Star-Studded Press Conferences Coming & Fight Chatter

A reverse sandwich of stars hit the promotional road with Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley kicking it off this Tuesday in Beverly Hills. That’s followed a week later with Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto.

Picture the meat of a sandwich on the outside and the bread inside as Amir Khan will surely be promoting his rematch with Lamont Peterson in the near future.

Pacquiao and Bradley promises to be a congenial affair with both prizefighters known for their graciousness before the press and penchant for sportsmanship.

One thing both do possess is confidence.

Bradley and Pacquiao stop in L.A. on Tuesday then fly to New York City on Thursday where they’ll be at the Lighthouse on Chelsea Piers at noon.

The following week Mayweather and Cotto hit the ballyhoo road beginning in Puerto Rico on Monday Feb. 27 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico at 2 p.m. The next day they arrive at the Apollo Theater in New York City. They finalize the tour on the streets of Hollywood right in front of the Grauman Chinese Theater on Thursday March 1. They won’t be stepping on wet cement but expect a large group of press coverage and thousands of fans when they arrive at 1 p.m.

No word yet on Khan-Peterson’s press tour but expect one soon.

More fight chatter:

East L.A.’s Shawn Estrada (14-0, 12 KOs) defeated Terrance Woods (9-4, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision after eight rounds of a super middleweight fight on Friday. Estrada, a former U.S. Olympian, has battled hand problems the past few years. Though he stunned Woods he was unable to stop the sturdy fighter and won by decision. In the other match, Mike Dallas Jr. (18-2-1, 7 KOs) shut out Ohio’s Miguel Gonzalez (20-3, 15 KOs) after eight rounds of their junior welterweight match.

WBC junior middleweight titleholder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KOs) of Mexico will defend against Pomona’s Sugar Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) on May 5, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The popular redhead from Guadalajara will be making his fourth world title defense. The main event features Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) fighting Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) who holds the WBA junior middleweight title.

WBC heavyweight titleholder Vitali Klitschko (43-2, 40 KOs) faced Dereck Chisora (15-2, 9 KOs) of Great Britain yesterday in Munich, Germany. The British heavyweight lost his last bout and two of the last three but was still, strangely, fighting for Klitschko’s world title. EPIX showed a stream of the UD12 win for Klitschko.

USA Boxing presented 20 amateur bouts yesterday at Warzone in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The gym is located at 9445 Foothill Blvd. in Rancho Cucamonga. For more information about the gym call (909) 989-4663.

Arizona’s Jesus “El Martillo” Gonzalez (27-1, 14 KOs) fought Canada’s Adonis Stevenson (16-1, 13 KOs) for the IBF Inter-Continental super middleweight title yesterday. The match takes place in Montreal. Both are left-handers with tremendous punching power, but Adonis’ spoke louder. He stopped Gonzalez in round one.

Mexico’s very popular Jorge “El Travieso” Arce (59-6-2, 45 KOs) met Venezuela’s Lorenzo Parra (31-3-1, 18 KOs) in a 10 round bout in the junior featherweight division yesterday. The rematch took place in Mexicali; they fought to a draw in 2010. This time, Arce stopped Parra in round five.

Undefeated heavyweight Alex “The Great” Flores (7-0, 5 KOs) of Rowland Heights faces Yohan Banks (4-6-3) on Thursday Feb. 16, at the OC Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif. The Roy Englebrecht Promotions fight card also features Eric Mendez (1-0) against Ontario’s John Worthy plus a female bantamweight match. There will also be several mixed martial arts fights. For more information go to www.fightcluboc.com

Temecula’s mixed martial arts legend Dan “Hendo” Henderson will be the first guest on Spike’s new television show MMA Censored Live on Thursday Feb. 23. Henderson was voted MMA Fighter of the Year by several sports publications after beating Shogun Rua and Fedor Emelianenko.

Riverside’s undefeated Mikey Garcia (27-0, 23 KOs) will be fighting Bernabe Concepcion (34-4-1, 17 KOs) of the Philippine Islands on Saturday March 10, in Puerto Rico. Garcia is ranked number one by the WBA and Concepcion has fought several times for the featherweight world title. It will be televised on Showtime.

Artemio Reyes Jr. of San Bernardino heads a very strong Thompson Boxing Promotions fight card on Friday Feb. 24 at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario. Also on the loaded boxing card will be Efrain Esquivias, Aron Martinez, Dashon Johnson and Sindy Amador among others. For more information call (714) 935-0900.

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