Undefeated super middleweight Badou Jack “The Ripper” (10-0, 8 KOs) of Sweden says he’s planning on having a great time when he makes his ShoBox: The New Generation debut on Friday, May 11 against Colombia’s also undefeated Alexander Brand (17-0, 15 KOs).
The pair will meet as part of a live doubleheader telecast (11 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME®, delayed on the West Coast) entitled “Shootout at Texas Station”, presented by Warriors Boxing live from the Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel in Las Vegas, headlined by Cuba’s Yudel Jhonson (12-0, 8 KOs) taking on Cleveland’s Willie “The Great” Nelson (17-1-1, 11 KOs) in the 10-round light middleweight main event.
“He seems like a wild puncher who doesn’t have the best defense,” said Jack of opponent Brand. “I’m gonna beat him up and have fun. I like guys like this that throw wide shots.”
This will be Jack’s first fight at 168 lbs, but the former Olympian says he’ll have no trouble making weight, having done his preparation at Floyd Mayweather’s gym with trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, and sparring with respected contenders like Ishe Smith and J Leon Love.
“To see how Floyd trains motivates me to work even harder. I feel good I like to mix it up, box and pressure my opponent. I can do it all and I can’t wait to show everybody my skills and put on an exciting fight for the crowd and the TV viewers. I’m learning so much from my trainer Eddie Mustafa. I’m definitely in my prime right now. I just need more experience.”
Jack says that while his victory is assured, it is Brand who will decide how things unfold. “It depends. If he’s trying to win, we’ll go home early, but if he runs and just tries to survive, sometimes it can be hard to stop a guy who don’t’ want to fight. I won’t go out there looking for the knockout, but if it comes, it comes.”
Tickets for “Shootout at Texas Station” are on sale now, priced at $27 and $52 and are available at Ticketmaster, any Texas Station rewards center or at SCLV.COM/CONCERTS. A few VIP seats are available at a price of $102 can be purchased by calling (954) 985-1155.
On fight night, doors open at 6:30 and the action starts at 7:00 pm.
Station Bucks may be used to purchase tickets. All ages welcome. Under 21 must be accompanied by an adult 21 or over. Show subject to change without notice. Management reserves all rights. Digital Photography and video prohibited. Tickets can be purchased at any Station Casinos Boarding Pass Rewards Center, The Fiesta’s, by logging onto stationcasinos.com/concerts or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel is located at 2101 Texas Star Lane in North Las Vegas. Telephone: (702) 631-1000 or (800) 654-8888.
Team USA Completes Final Preparations for the Americas Olympic Qualifying in Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO) – Years of training and toiling in boxing gyms across the nation has come down to one week of Olympic-style boxing action for seven male Olympic hopefuls. The Americas Qualifier is the final international Olympic qualifying opportunity for Team USA’s male boxers and the delegation is primed and ready for the week-long tournament, May 5-12, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They will face off with teams from north, central, and south America in the event with all of the competitors vying for the final berths in London. The U.S. boxers will need a finish ranging from top three to five based upon their weight division.
The squad arrived in Brazil on Monday for five days of acclimation training prior to the opening day of action on Saturday. The seven U.S. boxers competing in the event each won titles at the 2012 USA Boxing National Championships to claim a berth on the United States team boxing in Brazil. The squad includes light flyweight Santos Vasquez (Reno, Nev.), lightweight Jose Ramirez (Avenal, Calif.), light welterweight Jamel Herring (Coram, N.Y.), middleweight Terrell Gausha (Cleveland, Ohio), light heavyweight Marcus Browne (Staten Island, N.Y.), heavyweight Michael Hunter (Las Vegas, Nev.), and super heavyweight Dominic Breazale (Alhambra, Calif.).
Ramirez, Herring and Browne will be competing in their second international Olympic qualifying tournament when they take the ring in Brazil. The three Olympic Trials champions each boxed in the 2011 World Championships but did not place in the top 10, which was required to clinch their berths in London. The trio earned another shot at London with victories in the recent USA Boxing National Championships and hopes to officially punch their tickets for the Olympics with successful showings in Brazil. Ramirez and Browne will need a top four finish to qualify while Herring will need to place in the top five to earn his Olympic spot.
Vasquez, Gausha, Hunter and Breazale filled the final four spots on the U.S. squad in Brazil with victories in the 2012 USA Boxing National Championships. Vasquez, Hunter and Breazale have the toughest tasks on the U.S. squad with a top three finish needed for the trio while Gausha must place in the top five.
AIBA has chosen to keep the entry list confidential, but each boxer will learn their road to their Olympic berths at the official event draw on Saturday at noon Rio de Janeiro time (one hour ahead of Eastern Time). Preliminary competition will start on Saturday as well with opening round action taking place at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the first day of boxing. Preliminary round action will continue through Tuesday with two sessions daily at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The all-important quarterfinal round bouts will be contested at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9. The athletes will enjoy an off day on Thursday, May 10 before returning to the ring for semifinal action at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, May 11. Championship action will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday prior to a championship banquet.
Coaches Joe Guzman (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Tom Mustin (Tacoma, Wash.) Manny Robles (Paramount, Calif.), and Andy Smith (Chattanooga, Tenn.) are leading the team in Brazil. Ken Buffington (Marshalltown, Iowa), is serving as the Team Manager for the event with Dr. Armando Sanchez (Milwaukee, Wis.) joining the squad as Team Physician.
Live scoring for the event can be found on AIBA’s website at www.aiba.org and the semifinals and finals will be shown for livestream on AIBA TV, which will be linked to the AIBA website as well. USA Boxing will tweet results as well @usaboxing.
U.S. Team Bios
SANTOS VASQUEZ
Weight Class: Light Flyweight/108 lbs/48 kg
Birth date: January 18, 1991
Height: 5-3
Hometown: Reno, Nevada
Coach: Don Fain
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS SILVER MEDALIST
2010 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS BRONZE MEDALIST
Jose Ramirez
Weight Class: Lightweight/132 lbs
Hometown: Avenal, Calif.
Birthdate: August 12, 1992
Height: 5-10
Coach: Armando Macinas
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS NATIONAL CHAMPION
2011 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
2010 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
TWO-TIME JUNIOR OLYMPIC NATIONAL CHAMPION
JAMEL HERRING
Weight Class: Light welterweight/141 lbs
Hometown: Coram, N.Y.
Birthdate: October 30, 1985
Resides in: Camp Lejeune, N.C.
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
2012 ARMED FORCES CHAMPION
2012 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS CHAMPION
2011 ARMED FORCES CHAMPION
2010 MILITARY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SILVER MEDALIST
TERRELL GAUSHA
Weight Class: Middleweight/165 lbs
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Height: 5-10
Coach’s Name: Renard Saffo
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
2009 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
Marcus Browne
Weight: Light heavyweight/178 lbs
Hometown: Staten Island, N.Y.
Birthdate: November 10, 1990
Height: 6-2
Coach’s name: Gary Stark
Club name: Park Hill Boxing Club
Began boxing: At age 13, I followed my friend N’Wachi Hartley, to the gym and have been there ever since. He passed away in 2008 but his memory still motivates me to this day
Did you know?: I like to roller blade
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS CHAMPION
2010 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPION
2008 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPION
MICHAEL HUNTER
Weight class: Heavyweight/201 lbs
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nev.
Birthdate: July 10, 1988
Height: 6-2
Coach: Ken Croom
Did you know: He boxes in memory of his father, Michael “Bounty” Hunter, Sr., a former professional heavyweight
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
2009 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
2008 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS CHAMPION
DOMINIC BREAZALE
Weight Class: Super Heavyweight/201+ lbs
Hometown: Alhambra, Calif.
Birthdate: August 24, 1985
Height: 6-6
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPION
U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS PARTICIPANT
2012 USA BOXING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BRONZE MEDALIST
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).