Martinez-Macklin Fightweek Report

SERGIO MARTINEZ-MATTHEW MACKLIN

FIGHT WEEK CONTINUES

WITH EMPIRE STATE BUILDING PHOTO SHOOT

AND FINAL PRESSER AT THE GARDEN

New York, NY (3/14/2012) – Things have been a bit hectic the past couple of days for middleweight champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez and challenger Matthew “Mack the Knife” Macklin.  The two fighters will square off in the much-anticipated DiBella Entertainment-promoted St. Patrick's Day card this Saturday, taking place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, which is being televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®.

Yesterday, both Martinez and Macklin participated in a meet-and-greet signing autographs and taking pictures with hundreds of fans who turned out at Legends Bar in New York City.  Today, both participated in an open workout at the Modell's Sporting Goods store in Times Square, again in front of a packed house of fans and media. 

Tomorrow, Martinez and Macklin, as well as the HBO televised undercard fighters, Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez and Donovan “Da Bomb” George, will wrap up the promotional activities, by first participating in a photo opportunity at the Empire State Building's world famous Observatory at 2PM.  Following the photo op, the fighters will head to Madison Square Garden to participate in the final press conference before fight night.  The press conference will be held in the Madison Square Garden Theater Lobby and will include a traditional St. Patrick's Day meal with a bit of a twist – Corned Beef and Cabbage, and Corona, as Corona is the official sponsor of “THE REAL Middleweight Championship – Get Your Irish Up”.

Once the press conference has finished, the fighters will head back to their rooms to relax but the promotional activities will continue as Lou DiBella, president of DiBella Entertainment, along with members of the Corona street team, including the beautiful Corona round card girls, will look to get the St. Patrick's Day festivities started a bit early as they head off on the Corona Bar/Beer Crawl.  The Bar Crawl will start at 5:30 PM at Mustang Harry's (located a block away from the Garden at 352 7^th Ave.) and anyone is welcome to join.  There will be drink specials for those who attend as well as Corona giveaways.   

Below are photos from the meet-and-greet as well as the media workout.

Photo by James Higgins

Photo by James Higgins

Photo by James Higgins

Photo by James Higgins

Tickets are priced at $505, $355, $205, $125 and $65, and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased through the Madison Square Garden Box Office or through Ticketmaster, at Ticketmaster.com, or by calling (866) 858-0008. Call DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577, or visit

 www.dbe1.com and @loudibella on Twitter for more information.

The card which will be aired live on HBO World Championship Boxing® is entitled, “THE REAL Middleweight Championship – Get Your Irish Up”, features Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (48-2-2, 27KO's) defending his middleweight crown against Ireland's Matthew “Mack the Knife” Macklin (28-3, 19KO's). In the televised co-feature bout of the evening Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (20-0, 14KO's) takes on Donovan “Da Bomb” George (22-1-1, 19KO's) in a 10-round super middleweight showdown. The card is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and will be televised live on HBO beginning 10PM ET/7PM PT.