The excitement is growing in Monroe, Louisiana.
It’s just one week to go before the Wednesday, August 18, “Battle on the Bayou” event – a night of world-class professional boxing at the Monroe Civic Center and televised live on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights – and local boxing and political officials say the area is buzzing with anticipation.
Scheduled for the main events are undefeated former amateur world champion Erislandy Lara (12-0, 7 KOs) taking on Mississippi’s “Slik” Willie Lee (17-6, 11 KOs) in a 10-round junior middleweight battle and world amateur championships bronze medalist Yordanis Despaigne (6-0, 4 KOs) facing undefeated Colombian power puncher Frank Paines (11-0, 10 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight showdown. The undercard will feature, among others, local attractions Blake “Candyman” Prevost (14-1-1, 5 KOs) and Monroe-based cruiserweight Tyrone Davis making his professional debut.
“We are excited because this will allow us to showcase our city to the nation and show the city of Monroe as an up-and-coming location for world-class boxing,” said City of Monroe Mayor, James Mayo. “We made the announcement last week and people are excited!”
According to Mayo, a winning outcome would be if a good-sized crowd showed up (The Civic Center arena can accommodate a capacity of about 6000) and, at the end of the night, if the ESPN crew as well as the promoters and everybody involved was asking when can we come back to Monroe?
An event of this magnitude has been a long time coming, according to Buddy Embanato, Vice-Chairman of the Louisiana State Boxing Commission.
“Many people in the past have asked me when are we going to get some boxing in the civic center? Everybody was asking me that. Doctors, attorneys, school teachers, laborers, everybody wants to know when boxing will come. Now we got it! It’s good economically and entertainment-wise because people locally get to see fighters they wouldn’t otherwise get to see. You can watch them on TV, but the calibre of fighters we’re getting here in the co-main events it’s an outstanding opportunity for Monroe.”
Well-known referee Laurence Cole has officiated all over Louisiana in different capacities from Lafayette to New Orleans to Shreveport and even Monroe and says
He has high hopes for the evening. “Boxing will be the thing to do in Monroe for that night or even for that week. And with Kerry Daigle (Keeppunching Entertainment) and Leon Margules from Warriors Boxing putting on the show, and with ESPN in town, every fight will be competitive. It should be an exciting night of fights.”
Mayor Mayo says it was his relationship with Daigle from previous MMA events that got the ball rolling on this project. And because of some deft budget manoeuvring in the past, the time was right to get involved in an event that draws positive attention to Monroe.
“We’re in the best financial state in the city’s history and the funds we’re utilizing for the fight come from an economic development fund I established about four or five years ago. It affords us an opportunity to be innovative and creative in going after events and projects without having a lot of fuss behind it. It’s working for the city of Monroe and we have other municipalities wanting us to share some best practices with them!”
Mayo reveals he’s not the only member of his family to be feeling the anticipation. “I’m very excited and my family is very excited. My wife and my kids will all be there. We’re going to have a good community showing!”
Tickets for “Battle on the Bayou” are on sale and priced at Ringside $40, Floor and Risers $25. General Admission seats are just $15. They are available at all Ticketmaster outlets and the Monroe Civic Center box office.
All government employees with valid government ID will pay just $10 for general admission seats.
For more information, www.keeppunching.com.