Crossroad fights for Oliveira & LaMontagne

ESPN2 Friday Night Fights at Foxwoods

02.05 - PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Two locally-based major world title contenders, "Sucra" Ray Oliveira and Richie "The Mountain" LaMontagne, will be in crossroad fights tonight in the main event and co-feature, respectively, on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights, promoted by Jimmy Burchfield's Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc., at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Oliveira (44-8-2, 21 KOs), Ring Magazine's No. 10 rated welterweight, and LaMontagne, the World Boxing Council's No. 9 ranked cruiserweight, are at the crossroads of their careers, both needing victories to keep their major world title fight hopes alive.

Oliveira, of New Bedford (MA), makes his first International Boxing Union world welterweight title defense in the 12-round main event against Venezuelan invader Elio "El Chingo" Ortiz (24-4, 19 KOs).

At yesterday's press conference, as Oliveira approached the podium, he went over to shake Ortiz' hand. "I want to thank him for showing up because my last (scheduled) opponent (Golden Johnson) didn't," Ray explained. "I'm coming here Friday night to do what I have to do to defend my title. The last few times (three) I defended a title here (Foxwoods) I lost. That streak will end Friday."

Ortiz, through an interpreter, thanked Burchfield for giving him an opportunity to fight on national television. "I've come here well prepared to fight for the IBU championship," he added. "I've been in a lot of tough battles and I'll prove myself to everybody Friday night."

LaMontagne (27-4-1, 22 KOs), the Everett (MA)-native, takes on USBO cruiserweight champion Ernest "M-16" Mateen (27-9-3, 9 KOs), fighting out of Queens (NY), in the 10-round co-feature.

""I'm looking forward to Friday night's fight against Mateen," LaMontagne commented. "I don't know too much about him, so I trained like I was fighting Richie LaMontagne, like I always do. I've put my modeling and acting on hold for boxing. I'm ready to rock n' roll. I'm going right after Mateen, not necessarily to knock him out, but prepared to go 10 rounds. If I hit him good, though, I'll knock him out. What I do best is power punching."

The undercard finds CES' multi-talented "Young Guns" - middleweight "Bad" Chad Dawson (11-0, 7 KOs), 2001 & 2002 New England Prospect of the Year, New Haven (CT); featherweight Angel "Gee Roc" Torres (11-2, 4 KOs), 2002 N. E. Prospect of the Year, Manchester (CT): "Steamin'" Josh Beeman (1-0), 2000 Eastern Olympic Trials gold medal winner, Providence (RI). Also on the card are two other Providence fighters, unbeaten heavyweight Jevon "J Roc" Langford (5-0, 5 KOs), former 7-year National Football League player with the Cincinnati Bengals; world rated (No. 7 IWBF & No. 9 WIBA) lightweight Missy "The Fury" Fiorentino (5-0, 4 KOs), former U.S. National amateur champion.

All bouts and fighters are subject to change. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the first bout scheduled to start at 7:30. The ESPN2 broadcast will start at 10 p.m.

Tickets are $60, $50 and $35. For ticket information call CES' headquarters at 401.724.2253/401.724.2254, visit its Web site at www.cesboxing.com, or contact the Foxwoods box office at 800.200.2882.

 

ESPN2's FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS
Friday, May 2, 2003
Fox Theatre
Foxwoods Resort Casino

Main Event: 12 Rounds - IBU World Welterweight Title
"Sucra" Ray Oliveira vs. Elio "El Chingo" Ortiz
New Bedford, MA Coro, Venezuela
44-8-2, 21 KO's 24-4, 19 KO's
IBU World Champion Five-Time WBA Champion

Co-Feature: 10 Rounds - Cruiserweights
Rich "The Mountain" LaMontagne vs. Ernest "M-16" Mateen
Everett, MA Queens, NY
27-4-1, 22 KO's 27-9-3, 9 KO's
World Rated #9 WBC Reigning USBO Champion

6 Rounds - Featherweights
Angel "Gee-Roc" Torres vs. Terrell Hargrove
Manchester, CT Louisville, KY
11-2, 4 KO's 6-4, 3 KO's
'02 N.E. Most Improved Fighter

6 Rounds - Middleweights
"Bad" Chad Dawson vs. Earl Allen, Jr.
New Haven, CT Charleston, SC
11-0, 7 KO's 11-15-3, 1 KO
'01 & '02 N.E. Prospect of the Year

4 Rounds - Lightweights
"Steamin" Josh Beeman vs. Caesar Vega
Providence, RI Louisville, KY
1-0 2-2
'00 Eastern Olympic Trials Gold Medallist

4 Rounds - Heavyweights
Jevon "J Roc" Langford vs. Cory Gregory
Las Vegas, NV Cleveland, OH
5-0, 5 KO's 2-1, 1 KO
Former NFL Football Star

4 Rounds - Female Lightweights
Missy "The Fury" Fiorentino vs. Brenda Bell Drexel
Cranston, RI San Marcos, TX
5-0, 4 KO's 5-17-2, 0 KO's
World Rated #7 (IWBF) World Rated #6 (WIBF)