PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (September 27, 2004) – Boxing stars from the past and present will be out Friday night (October 1, 2004) for “Bayside Brawl,” promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc. (CES), in association with Mohegan Sun and New England Ringside, at the Bayside Expo Center in South Boston.
Expected to be on hand as special guests are Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Paz, former five-time world champion; “Irish” Micky Ward, ex-WBU light welterweight title holder; Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton (headlining CES’ Oct. 29 show at Foxwoods Resort Casino), IBU World and NABF super middleweight champion; “Bad” Chad Dawson, WBC Youth middleweight title holder (Oct. 29 co-feature fighter); Gary “Tiger” Balletto, former IBU World lightweight champ; Dr. Wilbert “Skeeter” McClure, 1960 Olympic gold medalist. Also there in attendance will be Worcester heavyweight
Public Weigh-In Thursday at The Stadium
The official weigh-in will be held Thursday night (5 pm) at The Stadium, 232 Old Colony Avenue, South Boston. 617.269.5100. The public and media are welcome.
World-class welterweights “Sucra” Ray Oliveira (46-9-2, 22 KOs), former 2-time NABF and IBU World champion, and Hicklet Lau (19-11-2, 9 KOs) will be fighting in the 12-round main event for the vacant International Boxing Union World welterweight title.
NABF No. 2 rated Oliveira, of New Bedford, is the only fighter to defeat WBA junior light welterweight champion “Vicious” Vivian Harris, and he also has wins against former world title-holders Charles Murray (twice) and Vince Phillips.
Cuban-born Lau, now fighting out of Miami, has fought the likes of top-ranked junior welterweights and welterweights Kermit Cintron, Cosme Rivera, Rafael Ruelas, Ben Tackie and Daniel Attah.
Unbeaten cruiserweight Matt Godfrey (4-0, 2 KOs), of Providence, is matched against Andrew “Came To Fight” Hutchinson, of New York City, in a special four-round attraction. Godfrey is a former four-time national open champion, including 2004 U.S. Nationals as a heavyweight, as well as second alternate for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team.
Narragansett’s (RI) former world light welterweight champion Jaime “The Hurricane” Clampitt (13-3, 5 KOs), coming off one of the best female fights of all-time against Jane Couch, is fighting WIBF No. 8 rated “Tiger Lady” Brenda Bell Drexel, of Texas, in a six-rounder.
Super welterweight Martin “The Irish Assassin” Thornton (8-1-1, 3 KOs), originally from Galway (Ireland) and now fighting out of South Boston, faces Khalif Shabazz, of Bellows Falls (VT), in a six-round match. Two other Southie boxers, Massachusetts light welterweight title-holder “Cocky” Kevin Watts (18-6, 7 KOs) and Belfast (Northern Ireland) native super middleweight Joe “Sugar” Rea (1-0, 1 KO, 1 NC), are slated to fight in separate bouts against TBA.
Also scheduled on the undercard in a pair of four-rounders are Peabody light heavyweight Wayne “Lights Out” Johnsen (4-0, 3 KOs), versus Jerald Lowe, of Atlanta, and Philadelphia welterweight prospect Phillip McCants (0-0-1) against Emmanuel Roman (1-0, 1 KO), of San Juan (Puerto Rico) . (All bouts and fighters are subject to change.)
The Bayside Expo Center is located in South Boston, off I-93, close to the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Go to www.baysideexpo.com for more information.
Tickets, on sale now, are $125.00 Jimmy’s Platinum Club (limited), $100.00 VIP Ringside (limited), $50.00 Reserved, and $25.00 General Admission. To order or for more information call CES’ corporate office at 401.724.2253/2254 or visit its web site at www.cesboxing.com. Tickets are also available at TicketMaster.