DiBella Entertainment has furthered bolstered its light heavyweight roster with yesterday’s signing WBC #6/WBA #7/IBF #11 rated 175 lbs. contender Yusaf Mack. With Mack now on board, DBE boasts a ultra-talented trio of light heavyweight contenders that also includes WBC #8/IBF #9/WBA #13 contender Shaun George and legendary “Road Warrior” Glen Johnson (co-promoted by Seminole Warriors Boxing and DBE). All three DBE fighters are ready and willing to challenge the top reigning American light heavyweight world champion, Chad Dawson (WBC)..
Mack (27-2-2, 16 KOs), a 29-year-old Philadelphia native, now fighting out of New York City, is the reigning WBA NABA & NABF light heavyweight titlist. He recently scored the most significant victory of his career – outpointing IBF #6/WBC #7 rated contender Chris Henry on February 6 in Salisbury, Maryland, as seen on ESPN2.
“I’m thrilled to now be promoting Yusaf Mack – one of the hottest light heavyweights in the world, whose beaten Daniel Judah, Omar Pittman and Chris Henry in succession in less than ten months! Yusaf has earned the accolades and deserves his shot at a world championship,” said DBE president Lou DiBella.
“It’s been fun building up Yusaf Mack with my co-manager, Greg Cipriano. We are Team Mack and we believe Yusaf is a true champion. We’re 4-0 with 2 ESPN wins – the last being against Chris Henry who no one thought we could beat. Now we’ve taken the next step and signed with Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment on Friday March 13th. Lou is by far the most savvy guy in the business. He knows how to match and move his fighters and bring them to where they need to be at every level. This fit between Team Mack and DiBella will be one to remember,” said Rory Donadio.
“With my hard work and the smarts of my managers, Rory Donadio and Greg Cipriano, I have moved into a 4-0 win. When I walked into Lou DiBella’s office on Friday, March 13th, I knew I was home. I felt lucky, excited and ready to open a long and successful career with Mr. DiBella and DiBella Entertainment,” said Mack.
The New York City-based promoter feels all three of his DBE world-rated light heavyweights are viable challengers to current WBC world champion Chad Dawson and all offer boxing fans potentially explosive light heavyweight championship matchups.
DiBella: “We already saw Glen Johnson give Dawson (27-0, 17 KOs) all he could handle last year in very close fight on Showtime…many ringsiders thought Glen won…there’s clearly unfinished business there. Shaun George has developed into a feared puncher and a Dawson-George matchup would be extremely compelling. Mack is an aggressive “Philadelphia-style” fighter that will take the fight to Dawson – producing great two-way action. All three bouts are potentially great fights for boxing fans.”
Johnson (49-12-2, 33 KOs) is one of this era’s best light heavyweight champions. The “Road Warrior” holds a knockout victory over all-time great Roy Jones Jr., as well as victories over former 175 lbs. world champions Antonio Tarver, Montell Griffin and Clinton Woods. Most recently, on February 27, Johnson avenged a 2003 draw versus Daniel Judah by unanimously outpointing Judah by wide margins at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida.
George (18-2-2, 9 KOs) has been an avoided man since dismantling (TKO 9) former two-time heavyweight champion Chris Byrd last May in Las Vegas. In his first ring appearance since that sensational victory, George blew away respected veteran contender Jaffa Ballogou at 1:26 of the opening round in a DBE “Broadway Boxing” main event on February 25 in New York City.
Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night: Peters Million Euro gamble tests the luck of the Irish
Brian Peters enjoyed a boxing double last weekend with his charges Paul McCloskey and Matthew Macklin both recording impressive British title victories in the U.K. He’s hoping to extend that success to a treble on Saturday night when he promotes the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night at The O2 in Dublin. Local hero Bernard Dunne headlines as he bids for Ricardo Cordoba’s WBA Super Bantamweight title in the first World title fight on Irish soil for 13 years.
Peters admits that the bill for Saturday night’s event will top almost one million euros but the promoter believes it’s a gamble worth taking. “This is what both myself and Bernard have been working towards for a very long time now. The Kiko Martinez blip aside Bernard’s done the business inside the ring while I’ve had to deliver for him outside the ropes.
“Bernard’s the first ever Dubliner to challenge for a World title in his native city and I’m determined to make this an event that will live long in the memory of the Irish public. It promises to be something special and I’ve no hesitation in saying it will be the biggest night in Irish boxing history.”
“Professional boxing has always been known as show business with blood so from that point of view we’re looking to make it a spectacular show. We have Frank McNamara on board as the musical director for the evening. He’s composed a number of specially arranged pieces while the creative arts company, Arcana will provide an impressive visual element to the night. It will all help towards building an atmosphere that will lift the roof off The O2 by the time Bernard’s on his way to the ring.
“The new O2 is a fabulous venue and there isn’t a bad seat in the house. The lay out for the boxing will resemble the Colosseum and we’ll have big screens in place to provide build up to the fights and between rounds replays and highlights.”
Despite outlaying close to a million euros for one night Peters always believed that the event would be a success at the box office. “It’s definitely been the biggest financial gamble of my life putting this show on and let’s face it now isn’t really the time to be taking major financial risk but thankfully it’s looking like the sold out signs will be up at The O2 by Saturday night.
“There are about 300 tickets left on Ticketmaster but I think they will be snapped up this week and with over 9,000 people there it’s going to be an incredible atmosphere. The Irish public have really come out in their droves to support Bernard and I think we got the pricing right by making tickets available from €50.
“It’s been a very expensive night to put together but nights like these don’t come around too often and I’ve always believed in doing things the right way and not cutting corners. Obviously it was bitterly disappointing when Kenny Egan withdrew because his Olympic final rematch had been confirmed and an awful lot of hard work had gone into making that fight.
“But you have to move on and we quickly secured Andy Lee as a replacement. Andy was set to headline a bill at Madison Square Garden himself until that fell though and he’s a tremendous addition to the card.
“All in all it’s a hell of a line up with close to 6 hours of live boxing. There’s Bernard in the World title fight, Andy Lee in the chief support against a very decent German, Andy Murray in a European Union title fight and Jim Rock should be in a real war as well.
“Of course we also have our amateur stars like Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes and Ray Moylette in action and I know a lot of people are particularly looking forward to seeing Katie. She is without doubt the best female boxer in the world right now so this will be a great stage for her to showcase her skills. She won’t have it easy though because her opponent, Caroline Barry is very accomplished as well and is a 3 time Pan American champ and rated in the top 5 in the world.”
It’s shaping up to be an incredible day of sport for the country with Ireland’s rugby players going in search of a grand slam and Dunne looking to emulate Barry McGuigan by wrapping the WBA World title belt around his waist and with RTÉ covering both events live armchair fans will be well catered for.
“RTÉ have been a great support since Bernard came back home from the U.S.,” revealed Peters. “They are dedicating 3 and a half hours of live terrestrial television to the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night on Saturday night from 9pm while for the live audience at The O2 the action will get underway shortly after 6pm.
“I’ve never seen Bernard so sharp and focused ahead of a fight. I suppose that’s to be expected given the magnitude of the fight but he really has taken his preparations for this fight to a whole new level.
“We know just how good a fighter Cordoba is and Bernard is of course the underdog but I think it’s a role he’ll relish. I’ve always believed Bernard is capable of reaching the very top in the sport and I think he’ll prove that on Saturday night.”
Tickets for the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night are priced from €50 and are available now from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie). Tickets are also available from Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.
Doors open at The O2, Dublin at 6pm on Saturday night with the first fight at 6:15pm. RTÉ TWO’s live coverage begins at 9pm.
The full line up is as follows:
* Bernard Dunne V Ricardo Cordoba – WBA World Super Bantamweight Title (12 Rounds)
* Andy Lee V Alex Sipos – Middleweight (10 Rounds)
* Katie Taylor V Caroline Barry – Lightweight (4 Rounds Amateur Bout)
* Andy Murray V Daniel Rasilla – European Union Lightweight Title (12 Rounds)
* Jim Rock V Alessio Furlan – Middleweight (10 Rounds)
* Ray Moylette V Rob Gorman – Lightweight (3 Rounds Amateur Bout)
* Paddy Barnes V To Be Confirmed – Light Flyweight (3 Rounds Amateur Bout)
* Michael Kelly V Valentins Morozovs – Lightweight (4 Rounds)
* Anthony Fitzgerald V Janis Chernouskis – Middleweight (4 Rounds).