TSS TIDBITS: Donaire-Montiel Tix Info, La Bomba, Leon Moore, More

LAS VEGAS, NEV (December 22, 2010) – Las Vegas hosts its first world title fight of 2011 when World Bantamweight Champion FERNANDO “Cochulito” MONTIEL defends his title against two-division world champion NONITO “The Filipino Flash” DONAIRE, in the latest chapter of the storied Mexico-Philippines rivalry, Saturday, February 19, at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.  Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zanfer Promotions, the Montiel-Donaire world title tilt will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast.)  The broadcast will open with undefeated NABO/NABA/WBC Continental Americas welterweight champion MIKE JONES defending his titles against Top-10 contender JESUS SOTO-KARASS in a rematch of their exciting battle which took place on November 13 on the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito pay-per-view extravaganza.

Looking for a great last-minute Christmas gift?  Yule love this!  Tickets to Montiel vs. Donaire, priced at $250, $125, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges, go on-sale Tomorrow!  Thursday, December 23, at Noon PT. They can be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino).  Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.  To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Mandalay Bay at (877) 632-7400 or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.  Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs), of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, México, is only the fourth Méxican fighter to win world titles in three different weight divisions, joining Hall of Famer-elect Julio César Chávez and future Hall of Fame inductees Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. Undefeated since 2006, eight of Montiel’s last ten victories (eight were world title fights) have been by stoppage.

Donaire (25-1, 17 KOs), a native of General Santos City, Philippines, now living in the Bay Area of San Leandro, Calif., is a consensus top-10 pound for pound fighter.  He enters this fight riding a nine-year, 24-bout winning streak, which includes an IBF/IBO flyweight title knockout victory of defending champion Vic Darchinyan, and a fourth-round blasting of former WBA bantamweight champion Wladimir Sidorenko in his last fight on December 4. Nine of Donaire’s last 10 victories have come by way of knockout.

Co-promoted by Peltz Boxing, Jones and Soto-Karass return for an immediate rematch of their November 13 brawl.  After Jones decked Soto-Karass in the second round, Soto-Karass came back to almost pull out the victory in a fight most ringside fans and media thought could have gone either way.  In fact, Jones’ second-round knockdown of Soto-Karass provided Jones the one-point margin for a razor-thin majority decision victory instead of a Draw.  The judges’ scores were 95-94, 97-93 and 94-94.   

Jones (23-0, 18 KOs), of Philadelphia, PA., has been attracting rabid fans to his fights in the friendly confines of Atlantic City and Philadelphia. He took on his biggest challenge on the biggest stage he has ever fought on when he tangled with Soto-Karass, successfully defending his titles and adding the vacant WBC Continental Americas welterweight title. Considered one of the hottest prospects in boxing, six of his last nine victories have come by knockout.  Victories over Brazilian strongman Juliano Ramos, Henry Bruseles, ending his five-year winning streak, Hector Muñoz and Irving Garcia, have catapulted Jones to the top of the welterweight ratings.  He’s rated No. 2 by the WBO, No. 3 by the WBA and the IBF and No. 4 by the WBC.

Soto-Karass (24-5-3, 16 KOs), of Los Mochis, México, boasts an impressive 13-2-2 (one No Contest) record, over his past 18 fights, dating back to 2005.  The only other blemish was a sixth-round technical loss to Alfonso Gomez last year.  Highlights of that period include knockout victories of former world champion Vince Phillips and undefeated contender Michael Rosales in WBC Continental Americas welterweight title fights in 2006 and contender David Estrada for the vacant NABF welterweight championship in 2008.  He is currently world-rated No. 8 by the WBC.

Doors will open at 4:00 p.m. PT with the first bell at 4:30 p.m. PT.  The HBO-televised fights will begin at 6:45 p.m. PT.

WORCESTER, Mass. (Dec. 22, 2010) – As he prepares to go from promising prospect to legitimate contender, undefeated Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez’ recent magical mystery tour as a sparring partner in major training camps Australia, England and Miami provided him with invaluable post graduate boxing courses.

Dominican Republic-native Rodriguez (17-0, 13 KOs), arguably the world’s premier super middleweight prospect, is coming off of a sensational performance November 5 in the main event on ShoBox: The New Generation, stopping James McGirt in the ninth round for the vacant WBC USNBC super middleweight title.

Rodriguez tuned-up for his fight against McGirt as a sparring partner for Daniel Geale (24-1, 15 KOs) during a 10-day working stretch in Australia. Geale later knocked out Roman Karmazin in the 12th round of their IBF middleweight title eliminator.

Rodriguez parlayed the Geale training camp lessons into even more career-enhancing experiences for 10 days in England with Carl “The Cobra” Froch (27-1, 20 KOs), who went on to defeat Arthur Abraham by way of a dominant 12-round unanimous decision for the WBA super middleweight crown in the Super Six Tournament. Edwin followed that by working two weeks in Miami with WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, who fought a 12-round draw with Bernard Hopkins this past weekend.

“It’s been a great experience,” Rodriguez spoke about his sparring ‘journey’ that’s brought him around the world. “I’m at the point now where I want to get where they are. I’ve learned from working with all of them but the most important lesson is that elite athletes do not put on more than 10 pounds walking around weight between fights.

“All of these training camps haven’t been too much different – they were all intense. Geale is hungry to get there (world title) and he really worked hard. All three are very good athletes. I wasn’t surprised that Carl won so convincingly because I know how powerful Carl Froch is with his style, Abraham wasn’t able to run through Carl like he had against most opponents. His training was about using his long jab to keep Abraham outside. Everything worked off the jab and Carl perfectly executed his game plan. Every time we sparred, he worked on that plan but a few times we ended-up banging. He just caught himself and went back to using his jab, not letting me – acting like Abraham – walk through like Abraham likes to do.”

Froch, after defeating Abraham, publicly acknowledged Rodriguez’ work, saying, “Sparring with Edwin was brilliant. He is very fast, can punch with both hands, and stays in there. I feel he has far more natural ability and speed than Abraham; big respect for Edwin Rodriguez because he got me ready for this.”

Next stop for “La Bomba” was Miami at Pascal’s (26-1-1, 16 KOs) training camp with Edwin playing the role of Jean’s opponent last Saturday night, living legend Bernard Hopkins, in preparation for their Showtime showdown in Quebec City.

“Training with Pascal was different than for Froch,” Rodriguez remarked. “They didn’t do nearly as much sparring, it was more tactical. Froch may have had more tactical days at his training camp but I wasn’t there until 10 days at the end. Pascal has a good trainer from Cuba, Pedro Diaz, who has had 20 Olympic gold medalists. I spent Thanksgiving with him and his family. To an extent I did what they expected Hopkins to bring to the table. What they were really looking for was competitiveness from me to help him.    

“They had everything there: cooks, strength coaches, nutritionists, sports physiologists…you name it. And I got to take advantages of all these people. I can tell you that everybody there worked like animals. It was a very good training camp; well organized with everybody working hard.”

Rodriguez’ next fight is set for January 14 in Key West, Florida on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights in the 10-round co-feature against Aaron Pryor, Jr., son of former world champion Aaron Pryor.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Edwin started boxing in 2001 and he developed into one of the top amateurs in the United States, compiling a solid 84-9 record, including gold-medal performances in the 2005 USA Boxing National Championships and 2006 U.S. National Golden Gloves Tournament. Rodriguez, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Dominican Republic, became the first Massachusetts boxer to win the middleweight title at The Nationals since “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler in 1973.

Rodriquez is promoted by DiBella Entertainment, managed by Larry Army, and trained by Peter Manfredo, Sr.

NEW YORK (December 22, 2010) – Boxing 360 has announced the signing of WBC No. 3 rated super bantamweight Leon “Hurry Up” Moore to an exclusive promotional contract.

The 31-year-old southpaw Moore (27-2, 22 KOs), from Guyana, is the reigning PABA and WBC CABOFE super bantamweight champion, as well as the former NABA, Guyanese and CABOFE bantamweight titlist.

Another Boxing 360 fighter is Guyana super middleweight champion Lennox “2 Sharpe” Allen (12-0-1, 7 KOs) who recently defeated Nick Brinson for the vacant New York State title.

“We’re excited to sign a talented fighter like Moore,” Boxing 360 Director of Boxing Bob Duffy said. “He’s a world-class contender at super bantamweight and bantamweight. We can’t wait to bring him to fight in the United States and position him for a world title fight next year against (WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki) Nishioka or any of the world champions at 122 or 118 pounds.”

Moore captured the WBC CABOFE and NABA bantamweight belts in September 2009, when he won a unanimous 12-round decision against former 2-time world champion Maurico Pastrana. Last January, Leon won a unanimous 12-round decision versus Indonesia Boxing Association champion Marangin Marbun for the vacant PABA crown. In his last fight (Nov. 16), Moore won a 10-round decision against Breilor Teran in Guyana.

Other Boxing 360 fighters include USBA heavyweight champion and IBF #15 rated Maurice “Sugar Moe” Harris, 2004 U.S. Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada, Mike Mollo, Joshua “Juice” Harris, Emad Ali, former world champion Alejandro “Naco” Berrio, Angel “Toro” Hernandez, and “King” David Estrada.

Go on line to www.boxing360.com for more information about Moore, Allen, or any of the Boxing 360 fighters.

SPEEDBAG I trust you are as stoked as I with that big Samuel Peter may find himself in a position to obtain the right to fight another Klitschko, and get pummeled for a third time? The IBF wants Eddie Chambers to face Derric Rossy, and Tomasz Adamek to face Peter. The winners would meet, and the victor in that clash will be the No. 1 contender, and gets to tangle with Wlad. Nothing personal against Peter, but go Chambers, go Rossy, go Adamek. Two strikes Oct. 2008, stopped in the eighth by V; Sept. 2010 stopped in tenth by Wlad) against the Brothers K means you're out of the running. Or should

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