TORONTO (September 15, 2011) – With all due respect to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadians, the long, rich arch-rivalry in sports between Ontario and Quebec is, perhaps more prevalent today in boxing than even hockey.
The aforementioned rivalry heats up October 22 at The Hersey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, when unbeaten World Boxing Association (“WBA”) No. 11-rated Logan Cotton McGuinness, of Ontario, takes on and former world title challenger Benoit Gaudet, of Quebec, in the 10-round main event on a card presented by Hennessy Sports in association with Interbox and United Promotions.
The adversarial provincial competition continues November 5 at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec as two-time world champion Steve “The Canadian Kid” Molitor (33-2, 12 KOs), of Ontario, faces Sebastian Gauthier (21-2, 13 KOs), of Quebec, in the co-feature on the Lucian Bute-Glen Johnson card, presented by Interbox.
“The cross-provincial rivalry between Ontario and Quebec is intense in all sports,” promoter Adam Harris (Hennessy Sports) said. “Canada’s rich boxing history is keeping this rivalry going strong today. From Ontario’s Lennox Lewis, George Chuvalo and Tommy Burns, to Quebec’s Arturo Gatti, Lucan Bute and Jean Pascal, both provinces have had so many great boxers over the years, right up to now. We’re proud to be continuing this heated boxing rivalry with McGuiness fighting Gaudet.”
Red-hot prospect McGuinness (15-0-1, 7 KOs), fighting out of Orangeville, Ontario, captured the North American Boxing Association (“NABA”) Lightweight Champion for the past 13 months, but the Irish-Canadian will abdicate his belt in order to challenge Gaudet for the vacant NABA super featherweight title.
The 24-year-old McGuiness forced Buzz Grant to retire on the stool after two rounds in their Sept. 29, 2010 NABA lightweight title fight. He successfully defended his crown this past February, knocking out Hector Julio Avila, and in his last action June 24 via a 10-round decision Daniel Ruiz.
The 31-year-old Gaudet (24-2, 10 KOs), of Drummondville, Quebec, was the Canadian lightweight champion in 2005, as well as the NABA super featherweight champion crown in 2007-2008. Gaudet was stopped by defending champion Humberto Soto in their 2009 WBC super featherweight title fight.
Another rivalry match on the Oct. 22 card pits unbeaten Columbian welterweight Samuel Vargas (7-0-1, 1 KO), fighting out of Mississauga, Ontario, against outspoken Montreal favorite Ahmad Cheikho (6-3-2, 5 KOs) in the 8/10-round co-feature. The relentless, pressuring Vargas has been inactive since February due to an injury and recovery, while Cheikho finds himself in a crossroads fight.
Tickets, starting at $35.00, may be purchased at The Hersey Centre Box Office, through Ticketmaster at 416.872.5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
Goon line at www.HennessySports.comfor more information McGuinness and the Oct. 22 show.
FORMER WORLD CHAMPION MANNY SIACA AND PROSPECT MCJOE ARROYO CO FEATURE IN THE NEXT “A PUÑO LIMPIO” ON OCTOBER 7 IN CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO
Former World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Manuel Alejandro Siaca and hot prospect McJoe Arroyo will headline the 7th edition of the series “A Puño Limpio” next October 7 at the coliseo Rebekah Colberg in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico in a PR Best Boxing Promotions (PRBBP) presentation, in association with Top Rank, to be shown live on WAPA America from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
“We move now to the west area of Puerto Rico to present this A Puño Limpio with an eight bouts show to be, and a title bout where Manny Siaca is back in the middleweight division and the second bout, after a seven month rest, of McJoe Arroyo. Also we will present many fighters of the western area in the show”, promoter Ivan Rivera, PRBBP president, said.
Siaca (22-7, 19 KOs), who held the 168 pounds WBA title in 2004, will fight for the first time since his defeat against Danny Green for the IBO Cruiserweight championship on April 2010. His fight in A Puño Limpio is for the WBO Latino title in the Middleweight division.
Meanwhile, former olympian Arroyo (8-0, 5 KOs), is back for a six round fight in the superflyweight division (115 pounds). Arroyo beat Ivan Moxey by TKO in the firs round last September 2 in Bayamon.
Tickets availables at Ticketcenter, www.tcpr.com or 1 (787) 792-5000. Prices are $15 and $35.
Prestigious Global Boxing League (WSB) coming to Germany
Lausanne, 15 September 2011 – The Leipzig Leopards are proud to announce their participation in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) as the German Franchise. The team will be managed by the Leipzig based PR company 4heads-media in close co-operation with the German Boxing Federation (DBV). German top athletes will compete together with international boxers in the worldwide series starting in November 2011.
For their five home matches, the Leipzig Leopards will host teams from Baku, Mexico City, Beijing, Istanbul, and title-holder Paris. The first event will take place in the week-end of 11/12 November. “We are glad to be able to present boxing world champions and Olympic champions here in Leipzig. The city of Leipzig with it’s tradition in sports is the perfect host city for these events”, said Daniel Mantey, CEO of 4heads-media.
Jürgen Kyas, president of DBV, said: “I am proud that AIBA as the world governing body of Olympic boxing accepted Germany as one base for the World Series of Boxing. This is the result of the exceptional job our athletes and their coaches have done. This outstanding boxing league is the melting pot of the best boxers worldwide.”
Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, Chairman of the World Series of Boxing Board: “We are extremely pleased to welcome the Leipzig Leopards for the second season of the World Series of Boxing. Following the great success of the 2010-2011 season, it is very rewarding to have new cities such as Leipzig and Mumbai joining WSB already in the second season of the league. WSB is also very proud of the substantive involvement of the German Boxing Federation in the Franchise and welcome the strong support of the city of Leipzig for the Leopards. We are convinced that all ingredients of success are in Leipzig and we wish the Leopards the best of luck for the season”.
The final composition of the Leipzig Leopards team will be determined at the International Boxer Draft held on 6 October in Baku, on a rest-day of the AIBA World Championships (22.09.-10.10.2011).
World Series of Boxing (WSB)
The WSB is a boxing competition without head guards or vests, with professional-style scoring, three judges, one referee and one supervisor. A WSB match consists of five bouts, with each bout consisting of five rounds of three minutes each. The team with most wins from five bouts wins the match.
The five weight categories are Bantamweight (54kg), Lightweight (61kg) Middleweight (73kg), Light heavyweight (85kg) and Heavyweight (91+kg).
Each team has a minimum squad of 15 boxers but no maximum. The team is made up of both national boxers and foreign boxers, with at least four foreign boxers required in a squad of 15, five in a squad with 16 to 18 boxers, 6 in a squad of 19 or 20 boxers and at least 7 for a squad with more than 20 boxers. Currently WSB involves 12 teams in 12 countries: USA, Russia, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, India, South Korea, Italy, France, Turkey and Germany.
The World Series of Boxing is an initiative of AIBA, the International Boxing Association, which is the international governing body for the sport of boxing recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).