PABA Welterweight Champion Tewa Kiram (38-0. 28 KOs) and lightweight contender Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (31-1-2, 17 KOs) hosted a media workout today at Westside Boxing Club in Los Angeles, Calif. ahead of their respective world championship bouts. Kiram will take on former interim WBC Super Lightweight Champion Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (38-4, 35 KOs) in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBA Welterweight World Title, while Gesta will take on WBA, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine World Champion Jorge “El Nino De Oro” Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) in a 12-round battle. The action takes place on Saturday, Jan. 27 in a special double main event at the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The doubleheader will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark®beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Golden Boy Promotions
Lucas Matthysse predicts win over Tewa Kiram
Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (38-4, 35 KOs) hosted a media workout today in Indio, Calif. ahead of his 12-round fight against Tewa Kiram (38-0. 28 KOs) for the vacant WBA Welterweight World Championship on Jan. 27, 2018 in a special double main event at the “Fabulous” Forum Inglewood, Calif. In the second part of the double main event, Jorge “El Nino De Oro” Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) will defend his WBA, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine Lightweight Titles against Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (31-1-2, 17 KOs) in a 12-round battle. The doubleheader will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Saunders beats Lemieux – Results
Billy Joe Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs) outpointed hometown hero David Lemieux (38-4, 33 KOs) to retain the WBO Middleweight World Championship in the 12-round main event of HBO World Championship Boxing at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Saunders, a native of the United Kingdom, outboxed Lemieux for 12 rounds from his slick southpaw stance to win via unanimous decision with scores of 120-108, 117-111, and 118-110.
Matthysse & Gesta press conference quotes
Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (38-4, 35 KOs), the current WBA Inter-Continental and WBO International Welterweight Champion of Chubut, Argentina held a press conference today at Malbec Argentinean Cuisine in Santa Monica ahead of his fight for the vacant WBA Welterweight World Championship against undefeated Thai superstar Tewa Kiram (38-0, 28 KOs) in a 12-round battle at the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, Calif. In the second main event, Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (31-1-2, 17 KOs), who was also in attendance, will challenge Venezuela’s Jorge “El Nino De Oro” Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) in a 12-round championship bout for Linares’ WBA, WBC Diamond, and Ring Magazine lightweight titles. The event will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark® beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Saunders – Lemieux quotes for this Sat. on HBO
OSCAR DE LA HOYA: Thank you to the media for joining us today in this International Media Conference Call for Saunders versus Lemieux. We are kicking off fight week with this call and have a week of events leading up to Saturday’s events, which will surely be a showdown between two heavy hitters this Saturday, December 16th, at the brand new Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada. WBO Middleweight World Champion Billy Joe Saunders will battle the heavy-handed David Lemieux for Saunders title, which is a WBO title. This event is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Eye of the Tiger Management in association with my partner Frank Warren.
Mickey Roman defeats Orlando Salido
Miguel “Mickey” Roman (58-13, 45 KOs) brought new life to his career with a spectacular and dominant ninth-round technical knockout victory against four-time, two division world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido (44-14, 31 KOs) in a Fight of the Year Candidate and main event of HBO Boxing After Dark at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Roman, a native of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, scored knockdowns in rounds four and eight before the fight was finally stopped at 1:43 of the ninth round after a fight-finishing flurry sent Salido to the canvas for the last time in his career.
Results: Sadam Ali defeats Miguel Cotto
On a night that Madison Square Garden and the boxing world bid farewell to a boxing legend in Miguel Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs), Sadam “World Kid” Ali (26-1, 14 KOs) stole the show, winning a unanimous decision victory and the WBO Junior Middleweight World Championship in front of 12,391 fans and televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing. The final scores were 115-113 twice and 116-112.
Ali, a 2008 U.S. Olympian from Brooklyn, hurt Cotto twice in the early rounds and used slick defense and solid counter-punching to keep Cotto at bay throughout the 12-round bout.
Cotto and Ali final press quotes
Four division world champion Miguel Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs) and current WBA International Welterweight Champion Sadam “World Kid” Ali (25-1, 14 KOs) today hosted the final press conference for their WBO World Junior Middleweight Championship fight, which takes place Saturday, Dec. 2 at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Results: Lamont Roach Jr. beats Rey Perez
Super Featherweight Prospect Lamont Roach, Jr. (16-0, 6 KOs) demonstrated yet again why he’s one of the best and brightest prospects of the Golden Boy Promotions stable as he defeated tough contender Rey “Flash” Perez (21-9, 6 KOs) via unanimous decision in the 10-round main event of the latest edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland. Despite getting caught with a hard shot to the body in the second round, Roach, Jr. prevailed in exciting and dominant fashion, landing right hands and lead left uppercuts to hurt Perez in the later rounds. Roach, Jr. won with three scores of 99-91.
Cotto-Ali & Vargas-Negrete this Saturday on HBO
A superstar enters the ring for the final time when HBO Sports presents WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: MIGUEL COTTO VS. SADAM ALI AND REY VARGAS VS. OSCAR NEGRETE on SATURDAY, DEC. 2 at 10:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Madison Square Garden in New York City, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Cotto vs Ali Press Conference Live Stream
The fights will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.