CICERO, Ill., (Jan. 6, 2006) – On a cold night in Cicero, Joel Julio raised the temperature in the gym with a spectacular third-round knockout over Robert Kamya Friday on “ShoBox: The New Generation.” In the exciting co-feature, Raul Martinez knocked down Andres Ledesma three times en route to an eighth-round TKO. The doubleheader, which took place at Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Ill., was promoted by Main Events Inc. and aired at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on west coast).
“Julio delivered as advertised,” “ShoBox” expert analyst Steve Farhood said. “He is offensively amazing, shows patience, attacks the head and body, and showed maturity beyond his years. He has the look of a 25-year veteran, not a 20-year old kid.”
Julio (26-0, 23 KOs), of Columbia, was recently tabbed as “Prospect of the Year” by ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael. Kim said: “Julio is a fighter who looks poised to break through to the next level in the upcoming months.”
Displaying poise, great technical boxing skills and devastating power, Julio lived up to his pre-fight hype and then some. In the first round, Julio connected with a straight counterpunch, sending Kamya spinning to the canvas.
In the third, Julio cracked Kamya with a left hook to the chin, sending him to the mat again. At 1:32 of the round, the referee reached the count of 10. Julio is ranked No. 8 in the WBC and World Boxing Organization (WBO), and No. 11 in the WBA.
“I felt my opponent was strong and well trained,” Julio said. “So I waited him out. As I learned Kamya’s strengths, I had to think on my feet and find a plan. I got the perfect knockout.”
Kamya (15-6, five KOs), of West Palm Beach, Fla. by way of Uganda, was overmatched against the budding star. He snagged the WBC Continental Americas 154-pound title in his last outing with a 12-round majority decision over Alex Bunema (26-4-2 going in) on Aug. 13, 2005, in Chicago. In a hard-fought match, Kamya won by the scores 115-112, 114-112 and 113 apiece.
Martinez (13-0, 10 KOs), of San Antonio, Texas, started off by working his opponent’s body, wore him down and put Ledesma to the canvas twice in the third round. Seemingly unable to finish Ledesma, Martinez’ pace slowed considerably in the fourth and fifth rounds. In the sixth, the ringside doctor looked at a gash over Martinez’ right eye and warned him he would stop the fight if the cut got any worse.
Martinez attacked Ledesma with renewed vigor. In the eighth round, Martinez connected with a punishing straight right to the chin, throwing the challenger to the canvas again. Ledesma wobbled back to his feet but could barely stand without the aid of the referee, prompting the stoppage at 1:35 into the round.
“I am very happy that I was able to pull it off,” Martinez said. “I do not give myself an ‘A’ for this performance. I got tired, but I knew that I would get a second wind. I knew he trained hard, so after he went down in the third, I expected him to come back. But I trained too hard to lose.”
Ledesma (13-2-1, eight KOs) of Columbia, was unable to capitalize on an eight-inch reach advantage. His best punch of the fight opened a severe gash over the right eye of Martinez in the sixth. On Oct. 15, 2004, Ledesma captured the Columbian super bantamweight title with a 10-round decision over Arcelio Ibarra.
Nick Charles called Friday’s action from ringside, with Steve Farhood serving as expert analyst. The executive producer of the telecast was Gordon Hall, with Richard Gaughan producing.
In addition to the rebroadcast on Saturday, Jan. 6, at midnight, Friday’s bouts also will be replayed on SHOWTIME EXTREME Monday at 8 p.m. and Wednesday at 11:30 p.m., prior to a final airing on SHOWTIME TOO Thursday at 11 p.m.
The next “ShoBox’’ telecast on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast), will feature Kahren “Armenian Essence” Harutyunyan against Nonito “Flash” Donaire for the North American Boxing Organization (NABO) junior bantamweight title on Friday, Jan. 20, 2006. In the exciting co-feature, Global Boxing Union (GBU) Americas Lightweight Champion Tyrone Harris will take on Israel Hernandez in an eight-round junior lightweight tussle.
The telecast represented the 70th in the popular “ShoBox” series, which debuted on SHOWTIME in July 2001. “ShoBox” features up-and-coming prospects determined to make a mark and eventually fight for a chance at a world title. A number of fighters who have appeared on the series have gone on to become world champions, including Kermit Cintron, Juan Diaz, Leonard Dorin, Joan Guzman and Scott Harrison.
SHOWTIME’s great weekend of boxing continues Saturday, Jan. 7, at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). In the main event, one of the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers, undisputed welterweight champion Zab “Super” Judah, will put his World Boxing Council/International Boxing Federation/World Boxing Association (WBC/IBF/WBA) titles on the line against World Boxing Council (WBC) 147-pound mandatory challenger and No. 1 contender, Carlos Baldomir. In the co-feature, two reigning cruiserweight champions will collide when WBC//World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Jean-Marc Mormeck faces his International Boxing Federation (IBF) counterpart, O’Neil “Supernova’’ Bell, for the undisputed cruiserweight title. The winner of Mormeck-Bell will become the division’s first undisputed champion since Evander Holyfield defeated Carlos DeLeon in 1988 on SHOWTIME, and just the second since the division was created in 1980. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING twinbill will be promoted by Don King and take place at The Theater At Madison Square Garden.
For information on “ShoBox: The New Generation” and SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecasts, including complete fighter bios, records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at http://www.sho.com/boxing.