RENO, NV (July 13, 2009) Headlined by the sensational pro debuts of outstanding Russian amateurs stars Dmitry and Fedor Chudinov, TKO BOXING prospects shined on Friday night at the Reno Events on the undercard of “SUMMER SHOWDOWN” an outstanding evening of professional boxing which featured the ten round decision win by Yerington’s Jesse Brinkley over Mike Paschall of Baltimore, MD..
Kicking off the fireworks, super middleweight Fedor Chudinov stunned the early arriving crowd with a crunching right hand to the jaw of Lexington, Kentucky’s Shawn Kirk, 4-5-0 (2KO’s) sprawling the veteran to the ring, earning the stoppage at the :33 second mark of the opening stanza.
Older brother Dmitry followed with a scheduled four round middleweight bout against Atlanta’s Otis Chennault. Dropping Chennault, 1-2-0, with a devastating left hook just seconds into the bout, finished him for good with a devastating body shot just forty seconds into the first round.
Said Chet Koerner, President of TKO BOXING Promotions, “The wraps are off on the Chudinov brothers. The fight fans in Reno were stunned by their awesome display and we’re ready to show the rest of the boxing world these outstanding future world champions.”
Both brothers will next appear at “TKO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING” at the Pala Casino in Pala, California on Saturday, August 22nd.
Also making his Reno debut in thrilling fashion was highly regarded featherweight prospect Matt “SHARP SHOOTER” Remillard. Facing off against St. Joseph , Missouri ’s Tyler Ziolowski, 11-8-0 (6KO’s), the 23 year old Remillard drilled him with a left hook to the liver which immediately stopped the temporarily paralyzed veteran in his tracks, ending the fight at the 1:30 mark of the first round.
With the win, Remillard improved to 18-0-0 with ten stoppages.
In the fight of the night, bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz of Lincoln Heights, CA improved his unbeaten record to 9-0-1 (2KO’s) with an excellent performance in a six round bantamweight bout against Houston’s Johnathan Velardez.
With Velardez coming out aggressively from the opening bell, Santa Cruz was able to use a terrific jab and outstanding footwork to avoid the oncoming rush and pepper the southpaw with blows of his own. The middle rounds saw excellent two way action much to the delight of the crowd who cheered every punch.
Tiring, the game Velardez out in the last round of the fight, Santa Cruz headed to a six round unanimous by scores of 59 x 55 twice and 58-56. With the loss Velardez moved to 6-2-0 (4KO’s).
Said Koerner, “Terrific wins for Remillard and Santa Cruz . Matt was in outstanding shape and threw a great punch for the stoppage. Leo was in a real battle but looked outstanding in winning the decision.”
Details of the tape delayed broadcast of “SUMMER SHOWDOWN” will be announced shortly.
CRISTOBAL CRUZ RETAINS IBF WORLD TITLE AGAINST JORGE SOLIS ON JULY 11 IN TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, CHIAPAS, MEXICO
Cristobal Cruz made his second successful defense of the International Boxing Federation featherweight world title with a hard-fought 12 round unanimous decision win against No. 1 ranked mandatory challenger Jorge Solis on July 11 in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico. It was Cruz’ first world championship fight in his home state.
Banner Promotions president Art Pelullo said, “We want to congratulate Cristobal on his sensational win and tell him how proud of him we all are at Banner Promotions. The event drew 7,000 enthusiastic fans and was a huge success.
“This was Cristobal’s third world title fight, and he’s been the underdog in all three. The odds were 4 to 1 against him this time, but once again he gave a tremendous performance and proved the oddsmakers wrong.
“We also want to thank everyone in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez and the state of Chiapas who helped make this event so successful, with a special acknowledgement to the Governor of Chiapas, Juan Sabines Guerrero.”
AGBEKO-DARCHINYAN POST FIGHT RING QUOTES
JOSEPH KING KONG AGBEKO: “He [Darchinyan] pushed me in the seventh round and throughout the fight. He is very dirty and rough in the ring. I was fighting two people in the ring: Darchinyan and the referee. But I didn’t care if there were five people in the ring tonight, I was going in to win and come back out with my championship belt.
“Darchinyan talked a lot before the fight and I turned him into ‘the raging bullshitter’ like I said I would. I’m still the champion, not the chimpanzee he said I was.”
“I have always said I would carry the greatness of Ghana with me to the top and that’s what I have done. I want to be considered among the top pound for pound fighters in the world. I think I have earned it.”
VIC DARCHINYAN: “I took a different tactic into the ring tonight. I went for the big punch and I lost and I can’t say anything about that. I was repeating the same mistakes and I was getting upset. It’s not an excuse. I took the bad tactic and I wasn’t smart enough tonight. He was the better fighter tonight. I will go back and watch the tape and correct my mistakes.”
ANTONIO DeMARCO: “He was hurt with the first punch [in round nine] and did not want to continue. The plan was to keep working. I knew the fight was close but I was beginning to get more power. I didn’t think he was down when I hit him. When I hit him he was looking for someplace to hide. He looked like he didn’t want to fight.
“I had an infection in my stomach a week before but I took care of myself. I got some rest and I felt good tonight and I fought hard. This was a good fight for me, a good opportunity to prove myself to people and show everyone what I can do.
“He [Adjaho] was a good opponent, he was very tough. It was a very difficult fight for me and I wish him nothing but the very best. I think it was an even fight up until the last round. I didn’t feel like I was behind and I had to knock him out. I just had an opportunity to get a good shot in and I tried to do that.”
ANGES ADJAHO: [Adjaho was ahead 78-74, 77-75 on two scorecards and one even going into the ninth round.] “He hit me with a good shot that cut me over my [right] eye. I decided to take a knee to collect my thoughts and he hit me in the head. Watch the replay. I thought I was winning the fight. I want an immediate rematch.”
REFEREE TELLIS ASSEMENIOS: “He got hit in the face and he [Adjaho] tried to complain.” Commentator Jim Gray said, “It looked as though he [DeMarco] grazed the top of his head while he was on a knee.” Assemennios said, “Yes, that is correct.” [Then they watched the replay together in the ring] Assemenios said, “Yes, the punch was before the knockdown and I was correct in my call.”
STEVE CUNNINGHAM: “I give myself a seven and a half out of 10 tonight. There were a few shots I saw coming but still got caught with, but no excuses. Tonight I proved once again that I am still the best cruiserweight in the world. It’s just a matter of time. I felt like I did enough to win. I matched him for speed and boxing strategy and I feel like I got the best shots in.
“Braithwaite is a tough dude. I thought I was going to fight him six years ago but we always knew that his boxing skills didn’t match up to mine.”
WAYNE BRAITHWAITE: “I fought a very hard fight. In fact I thought I might have won. I can’t believe the judges didn’t give me more credit. It was much closer than what the judges said. I wish it had been on TV so people could judge for themselves. Steve was a very skilled opponent, and I was a little rusty, but you can ask Cunningham yourself. I know I gave him a fight.”