HBO’s hit late-night boxing franchise begins a new season with a double dose of action when HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: DEVON ALEXANDER VS. MARCOS MAIDANA AND ADRIEN BRONER VS. ELOY PEREZ is seen SATURDAY, FEB. 25 at 10:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT), from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, exclusively on HBO. The team of Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 26 (11:30 a.m.) and 27 (midnight)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 26 (4:45 p.m.) and 28 (11:00 p.m.)
HBO On Demand availability begins: Feb. 27
In a welterweight showdown, hometown hero Devon Alexander (22-1, 13 KOs), who as a child found refuge from the hardscrabble Hyde Park section of St. Louis in a boxing gym, takes on the formidable Marco Maidana (31-2, 28 KOs) of Buenos Aires, Argentina in a scheduled ten-round contest. A former junior welterweight champ, Alexander brings speed and effective combinations to the ring. Bouncing back from his only pro loss to Timothy Bradley with a victory over Lucas Matthysse, he is moving up to the talent-rich 147-pound division with the ultimate goal of capturing another title.
Maidana, known for his exciting style and knockout power, returns to the U.S. after a memorable victory over Eric Morales in April 2011, which followed his narrow decision loss to Amir Khan in 2010’s consensus Fight of the Year. A decisive win could reestablish Maidana on the boxing landscape.
The opening bout is a junior lightweight title showdown of undefeated fighters, with Cincinnati’s Adrien Broner (22-0, 18 KOs) defending his crown against Eloy Perez (23-0-2, 7 KOs) of Salinas, Cal. in a scheduled 12-round bout. Broner, who has taken the boxing world by storm with impressive wins and thrilling performances, is a budding star. Perez looks to use his speed and aggressive style to halt Broner’s streak and take his title in this intriguing 130-pound contest.
The night of boxing programming kicks off at 9:45 p.m. (ET/PT) with the debut of a new 15-minute edition of “2 Days: Portrait of a Fighter,” offering an intimate look at junior middleweight James Kirkland in the lead-up to one of his fights.
Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/hboboxing.
All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.
The executive producer of HBO BOXING AFTER DARK is Rick Bernstein; producer, Thomas Odelfelt; director, Mike Sheehan.
® HBO BOXING AFTER DARK is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.
Ruben Olivares To Return To Canastota
CANASTOTA, NY – FEBRUARY 22, 2012 – The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced today legendary bantamweight and featherweight champion Ruben “El Puas” Olivares will be among returning Hall of Famers attending the 23rd Annual Hall of Fame Induction Weekend set for June 7-10th in Canastota, NY.
“If you love knockout punchers, than you have to love Ruben Olivares!” said Hall of Fame director Edward Brophy. “He was a dynamic puncher and one of the most exciting fighters to step into the ring.”
Ruben Olivares
Olivares turned pro in 1965 and knocked out his first 23 opponents. “El Puas” twice reigned as world bantamweight champion (1969-70, 1971-72) and went up in weight to win the WBA featherweight crown in 1974 and the WBC version in 1975. Olivares holds wins over Lionel Rose, Chucho Castillo, Jesus Pimentel, Art Hafey and Hall of Famer Bobby Chacon. A superb knockout artist, of his 88 wins, 77 came by way of knockout. Extremely popular in his native Mexico, Olivares was also one of the greatest draws ever at Inglewood’s Fabulous Forum. In 1991 he was elected into the Hall of Fame.
Events planned for the weekend include a banquet, a heavyweight bash, parade, golf tournament, boxing autograph card show, cocktail party and the Official Induction Ceremony honoring the Class of 2012. Living inductees to be honored at the Official Induction Ceremony on Sunday, June 10th are multi-division champion Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, two-division champion Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble” ring announcer Michael Buffer, trainer Freddie Roach, broadcaster Al Bernstein and journalist Michael Katz. Posthumous inductees will also be honored.
An impressive list of over 40 boxing greats from the United States and abroad are scheduled to participate in weekend festivities.
For more information on the Hall of Fame’s 23rd Annual Induction Weekend please call (315) 697-7095, visit online at www.ibhof.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/InternationalBoxingHallofFame and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BoxingHall.