Zab “Super” Judah and Amir “King” Khan stepped on the scale today, both weighing in at 140 lbs. The 12-round World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Super Lightweight World Championship Unification fight takes place tomorrow at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Khan vs. Judah, a 12-round WBA and IBF Super Lightweight World Championship Unification fight, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Main Events in association with Khan Promotions and Super Judah Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and AT&T. Doors open at 2:30pm and the first fight begins at 2:30pm. The HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. In the United Kingdom, the event will be broadcast live on Primetime Pay-Per-View, channel 480 on Sky for £14.95 at 1:00 a.m. BT.
Tickets priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50 are on sale now and available for purchase at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
SZPILLKA RETURNS TO U.S. WITH MISSION TO SHAKE UP ZZZZZ HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
Most boxing fans see today’s heavyweight division as a sleepy, boring place. Rightfully so. But rest assured, Artur “Big Pin” Szpillka (SHPILL-ka) is going to do something about it. Southpaw Szpillka (6-0, 4 KOs) of North Bergen, New Jersey, by way of Wieliczka, Poland, is already known overseas as one of the hottest heavyweight prospects in boxing. He is also building a growing reputation as one of the sport’s most colorful new characters.
From the orange prison jumpsuit he wears into the ring to his dust-ups outside of it, the 22-year-old southpaw has the iron fists and bad attitude to shake up boxing’s most peaceful division.
Szpillka is now signed to a co-promotional agreement with Florida-based Warriors Boxing and Poland-based 12 Round Knockout Promotions.
He will make his triumphant return to American soil when he faces David Williams (6-4-1, 2 KO) of Philadelphia on July 29 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, on a card entitled “Heat Wave”, promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports and dynamic, new North Bergen, New Jersey-based promotional firm Global Boxing, headed by Mariusz Kolodziej.
“Heat Wave” will be headlined by the Mariusz Wach vs. Kevin McBride heavyweight showdown.
Szpillka boasts a strong amateur pedigree; the former Polish amateur champion went an impressive 102-5 against strong international competition. He stands 6′ 3″ and weighs in around 240 lbs., but is blessed with terrific timing, good hand speed, wicked power and fluid upper-body movement.
“Artur has tremendous potential,” said his co-promoter, Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing. “He’s so young, but he’s already so strong and he has an exciting, confusing style that baffles his opponents on their way to the canvas. Fans back in Poland are crazy about him and now we’re bringing him to the U.S. where he can start making a name for himself over here. It won’t take long.”
In his last fight, Szpillka turned many heads by flattening unbeaten Bosnian Ramiz Hadziaganovic with a perfectly timed right hook in just 33 seconds of the first round.
Szpillka’s story already reads like a movie. He witnessed his father’s death at four years old and picked up boxing at the age of 15, when he was discovered by his trainer during a soccer hooligans’ fight.
He turned pro in 2008 as a cruiserweight, but has since gained 40 pounds of muscle.
“It’s too early in his career to proclaim him the next great Polish heavyweight,” added Margules, “but what he is, is an unpredictable, cocky, powerful, dangerous breath of fresh air in a division that desperately needs it. No matter what Artur does, he does it with his own flair and we’re proud to be introducing him to this side of the world.”
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“Heat Wave” features two championship bouts – a 12-round showdown between Kevin McBride (35-9-1, 29 KOs) and Mariusz Wach (24-0, 12 KOs) for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) International heavyweight title, and a 10-round intrastate battle between Elvin Ayala (23-5-1, 11 KOs) of New Haven, Conn., and rival Israel “Pito” Cardona (36-10, 28 KOs) of Hartford for the vacant WBC United States National Boxing Council (USNBC) middleweight title.
The undercard includes New Haven welterweight Edwin Soto (6-0-1, 2 KOs) battling Michael Denby (3-11-4, 2 KOs) of Felton, Delaware. Cruiserweight Jose Torres of Springfield, Mass., will make his debut against fellow newcomer Pedro Rivera of Southbridge, Mass.; super middleweight Greg McCoy (2-3-1, 1 KO) of New Haven will fight in a separate four-round bout against Worcester’s Ralph Johnson (0-1); and super middleweight Keith Kozlin (6-2, 4 KOs) of Warwick, R.I., will face Woonsocket’s Reynaldo Rodriguez (5-2, 2 KOs) in a six-round intrastate showdown. In a special attraction will be an eight-round light middleweight bout featuring Worcester, Mass., veteran and former three-time world champion Jose Antonio Rivera (40-6-1, 24 KOs). All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets for “Heat Wave,” which are priced at $40, $65 and $105, can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253/2254 or Ticketmaster at 1.800.745.3000. Fans can also purchase tickets online at www.cesboxing.com, www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Mohegan Sun Box Office. For more information on “Heat Wave,” visit www.cesboxing.com or www.mohegansun.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the first bout scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
JESSIE VARGAS AND JAYSON VELEZ ENTER THE COMPETITION FOR THE “CINTURON TECATE”
“Sólo Boxeo Tecate” Viewers Choose Vargas and Vélez as Boxers With The Most Carácter From Their Respective Fights On June 8 and June 15
New York (July 22, 2011) – Boxing fans rewarded pugilists Jessie Vargas and Jayson Vélez for the character they showed in their respective fights on the July 8 and the July 15 “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” broadcasts by voting them onto the list of contenders for the prized “Cinturón Tecate” (Tecate Belt).
On July 8, Jessie Vargas stopped the always-tough Walter Estrada of Colombia via second round knockout in Primm Nev., earning Vargas earned 87% of fan votes as well as a spot in the “Cinturón Tecate” competition for the second time this year. The following week, Jayson Vélez earned 56% of votes cast from across the nation for his performance in defeating Carlos Valcárcel in a 10-round battle on July 15 in Cataño, Puerto Rico.
“Cinturón Tecate” is an award created to support the boxers who display the most carácter in the ring during the “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” broadcast each Friday night on TeleFutura. Tecate recognizes that viewers at home are the best judges and allows them to vote for their favorite boxer of the night by sending a text message to 55333 or visiting Univision.com, Uniclave: Solo Boxeo Tecate. To thank participating fans, each text submitted gives them the opportunity to win boxing memorabilia, such as T-shirts, autographed pictures and even tickets to future “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” fights.
As contenders in the competition, the boxers who receive the highest percentage of votes from July through September will have the opportunity to win the “Cinturón Tecate” belt and appear on Univision’s premier sports show “República Deportiva.” Current rankings are:
Ranking Boxer % of Votes Date of Fight
1 Jessie Vargas 87% July 8
2 Jayson Velez 56% July 15
The next chance to vote will be tonight when two featherweights, unbeaten Christopher Martin and Mexico’s Jose Silveira face off in a 10-round fight to showcase their skills in the “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” ring. To participate, fans 21 and older can send a text message to 55333 with B1 to vote for Christopher Martin or B2 to support Jose Silveira, or visit Univision.com, Uniclave: Solo Boxeo Tecate. The bout will air on TeleFutura at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT (10:30 p.m. CT) from Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.