LAS VEGAS, NV (April 5, 2011) Former world title challenger, Deandre “Bull” Latimore returns to battle on Saturday, April 16th in an eight round junior middleweight bout against Bayonne, New Jersey’s Dennis Sharpe at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, it was announced today by Steve Smith, President of St. Louis’ Rumble Time Promotions.
“Deandre’s ready for a huge 2011. He wants another title shot and is willing to march through any of the other 154 pound contenders to get it” said Steve Smith. “We’ve been talking to Lara’s people for a long time. James Kirkland, Alfredo Angulo, Vanes Martirosyan, we’re ready for any of them.”
“All these so-called killers, they just need to put up or shut up. Deandre is the most avoided fighter in boxing. He’s in the best shape of his career with a world class team of trainers and promoters behind him.”
“We welcome the challenge to all these so-called killers. We’re ready to give the fans what they want, A REAL FIGHT. We’ve wanted to fight the best for the last nine months but they keep dodging us” continued Smith.
The Latimore/Sharpe bout is the chief undercard support to the HBO televised Welterweight World Championship between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz.
The 25 year old Latimore, a native of St. Louis, now training in the boxing capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada, is currently world ranked #7 by the International Boxing Federation. He raised his record to 21-3-0 (17KO’s) with a brutal third round stoppage of Darien Ford on July 24th.
Having faced numerous world title challengers and contenders, Sharpe enters the matchup against Latimore with a record of 17-6-3 (4KO’s).
“I’ve been training with Ray Franklin and Jacob Chavez here in Las Vegas for the last few months at The Hit Factory. Even though I didn’t have a fight planned until recently, I’ve been staying in shape and staying sharp” said Latimore.
On April 24, 2009, Latimore challenged St. Louis cross-town rival Cory Spinks for the IBF Junior Middleweight Title, dropping a very close split decision.
“That’s the belt I want to fight for again. Hopefully after this bout I can challenge either Erislandy Lara or Carlos Molina for the #1 contender position” continued Latimore. “I just went to their fight here in Las Vegas and I know I can beat either guy that the IBF orders me to fight.” The Lara/Molina bout ended in a twelve round draw.
Specifically speaking about his training, trainer Ray Franklin stated, “It’s a 365 day, year round conditioning program. The road work consists of high intensity spring workouts and alternate types of runs. For sparring we’ve been alternating with numerous fighters including (former world champion) Zab Judah and Diego Magdaleno.”
Also in camp with Latimore is highly respected sports medicine doctor, John Pierce, who has assisted in taking the southpaws’ training to the highest level.
Since turning professional five years, Latimore has fought under the St. Louis based Rumble Time Promotions banner. He is co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment of New York City.
Along with Steve Smith, Rumble Time Promotions is comprised of chief financial officer Gail Hull, match maker Derrick Spicer, recruiting and development, former world champion Harold Petty, vice president/attorney Blake Fischer and Bob Barton, webmaster/photographer.
Rumble Time Promotions, a leader in the promotion of mixed martial arts and professional boxing, has consistently promoted world class fighters, working with numerous broadcasts networks. Among the fighters under their banner are Deandre Latimore, Dannie Williams, Willie Nelson and Prenice Brewer.
Additional announcements regarding other top prospects joining the Rumble Time Promotions team will be made shortly.
For more information on Rumble Time Promotions, please visit their website at www.rumbletimepromotions.com. Tickets to their events can be purchased by calling 312-662-2000.
Campbell hopes to make Hervey eat his words
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (April 5, 2011) – Tony Hervey says Mike Campbell is “set in his ways,” which Hervey thinks gives him the edge in Friday night’s main-event showdown at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I.
“The only thing I’m set at is becoming a better fighter each and every single day,” Campbell said, “so if that’s the case, then, yeah, I guess I’m set in my ways.”
Campbell (9-3, 6 KOs) – a Providence, R.I., native nicknamed “The Beast” – is taking Hervey’s words with a grain of salt, but the one thing he won’t do anymore is take his career for granted. Since his brief stint with World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) – a five-month stretch in which he lost to Danillo Villefort and Anthony Pettis – Campbell has rededicated himself to mixed martial arts. Fighting is no longer his hobby; it’s his career, and he’ll stop at nothing to make sure he’s successful.
As he puts it, this could be a “scary” proposition for anyone who dares to stand in his way, especially Hervey (12-9, 9 KOs), who will put his own legacy – and, perhaps, his career – on the line in the main event of “Cage Of Pain,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports on Friday, April 8, 2011.
“Before, people would ask me if I wanted to win a world title, and I would say, ‘Yes.’ I told them what they wanted to hear,” Campbell said. “The popularity came quick and I that’s what people expected me to say, but I truly didn’t believe in my heart I wanted it.
“Now I want it,” he continued. “I went to WEC and lost it, and now I want it. I’m here to win fights. I’m not here to lose anymore. That’s the bottom line, and if I think I’ll want it, I’ll get it. That’s the scary part. Before, I was in fights and I didn’t even want it that much. I was still trying to figure out if this was for me. I think that’s a scary individual.
“A guy winning fights, having fun and passing the time is great, but now I want it and I’m going to start winning in dramatic fashion. I want people to fear and respect me in the cage.”
On Feb. 25, Campbell delivered a stern warning to anyone questioning his commitment, knocking out Mike Medrano in the first round of their highly-anticipated rematch at “Rhode Rage” at Twin River. The truth is, his rededication to the sport began even earlier than that; after losing to Magno Almeida in September of 2010, Campbell was back in the gym the following morning.
“My coach was mad,” Campbell said, “but I said, ‘No, we’re going back to work right now.’”
The loss to Almeida, according to Campbell, “lit a fire” under him that carried over into his win over Medrano. Now he has his sights set on Hervey, a former King Of The Cage lightweight champion who is motivated by his self-proclaimed status as the underdog in Friday’s bout against Campbell.
“Just based on what he’s saying, I don’t even think he’s that confident in his skill sets,” Campbell said. “He’s talking about being brought in as the opponent and being sent here to lose, but I don’t look at anybody as a pushover. I train just as hard for every fight.
“He thinks this, he thinks that – I don’t think anything. All I know is he’s one of the few guys who would take the fight and I’m just trying to keep it moving. He’s tough guy. He’s a gamer. He’ll be ready to fight. Honestly, I don’t have anything but good things to say about him. He reminds me a lot of myself.”
The idea that this could be a “milestone” fight, as Hervey put it, is laughable to Campbell since Campbell has already had several noteworthy fights in his career. In fact, Campbell could make the argument that other fighters have used him as a stepping-stone opponent; Pettis, who beat Campbell in 2009, will fight Clay Guida in June in The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale, while Yves Edwards, whom Campbell beat this past May, has won his last three fights, including two on UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) shows.
“I was winning that fight before he beat me,” Campbell said of his WEC bout against Pettis. “That’s when I realized I had potential. I said, ‘Wow, I can really do something if I stop treating this like a hobby and start treating it like a profession.’”
On Friday, Campbell’s out to prove he’s a new fighter, not an old fighter set in his ways, as Hervey suggests.
“My ground game and wrestling is so much better than his, so I’m not afraid of where this fight goes,” Campbell said. “I’ve been working on wrestling every day and working on my striking three times a week because I know he’s good at it.
“He says he’s there’s a punch he hasn’t seen? That’s fine. I don’t train with bums. I train with world-class fighters every single day, so I doubt he has anything for me I haven’t seen already.”
Pawtucket, R.I., middleweight Todd “The Hulk” Chattelle (7-6, 7 KOs), who beat Woody “The Dynasty” Weatherby on Feb. 25, will face Jeff “Scary Nickname” Nader (4-3, 3 KOs) of Plymouth, Mass., in Friday’s co-feature.
The undercard of “Cage Of Pain” also features welterweight John Manley (5-1) of Uxbridge, Mass./Team Link facing Jason “Ba Bu” Trzewieczynski (4-5) of Lancaster, N.Y./Buffalo Training Center; Darrius Heyliger (1-0) of Courtland, N.Y./Bombsquad facing Brockton, Mass./Cape Cod Fighting Arts welterweight Pierry Pierre (2-1); and Woonsocket, R.I./B+F Boxing lightweight Justin Switzer (0-3) aiming for his first win against Billy Walsh (1-5) of South Burlington, Vt./United Fighting Arts. There are also three fighters making their professional debuts, including lightweights Jon Marcheterre of Southbridge, Mass./Mixed Breed and Brandon Rooney of Milford, Conn./Ultimate MMA in their respective debuts, and featherweight Al Jamain Sterling of Courtland, N.Y./Bombsquad in his debut against Matthew DiMarcantonio (0-1) of Lancaster, N.Y./Buffalo Training Center.
Last, but certainly not least, middleweight Adam Quitt (0-2), a firefighter from Framingham, Mass., will step into the cage in honor of the late Doug Bolanes Jr., representing Team Never Surrender and the Doug Bolanes Foundation. Bolanes Jr., 22, of Framingham died March 10th in an automobile accident. He fought on two CES shows, including his pro debut in December of 2010 at Twin River and a knockout win over Stephen Stengel at “Rhode Rage.”
Tickets for “Cage Of Pain” are $30.00, $50.00 and $100.00 and can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253/2254, online at www.cesboxing.com or www.twinriver.com, at the Players Club booth at Twin River, or through any TicketMaster location. Doors open 6 p.m. with the first bout scheduled for 7.
(Twin River has waived its 18+ rule for “Cage Of Pain.” Anybody under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult and must enter through the West entrance.)
USA Boxing’s Elite Female Athletes to Face off with Sixteen Top Nations at the Feliks Stamm Tournament in Poland
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Three of the United States’ elite female athletes will test their skills against 16 of the world’s top nations at the Feliks Stamm Tournament in Warsaw, Poland, April 6-8. 2010 USA Boxing National Championships silver medalist Tyrieshia Douglas (Baltimore, Md.), 2010 National PAL Champion Stephanie Han (El Paso, Texas) and 2009 Middleweight National Champion Alyssa DeFazio (Peoria, Ariz.) will represent Team USA in Warsaw.
The U.S. squad will face off with 16 nations from across the globe at the international event, which will showcase competitors in the three female Olympic weight divisions. The countries competing in the Feliks Stamm tournament with the United States will be: Belarus, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Wales, and Poland.
Team USA will be led coaches Bruce Kawano (Pearl City, Hawaii) and Clara Savannah (Houston, Texas) with Ricky Webb (Marvel, Texas) and Dr. Ruben Tenorio (San Antonio, Texas) joining the squad as the AIBA official and Team Physician respectively.
The United States delegation has been participating in a training camp at the Polish Olympic Training Center in Cetneiwo, Poland with teams from Poland and Italy in preparation for the event. They will travel to Warsaw today prior to competition beginning tomorrow.
The event is the first international competition for the trio of women since the Women’s International Dual Series in Oxnard, Calif., in November and will provide valuable international experience for all the competitors prior to the Olympic debut of women’s boxing in 2012.
Team USA Bios
Tyrieshia Douglas
Baltimore, Md.
Coach: Calvin Ford
2010 USA Boxing National Championships silver medalist
Did you know: Tyrieshia grew up in the foster care system and credits boxing for pointing her in the right direction after a difficult childhood
Stephanie Han
El Paso, Texas
Coach: Jennifer Han
Club: Team Han
2010 National PAL Champion and USA Boxing National Championships bronze medalist
Did you know? Stephanie’s coach and older sister, Jennifer, was a member of the first-ever Women’s World Championships team in 2001
Alyssa DeFazio
Peoria, Ariz.
Coach: George Garcia
Club: Hammers Boxing
2009 National Champion
2010 National Golden Gloves Champion
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).