Bayamon, Puerto Rico’s undefeated featherweight Luis “Orlandito” del Valle (12-0, 10 KOs) left today for his training base in Newburgh, New York, to prepare for the biggest fight of his career against Vietnamese fighter Dat Nguyen (17-1, 6 KOs).
Del Valle vs. Nguyen will serve as the 10-round main event on Saturday, June 11 – the second night of blockbuster back-to-back boxing events at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on June 10 and 11, entitled Boricua Invasion I & II.
Boricua Invasion II will be televised by Showtime as part of the series ShoBox: The New Generation.
“This is an honor, a blessing, a dream come true. I would have never thought that I would be a headliner this fast, but we are confident in our preparation and that I will get the win. My opponent always dishes out more than a hundred punches per round, and if he does that on June 11, you’re going to see fireworks,” said Del Valle, who is a cousin of former world bantamweight champion, Rafael del Valle.
Raymond Rivera, coach and manager of ‘Orlandito’ said: “Nguyen is a really good opponent, who comes to fight. I want to thank ‘Pensa’ Garcia for help in the physical preparation, ‘Golo “Gomez for opening the doors of his gym and nutritionist Cupey Carlos Espinoza because, thanks to their efforts, there will be real fireworks in this fight.”
Boricua Invasion I & II are being presented by Gary Shaw Productions and DiBella Entertainment.
Back-to-back, on June 10 and 11 (Friday and Saturday before the 2011 National Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday) at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, Gary Shaw Productions and DiBella Entertainment will present Boricua Invasion I and II, featuring members of Team Puerto Rico Boxing, the eight-man team of Puerto Rico’s future ring stars.
Friday’s Boricua Invasion I will feature the unstoppable welterweight on everybody’s “one to watch” list, Thomas “Tormenta” Dulorme (11-0, 10 KOs) vs. former world champion DeMarcus Corley; Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico’s highlight-reel welterweight KO specialist Kenny “Battlestar” Galarza (14-1, 14 KOs) vs. Puerto Rican compatriot Irving Garcia and the future superstar already fighting in main events after just two bouts, Jose “El Dulce” Pedraza (2-0, 2 KOs). The main bouts of Boricua Invasion I will be televised on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Saturday’s Boricua Invasion II will feature four more members of Team Puerto Rico: featherweight Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle (12-0, 10 KOs) vs. Dat Nguyen; junior middleweight Jonathan “Mantequilla Gonzalez (12-0, 12 KOs); and light welterweight Sanchez vs. Arroyo. Also scheduled for action are Team Puerto Rico light welterweight Jorge “Machito” Maysonet Jr. (3-0, 2 KOs); plus a special off-TV appearance by Puerto Rico-born light welterweight Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (15-0, 1 KO) of Brooklyn. The main bouts of Boricua Invasion II will be broadcast live on Showtime: The New Generation.
Tickets for Boricua Invasion I on Friday, June 10 are priced at $175, $125, $75, $45 and are available through Ticketmaster.com, charge-by-phone, or at any Ticketmaster outlet. On Friday, doors will open at 6:00 pm and the action starts at 6:30.
Tickets for Boricua Invasion II on Saturday, June 11 are priced at $200, $150, $85, and $55 and are available through Ticketmaster.com, charge-by-phone, or at any Ticketmaster outlet. On Saturday, doors will open at 7:00 pm and the action starts at 7:30.
For VIP Package tickets to both nights, please call DiBella Entertainment at 212-947-2577.
The Roseland Ballroom is located at 239 West 52nd Street in New York City.
All bouts are subject to change.
June 18 Rumble at the Ritz
Tampa, FL: One Punch Productions and Pete Fernandez Promotions have announced that their next event, Rumble at the Ritz, will take place Saturday June 18, at the Ritz Theater in Tampa. The main event features Ft. Myers native “Magic” Marcus Willis (8-1), as he continues his climb up the jr. middleweight division. Marcus is coming off a thrilling victory over the talented Rey Cepeda, in a fight that was chosen as a swing bout for a recent ESPN telecast from Key West. Also on the card will be undefeated Olympian Sherali Dostiev (8-0), Hudson super middleweight favorite “Bloodbath” Brian Chiary (10-7), jr. middleweight Quinton Willis (6-2-2), jr. lightweight Cordaro Simpkins (5-1), jr, welterweight Zack Kuhn (1-0-1), the professional debut of welterweight Clarence Booth, and several other bouts to be announced in the coming weeks.
Due to the Ritz Theater being somewhat smaller than One Punch’s usual venue, a sellout is virtually guaranteed and patrons are encouraged to get their tickets early.
Doors open at 7:00 PM, and the action starts at 7:30 PM. Standing Room Only tickets for this event are priced at $25, reserved seats are $40 and $50, and VIP ringside table seating is $75, and are available at all Ticketmaster locations or ticketmaster.com. Corporate VIP tables are also available by contacting One Punch Productions at 813-503-8109, or visit www.onepunch.net.
World Boxing Council News
From WBC President Dr. José Sulaimán:
Dear friends,
The WBC is very happy for the response of some of the members of the boxing community from around the world who have participated, or who have expressed their will to participate, in the efforts in support of the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Following, you will find a report on the accomplishments that we have up until today.
1. Lou DiBella – HBO: 10-bell count, and words by Michael Buffer during the Martinez vs. Dzinziruk card on March 12.
2. K2 Promotions: Beautiful homage and 10-bell count during the Klitschko vs. Solis fight in Germany on March 19.
3. BERTO vs ORTIZ Championship fight: Lou DiBella, Golden Boy Promotions, and Everlast commemorative t-shirts to sell and to receive additional donations.
4. WBC Legends Museum: California: Rudy Tellez organized a luncheon and fundraiser.
5. Dr. Fausto Daniel Garcia, Boxeo de Gala: will donate $1 dollars per each ticket sold of the Edgar Sosa vs. Kenichi Horikawa fight on April 2.
6. Dr. Fausto Daniel Garcia, Boxeo de Gala: commemorative t-shirts to donate all the proceedings for the Sosa-Horikawa fight.
7. Sergio Martinez signed two gloves to be auctioned or sold in any way that you may recommend. He is also willing to do anything needed to participate.
8. Hubert Minn has offered housing in Hawaii; Frank Garza housing in Detroit; and Alejandro Rochin housing in Tijuana if needed for any Japanese family.
9. Cash donations by Chuck Williams and WBC ring officials Duane Ford, Tomas Nardone, and Craig Metcalf, among others
10. Controles Graficos sent a container with bottled water.
11. OPI 2000, led by Salvatore Cherchi: made an especial program in Italy to receive donations
12. Boxers who have kindly agreed to send signed commemorative gloves for auction during the special event in Kobe, Japan: WBC former world champions Oscar de la Hoya, Mike Tyson, Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel, and Jorge Arce, and current WBC champions Bernard Hopkins, Vitali Klitschko, Timothy Bradley Jr., Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Edgar Sosa and Humberto Soto, among many others.
13. Akemi Irie (Teiken Promotions) and her son Nick organized a fundraising event based on a car show, music, car wash and entertainment, raising $10,000 dollars with the participation of many boxing members of the Nevada community.
14. Signed wrestling masks and boxing gloves by the legend El Hijo del Santo.
15. WBC Ring officials in Kobe gave the donations to the Japanise Boxing Commission to be delivered to the Red Cross:
Rey Danseco, Philippines
Max De Luca, California
Anek Hongtongkam, Thailand
Dong Ahn Park, Korea
Steve Morrow, California
Jon Schorle, California
Michael Griffin, Canada
16. Mountain States Employers Council Employees, Denver Police Brotherhood Youth Boxing Club, Raylene Carbone and Stephen Blea – WBC Cares/Colorado all made donations.
17. “WBCARES IN JAPAN” triple female championship, promoted by Takaharu Hayashi, fabricate and sold special tshirts , also donate an amount to the Japanese Red Cross
Naoko Fujioka, new WBC female world champion .
We are still communicating and I am sure that things will continue to happen.
Please accept our sincere regards,
José Sulaimán Ch.