Las Vegas, February 14, 2007 – They come from vastly different places in their lives and boxing careers, but Daniel Ponce De Leon, Gerry Penalosa, Demetrius Hopkins and Steve Forbes all have one thing in common – the desire to be the best, and the willingness to put everything on the line to achieve that goal. On Saturday, March 17, on the Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Juan Manuel Marquez undercard at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, all four fighters will look to move one step closer to their dream when they square off in two intriguing bouts which will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View..
Mexican powerpuncher Daniel Ponce De Leon will put his WBO super bantamweight championship on the line against former world champion Gerry Penalosa of the Philippines, and in a junior welterweight showdown with major title implications, Demetrius Hopkins puts his unbeaten record on the line against former world champion and a season two finalist of ‘The Contender’, Steve Forbes.
One of boxing’s exciting young stars, thrill-a-minute WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (30-1, 28 KOs) gets more impressive with each victory. A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, the 26-year-old southpaw won his first world title October 29, 2005, when he outpointed Thailand’s previously unbeaten Sod Looknongyangtoy in 12 rounds. After a second round knockout over Gerson Guerrero in his first title defense, De Leon met Looknongyangtoy again last July, but this time, the rapidly improving champion was in fearsome form as he knocked his challenger out in only 52 seconds. In October 2006, De Leon made the third defense of his crown with an eighth round blowout of Al Seeger.
Gerry Penalosa (51-5-2, 34 KOs), a seasoned southpaw from Manila with close to 18 years as a pro to his name, has gone 5-0 with three knockouts since his return to the ring in 2004 after a two-year layoff. He is a former WBC super flyweight world champion with three defenses under his belt who impressively stopped highly regarded contender Mauricio Martinez in his last outing October 21, 2006. On March 17th, Penalosa hopes to show young gun Daniel Ponce De Leon a few tricks en route to gaining yet another world championship belt.
The nephew of middleweight legend Bernard Hopkins, Demetrius Hopkins has worked tirelessly to create his own identity in the boxing world and has passed with flying colors, compiling 25 wins (10 by knockout) with no losses and a single technical draw. The current USBA junior welterweight champion, “The Gladiator” was once seen as strictly a technician in the ring, but with four of his last six wins coming by knockout over top-notch competition, opponents now have to fear Hopkins’ power as well. In his last fight, Hopkins, who is currently ranked No. 2 by the IBF, scored a dominant 12-round decision over Rogelio Castaneda Jr. in November 2006.
Steve “2 Pounds” Forbes (32-4, 9 KOs) turned pro in 1996 and has since thrilled aficionados of the fight game with his stellar skill set and boxing savvy. A native of Las Vegas, Forbes first burst on the world scene in 2000, when he won the vacant IBF world lightweight title by defeating John Brown. He would defend the title once before losing it on the scales before a win over David Santos, and after tough title fight defeats to Carlos Hernandez and Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai, he moved up to 140 pounds. Since 2004, he has won eight of nine fights, with the only loss being a close 10-round split decision to the much bigger Grady Brewer in the finale of ‘The Contender’. Now fighting fighters closer to his size, Forbes is looking for big things in the junior welterweight division.
“Fearless” – Barrera vs. Marquez, is a 12-round WBC Super Featherweight Championship bout presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Romanza Boxing.
The Barrera vs. Marquez pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $44.95, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 56 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your daily Barrera vs. Marquez fight week updates, log onto www.HBO.com.
Tickets to Barrera vs Marquez are priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50. Tickets are sold at any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s stores and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.