NEW YORK, NY (July 20, 2011) – Today at the 230 Fifth Rooftop Lounge, under the sweltering Manhattan sun, middleweight champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez and “Dazzling” Darren Barker, along with members of their respective camps and other boxing luminaries, gathered to announce “Noche de ‘Maravilla’” – or “Marvelous Night” – their October 1 clash emanating from historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
As the press conference got going at noon in New York City, simultaneously tickets were going on sale. Tickets for “Noche de ‘Maravilla’” are priced at $300, $200, $150, and $50 and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at any Ticketmaster retail outlet, or in person at the Boardwalk Hall box office.
Below are comments from participants in today’s kick-off press conference:
Sergio Martinez, Middleweight World Champion:
“I want to thank HBO and DiBella Entertainment and Sampson Lewkowicz, my adviser. I also want to thank Darren and all of his team.”
“I hope to see everyone on October 1.”
Darren Barker, Challenger:
“It’s nice to see this New York sun keeping my belt warm.”
“I am from London, my father was a boxer; I grew up around boxing. I’ve dedicated my life to this sport. I had over amateur 100 fights, fighting in hostile environments in other countries and coming away with medals. I live for that moment.”
“There is a great series of movies, Rocky. They captured the mentality of the underdog. If the favorite always won in sport, it wouldn’t be any fun. I’m here to prove that the underdog can cause a massive upset. So, you may not know who I am now, but come October 1, you will know exactly who ‘Dazzling’ Darren Barker is.”
Lou DiBella, Promoter of “Noche de ‘Maravilla’”:
“We believe this will be Maravilla’s night, but there is a man, ‘Dazzling’ Darren Barker, who wanted this fight. He called for this fight. And you should reward those who want the big fights.”
“There are plenty of $50 tickets, so this is an affordable night of great boxing.”
“HBO has made a commitment to Sergio Martinez since he came to America. HBO has made a commitment to showcasing the best of boxing.”
“Sergio Martinez respects Darren Barker and that’s why this fight is happening. Darren took to twitter and, bizarrely, that is how this fight happened. Eddie Hearn and I basically did the negotiations over twitter. This might be the first major fight ever made over twitter.”
“Sergio Martinez is a great champion. Not only one of the best fighters I’ve ever promoted, but one of the best guys I’ve ever promoted. He’s an extremely bright guy with a wonderful social consensus. He is, in fact, maravilla.”
Eddie Hearn, Barker’s Promoter:
“This fight was made in about 20 minutes on twitter, but that’s the relationship we have with Lou.”
“It’s been interesting talking to the press today, and they’re asking me who Darren Barker is. In England, he’s well renowned, but we quite like not being known. Darren has never even been in a fight where he has remotely been in trouble, so it’s hard to say how good Darren Barker is.”
“When we signed Darren Barker, we sat down and looked at the future, and he said to us ‘you might think I’m crazy, but if you ever get the chance to make a fight with Sergio Martinez, make it happen.’ And that’s why we take our hat off to Darren. He wants to fight the best middleweight in the world, because if you beat the best middleweight in the world, you are the best middleweight in the world. On October 1, Darren has the chance to become the best middleweight in the world.”
“Darren is a determined young man who has been through a lot of trials and tribulations, but he has remained committed to his dream. And [the press conference] is part of the dream, but it’s only half of the dream. We believe we can shock the world, and we wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
Kery Davis, Senior VP Programming for HBO Sports:
“What can you say about Sergio Martinez? 2010 FOY of the year, 2010 KOY, a great start to 2011 with a knockout of Sergiy Dziniziruk. This is Sergio’s sixth appearance on the network and he always puts on a great performance. He is quick, powerful, charismatic, and I swear Lou and Sampson are going to announce soon that they have signed him with Dos Equis to play “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”
“In looking at tapes of Darren Barker, he has a tremendous background. And he impressed us quite a bit with something he said leading up to this. He said he has been fighting for 16 years and its all leading up to this. That is the kind of fighting spirit we are looking for.”
Ken Condon, Representative of Caesars Atlantic City:
“Tickets are very reasonable for this level of fight, starting at $50 going up to $300 for ringside. This will be Sergio’s fourth fight in Atlantic City and he has developed a following here. It has become his home away from home.”
“From what I’ve heard, not too many people what to fight Sergio Martinez, but Darren Barker stepped up to the plate. I urge people to come down, enjoy the fall in Atlantic City, and enjoy your weekend on the shore.”
Jim Mercante, Representative of the World Boxing Council:
“We are here on a hot, hot day for New York to kick off what is going to be a hot, hot fight. This is the type of fight that my father, Arthur Mercante, would have wanted to referee.”
WBA NO.2 ZAMORA CHALLENGES MCCLOSKEY:”TELL THE TRUTH ON WHY YOU DODGED ME FOR PRESCOTT”
By Ezio Prapotnich: You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Behind it is another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You just crossed into… No, not the Twilight Zone… It’s the WBA…
Italy based Cuban Fernandes “Brunet” Zamora is the current World Boxing Association (WBA) number 2 Light Welterweight in the world and Inter-continental Champion.
After a blazing amateur career, where he beat the likes of current IBF champion Jan Zaveck and former British champions Lenny Daws and Barry Morrison, not to mention losing a 43-35 decision to Marcos Maidana, he turned pro in 2005, conquered the WBA Inter-continental belt in2008 and patiently climbed the ladder. After being ranked number 2, with the first position vacant, for a year, he just saw his overdue chance of a title shot disappear when a proposed Interim match with former European champion Paul McCloskey fell through. In a recent interview to Irish-boxing.com, the former Khan victim declared he wanted Zamora but, unluckily, the Cuban had injured his hand in his last TKO win and could not fight. “Brunet” has a different story to tell.
Q: How did the proposed deal to fight McCloskey come along?
A: He was promised by the WBA an interim match to decide who would occupy the then vacant number 1 position in the ranking and his first choice of opponent was no.3 Alberto Mosquero, but I was designated as mandatory co-challenger by the sanctioning body, so we were approached by his camp and negotiations started.
Q: What went wrong, then?
A: With the publication of June rankings, Humberto Soto was installed at number 1. Therefore, I reckon they saw a match with me as a risk without rewards. Prescott, who still has the reputation of being the only man to beat Khan but has been beaten twice in his last 5 bouts, is a bigger name, but he and McCloskey are respectively number 5 and 6. The only thing the winner can hope to get out of this is a pint of Guinness at the pub after the match.
Q; When and with what justification were you told the match was off?
A: I was told at 8 pm of the day before the official announcement. They claimed Prescott was cheaper than me. My purse was going to be 25.000 euros. I guess Prescott must really be fighting for a pint, then.
Q: What about the rumour that you injured your hand?
A: That’s a pathetic excuse. I had already started training.
Q: How do you feel about this?
A: How do you expect me to feel? I am 36 years old and I am not getting any younger. I have a wife and three daughters, I work every day from 7 to 15 as a gardener so I can support them and on top of that I train. I am unbeaten, I have been in the top ten for years, finally I seem to get a break and instead they pick a lightweight who did nothing in his career to justify his position but knocking Khan out with a lucky punch. But I blame McCLoskey for this, not Prescott.
Q: Would you like to send a message to him directly?
A: Paul, you will always be behind me in the ranks and you will be beneath me, on the canvas, if you ever face me. I can get very cheap flights to Belfast with Ryan Air. Just call me and I will fight you for free.
So, the ball is in the middle. We wait for Paul McCloskey to give his side of the story.
Maurice Harris back in heavyweight picture
NEW YORK (July 20, 2011) – USBA heavyweight champion Maurice “Sugar Moe” Harris’ often tumultuous boxing career is back in a good place, after he redeemed himself last Saturday in Atlantic City, when he stopped Derric “The Shaolin Fist” Rossy in the 12thround at Resorts Casino Hotel.
Harris (25-15-2, 11 KOs) was coming off of a disappointing loss by third round to Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (36-2, 24 KOs) in May, shown live on ESPN Friday Night Fights in their IBF Box-Off.
Rossy (25-5, 14 KOs), rated No. 15 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), served as a litmus test for Harris, a 35-year-old whose major claim to fame is winning the 2002 Thunderbox Heavyweight Tournament, defeating Thompson in the $100,000 finale, as well as defeating world champion Sergei Liakhovich. The New Jersey fighter found himself at the crossroads once again, facing possible retirement if he lost to Rossy, the former Boston College football standout who had previously defeated WBO champion and 1988 Olympic gold-medal winner Ray Mercer (DEC12) and world title challenger Carl David Drummond (DEC10).
“I never looked at the fight like that,” Harris said, “only as another challenge, another fight. I don’t focus on something like that (in a career-ending fight) because I always need to focus on my opponent and our fight. I did show resiliency when I needed to win. It was a good win, one of my top five, but I was only about 70-percent of what I can really be. I hadn’t been 12 rounds since last August. I was still a little rusty. You can do that (12 rounds) in the gym but it’s not the same as in a fight. I did feel good going into the fight and afterwards.”
Harris dropped Rossy in the sixth, led by two rounds going into the 12th, and finished the show in impressive style. The veteran had worn-down Rossy and eventually trapped his tiring opponent on the ropes in the 12th, decking him again with a three-punch combination, an overhand right to the chin serving as an exclamation point. Rossy got to his feet but Harris moved in to finish him, backing Derec onto the ropes again, and unloading a four-punch combination against his defenseless opponent. Referee Earl Morton halted the action at 1:35 of the final round.
“This fight proved that Maurice’s last one was a fluke.” Harris’ promoter Mario Yagobi (Boxing 360) commented. “He couldn’t respond right after getting hit with so many illegal hits behind the head. I said that before this fight and still believed in Maurice. He was the stronger, bigger guy who showed a lot more skills than his opponent. Rossy came to win. He was in great shape, at 225 pounds, and had a six-pack stomach. Maurice showed his experience, dropping him the sixth, and finishing with a 12th round knockout. Rossy was banged up; his face had a lot of bruises and welts. From the eighth or ninth round, he looked like a beaten fighter.”
“The last two rounds were my strongest,” Harris noted. “I caught my second wind. I knew one good assault would close the deal. I hadn’t had a knockout in a long time (2002 vs. Liahkovich). I thought I had him out in the sixth, but he stayed right in there until the last round. I hit him with some good combinations. He fell and got up, but I knew he was finished.
“The Thompson fight is still in the back of my head. We’ve both won once and I’d like a third fight to settle things. I won’t get over it until we do. I wish him luck in his fights but, even if it’s sparring, I want to fight him again. He didn’t fight the best Maurice Harris but, then again, neither did Rossy.”
Because Harris, rated No. 9 by the IBF, fought an optional defense against Rossy, Maurice has a mandatory coming up against a challenger to be determined. Chazz Witherspoon is the No. 1 rated IBF challenger, followed in order by Steve Collins, Cedric Boswell, Antonio Tarver and Michael Grant.
Other members of Boxing 360’s stable include WBC #5 super bantamweight Leon “Hurry Up” Moore, former IBF super middleweight champion Alejandro “Naco” Berrio, unbeaten welterweight prospect Vitaliy “Demyan”Demyanenko WBC Caribbean & NY State super middleweight champion Lennox “2 Sharpe” Allen, Dominican lightweight champion Eudy “AK47” Bernardo, KO king Tyrone Brunson, heavyweight Mike Mollo, unbeaten NABF featherweight champion Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano, Nick “Hands of Gold” Casal, middleweight prospect DonYil Livingston, Joel Diaz Jr., and “King”David Estrada.
Go to www.Boxing360.comfor more information about Harris, Boxing 360 or any of its other fighters.