LAS VEGAS (July 25, 2011) – Professional boxing’s most driven world champion is World Boxing Association (“WBA”) and International Boxing Association (“IBA”)light heavyweight king, Beibut Shumenov, who takes the next step on his mercurial rise in the sweet science Friday night (July 29), headlining “Fire & Fury” against two-time world title challenger Danny “The Bronx Bomber” Santiago, on TeleFutura’s “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” broadcast live from South Point Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“What really drives Beibut is to be better in every single fight,” commented Shumenov’s head trainer, 1984 Olympic Silver Medalist Kevin Barry. “He sets very high standards and goals. You can’t tell Beibut he can’t do something; he’ll do it, just to make a point, and what he has already accomplished in boxing is unprecedented.
“Beibut has the fan-friendly style to become a major star in boxing. Beibut is a tremendous athlete who would have been a star in any professional sport he chose. In my 25 years in boxing, I have never seen anybody as driven as Beibut.”
“Fire& Fury” is promoted by KZ Event Productions (Shumenov and his brother, Chingis, own and operate the Las Vegas-based KZ Event Productions) in association with Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, Guilty Boxing and South Point Hotel Casino and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and AT&T. Doors open at 5:30 PM PT, the first bout at 6:00 PM PT and the TeleFutura broadcast begins at 11:30 PM ET / PT (10:30 PM CT).
Tickets, starting at $25, are available for purchase at South Point’s box office, online at www.SouthPointEventCenter.com/tickets.php, or by calling 1.702.797.8055.
Fans at home can also be part of the action by participating in Cinturón Tecate and voting for the fighter in the main event who displays the most character in the ring by sending a text message to 55333. Voting will be open through the end of the weekend.
Shumenov (11-1, 7 KOs), who lives and fights out of Las Vegas, first represented his native Kazakhstan in the 2004 Olympic Games. Then, he set a light heavyweight record for capturing a world title in the fewest career fights, 10, when (Jan. 10, 2010) he won a 12-round decision against Gabriel Campillo in Las Vegas. Now, he is driven to unify the world 175-pound division championships and eventually become the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world.
In a pair of world title defenses, Shumenov won a unanimous 12-round decision versus No. 1 mandatory challenger and previously undefeated Viacheslav Uzelkov (UDEC12), followed by a six-round knockout of three-time world champion William Joppy (KO6).
In only 11 pro fights, Beibut has defeated four world champions (Campillo, Joppy, Byron Mitchell and Montell Griffin), as well as two world title challengers (Uzelkov and Epifanio Mendoza). “My brother chose a path in boxing unlike most fighters,” Chingis Shumenov explained. “He always challenged himself, instead of fighting easy opponents just to build-up his record. Beibut wanted to fight world champions, practically right from the very start of his pro career. His overall development is due to him learning from each fight because he’s fought so many experienced, quality opponents. He has greatly improved in a relatively short time and his ultimate goal is unifying all of the world titles at 175 pounds.”
Despite being on a journey to unify the light heavyweight titles, Shumenov remains fully focused on the task at hand, which is to successfully defend his WBA/IBA titles July 29 against WBA #15 ranked Santiago (31-4-1, 19 KOs), who was featured on the third season of The Contender reality television series.
An exciting co-feature pits popular Las Vegas super featherweight “Lightning” Lonnie Smith (13-2-2, 9 KOs) versus Robert “The King” Vargas (5-1-1, 0 KOs), is also scheduled to air on TeleFutura’s “Sólo Boxeo Tecate” broadcast.
Two other champion KZ Event Productions fighters, unbeatens WBA FEDALATIN Welterweight Champion Ravshan Hudaynazarov and WBA International Light Heavyweight titlist Gayrat Ahmedov, will also be in action.
WBA # 9 rated Hudaynazarov (14-0, 12 KOs) defends his title against former USNBC titlist Hector “The Hurricane” Munoz (19-5-1, 12 KOs) in a 10-round belt, while WBA #2 Ahmedov (16-0-1, 12 KOs) takes on veteran Billy Bailey (11-11, 4 KOs) in an eight-round match.
Las Vegas fan favorite Ramon Montano(17-9-2, 2 KOs) faces welterweight Juan Suazo (7-4-3, 5 KOs) in a six-round match. Also on the card against an opponent to be determined is Freddie Roach-trained, unbeaten super featherweight prospect Joel Diaz(4-0, 3 KOs), as well as undefeated Russian cruiserweight Medzhid Bektemirov (5-0, 5 KOs) versus Chad Davis (3-8), in a four-round bouts. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
MSG Network to Re-Telecast Sturm vs. Macklin
New York, NY – July 25, 2011 – MSG Network announced today that it will re-telecast the contentious boxing match between Felix Sturm and Matthew Macklin as part of its “Boxing Wednesdays” weekly summer programming schedule. The fight, which originally aired on EPIX, will debut on MSG Network on Wednesday, July 27 at 9:00 p.m.
Felix Sturm, fighting in front of his hometown fans, retained his WBA middleweight title with a controversial split-decision win over Matthew Macklin from Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on June 25th. Two ringside judges awarded it 116-112 in favor of the defending champion, while the third scored it 115-113 to Macklin. Sturm, who was clearly surprised by Macklin in the early rounds, used his experience and fought back to successfully defend his title for the 10th time since losing it to Javier Castillejo in 2006.
Sturm improved to 36-2-1 with 15 knockouts, while the 29-year-old Macklin, who fights out of Birmingham, England, dropped to 28-3 with 19 KOs.
The broadcast team consists of former heavyweight champion of the world Lennox Lewis, ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael and WNBC’s Bruce Beck, who called the original EPIX broadcast from the MSG Network studios.
Immediately prior to Sturm vs. Macklin at 8:00 p.m. MSG will air “Macho Time at MSG”. The Fight Night Classic features Hector “Macho” Camacho and his Garden fights against Jose Figueroa, Anthony Murray, Rafael Lopez and Refuio Rojas.
“Boxing Wednesdays” is part of MSG Network’s “Summer Block Party” programming schedule where each night of the week features a programming block with a designated theme. The nights consist of: Classic Mondays, Countdown Tuesdays, Boxing Wednesdays, Hoops Thursdays, Music Fridays powered by Fuse and Cinema Weekends.
Carina Moreno vs. Chantel Cordova on Guerrero-Maidana undercard on August 27
Watsonville, Ca – August 25, 2011- Former four-time world champion, Carina “La Reina” Moreno (21-3, 6 KO’s) returns to the ring when she faces Chantel “Georgous Babe” Cordova (8-2-1, 3 KO’s) August 27, 2011. The bout will go off on the Robert Guerrero vs. Marcos Maidana card, set to take place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
“It’s been a few years since I fought near my hometown,” said an excited Moreno. “I’m looking forward to putting on a great show for the fans in attendance. This is a fantastic card for the Bay Area fans who’ll be watching live at the HP Pavilion. Chantel Cordova is a very talented fighter and I know she’s coming to fight her heart out. I’ll be ready for the challenge and what ever she brings to the ring.”
Trainer Rick Noble stated, “Carina has a lot to prove in this fight and I believe she’ll have a great performance. We’ve seen tape on Cordova and she’s no pushover. I have a game plan that I believe will be successful in this fight. This will be the first time Robert Guerrero and Carina will have fought on the same card, what a treat for the fans. This fight, along with the others, makes for a great night of boxing. “
Tickets, priced at $252, $127, $62 and $26, are on sale now and available for purchase at the HP Pavilion Ticket Office, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Tickets will also be available at two Moreno’s Taco’s locations (Capitola: 1601 41st Ave , Capitola , CA 95010 and Santa Cruz: 1053 Water Street Santa Cruz CA 95062). Please call Rick Noble at (408) 840-2929 for additional information.