen Tutor banner is expected to take place in July in the United States against the very tough and undefeated Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov (22-0, 14 KOs), the mandatory challenger for the WBA Light Heavyweight Championship.
Maureen Shea Returns to the Ring This Friday in The Bronx
Bronx, NY (May 11, 2010) – Maureen “The Real Million Dollar Baby” Shea will make her return to the ring this Friday, May 14 against Norma Faris at the Paradise Theater in The Bronx. The six-round scheduled bout will be Shea’s first since last August.
The Shea vs. Faris super-featherweight bout will be part of “Punchin at the Paradise 10”, which is promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions. Prospects Mike Perez and Adrien Broner will appear in separate bouts on the televised portion of Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo Tecate”.
The 29-year-old Shea, who holds a record of 13-2 (7 KO), has undergone significant changes to her career since last stepping in the ring. Shea is now working with head trainer Pedro Saiz of Brooklyn, a former world title challenger that has worked with world champions Joan Guzman and Yuri Foreman, as well as co-trainer Aroz “Terrific” Gist. Even her surroundings are different; Shea has relocated from the Hackensack PAL to the brand new Global Boxing Gym in North Bergen, NJ.
“Everything happens for a reason but my faith is unshakable,” says Shea. who was Hillary Swank’s main sparring partner as she prepared for her Oscar-winning performance in “Million Dollar Baby.”
“So many things have changed within my team, within myself, my training location. This is the first time in my professional career that I feel I have a home gym. I feel that God has put me in the best possible situation to prepare me for what’s ahead.”
Shea’s opponent Faris brings a record of 3-2 to the ring and is a native of Puerto Rico.
“I’m very excited to be fighting in The Bronx again,” said Shea, who grew up five miles from the Paradise Theater. “I love the Bronx and I’m excited to perform in front of my fans. It’s great that I’ll be fighting on the card with other Jersey people like Mikey Perez, a teammate of mine. I fought at the Paradise Theater in 2007, it’s a beautiful venue and the energy is great.”
The Paradise Theater is located at 2403 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY. Doors open at 7:00PM with the first bout scheduled for 7:30PM. Tickets are priced and available at $100, $50 and $30 and are on sale now.
Tickets may be purchased by calling the Star Boxing office at (718) 823-2000. To find out more information about exclusive tickets please call Star Boxing at (718) 823-2000 or visit www.starboxing.com. Tickets may also be purchased through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster customers may log on to ticketmaster.com or purchase tickets by calling 1-800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased at the Paradise Theater Box Office, or by calling (718) 220-1015.