CES 2003 Fight of Year: Pemberton-Sheika

20.12.03 – Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc. (CES) announced today that Scott Pemberton-Omar Sheika has been selected as CES’ 2003 Fight of the Year by CES staff members, sponsors and fans. Pemberton (26-3-1, 21 KOs) captured the NABF championship and retained his IBU World super middleweight crown with a 12-round majority decision (114-113, 114-113, 111-116) against three-time world title challenger Sheika (23-5, 16 KOs) in their July 25th ESPN2 Friday Night Fights main event at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

“Pemberton-Sheika was as competitive and exciting as any fight I’ve promoted in my 25 years involved in boxing,” CES president Jimmy Burchfield said. “Styles make fights. Every once in a while you get two warriors like Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward who come around and entertain fans the way boxing should be. Scott and Omar did that last July and it was so good we’re doing it again next month. Fights like Pemberton-Sheika belong on major networks and they both deserve bigger paydays. Gatti and Ward became millionaires, deservingly so, but Scott and Omar still aren’t making anything close to what they deserve for the way they fight. I’m working hard to make it happen for them.”

Pemberton-Sheika is a legitimate 2003 Fight of the Year candidate along with Toney-Jirov, Spadafora-Dorin, Freitas-Barrios and Gatti-Ward III, among a few others. Based on many accounts, Pemberton-Sheika rates as favorite in terms of ESPN2’s 2003 Fight of the Year, as well as the 2003 Super Middleweight Fight of the Year, including world championship matches held oversees.

The much-anticipated Pemberton-Sheika II will headline the CES-promoted “The Battle II,” January 23 live on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights, at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Pemberton-Sheika II is one of two championship matches – NABF and IBU — on the show. Unbeaten junior middleweights, “The Pride of Providence” Peter Manfredo, Jr. (19-0, 9 KOs) and Sherwin Davis (17-0, 11 KOs), fight for the vacant NABO title. Davis knocked out former U.S. Olympian Dante Craig, whose management team turned down an opportunity to fight Manfredo on the Jan. 23rd card.