SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (January 18, 2012) – Former world heavyweight champion Sergei “The White Wolf” Liakhovich is not fighting this Saturday because his scheduled opponent, “Fast” Eddie Chambers, failed in a timely fashion to notify Team Liakhovich that he was pulling out of their fight due to broken ribs, which resulted in the cancellation of their fight as well as insufficient time to find a suitable replacement for Chambers..
Liakhovich (25-4, 16 KOs) and Chambers (36-2, 18 KOs) were scheduled to headline Saturday’s NBC Sport Network’s “Fight Night” debut show live from Philadelphia’s Asylum Arena.
“Eddie Chambers is trying to save face in the press but I want to set the story straight by telling everyone what really happened,” Liakhovich said. “Chambers’ medical report about his broken ribs is dated, January 6, 2012. He knew about his broken ribs back then but he didn’t let us know until January 13, seven days before our fight. Instead of shooting his mouth off to the press for a week about how easily he was going to beat me, when he already knew he was not going to fight me, he and his team should have acted professionally and immediately informed my team of his injury. If we had two week’s notice, I have no doubt that finding a suitable replacement and making training adjustments wouldn’t have been a problem, but it was a serious problem trying to do so with only seven days to go before the fight.
“I think boxers like Chambers should be punished by every promoter and networks should know how he operates. He plays the good guy to the press, but Chambers is a fake. He didn’t have the simple decency to tell another athlete about him pulling out of the fight as soon as he knew. It was his obligation to inform everyone immediately.I wasted six weeks of training, as well as the expenses for training camp, and now I’m not fighting because of his actions. NBC Sport Network, Main Events and everyone involved had to scramble to put together a main event at the last minute, all the results of Chamber’s action. He is all talk and no action. So, for now, Chambers is history.”
Liakhovich, a 1996 Bellarusian Olympian, captured the World Boxing Association (“WBO”) heavyweight title in 2006 by way of a unanimous 12-round decision over Lamon Brewster.
Already in top shape for his now cancelled fight against Chambers, Sergei is now targeting world heavyweight contender Chris Arreola. “Arreola is waiting for another big payday to fight one of the Klitschkos,” Liakhovich commented. “He’s been fighting journeyman after journeyman. How about a real fight with me? I challenge Arreola to take a fight with me. This is a fight boxing fans would love to watch.”
BROADYWAY BOXING SERIES RETURNS 2012 SHAPING UP TO BE THE BEST YEAR YET KICKS OFF THIS SATURDAY AT ROSELAND BALLROM IN NYC
New York, NY – (1/18/2011) – Entering into its ninth consecutive year, DiBella Entertainment’s (DBE) Broadway Boxing series kicks off the 2012 schedule with an exciting 10-bout card this Saturday night at New York City’s famed Roseland Ballroom. Headlining the card will be Brooklyn’s undefeated NABF light welterweight champion, Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (18-0, 3KO’s) defending his title against his toughest opponent to date, former junior welterweight world champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley (37-10-1, 22KO’s). The bout is schedule for 10 rounds.
Tickets are nearly sold out for the event Saturday, with additional standing-room-only seats having to be added this week. There will be a limited number of tickets available at the door Saturday night. Doors open at 6PM with the first bout schedule for 6:30PM.
In addition to the exciting main event, there is a number of DBE’s most promising up-and-coming prospects and contenders being featured on the card, including world-rated Ran Nakash (25-1, 18KO’s) and Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle (14-0, 11KO’s).
Nakash, who just recently signed with DBE, is ranked number 15 by the WBC at Cruiserweight. Nakash, who hails from Haifa, Israel, will be returning to the ring for the first time since his unsuccessful title challenge against WBO Cruiserweight champion, Marco Huck. Nakash pressed the action throughout, giving Huck all he could handle for the entire 12-round championship contest before dropping a 116-112, 118-110, 118-110 decision in Huck’s home country of Germany. In 2007, Nakash was appointed to the Head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Krav Maga School, and is currently a Chief Commander of the IDF’s Krav Maga instructional division, the highest ranking professional authority. Looking to impress in his DBE and New York City debut, Nakash is scheduled to take on the very dangerous Derek Bryant (20-6, 17KO’s) in an eight-round cruiserweight showdown.
Del Valle is one of the most promising prospects in boxing right now. Chosen as one of ESPN reporter Dan Rafael’s “Super 25: Best Prospect of 2011” list, Del Valle is already rated number five by the WBA at featherweight. Del Valle is two fights removed from his most impressive victory as a professional, in which he won a dominant 10-round unanimous decision over Dat Nguyen (17-1 at the time) on ShoBox to grab the vacant NABA featherweight title. Weighing in at 124lbs. for his past two fights, Del Valle has worked his way down to start contending in the junior featherweight division. Del Valle is scheduled to take on hard-hitting Mexican Jose Angel Beranza in an eight-round junior featherweight contest.
DBE undefeated prospects, welterweight Alex Perez (14-0, 8KO’s) and junior featherweight Luis Rosa (9-0, 5KO’s) are also set to see action on the card in separate bouts. Perez, from Newark, NJ, is scheduled to take on Josh Sosa (10-1, 5KO’s) in an eight-round welterweight match-up, while New Haven’s Rosa, is scheduled to square off against Queens-native Jhovany Collado (3-6-2, 1KO) over six scheduled rounds.
Ever a fan of Irish fighters (DiBella promoted Micky Ward, and currently promotes upcoming middleweight world title challenger Matthew Macklin, and top three world middleweight contender Andy Lee), DBE has added three exciting Irish-American fighters to Saturday’s card, including undefeated light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan (11-0, 8KO’s), heavyweight Thomas Hardwick (3-0, 2KO’s) and junior welterweight Danny McDermott (9-3-1, 4KO’s).
Monaghan, who lives in Long Beach, NY, has become increasingly more popular throughout the New York City Irish Community since turning pro in May 2010. With a relentless seek-and-destroy style, and knockout power in either hand, Monaghan continuously packs the house each time he steps into the ring. Monaghan is set to square off against the tough-as-nails Billy Bailey (11-13-1, 4KO’s) in an eight-round light heavyweight match-up.
Hardwick was born and raised in Ireland, before moving to New York in 2009 and setting up his base in the heavy Irish-American community of Yonkers, NY. Hardwick won the NY Golden Gloves in 2010, making him the first Irish born boxer to win a Golden Gloves championship. Hardwick will take on Long Island’s Richard Mason (0-3). The bout is scheduled for four rounds in the heavyweight division.
Rounding out the trio is Jersey’s City’s McDermott who is set to take on Terry Buterbaugh (6-6-2, 3KO’s) in a six-round junior welterweight contest.
Also scheduled to see action on the card is undefeated female heavyweight prospect Sonya Lamonakis (6-0, 1KO), as she is set to take on her toughest and most experienced opponent to date, Carlette Ewell (15-7, 9KO’s). Lamonakis, who, in addition to her professional boxing career, is a full-time school teacher, won the New York Golden Gloves an astonishing four-times, before turning pro on June 24, 2010. The Lamonakis-Ewell bout is scheduled for six rounds.
In a six-round junior middleweight match-up, popular undefeated West Point graduate, Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson (7-0, 4KO’s) will square off against Sean Rawley (6-5, 1KO). Melson is the founder of Team Fight to Walk, a team of professional boxers, in association with the Justadollarplease organization whose mission is to raise awareness within the boxing community about Stem Cell Research. The boxers not only look to spread awareness about the organization, and how people can help, but also donate portions of their purses to the charity. The honorable Melson donates his entire fight purse to the organization after each one of his professional contests.
Tickets are priced at $125, $85, $65, and $45, and can be purchased through any Ticketmaster outlet, visiting Ticketmaster.com, calling (800) 745-3000 or simply by CLICKING HERE.
Weights from Staten Island
Venue: Hilton Garden Inn – Staten Island, New York
Promoter: Greg Cohen Promotions
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2012
Mikey Faragon 137 vs. Andres Ledesma 136
Diana Prazak 128 vs. Lucia Larcinese 131
Nicky Demarco 132 vs. Cesar Gonzalez 131
Tommy Rainone 155 vs. Josh Williams 154
Anthony Young 146.25 vs. Clifford McPherson 147
A small number of tickets for “Championship Boxing at the Hilton Garden Inn” are still available online at www.gcpboxing.com and www.NicotrasBallroom.com or by calling 888.612.4191. They are priced at General Admission $50, Ringside $150 and VIP Ringside $250, which includes pre-fight open bar and hot buffet.