NOTES ON: Saturday Afternoon Boxing on NBC, Iron Mike Card, Travis Scott Fight

Special Afternoon Edition of Fight Night Returns to NBC With Two NABF Title Fights Saturday, September 20 at 3 p.m. ET

Thabiso Mchunu vs. Garrett Wilson for NABF Cruiserweight Title

Karl Dargan vs. Angino Perez for Junior NABF Lightweight Title

NBC Sports Live Extra to Stream Bouts

Mashantucket, CT: NBC Sports Group’s Fight Night presents its first afternoon broadcast of the year on NBC this Saturday, September 20^th, at 3 p.m. ET. The fourth afternoon network boxing broadcast since the Fight Night series premiered in 2012, the show will feature a pair of spectacular bouts with four of the sport’s hottest prospects.

In the main event, South African heavy-hitter Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu (16-1, 11 KOs) will battle unorthodox Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson (13-7-1, 7 KOs) for the NABF Cruiserweight Title and, in the co-feature, undefeated Karl “Dynamite” Dargan (16-0, 8 KOs) will take on Angino “The Nightmare” Perez (16-5, 14 KOs) for the Junior NABF Lightweight Title.

“The Rock”

Photo Credits: Rich Graessle/Main Events

NBC Sports Group’s Fight Night broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Kenny Rice, analyst B.J. Flores and ringside reporter Chris Mannix will call the action.

After scoring an upset over former heavyweight contender “Fast” Eddie Chambers in his Fight Night debut, Mchunu won by decision to capture the NABF Cruiserweight Title against highly-ranked Olanrewaju Durodola in his second Fight Night appearance. Mchunu is anxious to make the first defense of his title on NBC.

“Obviously, for any elite athlete it’s a huge privilege and honor to fight, and especially head up a fight card,” Mchunu said. “It’s really a dream come true. But such privileges come with the responsibility for myself as an athlete and fighter to deliver my best possible performance to all viewers and fight fans. I’ve done everything in my power to be ready to execute a masterful performance on the 20th of September.”

“The Ultimate Warrior”

Photo Credits: Dave Torres/Main Events

Mchunu’s powerful southpaw style will make for an explosive match against the unorthodox style of Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson, who earned many fans in his crowd-pleasing Fight Night debut as a last-minute replacement for Tomasz Adamek against Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov nearly a year ago during the last afternoon edition of Fight Night on NBC. Excited to be back, the 32-year old Wilson said, “I love having a chance to perform in front of a national audience. This is a great opportunity to show my skills and my strength and give the fans a skillful and entertaining show.”

Kicking off the broadcast will be Fight Night veteran Karl “Dynamite” Dargan against Angino “The Nightmare” Perez in a ten-round battle for the Junior NABF Lightweight Title.

“Dynamite”

Photo Credits: Rich Graessle/Main Events

The undefeated Dargan, 29, made his Fight Night debut last November with a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Michael Brooks to capture the USBA Atlantic Coast Region Lightweight Title. After a thrilling knockout win on NBCSN in June, “Dynamite” looks to add a second regional belt to his collection on Saturday. Trained by his uncle, Naazim Richardson, the legendary trainer of Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosely and Fight Night favorite Steve “USS” Cunningham, Dargan is a hot lightweight prospect on the rise. “I won my last belt on an NBC broadcast and I appreciate the exposure I get fighting on NBC,” Dargan said.

“The Nightmare”

Photo Courtesy of: Sweatbox Boxing & Fitness

In order to achieve his goal, Dargan will face a formidable opponent in Angino “The Nightmare” Perez. A 31-year old native of Miami, FL Perez has a stellar 88% knockout-to-win ratio. Focused on scoring a major upset on a major platform, when asked about making his Fight Night debut Perez simply said, “This is the first appearance of many to come!”

“We are excited to present this card with two title bouts on a special afternoon edition of Fight Night on NBC,” said Gary Quinn, Vice President of Programming & Planning for NBC Sports Group.

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, said, “These special afternoon editions of Fight Night on NBC are so important. It’s a chance for the fighters to make an impact on a huge audience that is not completely familiar with boxing. Both of these bouts will be very entertaining in the ring and that’s exactly what we need to keep turning casual viewers into big fans.”

About September 20:

The Sep. 20th special afternoon edition of NBC Fight Night will take place at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT and will feature a ten-round cruiserweight match-up between Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu and Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson for the NABF Cruiserweight Title and a ten-round lightweight match-up between Karl “Dynamite” Dargan and Angino “The Nightmare” Perez for the Junior NABF Lightweight Title. The undercard bouts are subject to change. Tickets are $100, $75 and $40 and are available through Foxwoods.com and Ticketmaster.com. The card is presented by Main Events, Peltz Boxing and Showpony Promotions. The special NBC Fight Night broadcast will begin live at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT.

IRON MIKE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

“The Pride of Pittsburgh II”

SAMMY VASQUEZ JR. AND MONTY MEZA CLAY

RETURN IN FEATURED BOUTS

Pittsburgh, PA. (September 18, 2014) Boxing legend MIKE TYSON and Iron Mike Productions will make their triumphant return to Pittsburgh, PA on Friday, November 14th with “The Pride of Pittsburgh II” at CONSOL Energy Center featuring popular fan favorites SAMMY “The Who Can Mexican” VASQUEZ JR. and MONTY MEZA CLAY in separate title bouts.

Pre-Sale Tickets for “The Pride of Pittsburgh II”, starting at $42 are now available with a Public On-Sale of Saturday, September 20th at 10:00 AM. through the Dick’s Sporting Goods Box Office at CONSOL Energy Center, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at 800-745-3000.

“The response from fans and media of our last event at CONSOL Energy Center in August was outstanding and we promised we’d be back with an even better show in November” said Tyson.

“Both Sammy and Monty were involved in true “Fight of the Year” battles and each are prepared for similar wars on November 14th.

I can’t wait to come back to Pittsburgh.”

Having stamped his presence amongst the top echelon of the welterweight division, the sports’ hottest, with a ninth round stoppage of James Stevenson in August, undefeated southpaw Vasquez Jr., 16-0-0 (12KO’s), will defend his newly attained IBF/USBA Welterweight Title against tough Panamanian veteran ALBERTO “Matralleta” MOSQUERA in the ten round main event.

The 27-year-old Mosquera, 21-1-2 (14KO’s), will look to get back in the win column having suffered the only loss in his nine year professional career this past June against Charlie Navarro.

A previous holder of the WBC Fecarbox Welterweight Title, WBC Latino Junior Welterweight Title and the WBA Fedelatin Junior Welterweight Title, Mosquera has his eyes squarely on lifting Vasquez Jr.’s newly acquired hardware.

Meza Clay, 36-3-2 (22KO’s) returns to the local ring following his career’s finest moment, an epic tenth round stoppage of Mexican veteran Alan Herrera on August 8th at CONSOL Energy Center.

In a style reminiscent of boxing legend Roberto Duran, Meza Clay thrilled the huge crowd from start to finish, demonstrating the skills and heart which have made him one of the sports most respected warriors in the nationally televised clash which featuring outstanding two-way action throughout.

At “The Pride of Pittsburgh II”, Meza Clay will challenge crosstown rival “Lightning” ROD SALKA for the Bunola, PA veteran’s WBC Fecarbox Lightweight Title in the scheduled ten round co-featured bout.

Sporting a record of 19-4-0 (3KO’s), Salka will look to march back into the win column in front of the hometown crowd following his loss to junior welterweight king, Danny Garcia on August 9th in Brooklyn, PA.

Also included among the contenders on Salka’ ledger over his seven year career are Alexei Collado, Ricardo Alverez, Emmanuel Lucero and Dorin Spivey.

As has become custom at all Iron Mike Productions events around the country, a sensational undercard of world-class bouts will be announced shortly.

CONSOL Energy Center is located at 1001 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219. Further information can be located at their website, www.consolenerycenter.com

TRAVIS SCOTT HEADLINES WFC 30, PROFESSIONAL BOXING IN BATON ROUGE

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA — September 18, 2014 — World Fighting Championships returns to the Belle of Baton Rouge for another explosive night of professional boxing, featuring the best local talent that The Capital City has to offer. WFC 30 raises the stakes on October 17^th, when Travis Scott (17-0, 4KO) will fight for the WFC Middleweight Championship Title.

Scott, a former US Marine, is best described as a “pure boxer.” “I don’t go for the knock-out,” said Scott of his fighting style. “I possess a gift. That gift is to beat my opponent mentally. I use his strength against him. When he burns out, that’s when I go to work.” Scott will go to work in an eight round bout on October 17^th in pursuit of the WFC Middleweight title. “It’s always good to have an opportunity to add another title to my professional resume. Anytime there’s something new to gain, something meaningful, I guess I gotta work hard to get it,” said Scott.

In the six-round, co-main event bout, Baton Rouge’s Justin Thomas (9-0, 5KO) faces the tough Daniel Henry (2-1-3, 0KO) of Austin, Texas. Thomas is coming off a unanimous decision win over super middleweight Martin Verdin (20-18-2, 11KO) at WFC 26 in August. Thomas described Verdin as his toughest opponent to date. “I was going for the stoppage, but Verdin is a veteran. He knew what to do to survive the round,” said Thomas of the contest. Thomas is excited to once again be able to showcase his talents in his hometown. “It’s the best feeling in the world to fight in front of my hometown fans. Getting to show the results of all my hard work and everything I put into boxing in front of the people who saw me come up is just the best feeling,” said Thomas.

Also featured on the card, local sensation Chris Singleton (12-1, 5KO) will face the experienced Steve Trumble (13-31, 8KO). Singleton will be fighting in his hometown for the first time in over two years. “It means everything to me to fight at home,” said Singleton. “I have sparred with Trumble before. He’s a strong, tough veteran, and it’s going to be a competitive fight. I’m ready to put on a great show for everyone.”

Rounding out the card, Arthur Thomas (1-0, 1KO) will face Todd Manuel (8-4-1, 1KO), and Larry Stampley (Debut) will face Jay Orta (7-17-2, 4KO).

Up-and-coming promoter, and President of WFC, Matt McGovern, is excited about the direction that boxing is taking in the South. Said the young promoter, “Our last seven events in Baton Rouge have sold out, and been packed with enthusiastic boxing fans. I think the South is a great place for boxing, and we’re lucky to be working with talented fighters and a great venue here in Baton Rouge.”

The official WFC 30 weigh-in will take place on Thursday, October 16th at the Belle of Baton Rouge Atrium at 5:30 CST. The weigh-in is open to the public.

Tickets are priced at $60 for VIP, and $30 for general admission, and are available via the WFC website at www.worldfightingchampionships.com. Fans are encouraged to buy tickets early, as the last seven events at the Belle have sold out.

Doors to the Atrium at the Belle of Baton Rouge open at 7:00 p.m. on fight night. First bell is at 8:00 p.m.

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