Press Releases

Hank Lundy Pumped For HBO Debut, at Barclays, in Brooklyn

Published

9 years ago

December 2, 2014

CES photo by Will Paul

PHILADELPHIA’S HANK LUNDY, seen here in a May 31st win over Pipino Cuevas Jr., will make his HBO debut Saturday, Dec. 6th, 2014 against Thomas Dulorme at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Lundy has won three consecutive bouts while Dulorme has won his last five. The two will fight in a 10-round light welterweight bout for Dulorme’s NABF title as Lundy makes the jump from lightweight to 140 pounds.

Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, 2014

CES MEDIA ALERT

Lundy prepares for fight of his life Saturday night in Brooklyn in HBO debut

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Dec. 2nd, 2014) — There’s a big difference between fighting under the watchful eye of 4,000 fans in a smoky casino and fighting in front of, say, 30 million, which is roughly the number of homes that figure to tune in to HBO for Saturday’s edition of Boxing After Dark.

The idea of being watched, dissected and scrutinized by one tenth of the United States population would cause most fighters to freeze up faster than a houseplant left on the back porch in mid-February, but most fighters aren’t like Hank Lundy (25-3-1, 12 KOs).

Most fighters won’t step outside of their comfort zone as often as Lundy does. Most fighters won’t travel more than 5,000 miles to box on foreign soil, face a former world champion in his own backyard, or take a nationally televised bout on short notice against an opponent with only one loss.

“I was born to do this,” Lundy said. “This is no time to be scared.”

Lundy has seen and done just about everything in his long, successful boxing career and now he’ll get his just due, a 10-round primetime showcase Saturday night on HBO’s Boxing After Dark against the reigning North American Boxing Federation (NABF) light welterweight champion Thomas Dulorme (21-1, 14 KOs).

“This is a long overdue opportunity,” said Lundy’s promoter, CES Boxing president Jimmy Burchfield Sr. “I first want to compliment Golden Boy Promotions as well as Gary Shaw on a tremendous fight card.

“This is a fight boxing fans want to see. ‘Hammerin” Hank comes to fight and when he fights on TV he brings exceptional ratings. He gives it everything he’s got. To fight on HBO at the Barclays Center, one of my boxing’s newest must-see venues, against a worthy opponent will no doubt bring out the best in Hank Lundy, as it always does.

“We’ve been in this business a long time and we’ve built champions, but no fighter is more deserving of this opportunity.”

After fighting 10 times on ESPN and stealing the show earlier this year against the heavily-favored Angelo Santana on Showtime, Lundy will make his HBO debut at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in what figures to the toughest and most important fight of his career. The 10-round Lundy-Dulorme bout is part of a stacked card by Golden Boy Promotions headlined by the 12-round middleweight main event between David Lemiuex and Gabriel Rosado.

With less than a week to go before his possible career-defining moment, Lundy finds himself in a familiar position as the underdog facing a bigger, taller opponent who’s already been on this stage before and subsequently absorbed all the glitz and glamour that comes with it.

“Me being the underdog, I like that,” Lundy said. “At the end of the day, I like when my back is against the wall. Everyone is counting me out. All I have to do is go in there and shock the world.”

Philadelphia’s Lundy may be boxing’s most recognizable poster child for the wounded animal syndrome, an example of how defensive, aggressive and opportunistic a fighter gets when it appears he’s at his most vulnerable. His win over Olusegun Ajose in 2013 is a perfect example.

Coming off back-to-back losses that dropped him out of the top 10 in the lightweight division, Lundy agreed to take that bout on short notice. He had already blown his shot at a world-title bout by losing to Raymundo Beltran the previous summer and was in danger of slipping further off the radar against a tough veteran with 31 wins and only one loss.

Lundy responded with his most dominant performance to date, out-boxing Ajose from the opening bell in a lopsided unanimous decision win that promptly put him back on the map. He’s now won three in a row overall and will face another tall task against the 24-year-old Dulorme, who has fought most of his career in Puerto Rico and won two regional titles as a welterweight before eventually dropping to 140.

The 5-foot-10 Dulorme stepped up to face Luis Carlos Abregu in 2012 and got stopped in the seventh round, but has won his last five fights, including his most notable victory in March against the previous unbeaten Karim Mayfield for the then-vacant NABF title.

Lundy’s not impressed.

“He’s basic,” Lundy said. “A lot of jabs. He likes to pump his jab and hook off his jab. Nothing special. He can’t fight on the inside and doesn’t have a chin. If he gets caught upstairs he falls apart.

“As far as him being a power puncher, I don’t see it. I’m not taking anything away from Mayfield, but Mayfield was right in front of him and he couldn’t stop him. If he’s such a puncher, why didn’t he knock out Mayfield? If you look at some of his knockouts, those were against lesser opponents. Who were they? They were nobody. Mayfield is a fighter that will be in your face. That’s what punchers want. They don’t want someone who’ll move around.”

Lundy doesn’t plan on standing still in the center of the ring, which could frustrate Dulorme the same way Lundy’s speed foiled Santana, Dannie Williams, David Diaz and others before him.

“Once I get in that ring, I’ll see what he will give me and that’s what I’ll take,” Lundy said. “Everyone knows ‘Hammerin” Hank can box, and if I want to come get you, I’ll come get you.”

A natural lightweight who’s bounced between 135 and 140 depending on the opportunity, Lundy actually feels more confident at a heavier weight despite the size and height advantage of his opponents at light welterweight.

Compared to notable lightweights Williams, Diaz and Santana, none of whom were more than an inch taller than Lundy, most of Lundy’s opponents at 140 were considerably taller, including the 5-foot-11 Viktor Postol. He’ll need to find a way to close the gap against the rangy Dulorme, something he failed to do in his loss to Postol.

“Those tall guys don’t have the tools I have,” Lundy said. “Once I get in front of you I can fool you. You don’t know where I’m coming from. They assume a lot because I’m short, but I’ve got a lot of tricks up my sleeve.”

All the training, studying and build-up is out of the way and now it’s time for Lundy to shed the remaining pounds in anticipation of Friday’s weigh-in, but there’s nothing a fighter can do in or out of the gym to prepare him for the sport’s biggest stage. As Lundy pointed out, this is what he was born to do. Stage fright isn’t an option, not with so much at stake.

“There’s no time to be shy in front of the lights,” he said. “I played high school football. I played in front of a lot of people. When the lights are on, you don’t have to worry about me freezing up. I’m going to perform.

“This is my just due,” Lundy continued. “I really felt I should have been here. I’ll put it like this — everything happens at the right time. I feel good. There’s no pressure on my shoulders. I’m going to show the world what they’ve been missing.”

A win would take Lundy from a fringe contender to a legitimate threat to win a world title at either 135 or 140 pounds and perhaps make him a household name on one of the most watched networks in boxing. Whatever happens, happens; for now, Lundy is taking it one fight at a time, no matter how bright the lights will be come Saturday night.

“This is my championship right here,” Lundy said. “I’m just prepared to do what I have to do.”

Visit www.cesboxing.com for more information, follow CES Boxing on Twitter at @CESBOXING and Instagram at CESBOXING, or “like” CES Boxing on Facebook.

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The Sweet Science

Argentina

Three Punch Combo: What’s in the Cards for Spence, Kell Brook, and Cotto?

Published

7 years ago

May 28, 2017

Matt Andrzejewski

THREE PUNCH COMBO: Errol Spence Jr. scored an impressive knockout victory against Kell Brook on Saturday to take Brook’s IBF welterweight title. Both fighters now face interesting possibilities as they move forward in their respective careers.

Spence, who entered the fight with a lot of questions, not only showcased his tremendous skills but proved he has a very good chin as well as the willingness to dig deep when needed. He is without a doubt a future superstar in this sport. With momentum strong right now, he would be wise to be as active as possible even if not landing one of the big names his next time out.

I sense that Spence’s advisor, Al Haymon, will in fact get him back in the ring this summer. One name I would speculate as an opponent is Adrian Granados. Coming off a debatable loss to Adrien Broner, Granados has earned another shot at a top fighter. Granados is not a big puncher, but will put forth a good effort. The translation here is that he is someone that can be sold to the public as an opponent for Spence while bigger names are lined up, and also someone against whom Spence can in all likelihood look impressive once again.

After a summer tilt, I would expect to see Spence back in action towards the end of the year in a more substantial fight. Keith Thurman will still be on the mend at this point, recovering from elbow surgery, so that fight is out until next year. But Haymon has plenty of other welterweights and one that I suspect he steers toward Spence will be Lamont Peterson. Peterson is a name and has a belt. He also has a stated desire to want one of the big names next along with the payday that it would command. With Thurman out, this would seem the likely immediate path for Spence as such a fight would draw plenty of attention and be easy to sell.

As for Brook, he is going to need an extensive rest before restarting his career. He suffered a beating as well as an eye injury in September against Gennady Golovkin and then suffered another beating as well as injuring his other eye against Spence. After a rest, expect to see a tune- up bout followed by a massive fight in the UK against Amir Khan. The Khan fight has always been big and one of the reasons it has not been made is that it could frankly be made anytime with it still being a very significant event. Considering where both fighters are presently in their respective careers, the timing seems right for it to happen sooner rather than later. They both get a big payday and the winner gets well positioned for another big payday in what is a loaded territory at welterweight and junior middleweight.

Errol Spence Jr. and Kell Brook gave us a great fight on Saturday. While their career paths will head in different directions, expect to see both involved in big events once again down the road.

Miguel Cotto’s Future

Miguel Cotto announced this week that he would be returning to the ring on August 26^th to face Japanese brawler Yoshihiro Kamegai for the vacant WBO junior middleweight championship. Cotto, who split from his promoter Roc Nation last week, will work with Golden Boy Promotions for this fight which will be televised by HBO.

This is an interesting development in the career of Cotto. Reportedly HBO had not been interested in televising the proposed Kamegai fight unless it received assurances from Cotto that it would lead to a bigger fight to be televised by the network. Also, Golden Boy’s involvement in the promotion signals that they could be involved in Cotto’s future. Obviously, this would mean the opponent for a big fight for Cotto would come from under the Golden Boy banner.

The obvious choice for Cotto’s big fight opponent is David Lemieux. Lemieux has been chasing a fight with Canelo Alvarez. However, with Alvarez deciding to go after Gennady Golovkin, Lemieux gets left on the outside looking in. In need of a big fight for Lemieux, Golden Boy saw an opportunity with Cotto having been previously negotiating the Kamegai fight with Roc Nation. A fight between Cotto and Lemieux makes sense for both as Cotto wants a name who isn’t a slick boxer and Lemieux wants a big fight with the payday it commands as well as the opportunity to put a signature win on his resume to bolster his future ambitions.

But I also think Golden Boy has another potential plan for Cotto. Golden Boy’s main cash cow, Canelo Alvarez, is in a high risk, high reward fight with Golovkin in September. There is no rematch clause if Alvarez wins and, of course, a win by Alvarez cements him as a mega star in the sport. He will be eyeing a return in May 2018 during Cinco de Mayo weekend. With momentum behind him, Alvarez would be wise to seek a name opponent to further boost the event. A rematch with Cotto would not only do huge business but keep the momentum going. For Cotto, it would be a chance to avenge the loss from 2015 to Alvarez and give him one massive payday as his career nears a conclusion.

Miguel Cotto is determined to close his career out with something big and it appears likely he will get his wish.

Kudos to Golden Boy

When Golden Boy announced its new series on ESPN this winter, I was cautiously optimistic in the fights they would produce. I must say that the matchmaking thus far on this series has been superb and is getting even better with some recently announced cards. These are the types of televised shows the sport needs to generate some badly needed positive buzz.

On June 17^th, Pablo Cesar Cano takes on Fidel Maldonado in a junior welterweight contest. This fight is not only very evenly matched but can’t be anything except a slugfest given the styles of the two fighters. Cano is a high pressure fighter who is willing to exchange to get his own punches home. Maldonado has the ability to box, but often gets drawn willingly into wars. In 2015, he had a back and forth shootout with Amir Iman in a fight that got some talk in fight of the year chatter. As a matter of fact, round three was probably round of the year that year. Maldonado has a tendency to fire back when he gets hit and with Cano’s style Maldonado is going to get hit a lot. This one is guaranteed action and a perfect fight for television.

About two weeks later, Golden Boy returns with another ESPN card featuring a high stakes junior featherweight contest between Randy Caballero and Oscar Negrete. Caballero is an undefeated former bantamweight belt holder and is a very skilled boxer puncher. Negrete, also undefeated, has shown much improvement inside the ring in his last few contests. The styles of these two should mix well to provide an entertaining fight. It is also evenly matched, and with so much at stake we should see the best of both men inside the ring.

One point I harp on a lot is the importance of good matchmaking, especially in televised fights. Golden Boy is doing an excellent job so far with their new ESPN series providing high quality, well-matched fights. The boxing public is taking notice and Golden Boy deserves much praise in delivering excellent events for the fans.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.

IBF welterweight title

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Canada and USA

George Foreman Youth Center in Houston Hosts Amateur Event

Published

8 years ago

October 10, 2016

The Sweet Science

George Foreman Youth Center – -Starting with the ring of the bell on October 22nd, local area boxers will be fighting for a spot to represent the Gulf Coast Region at the USA Boxing National Championships & in International Travel.

Weight categories will include: Pee Wee 8-9, Bantam 10-11, Intermediate 12-13, Juniors 14-15, Youth 15-16, & Elite 18-40 in both Open and Novice divisions. Winners will represent the Gulf area at the 2016 USA Boxing Elite, Youth and Junior National Championships to be held in Kansas City Missouri December 4-10, 2016. This tournament is a sanctioned event through USA Boxing the National Governing Body of Amateur Boxing and is a feeder to National and Olympic recognition.

The George Foreman Youth and Community Center was founded 32 years ago in 1984 by Olympic Gold Medalist and 2-time heavy weight champion George Foreman. The GFYCC is dedicated to providing a safe and secure location for youth to participate in sports and after school activities.

“This year for the first time in Houston boxing history, we are developing an elite international youth boxing team,” said George Foreman, IV. “The team will be selected for the sole purpose of training and traveling to other countries to gain experience on an international platform and promote cultural diplomacy! Utilizing grant and donor funding this team will be representing the George Foreman Youth and Community Center and will be announced Saturday October 22, at the Gulf Region’s Boxing Championship. The team will be reviewed by my father, 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist and 2-Time Heavyweight Champion, George Foreman Sr. The first international trip for this new Houston team is scheduled for Jan. 2017.”

Doors open for the Gulf Gloves Championships on Saturday October 22nd at 11:00 am with announcements and the presentation of the colors by the United States Army Houston Recruiting Command Baytown Beaumont Company at 12:45 pm. The national anthem will be performed by the internationally acclaimed Houston Brass Quintet! Boxing will begin at 1:00 pm. Championship finals will begin at 1:00 pm on Sunday October 23rd.

Media open workouts for Houston amateur standout boxers will be held Wednesday October 19th at the George Foreman Youth and Community Center at 2202 Lone Oak Road Houston, Texas 77093 at 4:00 pm.

Confirmed attendees for interviews will be:

George Edward Foreman IV: Son of 2 Time Heavy Weight Champion, President of Foreman Public Relations

Marlen Esparza: 2012 Olympic Games Bronze Medalist, 2014 Amateur World Champion, 2006 & 2016 Amateur World Championships Bronze Medalist, Nine-Time USA Boxing National Champion.

Rocky Juarez: 2000 Olympic Games Silver Medalist, 1999 Amateur World Champion, WBC Silver Featherweight World Champion.

Raul Marquez: 1988 Amateur World Championships Bronze Medalist, 1992 Olympic Games Quarter-finalist, IBF Light Middleweight World Champion.

Frank Tate: 1984 Olympic Games Gold Medalist, IBF Middleweight World Champion, NABF Light Heavyweight Champion.

Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz: WBA Lightweight World Champion, WBO Lightweight World Champion, WBA Super-Lightweight World Champion, IBF Lightweight World Champion.

“Sweet” Reggie Johnson: WBA Middleweight World Champion, IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion.

In addition to many Houston area professional boxers and Gulf Boxing Association alumni. Event is sanctioned by USA Boxing – Gulf LBC: 16-25-14268

George Foreman Youth Center / Check out more boxing news and videos at The Boxing Channel.

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Press Releases

Michelle Corrales-Lewis Named New CEO of NV Boxing Hall of Fame

Published

8 years ago

October 5, 2016

Miguel Iturrate

LAS VEGAS, NV (October 5, 2016) – The Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame (NVBHOF) a non-profit charitable organization which donates to boxing-related causes, is happy to announce Michelle Corrales-Lewis as its new CEO/President. Respected boxing announcer, Rich Marotta, who founded the NVBHOF in 2012, steps down after devoting years of his life to get the organization off the ground.

With a number of boxing greats already inducted, which include world champion fighters, judges, coaches and promoters, the NVBHOF has rapidly established itself as prestigious group not only here in Las Vegas, but around the world. The NVBHOF has multiple fundraising events throughout the year, helping local boxing organizations fulfill their goals to keep boxing alive within the community.

“I took this organization as far as I could and I’m very comfortable where it is at today,” said Rich Marotta. “Michelle is on the scene in Las Vegas, has a myriad of contacts, both in business and with the boxing community, especially the fighters, and is more than ready to completely run the company. She is incredibly capable and has been an indefatigable agent for growth of the NVBHOF the past three years, taking on additional responsibilities each and every year. It brings me great pleasure to announce her as the new CEO of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.”

After serving as the NVBHOF Chief Operating Officer for many years, Michelle Corrales-Lewis, is thrilled at her new position within the organization.

“It’s an honor to be chosen as the new CEO of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame,” said Michelle Corrales-Lewis, widow of former multiple world champion and 2013 NVBHOF inductee, Diego Corrales. “Rich Marotta did a fantastic job building the organization from ground up. His immense work ethic is a great example of how I plan to continue the vision he set forth. My goal is to find a home for the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, one where fans from all around the world can visit on regular basis. The boxing community is filled with wonderful people that we will honor as inductees each year. I’m truly grateful for the wonderful opportunity that has been presented to me by my dear friend Rich Marotta.”

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