NEW YORK (February 23, 2012) – DiBella Entertainment has announced a solid undercard supporting the Sergio Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin card, entitled “THE REAL Middleweight Championship – Get Your Irish Up”, on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The 12-round main event features The Ring Magazine’s No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter, World Middleweight Champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs), defending against rugged Irish challenger Matthew “Mack the Knife” Macklin (28-3, 19 KOs). In the 10-round “Bombs Away” co-feature, super middleweight Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (20-0, 14 KOs) takes on Don “Da Bomb” George (22-1-1, 19 KOs) in an highly anticipated action-packed fight with possible future world title shot implications. Martinez-Macklin and Rodriguez-George will both air live on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing,” starting at 10 PM/ET 7 PM/PT.
Tickets, priced at $505, $355, $205, $125 and $65, are available to purchase through the Madison Square Garden Box Office, through Ticketmaster at Ticketmaster.com or by calling (866) 858-0008. Call DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577, visit www.dbe1.com and @loudibella on Twitter for more information.
A battle of unbeaten heavyweights, Magomed “Mago” Abdusalamov (13-0, 13 KOs) and Jason Pettaway (11-0, 8 KOs), will provide chief support on the undercard in a 10/12 round fight for the vacant World Boxing Council (“WBC”) Silver Championship. The Russian-born Abdusalamov, who now lives and trains out of Oxnard, California, where Martinez is based, sports a perfect 13-fight pro record with 13 wins by knockout and is already rated No. 15 by the World Boxing Association (“WBA”).
WBA No. 6-rated junior middleweight Charlie Ota (19-1-1, 13 KOs), who is the reigning OPBF and Japanese 154-pound champion, will be fighting for the first time outside of Japan, ironically, in the city in which he was born.
Former world title challenger Argenis Mendez (19-2, 10 KOs), a Dominican junior lightweight, will be fighting close to his Brooklyn home in an eight-round bout. The 25-year-old is a past United States Boxing Association and WBA FEDALATIN super featherweight titleholder.
The remainder of the entertaining undercard finds a strong Irish flavor, starting with popular Irish-American light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan (12-0, 8 KOs), who faces his stiffest test to date against Eric Watkins (6-1) in an eight-rounder.
DiBella Entertainment’s hard-working publicist, popular Catskills middleweight Kevin Rooney (3-1, 1 KO), returns in a four-round bout. His father is former pro fighter and Mike Tyson’s trainer, Kevin Rooney Sr.
Fan favorite Danny “Little Mac” McDermott (9-3-2, 4 KOs) is scheduled to fight in an eight-round junior welterweight fight, while Yonkers, by way of Dublin, heavyweight Thomas Hardwick is matched against Blu Delong (0-3) in a four-round bout.
Jamie McDonnell defends his EBU title against Ivan Pozo on March 3rd
Jamie McDonnell will now defend his European bantamweight title against Spain’s Ivan Pozo after the withdrawal of Malik Bouziane.
Despite the change in opponent, McDonnell’s title defence, his fourth of the European Boxing Union (EBU) belt, remains scheduled for March 3 at the Hillsborough Leisure Centre in Sheffield. Frenchman Bouziane is no longer available after withdrawing with an unspecified injury.
Pozo, ranked sixth by the EBU, is a former European flyweight champion and World Boxing Organization (WBO) title challenger but rarely fights outside of Spain. His record stands at 32-6-1.
Elsewhere on the Frank Maloney Promotions bill, Kent-based heavyweight Tom Dallas makes his ring return against Matt Skelton. Dallas hasn’t fought since a knockout defeat to English heavyweight champion David Price but can establish himself back among Britain’s elite with victory over Skelton.
Tickets for Jamie McDonnell versus Ivan Pozo can be purchased from www.frankmaloney.com