HBO serves up a triple helping of Valentine’s Day excitement when HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: NATE CAMPBELL VS. ALI FUNEKA AND ALFREDO ANGULO VS. COSME RIVERA AND SERGIO MARTINEZ VS. KERMIT CINTRON is seen SATURDAY, FEB. 14 (10:00 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), from the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of blow-by-blow announcer Bob Papa, commentator Max Kellerman and expert analyst Lennox Lewis will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino..
Other HBO playdate: Feb. 15 (10:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 15 (5:00 p.m.) and 17 (11:30 p.m.)
In the main event, lightweight title-holder Nate Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KOs), from Tampa, Fla., battles Ali Funeka (30-1-2, 25 KOs), from East London, South Africa in a scheduled 12-round title bout. Campbell became champ last March with a victory over the formidable Juan Diaz on HBO, and is making his first title defense. Funeka, a top contender in the division, is fighting for the first time outside South Africa.
The second bout pits undefeated fast-rising junior middleweight contender Alfredo Angulo (14-0, 11 KOs) of Coachella, Cal. against Cosme Rivera (31-11-2, 22 KOs), from Culiacan, Mexico, in a scheduled ten-round contest. Angulo, whose aggressive ring style and iron chin have made him a star in the division, is facing one of the toughest tests yet in his young career. His opponent, Cosme Rivera, is a savvy ring veteran who has knocked down top fighters Andre Berto and Joel Julio in previous fights. Angulo’s original opponent, Ricardo Mayorga, withdrew from the match.
Starting off the night, junior middleweight sensation Sergio Martinez (44-1-1, 24 KOs) of Madrid, Spain takes on Kermit Cintron (30-2, 27 KOs) of Reading, Pa. in a scheduled 12-round, 154 pound contest. Martinez, who returns to the HBO spotlight following his stunning victory over Alex Bunema on HBO BOXING AFTER DARK last October, is looking to enhance his standing in the division as he works towards a title shot. Cintron, moving up from the welterweight division to take on Martinez, was last seen scoring a victory over Lovemore N’dou in November. His only losses have come at the hands of welterweight star Antonio Margarito.
The executive producer of HBO BOXING AFTER DARK is Rick Bernstein; producer, Jonathan Crystal; director, Mike Sheehan.
® HBO BOXING AFTER DARK is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.
NYC’s BROADWAY BOXING RETURNS!!
***Exciting Main Event is World-Rated Light Heavyweight Shaun George vs. Jaffa Ballogou. Plus “Two “O’s” Must Go!” as Undefeated Prospects Hamer and Del Valle face Undefeated Opponents. Also appearing are prospects Jackson-Benson and Rosinsky***
New York (February 10) – DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing series makes its anticipated 2009 debut, on Wednesday, February 25 at the intimate BB King Blues Club & Grill, located in New York City’s Times Square.
The main event features the WBC # 6 rated light heavyweight and Brooklyn’s own Shaun George taking on former IBF Continental African cruiserweight titlist Jaffa “African Assassin” Ballogou.
“This coming April marks the five-year anniversary of ‘Broadway Boxing’ and what a great way to start off 2009 then with a high-stakes light heavyweight main event between two world-class, New York-based fighters in Shaun George and Jaffa Ballogou. Shaun is one of boxing’s most avoided men…his ‘anyone…anytime…anywhere’ attitude is why he’s willing to risk his world rankings against Ballogou, a more experienced contender, who can end every fight with one punch,” commented DBE president Lou DiBella.
A winner of four straight, Shaun George (17-2-2, 8 KOs) put the boxing world on notice this past May with a brilliant, one-sided TKO victory over former two-time heavyweight champion Chris Byrd, in a nationally televised bout seen on ESPN2. Since his unexpected dramatic triumph over Byrd, few fighters have shown interest in challenging Brooklyn’s George – currently rated WBC #6, IBF #10 and WBA #11 at 175 lbs
Fighting out of New York City, Ballogou (46-7, 40 KOs) is a southpaw of Tongan descent, who has held the IBF Continental African 200 lbs. belt as well as the WBC International super middleweight title during a stellar 20 year professional career.
Double “0’s” must go, in two separate and exciting match-ups. Undefeated local Tor Hamer (3-0, 3 KOs) will fight also undefeated Chris Hancock (5-0, 3 KO’s) of Detroit, Michigan. Hamer is a Penn State graduate and 2008’s number-one rated amateur super heavyweight. He is also a National and two-time NY Golden Gloves Champion. Hamer is coming off a knock-out win on the Berto-Collazo undercard in Biloxi, Mississippi last month. In another exciting match-up of two undefeated prospects, is a Junior Lightweight bout that is sure to entertain in another case of “Someone’s “0” must Go!” Former 3 Time NY Golden Gloves Champ Louis Del Valle (4-0, 3 KO’s) of Newburgh, NY and Tommy Atencio (3-0, 2 KO’s) of Detroit, MI will both do all they can to protect their unblemished records as of yet.
Also appearing is middleweight Philip Jackson-Benson (2-0, 2 KO’s), a two-time NY Golden Gloves champion. A talented prospect, Benson just TKO’d Bryant Smith last week in front of the home crowd in Brooklyn.
Rounding out the talent filled “Broadway Boxing” under card are four-time NY Golden Gloves titlist and Queens own undefeated light heavyweight Will Rosinsky (4-0, 4 KOs); and New Jersey’s Bedarin Toma of Hashbrouck Heights, making his pro debut at heavyweight against Joseph Rabotte (2-4, 2 KO’s) of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Tickets for Broadway Boxing priced at $150 (ringside tables, ringside seats), $100 (floor tables, floor seats, stage seats), $55 (general admission) are currently on sale. They are available by calling DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577. For more information on Broadway Boxing, please visit DiBella entertainment on the web at www.dbe1.com.
BB King Blues Club & Grill is located at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42 Street in New York City.