HOLLYWOOD, FL, July 31 – Another exciting season of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights will come to a close on Friday, August 28th, and Seminole Warriors Boxing has made sure that the best has been saved for last, as it presents a championship doubleheader at Hollywood’s Hard Rock Live featuring the IBF junior welterweight title bout between champion Juan Urango and challenger Randall Bailey, and the vacant IBF light heavyweight title matchup pitting former champion Clinton Woods against unbeaten banger Tavoris Cloud. Tickets for this event, priced at $52, $102, $152, and $202, are now on sale, and may be purchased at the Hard Rock Live Box Office or by going online at www.TicketMaster.com..
Doors open at 7:00pm, and the first bell rings at 8pm. The ESPN2 Friday Night Fights telecast begins at 10pm ET / 7pm PT.
2 time junior welterweight World Champion Juan Urango (21-2-1, 16 KOs) is loved by fight fans for his always exciting performances in the ring, and his willingness to always move forward in search of victory. Looking to make the first successful defense of the belt he won against Herman Ngoudjo in January, the 28-year old southpaw from Monteria, Colombia has only lost 2 decisions in his career, one coming in a hard-fought decision loss to Andre Berto in a quest for the welterweight crown in May, and the other a 2007 loss to Ricky Hatton. Urango is eager to show Bailey who’s still the boss is at 140 pounds.
One of boxing’s hardest punchers, pound for pound, Miami, Florida’s Randall Bailey (39-6, 35 KOs) has waited a long time for another shot at the junior welterweight title he held twice over the course of his 13-year career. A knockout artist who has been in the ring with the likes of Carlos Gonzalez, Diosbelys Hurtado, DeMarcus Corley, and Miguel Cotto, the 34-year old Bailey is currently on a four fight winning streak that includes a blistering fourth round knockout of Francisco Figueroa in April earning him the #1 spot as the mandatory contender for Urango.
A no-nonsense warrior who always comes to fight, Sheffield, England’s 2 time World Champion Clinton Woods (42-4-1, 24 KOs) has beaten and competed with some of the best including his classic trilogy with Glen Johnson which ended with each fighter winning once and one ending in a draw. Clinton won the IBF light heavyweight title twice and has wins over Rico Hoye and Julio Gonzalez and also shared the ring with Roy Jones Jr. and Antonio Tarver. Fresh off a February win over Elvir Muriqi, vaulting him into the number 2 contender position, Woods has climbed the mountain once more and hopes to regain his title on August 28th.
Tallahassee, Florida’s Tavoris Cloud (19-0, 18 KOs) is a ferocious puncher who has torn through his opposition over the last five years in route to August 28th’s title shot. The current NABO, USBA, and NABA light heavyweight champion, the 27-year old has paid his dues on his way up the ranks, and following his tenth round TKO of Julio Gonzalez in his last bout on August 8, 2008, earning him the number 1 ranking in the division, Cloud is chomping at the bit to get at Woods and to take the world title belt back home with him.
Danny O’Connor’s House of Pain
Friday July 31- A proud Irish-American with the hopes of New England boxing fans on his shoulders, Danny O’Connor is rapidly moving up the junior welterweight ranks while introducing his opponents to his own ‘House of Pain.’ A 23-year old southpaw known for an intriguing mix of ring savvy, boxing ability and power, O’Connor was a high school wrestling champion who began his stint in the sweet science in 2004.
He went on to win four New England Golden Gloves titles, a National Golden Gloves crown and even scored a dominating victory over 2008 Olympic Gold medalist Felix Diaz of the Dominican Republic. And though O’Connor would drop a hard-fought decision to Javier Molina in the 2008 Olympic trials, the 141-pounder was selected as the US team alternate and he traveled to Beijing for the 2008 Games.
Once the Olympics were over, O’Connor began on his road to glory as a professional, stopping Jose Guerrido in just two rounds on September 17th. He went on to add two more wins to his ledger as he decisioned Anthony Woods and Gregorio Jimenez in successive bouts.
In February of 2009, O’Connor made his ESPN debut, even impressing Friday Night Fights commentators Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas in his win over Jamar Saunders. He went on to stop Charles Wade in a single round less than a month later, and he then shutout Travis Hartman over four rounds in April, scoring two knockdowns in the process.
O’Connor’s last bout on June 27th saw him score another shutout, this one over his toughest foe to date, 30 fight veteran Sebastien Hamel. It’s just another sign that the O’Connor era is about to begin in the 140-pound weight class.
“It amazes me sometimes that he’s only 24 years old, because he shows the poise of a veteran in the ring,” says O’Connor’s promoter Leon Margules, Executive Director of Seminole Warriors Boxing. “Add in his crowd-pleasing style and charisma, and Danny’s definitely got the potential to be a star in the coming years.”