07.12.04 – U.S. Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada makes his pro debut Friday night in a four-round Special Heavyweight Attraction on “Bragging Rights,” the holiday pro boxing show at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. WBC Youth middleweight champion “Bad” Chad Dawson (15-0, 10 KOs), of New Haven (CT), fights in his first main event against former WBA champion Carl “The Squirrel” Daniels (49-4-1, 31 KOs) in a 10-round title match headlining “Bragging Rights,” promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc. (CES) in association with Foxwoods Resort Casino and CN8, The Comcast Network.
“Bragging Rights” will be taped live and air in primetime Saturday, December 11 7:30-10:00 PM/ET on CN8, The Comcast Network to 6.4 million homes from Maine to Maryland. CN8’s coverage of “Bragging Rights” will also be available on Comcast Digital Cable’s ‘ON DEMAND” service and online at www.cn8.tv. Overall, “Bragging Rights” will be broadcast on tape delay in up to 20-million additional households nationwide.
Estrada, of Providence (RI), is matched against Joseph Kenneth (3-3, 2 KOs), of Miami. Estrada was the first amateur boxer to win both the U.S. Nationals and U.S. Challenge three years (2001-2003) in a row.
“I am extremely honored to be making my pro debut at beautiful Foxwoods Resort Casino,” 2004 U.S. Olympian Estrada said. “I’m excited to be getting in the ring in front of so many of my fans, there and on CN8, to show the world that I can be as good a boxer in the pro ranks as I was in the amateurs. It’s going to be an electrifying night.”
Estrada was the only U.S. boxer to capture a gold medal at the 2003 Pan-Am Games and first non-Cuban to ever win the super heavyweight championship there.
“We have a lot to prove,” Estrada’s promoter, CES president Jimmy Burchfield, added. “I’m as happy as the Estradas to be working together and, as a unit, we’ll work hard to earn everybody’s respect. I believe that in the not too distant future Jason Estrada is going to be the heavyweight champion of the world.”
Dawson, rated No. 19 in the WBC, not only faces his toughest opponent in the 49-win Daniels, but a veteran who has fought undisputed middleweight champion Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins among other notable world class opponents.
The 10-round co-feature title fight for the vacant IWBF junior welterweight is between former champion Jaime “The Hurricane” Clampitt (14-3, 5 KOs) and four-time world title challenger Eliza Olson (8-4-2, 2 KOs), of Fresno (CA). Clampitt was scheduled to fight Jane Couch in a rematch, but Couch pulled out yesterday citing a case impetigo and cold sores on her face. Couch, however, was stripped of the title for violating IWBF rules (see accompanying release).
Clampitt won a very competitive 10-round decision October 31 2003 versus Olson for the vacant IWBF junior welterweight championship. Olson took the match on short notice and has lobbied for a rematch ever since.
Also scheduled to fight on the undercard in separate matches is Providence’s unbeaten super middleweight Joey “The KO Kid” Spina (13-0, 10 KOs), now trained by former world light heavyweight champ Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, versus former WBF Americas welterweight champion “Gentleman” James Johnson (17-12-2), of Louisiana.
In four-round matches on the undercard are unbeaten light heavyweight Wayne “Lights Out” Johnsen (5-0, 4 KOs), fighting out of Peabody (MA), against Terrance “TJ” Jones (10-6, 6 KOs), of Oklahoma City; Providence junior welterweight “Steamin’” Josh Beeman (3-1, 1 KO) tangles with John Temple (6-6-1, 1 KO), of Louisiana; Haverhill (MA) welterweight prospect Angel Vargas (1-0, 1 KO), via the Dominican Republic, faces Philadelphia’s Phillip “The Mongoose” McCants (1-0-1). All matches and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets, priced at $75.00, $60.00 and $35.00, are available by calling CES’ corporate headquarters at 401.724.2253/2254, Foxwoods’ box office at 800.200.2882, or going on line at www.foxwoods.com. For additional information call CES or visit its web site at www.cesboxing.com. Call TransMedia Entertainment Group at 610.627.0606 or 203.288.7111 for television advertising or broadcasting opportunities.