WORCESTER, Mass. (May 7, 2006) – Photos by Tom Casno / Showtime – This time, Jose Antonio Rivera left no doubt. Fighting for the first time since disappointing the hometown fans and losing his World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title, Rivera captured the WBA super welterweight crown by knocking down defending champion Alejandro Garcia five times en route to winning a convincing 12-round unanimous decision Saturday on SHOWTIME.
In the opening bout of a thrilling SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader, Luis Perez retained his International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior bantamweight belt with a disputed 12-round split decision over mandatory challenger and No. 1 contender Dimitri Kirilov.
The world championship twinbill at the DCU Center was promoted by Don King Productions and aired at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). The fireworks came early and often in both exciting, crowd-pleasing bouts..
Rivera (38-4-1, 25 KOs), of Worcester, decked Garcia twice in the opening round and once in the ninth, 10th and 12th to win a one-sided, give-and-take slugfest going away by the scores of 116-110 twice and 114-107. Despite the final tallies, Rivera could never relax as the offensive-minded Garcia continually pressed forward. The WBA No. 3 contender going in, Rivera was making his first start since losing his WBA belt to Luis Collazo on a 12-round split decision on April 2, 2005, at the DCU Center.
Garcia (25-2, 23 KOs), of Tijuana, Mexico, knocked down Rivera in the fourth session. Defense is only an afterthought with the hard-trying power-puncher, however, and even though he landed his fair share of shots and never quit trying, he couldn’t keep from going down. It was the first defense in his second stint as WBA 154-pound champion for Garcia.
Perez (24-1, 15 KOs), of Managua, Nicaragua, is one of the lighter division’s most feared and crowd-pleasing boxer-punchers but he didn’t look the part against Kirilov and many felt he was fortunate to come away victorious in his third title defense by the scores of 115-113, 114-113 and 110-117. The talented southpaw scored a knockdown in the eighth round, but he was wild with his deliveries, got beat to the punch and was rocked on several occasions. The victory was the ninth in a row for Perez.
Kirilov (28-3, 10 KOs), of St. Petersburg, Russia, fought the fight of his life in the fight of his life in his United States debut, but fell short. Despite spotting the defending champion three inches in height, Kirilov seemingly could not miss with right hands and gained confidence as the bout progressed. A boxer who doesn’t run, Kirilov made Perez miss often and appeared to frustrate him for much of the 36 minutes. The heart-breaking defeat was Kirilov’s second in a world title fight. He lost a close 12-round decision to World Boxing Council (WBC) 115-pound champ Masamori Tokuyama on Jan. 3, 2004, in Osaka, Japan.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING’s Steve Albert and Al Bernstein called the action from ringside with Jim Gray serving as roving reporter. The producer of the SHOWTIME telecast was Ray Smaltz with Bob Dunphy directing.
In addition to Monday night, Saturday’s fights also will be replayed in their entirety on SHOWTIME TOO at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesday, May 9.
The next SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast on Saturday, June 3 (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast) will be highlighted by the long-awaited rubber match between Diego “Chico’’ Corrales (40-3, 33 KOs) and Jose Luis Castillo (54-7-1, 47 KOs). In a terrific battle of unbeaten flyweights in the co-feature at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, IBF champion Vic Darchinyan (25-0, 20 KOs) will defend his crown against IBF No. 8 contender Luis Maldonado (33-0-1, 5 KOs).
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING celebrates 20 years of hard-hitting, explosive programming in 2006. In March 1986, SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING was born when “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler defeated John “The Beast” Mugabi in a spectacular and unforgettable 11th-round knockout in Las Vegas. Since that time, the network has aired some of the most historic and significant events in the sport including both Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson bouts.
Always at the forefront of boxing, SHOWTIME has set itself apart by televising “great fights, no rights” on the first Saturday of every month. SHOWTIME is the first network to regularly deliver live boxing in High Definition. In addition, SHOWTIME continues to be a pioneer in sports television with a number of interactive features across multiple platforms making SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING the most enjoyable, immersive viewing experience for the boxing audience.
For information on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecasts, including complete fighter bios and records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at http://www.sho.com/boxing.