CHICAGO, IL (May 12, 2010) The main event for the Chicago debut of TOP RANK LIVE at the UIC Pavilion on Saturday, May 29th will feature an outstanding ten round welterweight showdown between Mexican veterans Jesus “Renuente” Soto-Karass and Gabriel “EL Rey” Martinez. The 27 year old Soto-Karass, 24-4-3 (16KO’s), participated in numerous outstanding battles on the long-running SOLO BOXEO boxing series. He was undefeated over a four and half year period from May 2005 until November 2009, with wins over notables including former world champion Vince Phillips and highly regarded contenders David Estrada, Michel Rosales, Juan Buendia, Chris Smith, Gilbert Venegas, Luciano Perez, Germaine Sanders and Jose Antonio Ojeda..
On November 14, 2009, Soto-Karass, a native of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, fought Alfonso Gomez on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao/Miguel Cotto welterweight championship bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. After five rounds, the bout was declared a technical decision in favor of Gomez after he had sustained a large cut over his right eye from an accidental headbutt in round two.
This will be Soto-Karass’ second bout in Chicago, having stopped Michel Rosales in the 11th round on October 20, 2006 at Cicero Stadium in a sensational war that was televised on SOLO BOXEO.
Soto-Karass is currently world ranked #13 by the International Boxing Federation.
A native of Empalme, Sonora, Mexico, the 23 year old Martinez is riding a seven bout winning streak and brings a terrific record of 24-1-1 with thirteen knockouts into battle against Soto-Karass.
Most recently Martinez won the vacant Mexican welterweight title with a sensational twelve round unanimous decision over Orlando Escobar in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico on December 12, 2009.
An outstanding undercard at TOP RANK LIVE will feature Salvador Sanchez II, the highly anticipated pro debut of former Notre Dame boxing captain Mike Lee in addition to Chicago’s Omar Henry, Ivan Popoca, Antonio Avila and Polish heavyweight prospect Krzystof Zimnoch.
Advance tickets for TOP RANK LIVE, presented by Top Rank Incorporated and Chicago’s 8 Count Productions, priced at $101, $51 and $31 are now on sale through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com), the UIC Pavilion Box Office (312-413-5740) and the 8 Count Productions’ Office (312-226-5800).
Doors on the evening of the event will open at 7pm with the first bell at 8pm. The UIC Pavilion is located at 525 S. Racine, just one block south of the Eisenhower Expressway. For further information, please visit their website at www.uicpavilion.com. The UIC Pavilion is now serving alcohol at all boxing events.
KZ Event’s unbeaten welterweight Ravshan Hudaynazarov in action Friday night in Primm, Nevada
LAS VEGAS (May 12, 2010) – Hot Uzbekistan welterweight prospect Ravshan Hudaynazarov, now fighting out of Las Vegas, puts his undefeated record on the line Friday night (May 14) against veteran Gerardo Cesar Prieto in a 6-round, off-television bout on the ESPN Friday Night Fights show, presented by Guilty Boxing and Vega Boxing Promotions, at Buffalo Bill’s Star Arena in Primm, Nevada. Hudaynazarov-Prieto is on the undercard of the Julio Diaz-Herman Ngoudjo card.
Hudaynazarov (12-0, 10 KOs), a 2007 World Military Games Gold Medalist, dropped down from junior middleweight to the more high-profile welterweight division for the first in his last fight (March 27), when his lethal body attack stopped Anthony “The Matrix” Mora (15-6, 10 KOs) in the opening round
Hudaynazarov is promoted by Las Vegas-based KZ Event Productions, the Las Vegas-based company owned and operated by the Shumenov brothers, World Boxing Association light heavyweight champion, Beibut, and Chingis, who will both be in attendance at the Primm show.
“Ravshan is a top prospect and he’s much stronger at welterweight,” new WBA World Champion Beibut Shumenov said. “His vicious body shots breakdown opponents and that exciting style has become his trademark. Ravshan works hard. He has improved each fight and we’re going to keep him busy. Prieto has been in against world champion Andre Berto and took U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan the distance, so this figures to be the stiffest test of Ravshan’s young pro career. We’d like to thank the promoters, Guilty Boxing’s Jeff Grmoja and Vega Boxing’s Ron Sanderson, for putting Ravshan on this card.”
Shumenov (9-1, 6 KOs), who recently signed a promotional contract with Goossen-Tutor, will defend his title in June or July against WBA mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Uzelkov (22-0, 14 KOs) at a site to be determined. Hudaynazarov is tentatively slated to fight on the undercard.
Patty “Boom Boom” Alcivar Returns to the Ring in Orlando
Former national and international amateur champion Patricia “Boom Boom” Alcivar 1-0(1KO) will be making her return to the ring for her second professional fight Friday May 14th. Alcivar will be facing tough Mexican fighter Laura “La Maravilla” Gomez, 3-1 as a co-feature of the Hector Camacho Sr. vs. Saul Duran main event at the Civic Center in Kissimmee Florida. The card will be shown on NESportsTV.com.
Alcivar ended her first fight with a boom by knocking out Jennifer Batchelder last October at 1:21 of the first. With the addition women’s boxing to the 2012 Olympics women’s boxing is back on the rise. Alcivar looks to represent the sport with absolute class inside and outside of the ring. Her fluent and exciting boxing style reveals her excellent amateur pedigree.
Alcivar is considered a pioneer in female amateur boxing. She had a brilliant amateur career having won 2 NYC Golden Gloves, a National & International Championship and was voted the first female to ever to win “Athlete of the Year” by the United States Olympic Committee. Alcivar is also a 10 time participant of the NYC Marathon & a 2-time Qualifier/Finisher of the Boston Marathon.
Billed as “A Part of History” the bout is to take place Friday May 14, 2010. Catch the action at the City of Kissimmee Civic Center, 201 East Dakin Avenue, Kissimmee, FL. Doors open at 6:30pm.
This event is also being shown LIVE on www.NESportsTV.com starting at 7:30pm.
For tickets please call 813-857-3141.
Twin Brothers Graduate From Columbia University to the Olympic Boxing Ring
NEW YORK, Wednesday, May 12, 2009—During Columbia College’s Class Day on Monday, May 17, the proud Panamanian parents of identical twin brothers Gabriel and Daniel Castillo will watch the first members of their family obtain college degrees and embark on their newest journey—winning Gold Medals at the 2012 Olympics in London.
After seven years of amateur competition, Gabriel and Daniel Castillo, 22-year-old twin brothers decided to give up boxing to attend Columbia University. Raised in Brooklyn, the identical brothers had built a reputation as competitive athletes both in the United States and their native Panama. They had earned gold and silver medals at the 2002 National Police Athletic League Championships in Atlanta, Georgia and in 2005, they each were awarded Panama national titles in their weight classes. Now, as they prepare to graduate from Columbia College, the brothers are returning to the ring with the goal of joining the Panama national boxing team in the 2012 Olympics.
Since the twins resumed serious training a year ago, it has been a challenge to strike the right balance between school and boxing. The brothers missed the New York Golden Gloves competition in January because they had taken a two-week break from their training to study for finals. Their trainer, Michael Kozlowski, a former Soviet boxer who has coached champion boxers from Russia, Israel and the United States, refused to let them compete.
At 165 pounds, Daniel, who wants to be a doctor, is a middle weight, and Gabriel, who weighs 152 pounds, is a welter weight; he hopes to become a lawyer.
After years of following a strict schedule training in the gym and attending Stuyvesant High School, the brothers arrived at Columbia eager to be active both in and out of the classroom.
Although the brothers share a passion for boxing, attended the same high school and college, their paths diverged when it came to academic interests. Inspired by a Columbia professor who teaches a Core Curriculum course on contemporary civilization, Daniel decided to expand an economics major into a double-major in economics and philosophy. Gabriel majored in political science and hopes to combine medical and legal studies at an MD/JD program.
With their undergraduate studies complete, they are now gearing up for qualifying competitions for the 2012 Olympics. Gabriel has already qualified for the Panamanian team in January, and Daniel hopes to do so this summer; both will need to qualify for the Olympics at one of several upcoming competitions, including the World Championships in South Korea in September 2011 and the Pan American games in Mexico in October 201o.