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Who Do Ya Like, Morales or Garcia?
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BIG-TIME BOXING DOUBLEHEADER LANDS IN THE LONE STAR STATE TO KICK OFF 2012 AS MEXICAN LEGEND ERIK “EL TERRIBLE” MORALES FACES UNDEFEATED RISING STAR DANNY “SWIFT” GARCIA ON JANUARY 28 FOR THE WBC SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE AT RELIANT ARENA IN HOUSTON LIVE ON HBO BOXING AFTER DARK
PLUS, TEXAS NATIVE JAMES “MANDINGO WARRIOR” KIRKLAND FACES
HARD-HITTING “KING” CARLOS MOLINA IN A
JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT CO-FEATURED BOUT
HOUSTON, TEX. (December 15) – To kick off the 2012 boxing year, Golden Boy Promotions and Box Latino Promotions will deliver a night of boxing that no fight fan will want to miss when future Hall of Famer Erik “El Terrible” Morales defends his WBC Super Lightweight title against unbeaten Philadelphian Danny “Swift” Garcia and James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland, fresh off of his thrilling fight against Alfredo Angulo, battles “King” Carlos Molina on Saturday, Jan. 28 at Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas in an HBO Boxing After Dark televised doubleheader that airs at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
Tickets, priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, go on sale on Saturday, December 17 at 10:00 a.m. CT and may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Reliant Stadium box office south ticket windows.
“Danny Garcia is a strong, fast, young fighter,” said Morales. “I have always said that I want to fight the best. Garcia is one of boxing’s future stars and is highly rated, but I feel I will beat him without any problem. His time is not now.”
“To be able to face legend like Erik Morales and headline an HBO fight card is what I have been waiting for my whole life,” said Garcia. “I am going to work hard and make a statement on national television that I have what it takes to not only face one of the greats, but to beat him too.”
“I am thrilled to be fighting in my home state of Texas,” Kirkland said. “2011 was a whirlwind year for me and I am looking forward to kicking off 2012 on top. Molina is tough, but I am tougher. I want to keep this winning streak going and I’m not going to let anyone stop it.”
“James Kirkland is capable of being stopped,” Molina said. “We saw it in April and we will see it again in January. I am confident in my abilities and I know that with hard work, I will be the one with my hand raised at the end of the fight.”
There were some skeptics when former Three-Division World Champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales (52-7, 36 KO’s) returned from a three year layoff in 2010, but after three wins that year, Tijuana’s “El Terrible” truly showed that he was back in 2011 with a Fight of the Year candidate against Marcos Maidana in April and a 10th round stoppage of unbeaten Pablo Cesar Cano that earned him the WBC Super Lightweight Title in a historic fourth divisional world title. On Jan. 28, the 35-year-old will look to defeat another unbeaten young gun in #2 rated WBC contender Danny Garcia.
Twenty-three-year old Philadelphian Danny “Swift” Garcia (22-0, 14 KO’s) knows that being a fighter from the City of Brotherly Love means putting it all on the line every time you step into the ring. Thus far, no one has been able to stop the rise of this talented young fighter, and after back-to-back wins over former World Champions Nate Campbell and Kendall Holt in 2011, he’s ready for his big opportunity to turn a current world champion into a former world champion when he faces the legendary Morales in Houston in his HBO debut.
The year 2011 was a tumultuous one for Texas knockout artist James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (30-1, 27 KO’s). After being out of the ring for nearly two years, “The Mandingo Warrior” returned with two quick knockout wins before ending up on the wrong side of a knockout against Nobuhiro Ishida. Undeterred, Kirkland bounced back with two knockout wins before his epic November battle with Alfredo Angulo in which he rose off the canvas in the first round and roared back to stop the rugged Mexican battler in six rounds. In January, the 27-year-old southpaw will look to begin his title run with a win over Carlos Molina.
A native of Patzcuaro, Mexico, 28-year-old “King” Carlos Molina (19-4-2, 6 KO’s) didn’t receive a lot of praise on his way up as a pro, but when he battled Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to a draw in 2005 in a fight many believed Molina won, people started paying attention. He would lose his next three bouts to the 23-0-1 Chavez, 10-0 Wayland Willingham and 15-0 Mike Alvarado, but from then on, Molina hasn’t lost a step or a bout, going 11-0-1 including a draw against Erislandy Lara and, in his most recent bout in July of 2011, a win over former World Champion Kermit Cintron.
Morales vs. Garcia is a 12-round bout for Morales’ WBC Super Lightweight World Title and will take place on Saturday, January 28 at Reliant Arena in Houston, Tex. The co-featured bout will be between James Kirkland and Carlos Molina in a junior middleweight showdown. The evening of boxing is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Box Latino with Kirkland vs. Molina being presented in association with Warrior’s Boxing and Promotions. The HBO Boxing After Dark broadcast begins at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
A full undercard will be announced shortly. For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.reliantpark.com, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/terrible100, www.twitter.com/dannyswift, www.twitter.com/reliantpark or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing or www.facebook.com/reliantparkfan. Follow HBO Boxing news at www.hbo.com/boxing, on Twitter @hboboxing and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hboboxing.
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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.
It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.
Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.
Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.
Bustillo Wins Rematch
In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.
Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.
Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.
After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.
Other Bouts
In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.
A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.
SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.
It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.
Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.
Co-Feature
In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.
Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.
Other Bouts of Note
The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.
The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.
In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.
Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.
In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.
In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.
Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”
He meant it as a rhetorical question.
Semi-Windup
Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.
A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.
Also
Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.
In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.
The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.
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