News: Hernandez-Ashanti; Vasquez-Briones; Santiago-Paneto

MIAMI—Don King Productions will present the first boxing event at Casino Miami Jai-Alai on Saturday, April 14 to celebrate completion of their $87-million expansion. The card will be headlined by local favorite and World Boxing Council United States super welterweight champion Joey “Twinkle Fingers” Hernandez (20-1-1, 11 KOs) against Shakir “The Assassin” Ashanti (16-12, 4 KOs), from New Bern, S.C..

An international undercard with South Florida appeal will include Brazilian light heavyweight knockout artist Marcus “Happy” Oliveira (22-1-1, 22 KOs), from Sao Paulo, and Miami light heavyweight Azea “Haitian Hitman” Augustama (12-1, 7 KOs).

Reserved and general admission tickets priced from $10 to $75 are on sale now and can be purchased at www.TicketWeb.com or by calling toll free by phone at (866) 468-3399 .

“I am very excited to be returning to Miami Jai-Alai with a great card to celebrate their expansion into full-fledged casino gaming,” promoter Don King said. “Dan Licciardi and everyone at Casino Miami Jai-Alai should be proud of their beautiful new multi-million dollar expansion.”

Miami Jai-Alai first opened in 1926 and has enjoyed a proud tradition in boxing since the 1960s. They earned the moniker “Mecca of Miami” in the sport after having staged numerous world championship matches—including events featured on both HBO and SHOWTIME. With construction complete, the venue now becomes Casino Miami Jai-Alai with new restaurants, bars and over 1,000 Las Vegas-style slot machines adjacent to the existing fronton where jai-alai continues to be presented live.

“Our official grand opening for the expansion will take place on Saturday,” Casino Miami Jai-Alai Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dan Liccardi said. “We thought April 14 would be a great time to treat our customers to another Don King boxing card. It’s an exciting time for us, and boxing has been a part of what we do for decades, so we added it to our celebration lineup.”

Vasquez-Briones This Friday!

This Friday, March 30, at Arena Roberto Duran, in Panama City, Panama, promoters Sampson Lewkowicz (Sampson Boxing LLC) and Carlos Gonzalez (Pro Stars Boxing), in association with Veneto Wyndham Grand Hotel & Casino and the Panamanian Tourism Bureau, will proudly present “Win-Win” a night of world-class professional boxing that will also be televised live on TV Max Channel 9 from Panama and TyC Sports from Argentina.

In the main event, Panama City’s own former World Boxing Association (WBA) Light Flyweight and Flyweight World Champion Roberto (La Araña/The Spider) Vasquez (29-5, 21 KOs) will face Mexico’s Mario “Maca” Briones (21-1-1, 15 KOs) over 12 rounds for the vacant WBA Fedelatin super bantamweight title.

28-year-old Vasquez, who started his career at 106 lbs., is still wildly popular in his homeland and will be looking to continue building momentum for his career resurgence against the 26-year-old Briones.

In the other televised bouts, Uruguay’s Cecilia “La Reina” Comunales (8-1, 5 KOs) will face The Dominican Republic’s Maribel “Vispa” Santana (11-9-1, 4 KOs) in a 10-rounder for the vacant WBA Female Lightweight World Championship; and Panama City’s Azael “Turbo” Cosio 13-1-2, 10 KOs) will take on Dominican Republic’s Tomas Mendez (15-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-round battle for the WBC Latino Welterweight title.

“I am very proud to showcase an event of this quality in the beautiful country of Panama, and I’d like to thank the Panamanian Tourism Bureau for its support in making this happen,” said Sampson Lewkowicz. “Don’t forget to visit Panama!”

Tickets for Win-Win are priced at $100, $40, $25, $17 and $3 and are available from Ticket Plus. For more information on Tourism Panama, go to: Visitpanama.com.

ALMA CANEZ IN ASSOCIATION WITH ESTRELLA PROMOTIONS PRESENTS: THROWDOWN THURSDAY NIGHT FIGHTS

PHOENIX, ARIZONA (MARCH 28, 2012)—On Thursday night April 12, 2012, Alma Canez in association with Estrella Promotions will be presenting “Throwdown Thursday Night Fights” at the El Zaribah Shrine located at 552 North 40th Street in Phoenix.
The main event features one of Phoenix’s best and favorites Super Bantamweight Alexis “El Beaver” Santiago (10 -2-1, 4 KOs) in an eight round bout against Luis Angel Paneto (5-11-2), of Caguas, Puerto Rico. The Co-Main Event is undefeated Junior Welterweight Javier” El Gallo Negro” Loya (6-0-0, 5KOs) in a six round bout against Gabe Garcia (4-8-1, 1KO) of Glendale, Arizona

Undercard features some of Arizona’s up and coming, Fernando Samaniego, Jr. (3-0-0,2 KOs), against Oswaldo Medina, Jorge Marquez (3-1-0,1KO) against Joe Martell (2-1-1, 2KOs), Kevin Riding (3-3-1) against Lanell Bellows (1-0-0, 1KO), Isiah McFadden (4-2-0, 1KO) against Estevan Payan, making his pro debut, and Jose Marrufo (0-2-0) against John Moraga also making his pro debut.

The event will start with our first ever amateur bout featuring Alexis Zazueta against TBD.
1st pro bout is at 7:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $25.00 for general admission and $50.00 for ringside seating and can be purchased by calling 602-258-9090.

The press conference is scheduled for Wednesday April 4, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. at Los Armando’s located at 5820 W. McDowell Rd. in Phoenix.