James DeGale is desperate to get back into the ring and claim the European Boxing Union (EBU) Super-Middleweight title in his comeback fight in September.
The former British Super-Middleweight Champion met face-to-face with the champion Piotr Wilczewski in London today and promised to take the title from him.
Promoter Frank Warren will confirm the date and venue of the fight on Monday.
This will be DeGale’s first fight since his controversial loss to rival George Groves in May when many ringside observers thought he did enough to win.
DeGale said, “It’s fantastic that I’m fighting for the European title on my first fight back and full credit to Frank Warren for doing a great job in getting me it,”
“I still think I won the fight against Groves, but that’s in the past and I’m moving onwards and upwards in my career and the European title is a major title I want to win.”
“Wilczewski is a tough and dangerous looking kid, he’s got a good record, he carries a high world ranking and I reckon he is a much better fighter than Groves,”
“It’s a tough test and I’m looking forward to it. I want to be the best and I’ve got to get through this guy to prove it,”
Wilczewski, who is ranked number two by the WBO, said, “DeGale is a good strong fighter and he proved his class winning the Olympic gold medal,”
“I’m not worried by coming to England to face him. I guarantee that there will be more fans cheering for me in the arena on the night than him because there are more Polish people in England than back in Poland!”
“He will be in a real fight against me. I will not let my title go without a fight and he’d better be prepared to go to war with me.”
Further details will be announced on Monday of the date and venue.
Edwin Rodriguez vs. Chris Traietti on August 20
Former world champion Alcine, local favorites to see action on the undercard
NEW YORK, NY (July 28, 2011) – DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing series travels to Worcester, MA, for the third time in as many years on Saturday, August 20, 2011, with a spectacular night of fights to be held at the beautiful converted opera hall, Mechanics Hall. The main event features unbeaten hometown hero Edwin Rodriguez, returning to the ring after a seven month layoff.
Headlining the undercard is former WBA junior middleweight champion Joachim Alcine (32-2, 19 KOs), along with a heavyweight bout between unbeaten prospect Kelvin Price (10-0, 6 KO) taking on Worcester native Rashad Minor (4-1, 3 KOs) Also seeing action are a slew of local favorites: junior lightweight Ryan Kielczewski (10-0, 2 KOs), female heavyweight Sonya Lamonakis (5-0, 1 KO), super bantamweight Luis Rosa (7-0, 5 KOs), junior welterweight Gabriel Duluc (1-0, 1 KO) and heavyweight Keith Bianchini (2-1, 1 KO).
Tickets for Broadway Boxing are on sale now through DiBella Entertainment, and start at only $35. Tickets can be purchased via the Mechanics Hall box office, online at www.mechanicshall.org or via phone (M-F, 9am-5pm) at 508-752-0888.
Worcester’s own super middleweight prospect Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (18-0, 13 KOs), 26, comes home in his return to the ring, ending a seven-month hiatus while he recovered from an injury he incurred in his last fight. Rodriguez is an exciting power-puncher, who is currently highly ranked by all the major sanctioning organizations, at #8 by the IBF and IBO, #11 by the WBA, and #13 by the WBC and WBO. His two biggest pro victories have come in his last two fights.
Appearing on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” on January 14, Rodriguez won a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision over Aaron Pryor Jr., at Mallory Square in Key West, FL, in which he had to overcome a shoulder injury, having suffered a torn rotator cuff as early as the second round. Two months earlier, Rodriguez dominated James McGirt Jr. over nine rounds before forcing the stoppage, in a bout televised by Showtime. The victory earned Rodriguez the WBC USNBC belt.
Former World Boxing Association (WBA) junior middleweight champion Joachim Alcine, is a Haitian-born Canadian who is a technical boxer with a crowd-pleasing style. When he steps back into the ring on August 20, he’ll be ending a 13-month layoff, following a first round stoppage defeat to Alfredo Angulo, on July 17, 2010. After eight years as an amateur in which he acquired a record of 42-6, Alcine turned pro on May 28, 1999, with a TKO1 over Louis Bouchard in Montreal. He quickly gained a following by fighting on the undercard of popular Canadian stars and with local television airing his early fights; and in his 13th bout on May 25, 2002, Alcine was featured on Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation,” outboxing the experienced Marcos Primera over 12 rounds for the IBA belt. He would go on to win several other fringe titles including the Canadian title, WBA Fedelatin, NABA, WBC International, and WBA Fedecentro belts, while defeating the likes of Stephan Ouellet, Carlos Bojorquez and Carl Daniels. On July 7, 2007, Alcine became the first to defeat the crafty Travis Simms to garner the WBA 154lb. crown. He defended it once with a 12th-round TKO over Alfonso Mosquera before losing it to Daniel Santos. Alcine had two comeback victories, winning decisions over Eric Mitchell in 10, and Christophe Canclaux in 12, prior to the Angulo defeat.
Sonya Lamonakis,a native of Greece, is a sixth-grade teacher at Harlem’s Family Academy, who trains at the famed Gleason’s Gym. A four-time New York Golden Gloves champion, Sonya turned pro with a TKO2 over Kasondra Hardnette at Mechanics Hall, on June 24 of last year. Lamonakis is an all-action fighter who attracts a lot of fans. Last time out, Sonya chopped down the towering Gigi Jackson to earn a four-round unanimous decision, on April 16 at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
Ryan Kielczewski, known as the “Polish Prince,” a junior lightweight from Quincy, MA, was a runner-up at the 2008 National Golden Gloves Tournament in the 125-pound division, and has since built a passionate following in the New England area since turning pro on August 6 of that year. After winning a unanimous six-round decision over Willshaun Boxley on a Broadway Boxing card at BB King Blues Club on February 9, Kielczewski last fought on April 16, winning an eight-round decision over Robert DaLuz at the National Guard Armory in Dorchester, MA.
Junior featherweight Luis Rosa,of New Haven, CT, is coming off a six-round majority decision win over Shawn Nichol, on June 18. His previous victory on April 16 was impressive as he stopped Joseliz Cepeda, a former amateur champion, in five rounds on the Berto-Ortiz undercard.
Heavyweight prospect Kelvin “Price is Right” Price, of Iberia, LA, turned pro, after a brief amateur campaign, in 2007, under the tutelage of Roy Jones Sr. Standing at 6’7”, Price is a powerful puncher, with five of his six knockouts coming in the first round. On May 15, 2010, Price scored his most noteworthy win, earning a six-round split decision over previously undefeated local favorite Tor Hamer, at Madison Square Garden. In his most recent bout, on April 8, Price decisioned Ija Flappingeagle in Laredeo, TX. On this card, he’ll take on Worcester’s Rashad Minor, who last fought at Mechanics Hall on June 24, 2011, winning a four-round decision.
Talented junior welterweight Gabriel DuLuc, of Worcester, will be looking to build on his last victory when he turned pro on a Broadway Boxing card on March 29, winning a four-round unanimous decision over Joel Alarcon, at BB King Blues Club.
Popular Worcester heavyweight Keith Bianchini, 2-1 (1 KO), is a corrections officer at Walpole state prison. He will attempt to rebound from a decision loss he suffered in July.
Tickets for Broadway Boxing are on sale now through DiBella Entertainment, and start at only $35. Main Floor tickets are priced at $55, $75, and $125. Rear Balcony tickets are $35 and $75. Tables for groups of 10 are priced at $1,000.Tickets can be purchased via the Mechanics Hall box office, online at www.mechanicshall.org or via phone (M-F, 9am-5pm) at 508-752-0888.
Beibut Shumenov vs. Danny Santiago tomorrow
LAS VEGAS (July 28, 2011) – One of professional boxing’s most driven world champions 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 on 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, Nev.
“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,” continued Barry. “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 just $25, are available for purchase at South Point’s box office, online at www.SouthPointEventCenter.com/tickets.php, or by calling (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 KO’s), 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 by capturing a world title in the fewest career fights, 10, when he won a 12-round decision against Gabriel Campillo on January 29, 2010 in Las Vegas. Now, he is driven to unify the 175-pound division world 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 unanimous decision versus No. 1 mandatory challenger and previously undefeated Viacheslav Uzelkov, followed by a six-round knockout over Three-Time World Champion William Joppy.
In just 11 professional fights, Beibut has defeated four current and former 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 start of his professional 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 and IBA world titles on July 29 against WBA #15 ranked Santiago (31-4-1, 19 KO’s), who was featured on the third season of The Contender reality television series.
The stacked card features two other champion KZ Event Productions fighters in fellow unbeatens WBA FEDALATIN Welterweight Champion Ravshan Hudaynazarov and WBA International Light Heavyweight titlist Gayrat Ahmedov, who will defend their titles in separate bouts.
WBA # 9 rated Hudaynazarov (14-0, 12 KO’s) faces former USNBC titlist Hector “The Hurricane” Munoz (19-5-1, 12 KO’s) in a ten round fight, while WBA #2 Ahmedov (16-0-1, 11 KO’s) takes on veteran Bill Bailey (11-11, 4 KO’s) in an eight round fight.
In what promises to be an exciting fight, popular Las Vegas junior lightweight “Lightning” Lonnie Smith (13-2-2, 9 KO’s) squares off against Tijuana’s Eduardo “Lalo” Arcos (16-4-1, 13 KO’s) in a four round junior lightweight battle.
Also featured will be Las Vegas fan favorite Ramon Montano (17-9-2, 2 KO’s) facing welterweight Juan Suazo (7-4-3, 5 KOs) in a six-round fight. Also on the card is Freddie Roach-trained, unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Joel Diaz (4-0, 3 KO’s) squaring off against Denver’s Esteban Nichol (3-1, 3KO’s) in a four round tilt, as well as undefeated Russian cruiserweight Medzhid Bektemirov (5-0, 5 KO’s) of Houston who faces Chad Davis (3-8) of Phoenix in a four-round bout. All fights and fighters are subject to change.