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NEWS ON: Collazo, Botha in Dubai

Published

11 years ago

March 20, 2014

BROOKLYN, NY (March 20, 2014) – Its no secret that Brooklyn native and current WBA International Welterweight Champion Luis Collazo is hoping to land a shot at facing pound-for-pound king Floyd “Money” Mayweather and on his quest he has received the support of Brett Yormark, CEO of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Yormark called a possible Mayweather vs. Collazo bout a “Dream Fight” for Barclays Center.

“How great would it be for Brooklyn if the favorite son of Brooklyn fights this legendary fighter Floyd Mayweather? I think that goes down as, in many respects, the rational for what we want to do here,” Yormark told Mitch Abramson of Boxing Scene.

“Getting a chance to fight Floyd and prove I’m the best is definitely the goal,” said Collazo. “Now, getting a chance to fight Floyd at home [Brooklyn], that’s a whole different ballpark. That’s a dream.”

Mayweather is set to face Marcos Maidana on May 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, while Collazo has set eyes on Amir “King” Khan. No official statements have been made.

“Amir Khan up next and then, Floyd at home, that would be ideal,” said Collazo with a grim smile. “I’m very proud Mr. Yorkmark thought of me and Mayweather as Brooklyn’s ‘Dream Fight,’ that makes me truly proud of my roots, of Brooklyn.”

New York, NY, March 20, 2014, Lion Heart Boxing Promotions, Ltd., a Boxing Promotion and Sports & Entertainment Company based in Kinnelon, New Jersey (USA), is pleased to announce the Dubai encore and follow up to its successful promotion of the first-ever live professional boxing event in Abu Dhabi history,

Thursday Night Fights @ Yas Island.

Lion Heart Boxing Production will bring world class live professional boxing to Dubai by producing a version of its acclaimed Thursday Night Fights series as Thursday Night Fights UAE. The Inaugural event for Thursday Night Fights UAE will be held on May Day (May 1^st) hence the event subtitle “May Day Mayhem.”

Lion Heart has been involved as consultant in several Dubai boxing promotions but May Day Mayhem will be the first live professional boxing event promoted by Lion Heart Boxing Promotions as lead promoter in Dubai and will feature former IBF Heavyweight Champion Francois Botha (born 28 September 1968, in Witbank, Mpumalanga), also known as Frans Botha and nicknamed “The White Buffalo,” a South African and perennial Heavyweight Contender.

Botha has had a very distinguished career as a heavyweight boxer, having fought several of the top world heavyweight champions of his time, including Mike Tyson, Shannon Briggs, Axel Schulz, Michael Moorer, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. Botha had a victory in 1995 against Germany’s Axel Schulz to win the IBF heavyweight Championship, suffered a fifth round knockout to Mike Tyson, and had the famous fight with Shannon Briggs which ended in draw. In addition to beating Axel Shultz for the IBF Title, Botha is a four-time world title challenger. Botha also has competed in numerous kickboxing and mixed martial arts events. He will take on an opponent to be announced.

In the co-main Event, Brazilian Welterweight Champion, Former Number 2 ranked Contender and Floyd Mayweather, Sr. trained Antonio Mesquita will commence his comeback against Dubai based French fighter Nordine Arik (17-2). In addition to featuring top boxers from the international scene such as Frans ‘The White Buffalo’ Botha, Antonio Mesquita, Nordine Arik, and Heavyweight Prospect Martin Horak (3-1), May Day Mayhem also will feature regional and local stars such as 2012 Fighter of the Year Mohammed Ali Bayat (4-0), Syrian Brawler Abdul Kabanni (3-2), Lebanese Amateur standout Rabih Fayad (1-0) and Emirati Muhmmed Alshbli (Debut).

Tickets will be available online and at all Virgin MENA stores, go on sale March 26, 2014, and are reasonably priced: VIP Table of Ten with F&B, AED10,000; VIP Ringside, AED500; Ringside, AED400; Reserved Seating, AED300; General Admission Seated, AED200; and General Admission Standing AED150.

The event will be held at The Emirates Golf Club’s “The Lawns” venue and will be televised as part of the Thursday Night Fights UAE television series. The Lawns has a capacity of over 6,000 but will be configured to hold 2,000 seats for May Day Mayhem.

Emirates Golf Club, host of the European Tour sanctioned Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, was the first all grass championship golf course in the Middle East when it opened in 1988. Taking pride in its 36 holes of world-class golf, the club sports two of the city’s finest must-play courses, the Majlis and the Faldo Course, which is also the only 18 hole course in the region to offer night golf. Both courses combine the natural rolling desert terrain for a serious golfing test, while the signature clubhouse, remains the most eye-catching in the region. The Majlis Course has been presented with numerous accolades over its 25 year history, the most recent of which were its 2012 ranking by Golf World magazine as one of the ‘Top 100 Golf Courses in the World’ and its award for ‘Best Course Middle East’ in the Asian Golf Monthly Awards 2010 .

From the testing 18 hole Majlis and Faldo courses, to the equally challenging par 3, the Emirates Golf Club draws accomplished and casual golfers looking to improve their game.

‘The Emirates’ is so much more than a golf club, serving as the premier address for all things leisure. Its appeal is equally wide-ranging off course, with everything from fine dining to bar bites available alongside top-notch pool and gym facilities, tennis courts and a brand new spa.

Emirates Golf Club is conveniently located in the heart of ‘New Dubai’, easily accessible off Sheikh Zayed Road and opposite Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City, and not far from Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah. The Metro’s Nakheel station is directly located outside the main entrance, making the club within walking distance for leisure and restaurant guests during the cooler winter months.

Says, Edward Mendy, Lion Heart Boxing Promotions CFO, “We see the potential of the UAE as the next Boxing Mecca and are excited to be early movers in the space. We are really encouraged by our continued development and incremental success in the promoting Boxing as a professional sport in UAE. With May Day Mayhem and Thursday Night Fights UAE, Lion Heart Boxing Productions not only plans to introduce the Thursday Night Fights series to Dubai, but also intends to develop the series into a major UAE sporting brand for worldwide television export. Further, we see Thursday Night Fights UAE as an additional platform to facilitate the growth and further development of Arab boxers in general and Emiratis in particular.”

Thursday Night Fights UAE will be broadcasted live on Dubai Sports in the UAE and MENA Region, as well streamed lived worldwide on ESPN3. Additionally, Thursday Night Fights UAE will be rebroadcast on a delayed basis by Fox Sports in the MENA Region and via regional sports channels in the USA, which reach over 150 Million American cable homes. Lastly, Thursday Night Fights UAE will be syndicated regionally and in other markets, worldwide as feasible.

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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