NEW YORK (September 16, 2011) — Three-division world champion and the Pride of Puerto Rico MIGUEL COTTO and professional rival and three-time welterweight world champion ANTONIO “The Tijuana Tornado” MARGARITO, of México, will embark on a four-city media tour This Monday! September 19, to announce their long-awaited world championship rematch. Cotto will defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight title against Margarito, Saturday, December 3, at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Cotto Promotions, Tornado Promotions, AT&T, and Madison Square Garden, Cotto-Margarito II will be produced and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®.
The tour’s opening and closing press conferences, in Puerto Rico and Los Angeles, respectively, will be open to the public.
The previous encounter between Cotto and Margarito took place on July 26, 2008 and was a battle of epic proportion and arguably the Fight of the Year. Cotto and Margarito boast a combined record of 74-9 (56 KOs) – a winning percentage of 89% and a victory by knockout ratio of 76% — not to mention seven world titles between them.
COTTO vs. MARGARITO MEDIA TOUR
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 – Open to the Public!
Coliseo de Puerto Rico
Jose Miguel Agrelot
500 Calle Arterial B
Hato Rey, Puerto Rico 00918
11:00 a.m. – News Conference
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 – Open to the Public!
Wilshire Grand Los Angeles – Pacific Ballroom
930 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, Calif. 90017
Noon ET — Lunch
12:30 p.m. PT – News Conference
Tickets to Cotto-Margarito II, priced at $600, $400, $300, $200, $100, and $50 including applicable service charges, will go on sale This Tuesday! September 20, at Noon ET. They can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office, online at www.thegarden.com and all Ticketmaster outlets, which charges an additional fee.
For Cotto-Margarito II fight week updates, log on to www.toprank.com and www.hbo.com
New and Improved O’Connor Ready for Smashing Return to Ring
Super lightweight prospect Danny O’Connor (14-1, 3 KOs) is putting the finishing touches on training for his return to the ring on Wednesday, September 21, on the Fight To Educate card at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Fighting for the fourth consecutive year in this high-profile charity boxing event, southpaw O’Connor will be debuting the new-and-improved skills he has picked up from working with new trainer, the legendary Ronnie Shields in Houston, Texas.
He will face Mexico’s Jaime Del Cid (7-5, 3 KOs) in a six-round in the co-featured bout. It will be O’Connor’s first ring appearance since a disappointing setback on ShoBox The New Generation against Gabriel Bracero on April 8.
“I feel good. I’m in great shape and ready to go,” said the personable 26-year-old native of Framingham, Massachusetts. “I’ve learned so much off Ronnie already that I’ll be a totally different fighter in there. I made the right decision to move to Houston and train here because I am up a level from before I made the move.”
O’Connor’s co-promoter, Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing (the other is DiBella Entertainment), says he’s happy to see his young fighter back in action.
“Danny had some pretty serious health issues surrounding his previous fight, so I’m happy the most that he was able to get treatment and everything seems to be back to normal. Plus I’m very proud of him for how hard he has worked. Ronnie Shields doesn’t train just anybody, you have to prove you want it and Danny has done exactly that by moving out there and working his butt off every day in the gym. I’m very excited for his future.”
The 10-round main event showcases World Boxing Council (“WBC”) No. 14-rated and 2008 U.S. Olympian, Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (14-0, 9 KOs), who facestwo-time world title challenger Saul “Baby” Duran (38-18-2, 31 KOs).
Upset specialist Jose “Stinger” Medina (14-9-1, 6 KOs), from Tilton (NH), will also be in action against Olympic Bronze Medalist Anibel Acevedo (13-7-1, 11 KOs), of Puerto Rico. Medina, a native of Mexico, is coming off a controversial eight-round draw against former world champion Joachim Alcine, in which most observers felt Medina deserved a victory.In January, Medina scored a shocking fourth-round knockout of 17-1 Isaac Rodrigues. As an amateur, Acevedo defeated future pro world champions Shane Moseley, Guillermo Jones and Harry Simon.
Fighting on the undercard in four-round matches are Claremont (NH) lightweight Dan Powers (3-0, 2 KOs) vs. Luis Rosario, and Windsor (VT) welterweight Chris Gilbert (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Joey “Mundo” Ortega.
Fight To Educate is a unique charity event that combines a love of sports with the vision of assisting children and seniors in need, who with fundraisers like this could be ‘down for the count.’During the past nine years, Fight To Educate has raised more than $500,000 in donations benefitting local New Hampshire non-profit organizations.
Proceeds from the 10th annual Fight To Educate will benefit SEE Science Center (www.see-sciencecenter.org), The Bobby Stephens Fund for Education (www.stepheneducationfund.com), and St. Joseph Community Services/Meals on Wheels (www.mealsonwheelsnh.org).
Tickets, priced at $50.00 and $25.00 (general admission), are available to purchase by going online at www.ticketmaster.com, calling Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000, or at the Verizon Wireless Arena Box Office or any Ticketmaster location.
Table tickets for a night of professional boxing and Black Tie dinner, as well as an auction and meet-and-greet with special boxing legends such as former world heavyweight title challenger “Gentleman” Gerry Cooney, as well as world champions and three of New England’s all-time greatest boxers – Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Paz,”Irish” Micky Ward and John “The Quietman” Ruiz – are available by calling Stephen Singer at 603.669.4100.
The dinner starts at 5:30 PM/ET, doors for boxing open at 7:30 PM/RT with the first bout scheduled for 8 PM/ET.
Go online to www.fight2educate.com or www.verizonwirelessarena.com for additional information.
AL BERNSTEIN RETURNS TO ENGLISH TELEVISION
Hall of Fame Boxing broadcaster Al Bernstein will serve as analyst on the Channel 5 broadcast of the September 17th fight between British and Commonwealth Champion Tyson Fury and Nicholai Firtha. This will be Bernstein’s second appearance on Channel 5’s new boxing series. The first show, the Fury-Derek Chisora fight, drew an audience of almost 3 million homes in July.
“It was great to be a part of boxing’s return to terrestrial television in Great Britain, and Channel 5 is to be commended for offering the sport to a wide audience,” Al said. He added, “British boxing fans are among the best in the world. They know and love the sport, I’m honored to be the first American to serve in this capacity on British television.”
Working with Al on the telecast will again be Dave Farrar and Mark Pougatch . “They were terrific on the last telecast and I can’t wait to work with them again,” Bernstein said. Fury-Firtha is promoted by Hennessy Sports
IN OTHER NEWS:
Al Bernstein is pleased to be hosting the Sports Philanthropy Association’s Inaugural Golf Challenge on Monday, September 26, 2011 at the Royal Country Club of Long Grove, Illinois. The day of golf will also feature a full schedule of events including lunch and a Monday Night Football party. Anyone in the Chicagoland area wishing to attend this event can get more information at www.golfinvite.com/SPA-Chicago