Showtime Goes The Tourney Route Again, With Bantams

SHOWTIME SPORTS^® BANTAMWEIGHT TOURNMENT

TO BE HELD AT EMERALD QUEEN CASINO IN TACOMA, WASH.

Two Semifinal Bouts Set For Saturday, Dec. 11
Live on SHOWTIME® at 9 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK(Nov. 18, 2010)—SHOWTIME Sports officially announced today that The Bantamweight Tournament: Winner Takes All—the two-stage, single-elimination tournament of 118-pounders—will begin with two Semifinal bouts on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash. SHOWTIME will televise the fights live at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets for this event, starting at $50, will go on sale this Saturday, Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. PT at all Ticketmaster locations, at the Emerald Queen Casino box office and via the websites www.EmeraldQueen.com and www.halquistproductions.com.

The talented and willing field comprises two-division world champion Vic “Raging Bull Darchinyan (35-2-1, 27 KOs), unbeaten International Boxing Federation (IBF) 118-pound champion Yonnhy “El Colombiano Perez (20-0-1, 14 KOs), world-ranked rising star Abner Mares (20-0-1, 13 KOs), former IBF bantamweight champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko (27-2, 22 KOs).

On Dec. 11, Darchinyan of Sydney, Australia by way of Armenia will take on Mares, of Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and Perez, of Santa Fe Springs, Calif. by way of Cartagena, Colombia, will defend his IBF bantamweight belt against Agbeko, of Bronx, N.Y. by way of Accra, Ghana.

Each bout is scheduled for 12 rounds. The winners of each Semifinal fight will meet in the ring in the 2011 tournament final with the losing fighters competing in a consolation fight.

The bantamweight tournament is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, Golden Boy Promotions, Thompson Boxing Promotions, and Don King Productions.