New York, NY – (12/13/2011) – This past Saturday, on Dec. 10, in front of a packed house at the Bell Centre in Montreal, former junior middleweight world champion Joachim Alcine (33-2-1, 19KO’s) turned in one of the most impressive performances of his 12-year professional career in winning an exciting 12-round decision over the highly regarded hometown favorite David Lemieux (25-2, 24KO’s).
Going into the fight, many viewed Alcine as a sacrificial lamb for the extremely dangerous Lemieux, who wascoming off his first loss eight months earlier. All of the pre-fight talk leading up to the bout focused on how Lemieux was rededicated to the sport, had switched trainers, and was ready to resume his quest toward a world title. No one seemed to be paying much attention when Alcine calmly stated beforehand that he was finishing up his best ever training camp and that it was going to show come fight night.
When the fight started, Lemieux came out hard and fast as expected, bombing away with both hands looking to put an end to the fight quickly. Alcine had prepared for that though,DBE keeping a high guard to block many of the shots and staying on his toes moving effortlessly around the ring. Alcine, now 35 years old, was looking more like the fighter who, in 2007, went into the backyard of undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) Light Middleweight Champion Travis Simms, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to take Simms’ title in dominant fashion via 12-round unanimous decision.
By the middle rounds, it was clear that Lemieux was tiring and Alcine, 13 years his senior, was the fresher of the two, boxing beautifully and even staggering the heavy-handed Lemieux on a few occasions.
Heading into the championship rounds, the fight was close, but Alcine’s experience proved to be the difference, as he was able to sweep the last four rounds on the scorecards to win a majority decision with two tallies of 116-112 in his favor and the third judge calling the bout even at 114-114.
With his career back on track, Alcine has big plans for his immediate future.
“I’m ready to take care of business against anybody Lou DiBella puts in front of me. I can fight at 147, 154 or 160 pounds right now. I want the biggest and best fights out there for me. Sergio Martinez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and ‘Canelo’ Alvarez are my top three targets right now, but, like I said, I’ll fight anybody they put in front of me,” said Alcine.
“With his stellar performance against David Lemieux, Joachim just showed the boxing world that his best days are still ahead of him. Joachim wants to fight the very best and Lou DiBella and I will work tirelessly to help him achieve his goals,” said advisor Greg Leon.
UNBEATEN LUIS RAMOS JR. BEGINS 2012 WITH HIS DEBUT ON HIT SERIES SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION AGAINST RAYMUNDO BELTRAN; SHOWTIME® TO TELEVISE JANUARY 6 BATTLE FROM FANTASY SPRINGS RESORT CASINO IN INDIO, CALIF
LOS ANGELES, December 13 – Golden Boy Promotions and SHOWTIME® will kick off 2012 in explosive fashion on Friday, January 6 when Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. hosts the new year’s first ShoBox: The New Generation telecast with a not-to-be missed 10 round NABA – USA lightweight title fight between unbeaten Luis Ramos Jr. and rising star Raymundo Beltran.
Ramos vs. Beltran is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and will be televised live on ShoBox: The New Generation at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) on SHOWTIME.
Tickets, priced at $25, $35 and $45, are on sale now and available for purchase at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, by calling (800) 827-2946 or online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com. Doors at Fantasy Springs will open at 6:00 p.m. PT on fight night and the first bell rings at 6:30 p.m. PT.
Santa Ana southpaw Luis Ramos Jr. (20-0, 9 KO’s) has been waiting for a fight like this since he turned professional in 2007 and he’s eager to perform in front of SHOWTIME viewers from coast to coast. Fresh off of his biggest year yet in which he defeated longtime contender Francisco Lorenzo and knocked out fellow prospect David Rodela, the 23-year-old feels he will have home ring advantage on January 6, and he promises to deliver a big win to his growing fan base.
After going 3-1 since returning from a year and a half layoff, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico native “Sugar” Raymundo Beltran (25-5, 17 KO’s) has been in top form, winning all three of his fights by knockout, with his only loss coming in the form of a close, hotly contested and action-packed decision against Sharif Bogere in their May 2011 ShoBox fight. Now back on the SHOWTIME airwaves, the 30-year-old is ready to get the New Year off to a rousing start against Ramos Jr.
Making this big night of boxing even bigger will be the fact that SHOWTIME will be available in 60 million households for a Free Preview Weekend the night the ShoBox broadcast airs. The Free Preview Weekend is available to digital subscribers of participating providers only on both SD and HD feeds. Select providers will offer the Free Preview via SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®. The preview will be available across a number of distributors including Comcast, Charter, Cox, DIRECTV, Verizon, Mediacom and RCN.
A full undercard, including an exciting co-featured bout, will be announced shortly.
For more information, visit
AL BERNSTEIN CALLS WARD-FROCH FITTING END TO YEAR
The Andre Ward-Carl Froch Super Six Finals match is the last major bout of 2011 and Hall of Fame Showtime Boxing Analyst Al Bernstein says it is “a fitting end to what has already been an outstanding year for boxing.”
Bernstein, recently elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, will be ringside with Gus Johnson and Antonio Tarver to call the match for Showtime. “These two men have battled against some terrific fighters to get to this tourney final, and my expectations are high for this match,” Al said. He added, “In a year when we have seen dozens of great boxing matches and plenty of surprises, it’s a fitting to end with a match that is truly dead even. The one thing we can say for sure is that it will be a very competitive fight.”
The match can be seen on Saturday, December 17, at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on Showtime in the United States. For more information, go to www.Sports.sho.com.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Al Bernstein is completing work on a new book called “30 Years: 30 Undeniable Truths.” It will be published by Diversion Books in the first half of 2012. The book is a humorous and informative look at the events and personalities that Al has covered in his 30 year sports broadcasting career.