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Roc Nation Boxing Debuts Jan. 9 on FS1, From NYC

Published

9 years ago

December 9, 2014

ROC NATION SPORTS AND FOX SPORTS REACH THREE EVENT AGREEMENT; PREMIERES JAN. 9 ON FOX SPORTS 1, LIVE FROM THE THEATER AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Undefeated Prospect Dusty Hernandez-Harrison and

Long Island Fan Favorite Tommy Rainone Battle in Main Event

Roc Nation Musical Performances Complement Boxing for Unique Experience

—Tickets Go On Sale Tuesday, December 9 at 1:00 PM ET—

NEW YORK (December 9, 2014) – Roc Nation Sports and FOX Sports have reached an agreement on a three-event boxing package, the first ever presented by the promoter, under the throne boxing banner. The announcement was made by Roc Nation Sports’ COO of Boxing David Itskowitch and Patrick Crakes, Senior Vice President, Programming Research and Content Strategy, FOX Sports. The first event is scheduled for Friday, January 9, 2015 and airs on FOX Sports 1, live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City (10:00 PM ET/7:00PM PT), and will feature boxing’s brightest young stars in compelling match-ups.

In the 10-round main event, undefeated Washington, DC native Dusty Hernandez-Harrison battles Tommy Rainone of Plainview, New York in a 10-round fight for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Championship.

In addition to the great action inside the ring, the January 9 edition of throne boxing features several notable Roc Nation touches that offer an unprecedented fan experience, including live performances by key Roc Nation artists.

“All of us at Roc Nation Sports are thrilled to announce our first boxing event along with our first series and television deal,” said Roc Nation Sports’ COO of Boxing David Itskowitch. “The January 9^th event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden will be an event unlike anything boxing fans have experienced in the past whether they’re at The Garden or watching at home on FOX Sports 1. An evening of exciting fights, great music and fantastic entertainment will be a fitting way to kick off throne boxing, a series that will stand alone on the boxing landscape.”

“FOX Sports is thrilled to be in business with Roc Nation Sports, an innovative, entrepreneurial group,” said Crakes. “Providing this type of sports and entertainment programming to our viewers is a terrific opportunity for FOX Sports 1.”

Tickets priced at $205, $105, $55 and $30 plus any Ticketmaster charges go on sale Tuesday, December 9 at 1:00 PM ET and will be available for purchase at the Madison Square Garden box office, online at www.thegarden.com and at all Ticketmaster outlets. One dollar from each ticket sold will be donated to the Muhammad Ali Center.

“Madison Square Garden is looking forward to teaming up with Roc Nation for their first-ever boxing event on January 9^th,” said Joel Fisher, executive vice president, MSG Sports. “The Theater at Madison Square Garden provides a great setting for fans to watch boxing and entertainment all under one roof.”

The next two throne boxing events air live on FOX Sports 1 from venues to be announced shortly.

Hailing from Washington, DC, Dusty “The Beltway Boricua” Hernandez-Harrison (24-0, 13 KO’s) is the current WBC Youth Welterweight World Champion and one of boxing’s brightest young stars. On June 11, 2011, less than a month following his 17^th birthday, Dusty chose to forgo his amateur status, leaving his 197 amateur bouts and multiple National Championships behind, and make his professional debut as the youngest licensed professional fighter in the United States. Ever since, he has been on a tear while fighting at a break-neck pace, compiling 24 wins against no losses in just over three years. Most recently, he scored a first round knockout win over Michael Clark in front of his hometown fans at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC on November 1. The undefeated 20-year old has received high praise along the way, even having been described as “Washington’s best boxing prospect since Sugar Ray Leonard.”

Since turning professional in 2006, Tommy “The Razor” Rainone (22-5-1, 4 KO’s) has become one of Long Island’s favorite fighting sons. In his most recent fight on November 13, Rainone scored a unanimous decision victory over Carl McNickles at The Space at Westbury on Long Island. The win extended his current unbeaten streak to six fights while giving him a record of 9-1-1 over his last 11 fights. In addition to his exploits in the ring, Rainone works full time as a supervisor for Hilton Hotels. He has also been a cast member of an Off Broadway play, Kid Shamrock, having appeared in the winter 2011 and summer 2012 productions. January 9 marks Rainone’s third fight at The Theater at Madison Square Garden and he will be looking to make a statement against the highly touted Hernandez-Harrison.

About Roc Nation Sports

Roc Nation Sports, a sub-division of Roc Nation in partnership with CAA Sports, launched in spring 2013. Founder Shawn “JAY Z” Carter’s love of sports lead to the natural formation of Roc Nations Sports, helping athletes in the same way Roc Nation has been helping artists in the music industry for years. Roc Nation Sports focuses on elevating athletes’ career on a global scale both on and off the field. Roc Nation Sports conceptualizes and executes marketing and endorsement deals, community outreach, charitable tie-ins, media relations and brand strategy. Roc Nation Sports launched its boxing division, a full service promotional company, in August 2014. Roc Nation Sports’ roster includes premiere athletes such as Robinson Cano, Skylar Diggins, Kevin Durant, Geno Smith, Victor Cruz, CC Sabathia, James Young, Hakeem Nicks, Dez Bryant, Ndamukong Suh, Rusney Castillo, and Yoenis Cespedes.

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The Sweet Science

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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