PROVIDENCE, R.I. (March 9, 2011) – Armed with a roster of seasoned veterans, world-title contenders and rising prospects, the hardest-working promoter in combat sports is launching a New England tour guaranteed to pack two major venues in just 16 days.
Beginning Wednesday, March 16, 2011, with a pre-St. Patrick’s Day extravaganza in downtown Boston at the The Royale (formerly known as The Roxy), and continuing Friday, April 1, 2011, with a nationally-televised show at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports will promote two boxing events in two weeks.
“This is going to be an exciting next few weeks,” said Burchfield, the president and CEO of CES. “First and foremost, we love Boston. Just like the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and New England Patriots, we, too, are a franchise, and we belong in this city. We’re anticipating a tremendous amount of support. We have a lot of friends in the North End, and we’re honored to kick off St. Patrick’s Day with an exciting, Irish-themed show on March 16th. What’s better than doing a St. Patrick’s Day show in Boston?
“Our next stop is at Foxwoods Resort Casino, one of the largest casinos in the world, and we’re bringing ESPN2 back to New England. We’ve been doing boxing there since its infancy, and we have a great relationship with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the management team at Foxwoods.
“These are two exciting events, and we encourage our fans to take this tour with us so they can catch a glimpse of some of boxing’s next great superstars.”
A week from today, “Boxing At The Royale” kicks off CES’ New England tour with an eight-round interstate showdown between light heavyweight “Irish” Joey McCreedy (11-5-2, 6 KOs) of Lowell, Mass., and Joe Gardner (7-1-1, 1 KO) of Woonsocket, R.I. McCreedy, trained by Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund of “The Fighter” fame, is making his return to the ring following an eight-month layoff, while Gardner, who returned last year following a seven-year layoff, is searching for his fourth consecutive win.
The co-feature of “Boxing At The Royale” matches welterweight Sean Eklund (8-4, 1 KO) – the nephew of Dicky Eklund – in a six-round rubber match against Pawtucket, R.I., veteran Eddie Soto (12-2, 4 KOs). The two originally fought in February of 2009 with Soto winning a disputed split decision before Eklund won the rematch this past March with a unanimous-decision victory.
CES returns to the ring 16 days later at Foxwood’s Fox Theater for “Coming Attractions,” part of ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights,” featuring the 10-round main event between Philadelphia’s “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy (19-1-1, 10 KOs) and veteran Patrick Lopez (20-3, 12 KOs) of Londonderry, N.H., for the NABF lightweight title.
“Hank is one of the top 135-pound lightweights in the world,” Burchfield said. “This is a dangerous fight, and we respect Lopez, but Hank is ready to fight any and all of the 135-pound champions after this fight. Juan Manuel Marquez, Brandon Rios, Humberto Soto – we’re ready fight any of them.”
Super middleweight prospect Vladine Biosse (10-0, 5 KOs) of Providence, R.I. – a former Division I-AA football player at the University of Rhode Island – will battle Tim Connors (10-2, 7 KOs) of St. Louis in the eight-round co-feature. This will be Biosse’s second nationally-televised bout on ESPN; he dominated McCreedy in the co-feature of CES’ last ESPN show on July 9, 2010 in Rhode Island.
“Vladine’s story is amazing and truly inspiring,” Burchfield noted. “He came to this country from the Cape Verde islands as a teenager and spoke no English, but went on to become a standout track and football star at Hope High School in Rhode Island, which is one of the toughest schools in the state. Now he’s a U.S. citizen and one of the top prospects in his weight class. This fight will be another tough test for Vladine and another opportunity for him to continue to climb the ladder in the competitive super middleweight division.”
CES’ back-to-back shows feature a total of 15 fights. On March 16, junior middleweight Derek Silveira (3-0, 1 KO) of Salem, Mass., will face Jose Angel Ortiz (3-6-1) of Springfield on the undercard. Roxbury, Mass., super middleweight Maceo Crowder (2-0, 1 KO); female welterweight Aleksandra Magdziak Lopes (4-1, 1 KO) of Marshfield and New Bedford junior welterweight Johnathan Vazquez (3-0, 3 KOs) will fight in separate four-round bouts.
“Coming Attractions” on April 1 also features two of CES’ newest acquisitions, veteran super middleweight Elvin Ayala (21-5-1, 9 KOs) and welterweight prospect Dominic DeSanto (5-0, 5 KOs), both of New Haven, Conn., along with former featherweight world champion Mike Oliver (24-2, 8 KOs) of Hartford. Middleweight Thomas Falowo (2-0, 2 KOs) of Pawtucket, R.I.; and super middleweights Greg McCoy (2-2-1, 1 KO) and Rick Dawson (2-0, 1 KO) of New Haven will also be on the undercard.
“April 1st will be a celebration as we unveil two of the newest members of our roster,” Burchfield said. “Elvin Ayala is a former title contender, and I promise I will bring him back to the top and make him a world champion. Dominic DeSanto is going to become a household name real soon, not just in New England, but throughout the world. His speed and power is unmatched. This is a real exciting prospect and we’re looking forward to taking his career to the next level.”
Tickets for both events are on sale now and can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253 or online at www.cesboxing.com. The $75 and $50 seats for March 16 are sold out, but $40 general-admission tickets are still available. For April 1 at Foxwoods, tickets start at $40 and are also available at $65 and $105. Visit www.cesboxing.com for more information on both shows.