LOS ANGELES, CA (November 21, 2008) – Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank announced the addition of two 12-round title fights to the December 6 pay-per-view undercard of “The Dream Match,” headlined by the 12-round welterweight collision between two of boxing’s biggest attractions OSCAR DE LA HOYA and MANNY PACQUIAO..
NABO junior welterweight champion and Top-Five contender “Vicious” VICTOR ORTIZ defends his title against JEFFREY RESTO and WBO junior featherweight champion JUAN MANUEL “Juanma” LOPEZ defends his crown against Top-10 contender and Argentinian National super bantamweight champion SERGIO “Rocky” MEDINA. Combined, these four warriors have a sterling record of 100-4-1 (69 KOs) – a winning percentage of 95% and a victory by knockout ratio of 69%.
Ortiz (22-1-1, 17 KOs), from Oxnard, Calif., a former amateur standout, is currently riding a two-year, 16-bout unbeaten streak, including 12 knockout victories. He captured the vacant NABO title in his last fight, a fifth-round stoppage of Roberto Arrieta in September. Recent knockout victories of former world champion Carlos Maussa and contender Emmanuel Clottey have raised his world rating to a career-high, No, 5 in both the WBO and the WBA. Resto (22-2, 13 KOs) is enjoying a four-year winning streak. This year, the Bronx native of both Mexican and Puerto Rican descent scored decision wins over Humberto Tapia and Hector Altorre, who had a combined record of 27-8-1 when he fought them. Resto is currently rated No. 7 by the NABO.
Lopez (23-0, 21 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, will be making his second world title defense on December 6. The 2004 Puerto Rican Olympian has not had an opponent go the distance with him in over two years. He captured the world title in June, knocking out defending champion Daniel Ponce De Leon in the first round. He retained the title in his first defense in October against Cesar Figueroa, again by first-round knockout. Medina (33-1, 18 KOs), from Salta, Argentina, enters the fight riding a five-bout winning streak, while collecting the WBO-Inter-Continental, the Argentina National and the WBA Latin American junior featherweight titles en route to a top-10 world rating.
Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., presented by Tequila Cazadores and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, DeWalt Tools, Full Throttle Energy Drink and Southwest Airlines. De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao, a 12-round welterweight battle, will take place Saturday, Dec. 6 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev. The fight will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
MGM Grand will host closed circuit viewing in conjunction with the upcoming “Dream Match” between the ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya and Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao. Tickets for the closed circuit telecast are priced at $100 (preferred viewing) and $60, not including handling fees. All seats are general admission and are now on sale at the MGM Grand ticket office outlets at the Concierge desk and the KÀ Theatre box office. Tickets also will be available by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 702-474-4000. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Additional MGM MIRAGE properties will host closed circuit viewing and tickets will go on sale at a later date
HBO’s all-access reality series “De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7” returns with an all new episode on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
An additional pay-per-view bout and a complete undercard will be announced shortly.
2008 AIBA Women’s World Championships Action to Begin on Saturday
(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – The 2008 AIBA Women’s World Championships will open competition on Saturday at the Ningo Youngor Gymnasium in the Ningbo Sports Center in Ningbo City, China. The event draw, which will set the brackets for all 13 weight divisions, will take place at 11 a.m. China time with the opening session of boxing starting at 3 p.m.
A total of 237 boxers from 42 countries are scheduled to take part in the 5th AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The bantamweight division boasts the largest amount of registered athletes with 27 boxers followed by the featherweight class with 26 competitors.
The 2008 edition is the first Women’s World Championships since 2006 and will feature the top female athletes from across the globe. The United States team arrived in Ningbo City on Sunday for a preparatory training camp at the Ningbo Sports Center. The squad has been waking up at 5:30 a.m. for a run around a nearby park, completing afternoon training sessions and sparring every other day since their arrival in China. They completed their final day of training camp on Friday and are prepared for competition to begin on Saturday.
The boxers scheduled to represent the United States are: light flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas); flyweight Cheryl Houlihan (Santee, Calif.); light bantamweight Sacred Downing (Trenton, N.J.); bantamweight Cynthia Moreno (Phoenix, Ariz.); featherweight Alexandria Cardenas (San Angelo, Texas); lightweight Carrie Barry (Colorado Springs, Colo.); light welterweight Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.); welterweight Vanessa Jackson (Columbus, Ohio); light middleweight Grace Parks (Bellingham, Wash.); middleweight Meredith Della Giustina (Versailles, Ky.); light heavyweight Miosha Wagoner (Lawrence, Kansas); and heavyweight Tiffanie Hearn (Versailles, Ky.).
Coaches Ted Palac (Hamtramck, Mich.), Harry Thomas (Stafford, Texas), and Bonnie Canino (Dania Beach, Fla.) will lead the U.S. team into competition in Ningbo City. Krysti Rosario (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) will serve as Team Manager for the event with Mike Rosario (New York, N.Y.) working as the AIBA Official and Dr. George Palmer (Scottsdale, Ariz.) joining the squad as the Team Physician.
The United States won three medals at the most recent World Championships in 2006, earning two silver and one bronze. The 2008 edition will be the fifth Women’s World Championships, with the first taking place in Scranton, Pa., in 2001.
The most up-to-date results for the 2008 AIBA Women’s World championships can be found on AIBA’s website at www.aiba.org. The AIBA site will be showing live scoring for all of the bouts throughout the tournament as well.
United States Team Bios
Marlen Esparza
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Born: July 29, 1989
Height: 5′ 3″
Coach: Rudy Silva
Club: Portico Boxing Gym
School: Pasadena High School
Began Boxing: 2002
2008 NATIONAL CHAMPION
2007 NATIONAL CHAMPION
2006 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS BRONZE MEDALIST
2006 NATIONAL CHAMPION
CHERYL HOULIHAN
Hometown: Santee, California
Birthdate: July 23, 1984
Height: 5-0
Weight: 110 pounds
School: Bristol Community College
Began boxing: 2002
Occupation: Student
SIX-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPION
SACRED DOWNING
Hometown: Trenton, N.J.
Birthdate: June 26, 1985
Lives and trains in: Trenton, N.J.
Coach: James Downing
FIVE-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPION
2002 JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPION
CYNTHIA MORENO
Hometown: Guadalupe, Arizona
Birthdate: July 2, 1990
Height: 5-1
Weight: 119 pounds
Coach’s name: Walt Hoskins
Club name: Maricopa County Sheriff
Began boxing: 2002
2008 NATIONAL CHAMPION
ALEXANDRIA CARDENAS
Hometown: San Angelo, Texas
Birthdate: November 26, 1990
Club: Concho Boxing Club
2008 NATIONAL CHAMPION
CARRIE BARRY
Birthdate: September 11, 1980
Height: 5-7
Weight Class: 132 pounds
School: Alumni- Eastern Michigan University
Current occupation: Certified athletic trainer
THREE-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPION
2005 GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPION
2005 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPION
2003 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPION
2002 GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPION
QUEEN UNDERWOOD
Birthdate: May 8,1984
Height: 5-6
Weight: 138 pounds
Coach’s name: Cappy Kotz
Club name: Cappy’s Boxing
School: SSCC
Began boxing: 2003
Occupation: Sprinkler pipe fitter(fire protection) Local 699
TWO-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPION
VANESSA JACKSON
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Birth date: 1983
Height: 5’3″
Weight: 140 pounds
Coach’s name: Coach Reeves
Club name: Thompson Recreation
Began boxing: 2005 at Lula Pearl Douglas Center
2008 NATIONAL CHAMPION
GRACE PARKS
Hometown: Bellingham, WA
Birthdate: July 26,1980
Height: 5-9
Weight: 154 pounds
Coach’s name: Kurt Morlock and Jeremy Noone
Club name: Bellator Boxing Club
2008 FUTURE STARS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS SILVER MEDALIST
MEREDITH DELLA GIUSTINA
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Birth date: October 2, 1984
Height: 5-8
Weight: 160 pounds
Coach’s name: Dr. George Ginter
Club name: University of Kentucky Boxing Club
Began boxing: October of 2006
2008 NATIONAL CHAMPION
MIOSHIA WAGONER
Hometown: Lawrence, Kansas
Birth date: 1982
Height: 5-7
Weight: 176 pounds
Coach’s name: Erick Railey and Darren Jacobs
Club name: Haskell Boxing Club
Began boxing: August of 2006
2008 NATIONAL CHAMPION
TIFFANIE HEARN
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Birth date: January 15, 1984
Height: 5-10
Weight: 180 pounds
Coach’s name: James Doolin
Club name: Louisville Legends
Began boxing: 2007
2008 NATIONAL CHAMPION
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).