LOS ANGELES, July 7 – On Saturday, July 23, before Amir Khan meets Zab Judah in their 140 lb. World Championship Unification Fight, another rising star will meet a still dangerous veteran when unbeaten middleweight contender Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin faces Tarvis Simms, who has lost only once is his professional career, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. in a 10 round non-televised bout with significant implications on the future of the 160-pound weight class.
“I’m training to destroy him,” said Quillin. “I’m never in a comfortable situation because, in boxing, you can always lose. I figure, why put in anything less than maximum effort in training? I’m trying to prove that I’m an elite, top-10 fighter and even when I win a world title, I’m always going to be a hungry fighter because of where I come from.”
“It’s not Quillin’s time,” said Simms. “I am confident that I have the experience and training needed to beat him. I’ve taken my boxing and conditioning training to another level and I’ve never felt more prepared. It’s my time and I will prove it come July 23.”
“Peter Quillin vs. Tarvis Simms is an excellent crossroads fight and the outcome will certainly determine where each fighter goes in the future,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Peter’s rise has been well documented and he’s looking better with each fight, but Tarvis is a slick veteran who knows all the tricks and he knows that he can really make a move in the world rankings if he wins this fight.”
Kathy Duva, CEO Main Events, “This is an intriguing bout that might just produce the next big challenger for the middleweight crown. Simms is focused on making a big impression tonight in order to earn a bout with current World Middleweight Title holder Sergio Martinez.”
Amir Khan vs. Zab Judah, a 12-round World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Super Lightweight World Championship Unification fight, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Main Events in association with Khan Promotions and Super Judah Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and AT&T. The HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
In the United Kingdom, the event will be broadcast live on Primetime Pay-Per-View,channel 480 on Sky for £14.95. For fans who want to travel to Las Vegas to see the fight live, Team Khan has teamed up with leading Thomas Cook brand Flexibletrips to provide a range of tailor-made travel packages for fans who want to be there in person. Packages include flights, hotel rooms and fight tickets. More information is available at www.amirkhan2vegas.com or by calling 0844 8798298.
Tickets priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50, are on sale now and available for purchase at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets are also available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
Sharing the name of Cuban boxing great Kid Chocolate, Peter Quillin (24-0, 18 KO’s) is starting to build his own legacy in the ring with some spectacular performances that have showcased his speed, power and crowd-pleasing style. Originally based in New York, Quillin raced out to a 20-0 record before being sidelined by injuries from 2008 to 2010, but upon returning, he’s looked better than ever. Since early 2010, he has racked up wins over Fernando Zuniga, Martin Desjardins, Dennis Sharpe and Jesse Brinkley, and with the work he’s doing in his new training home at The Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, Quillin has his peers in the middleweight division running for cover.
The twin brother of former Junior Middleweight World Champion Travis Simms, Tarvis Simms (27-1-1, 11 KO’s) is a southpaw who believes his time has finally come to join his brother in the history books as world champion siblings. A 1993 National Golden Gloves champion, Simms has been a professional since 1997, with his only loss coming via hard-fought decision against super middleweight contender Allan Green in 2009. Now back to 160 pounds, Simms has won two in a row and he can’t wait for his opportunity to shock the world in his Las Vegas debut on July 23.
History Being Made in Swedish Boxing!
For the first time in Swedish boxing history, a reigning recognized World Champion will defend their title on home soil.
World Boxing Council (WBC) Female Super Featherweight Champion Frida Wallberg will defend her title against former World Champion, Canadian Olivia Gerula, whom she defeated last year in a scorcher in Stockholm.
Another historic first… this will be first boxing match in Sweden, male or female, to be contested over 10 rounds since 1970, when a complete ban on boxing went into effect. It wasn’t lifted until 2007.
The promoter for the Night Of The Champions is Pugnus Boxing, run by Anders Holmberg, Kjell Tuvemark, and legendary Swedish promoter Benny Rosen, one of Ingemar Johansson’s closest friends, who when informed that this match was to be contested over 10 rounds, commented “Finally we can get to work properly to bring professional boxing back to the level it belongs. Thank You. Let´s get to work!”
Pugnus Boxing has had many high quality boxers on their 5 events since the boxing ban was lifted, including Ray Mercer, Al Cole, Timur Ibragimov, Robert Daniels, Robert Helenius, Attila Levin and Allen Vester. Others such as Michale Moorer and Shannon Briggs have been Guests of Honour at some of their events. In 2009 Pugnus dedicated their event to the memory of the great Ingemar Johansson.
The WBC is extremely proud to be involved in this very historic event for boxing in Sweden. WBC Female Championships Chairman Ed Pearson said “After several months and years of collaboration and cooperation with the Swedish Pro Boxing Commission, and much praying and hoping, we are extremely proud of, and happy for, the boxing industry in Sweden. The work of Commission President Bjorn Rosengren and Secretary Olaf Johansson has been tireless for many years. We are very happy to be working again with Pugnus Boxing for the third time, and this time for the World Championship. This will be a fantastic event, and we’re thrilled!”
The Night Of The Champions September 3 event will take place at the Karlstad Congress Culture Centre, in Karlstad, Sweden, a venue that holds 1600 people for boxing.
Boxing Channel goes Coast to Coast: RIOS-ANTILLON and WILLIAMS-LARA
This weekend, the Boxing Channel will be providing extensive coverage of the WBA lightweight title match between Brandon Rios and Urbano Antillon at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, as well as the Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara junior middleweight match at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. All the coverage can be seen at www.boxingchannel.tv.
For the Rios-Antillon title fight, Crystina Poncher and Al Bernstein will be hosting coverage at the July 8th weigh-in, which will be shown live starting at 4:50 PM EST/1:50 PM PST, courtesy of Top Rank. The undercard fights will also be shown live, courtesy of Top Rank, on July 9th starting at 7 PM EST/4 PM PST, and you can visit our site for post-fight coverage.
This is Rios’ first defense of the lightweight title he won earlier this year from Miguel Acosta. Antillon gets his second chance at a title. In his first opportunity last year, he lost a close decision to WBC champ Humberto Soto in a fight of the year candidate.
Award winning commentator Dave Bontempo will be in Atlantic City to anchor post-fight coverage of the July 9th Williams-Lara fight. This is Williams’ first fight since a second round KO loss to Sergio Martinez in November 2010 for the WBC middleweight crown. He is taking on undefeated Cuban left-hander Lara.
Rios-Antillon Live StreamingWilliams-Lara
IN OTHER NEWS:
Boxing Channel will stream live a July 16th boxing card featuring middleweight prospect Michael Oliveira, who will battle Jose Soto for the WBC Latino middleweight tile. The evening of live boxing can be seen free of charge on www.boxingchannel.tv.
The 21 year old Oliveira, a Brazilian native now living in Miami, has 11 KOs in his 14 wins. He is considered a promising young prospect at the 154 and 160 pound limits. Soto comes into this match with a record of 24-7-2.