Gamboa-Ponce de Leon Tickets Go On Sale TODAY; Morales-Tepoz tonight on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights; McAleese-Toms on Saturday

ATLANTIC CITY (July 22, 2011) — Undefeated former World Boxing Association (WBA) Featherweight World Champion YURIORKIS GAMBOA and former World Boxing Organization (WBO) Junior Featherweight World Champion DANIEL PONCE DE LEON will collide in one of the season’s hottest fight, Saturday, September 10, in the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. The 12-round featherweight rumble will be televised live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast.) The two gladiators boast a combined record of 61-3 (50 KOs) – which translates to a winning percentage of 95% and a victory by knockout ratio of 82%.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Arena Box U.S., Golden Boy Promotions, Caesars Atlantic City and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, tickets to Gamboa vs. De Leon, priced at $250, $100 and $50, go on sale Today! Friday, July 22, and can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at ticketmaster.com.

“I look forward to meeting Ponce de Leon. This will be the third straight world champion, or former world champion I have faced from México,” said Yuriorkis Gamboa.

“I know that México has a great history of world champions, but so does Cuba. I welcome this chance I am getting to continue to prove I am one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I will not disappoint my fans.”

“Gamboa is a good fighter and I know this is going to be a difficult fight,” said Daniel Ponce De Leon. “But I know this is a fight that I can win and I’m going to train hard in Los Angeles to leave the ring with my hand raised in victory. I will not leave any excuses for after the fight.”

“Yuriorkis Gamboa is one of the all-time great amateur fighters. As a professional fighter he has been phenomenal. I cannot wait to see him against Daniel Ponce De Leon on September 10,” said Bob Arum, Chairman of Top Rank.

“Gamboa is one of the biggest and fastest rising stars in boxing today,” said Ahmet Öner, president of Arena Box U.S. “Ponce de Leon is certainly a very tough opponent. He’s a former world champion who wants to show that he still has what it takes to win the big fights. He’s also a hard puncher which means that Yuri has to be careful. Still I know that Yuri wants to show the world that he is made for the big fights. For Yuri this fight is only one step further on his way to stardom. I am absolutely convinced that he will pass this test as he has passed all the tests he has taken so far. Yuri is special and he will show that again on September 10th. All fans are in for a real treat. This is a fight where you cannot afford to even blink because both fighters will give it their all. I am looking forward to a spectacular show and I hope that Yuri can show his best performance again. He will need it against Ponce de Leon. If Yuri wins this fight he will be ready for even bigger things to come.”

“This is a great opportunity for Daniel Ponce De Leon to prove what we all know to be true…that he belongs on the short list of the sport’s elite fighters,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Gamboa will be a tough challenge for him, but Ponce has the heart and determination of a true Mexican warrior which will help carry him to victory. All of us at Golden Boy are looking forward to working with Top Rank on this great fight that no boxing fan should miss.”

“Caesars Atlantic City hails the return of Yuriorkis Gamboa, one of boxing’s most exciting fighters,” said Caesars Atlantic City Entertainment Sports & Entertainment Consultant Ken Condon. “On the heels of Yuri’s fourth-round knockout victory of Jorge Solis in March, we expect just as many thrills when he clashes with knockout artist Daniel Ponce De Leon. Atlantic City is once again the destination for championship boxing.”

Gamboa (20-0, 16 KOs), of Miami, Fla., captured Olympic gold for the Cuban team in 2004. He defected to freedom in 2007 the same year he made his professional debut. Two years and 14 bouts later in 2009 he won the WBA’s Interim Featherweight Championshop via a 10th-round stoppage of Jose Rojas. Soon elevated to full world champion status, Gamboa successfully defended the WBA title five times during his two-year reign, which included unifying the title with a 12-round decision victory over International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Champion Orlando Solis.

De Leon (41-3, 34 KOs), of Huntington Park, Calif., represented his native México in the 2000 Olympics. He made his professional debut the following year winning 26 of his first 27 bouts, with only one victory going the distance. He captured the vacant WBO Junior Featherweight world title on October 29, 2005, winning a 12-round unanimous decision over then-undefeated Sod Looknongyantoy. De Leon successfully defended the title six times – four by knockout – during his three-year reign. Since losing the title to Juanma Lopez in 2008, De Leon has won seven of his last eight bouts campaigning at featherweight, including WBA and WBO title elimination bouts against Roynet Caballero in 2009 and Antonio Escalante in 2010, respectively.

Roman Morales vs. Juan Tepoz tonight

Classy super bantamweight prospect Roman Morales returns to the ring tonight in a six-round attraction against pugnacious swinger Juan Tepoz on the undercard of the ESPN2 Friday Night Fights-televised main event of Anthony Dirrell-Kevin Engel at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California.

Morales (4-0, 3 KOs) of San Ardo, California is coming in off of a fourth-round knockout of veteran Jaime Villa in June. Morales, a highly touted amateur before turning pro this past February, has two more fights scheduled over the next 49 days, but first must make it past an aggressive and determined Tepoz tonight. Morales weighed in at 120 ¼-pounds Thursday.

Tepoz (4-5-1) of Santa Rosa, California is riding a three-fight skid, but those two fights came against prospects Richard Contreras and Michael Ruiz Jr. Though he has yet to score a knockout, Tepoz has shown flashes of power as he did manage to score an official knockdown of Ruiz in their first meeting. Tepoz scaled 120 ¼-pounds Friday.

Morales should be at the peak of his powers as a cut in the Villa fight gave him a short reprieve from the ring, not that the eager prospect asked for a break. In addition, Morales got some quality ring time with world ranked super featherweight Eloy Perez in preparation of tonight’s bout.

Perez and Morales have become fairly regular sparring partners in recent months, something that will surely benefit the San Ardo native as he progresses in his young career. Perez, perhaps only a fight or two away from challenging for a world title, has been impressed with the young upstart.

“He’s always in shape,” says Perez. “When I’ve sparred him, he’s always ready. He’s always quick and able to go the rounds. He’s real fast, real slick and he can switch. He fights with both hands. His footwork is real nice. He has skills and it seems like he is learning and working on things he needs to pick up on. He’s a good kid. He has a good amateur background. He’s good. I think he’s a young prospect coming up, he just needs to stay busy.”

Morales, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and managed by Repo Ric, plans to stay busy should everything go as planned tonight in Cabazon. Morales will get a quick turnaround and fight Isaac Hidalgo (8-7-2, 1 KO) of Tucson, Arizona on August 5th in Santa Ynez, California and then fight on the undercard of Eloy Perez-Daniel Jimenez in Salinas on September 2nd.

Tickets for tonight’s event, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

McAleese vs. Toms on Saturday

McAleese And Toms Face To Face Ahead Of Tomorrow’s Title Clash

Earlier today Newmarket’s ‘Phat’ Pat McAleese and Northolt’s Ryan Toms came face to face for the first time ahead of their Southern Area Light Middleweight title showdown at Wembley Arena tomorrow night.

Following the weigh-in at the Crown Moran Hotel in Cricklewood, London, the two protagonists spoke briefly on their upcoming clash.

Pat McAleese – 10st 13 3/4lbs

“I was just under the weight, just a quarter pound under.

Training’s gone well, weight’s been perfect and before the only time I made eleven stone before was on the day so that’s really good.

So yeah I’m really looking forward to it tomorrow now.

I feel great, I’m ready now. I think Toms is in trouble tomorrow night.”

Ryan Toms – 10st 13 1/2lbs

“My weight’s bang on, it’s been bang on for about a week now.

Yeah, I can’t wait, training camps been perfect, Looking forward to it.

I’m not going to say to much about it, but it’s going to be a Ryan Toms win though.

It’s going to be a great fight, I think our styles are perfect to make it a really good fight.”

Pat McAleese versus Ryan Toms, for the Southern Area Light Middleweight title, is a feature fight on the undercard of the Hennessy Sports promoted Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury’s British and Commonwealth Heavyweight title clash at the Wembley Arena on Saturday 23rd July 2011.