Orange, CA (October 5, 2011) – Undefeated Abraham “Chamaco” Lopez will take the stage in a featherweight battle against Gerardo “Locomotora” Espinoza on the Thompson Boxing Promotion “Path to Glory” fight card scheduled on Friday October 14 at the popular Doubletree Hotel in Ontario.
“Path to Glory” features several welterweight, bantamweight and featherweight bouts including La Puente’s popular Lopez (15-0, 11 KOs) facing Tijuana, Mexico’s Espinoza (28-11, 26 KOs) in an eight round bout.
Lopez, 24, has shown a resilient chin to go along with his aggressive boxer-puncher style. In his last fight opponent Olvin Mejia could only last 1:46, but in the march up against Aaron Garcia the crowd got a taste of Lopez’s tremendous heart. After eight riveting rounds Lopez won a close scrap by majority decision at the Doubletree Hotel.
Espinoza, 30, has been out of the ring for five years. The Mexican fighter’s last bout was a decision loss to Coachella’s Adam Carrera on a Thompson Boxing fight card. Before that he lost by decision to the tough Filipino slugger Rey “Boom, Boom” Bautista. Ready to redeem himself from his losses, Espinoza wants to step back into the ring and reignite his career with performing as he did with his past wins over stout pros Francisco Tejedor and Omar Adorno. This will be a true test of will for both Lopez and Espinoza.
In the co-main event, Thompson Boxing’s newly signed bantamweight, Richard Contreras (7-0, 6 KOs), will face an opponent to be determined. The 21 year old Contreras, who hails from Riverside, is coming off a five in-a-row winning streak, which includes his last fight in which he dominated Manuel Sarabia and scored a 5th round KO.
Popular welterweight Alberto Herrera (7-3-1, 5 KOs) returns and fights undefeated Marcus Robinson (4-0) in a six round bout. Herrera is looking to snap a three-fight losing streak he incurred when he took on ranking fighters. Robinson looks prove he should be included amongst the lofty ranked pugilists. Herrera has aspirations of his own.
Rounding out the big fight card is Riverside’s Roberto Crespo (2-0) vs. San Fernando’s Rigoberto Flores (1-1) welterweights; Riverside’s Juan Reyes (3-0-1) fights L.A.’s Alejandro Ochoa (1-0) featherweights; and bantamweights Isaac Zarate of L.A. and Anthony Griones of Palm Springs make their pro debuts against each other.
NEVIN V CAMPBELL AIBA WORLD C’SHIPS SEMI-FINAL
World Boxing Championships 2011
John Joe Nevin’s Semi-final fight LIVE from Baku on RTÉ One tomorrow morning.
RTE will be on air from 1125 – 1210
Presenter: Con Murphy
Commentator: Jimmy Magee
Panel: Bernard Dunne & Mick Dowling
John Joe Nevin and England’s Luke Campbell will renew acquaintances in Baku. Azerbaijan tomorrow.
Both boxers meet in the AIBA World Championships bantamweight semi-final on Friday two years after Hull-born Campbell, a gold medal winner at the 2008 European Championships in Liverpool, lost 13-2 to Nevin in the 2009 European Union semi-final in Odense, Denmark.
The winner of Friday’s Ireland v England duel will advance to meet either Lazaro Estrada-Alverez of Cuba or Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan in Saturday’s 56Kg final.
Mullingar-born Nevin, who boxes out of the Cavan BC, and Campbell are scheduled to be in the ring at approximately 11.30am (Irish time) tomorrow morning.
Nevin, 22, who claimed bronze at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan, became the first Irish male boxer to win two medals at World Championships level by virtue of reaching the last-four in Baku.
Lightweight Katie Taylor has won three gold medals at the AIBA World Women’s Championships since 2006.
Ireland’s AIBA World Men’s Championships Roll of Honour.
Light-middleweight – Tommy Corr (Clonoe BC) Munich 1982 Bronze
Light-welterweight – Michael Carruth (Drimnagh BC) Moscow 1989 Bronze
Flyweight – Damaen Kelly (Holy Trinity BC ) Tampere 1993 Bronze
Welterweight – James Moore (Arklow BC) Belfast 2001 Bronze
Bantamweight – John Joe Nevin (Cavan BC) Milan 2009 Bronze
Bantamweight – John Joe Nevin (Cavan BC) Baku (At least Bronze)
Nevin, Darren O’Neill and Michael Conlan qualified for the 2012 Olympics in Baku this week and Ireland will be represented at flyweight, bantamweight and middleweight at the 30th Olympiad.
Roy Sheehan could also qualify for the London Games tomorrow if Egidijus Kavaliauskas of Lithuania beats Sapiyev Serik of Kazakhstan in the welterweight semi-final (4pm Irish time).
Sheehan, of the St Michael’s Athy BC, was beaten by Kavaliauskas in the last-16.
However, boxers losing out in the last-16 in eight of the weight categories from light-fly to light-heavy will qualify for the Olympics if they were beaten by the eventual finalists in those weight classes.
Ninety two Olympic places will have been secured after Friday’s semi-finals conclude at the 113-nation AIBA World Championships and Olympic qualifiers.
Meanwhile, the Irish squad are scheduled to arrive home via Dublin Airport at 5.20pm Sunday.
Irish squad Flight details
BMI BD 928 09OCT Baku London Heathrow 1055 1300
BMI BD 129 09OCT London Heathrow Dublin 1600 1720
Visit www.iaba.ie
Dannie Williams a power broker in lightweight division
ST. LOUIS (October 6, 2011) — Not only isn’t World Boxing Council (“WBC”) Continental Americas champion Dannie Williams the best kept secret in the lightweight division anymore, the southpaw is arguably the most dangerous 135-pounder in the world, recently breaking into the top 10 for the first time and shooting for the stars.
Co-Promoted by Rumble Time Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, the 27-year-old Williams has overcome numerous obstacles in his life en route to becoming a legitimate contender. No longer just a prospect, he has won 18 of 19 pro fights, 15 by knockout, and recently moved into the WBC ratings at No. 9.
At the request of his longtime promoter Steve Smith, Williams moved from the mean streets of St. Louis to Youngstown (OH). “Boxing has saved me,” the 2004 National Golden Gloves champion explained. “I turned my life around when I left St. Louis for Youngstown. I have some great people around me like (head trainer) Jack Loew, (promoters) Steve Smith, Blake Fischer and Lou DiBella, (manager/advisor) Sam Shapiro…my whole team. They really care about me and want to see me succeed.”
The only blemish on Williams’ otherwise perfect pro record was a loss by 10-round decision two years ago to Eloy Perez. Dannie, however, has been dominant in his last three fights, defeating Manuel Leyva (KO1), Oscar Cuero (DEC10) and Antonio Cervantes (KO4).
What separates the multi-talented southpaw Williams from other lightweight contenders is his pure knockout power. Fans watching his last fight on ESPN Friday Night Fights versus Cervantes got a first-hand look at Williams’ devastating power punching, realizing that he can crack with the best in the business. This sensational knockout was the No. 1 highlight on ESPN Sportscenter countdown.
“Dannie’s a fan-friendly fighter who can attract new, young fans that love to watch the violence in MMA,” promoter Smith remarked. “He just loves to knockout his opponent. Dannie has real power for a 175-pounder, never mind for a lightweight, and sometimes it’s frightening to watch him punch somebody.”
“Dannie Williams will be world champion,” Loew confidently predicted. “He has good hand speed, boxes well and can think in the ring, but he punches so hard. You have to be able to slow down your opponent to gain respect. That’s the key to having a little pop. Dannie won a lot of amateur tournaments, so he had to be a good boxer to do that, but what makes him so marketable is he’s a big puncher. Like Mike Tyson, fans love to watch a fighter like Dannie with that brutality of punching. He can hit a home run at any time and that brings a lot of excitement to boxing. Nobody who watched his last fight complained that it ended after four rounds. He deserves a shot because this kid is so exciting and, I know, Dannie’s ready right now to fight anybody in the top 10.”
Williams has some potential big-time name opponents in the lightweight division such as Brandon Rios, who Williams defeated in the amateurs, Robert Guerrero, Michael Katsidis and a host of others. None, however, are tougher tests than the ones Williams passed fighting his way out St. Louis.
“Boxing fans always like to see a knockout,” Williams commented. I can box and have speed. I train to go the distance, too, but I always want to knockout my opponent. I’m coming at you, setting them up – fast hand-speed jabs, hooks and feints – for a huge shot that, I know, will KO any 135-pound fighter in the world!. I’m in the hurt business and I’m trying to hurt you. I met with Lou DiBella last weekend and he said I have what everybody wants to see – knockout power. You either have it or you don’t, do it or can’t, and my power is always there.”
Go online to www.RumbleTimePromotions.com for more information about Williams or any of his Rumble Time Promotions stable-mates.