MIAMI—Don King hosted the final press conference today before Saturday’s first boxing card at the new and improved Casino Miami Jai-Alai that will feature WBC 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..
“It’s great to be fighting in my hometown on Saturday,” Hernandez said. “I grew up watching and attending fights here at Miami Jai-Alai. I was always a big fan of boxing and never more than here in Miami.”
Ashanti says he is up to the challenge against Hernandez.
“I’m a former Marine and war veteran, so I come to fight,” Ashanti said. “I was born in blood, pain and struggle. I am a warrior.”
An important heavyweight fight was added to the card with WBC No. 1-ranked contender Bermane “B-Ware” Stiverne (21-1-1, 20 KOs), from Miami, facing Willie Herring (13-10-3, 4 KOs), from Orlando.
“I have fought in Florida before but never in Miami,” said the WBC’s top-ranked heavyweight. “I grew up here and my brother played football at University of Miami. It’s really great to be having my friends and family come see me fight.”
Brazilian light heavyweight knockout artist Marcus “Happy” Oliveira (22-1-1, 22 KOs), from Sao Paulo, will face hard-punching spoiler Adam “Atom Bomb” Collins (11-5, 8 KOs), from Portsmouth, Ohio, while another light heavyweight, Azea “Haitian Hitman” Augustama (12-1, 7 KOs), from Miami, will take on 23-year-old Grover Young (6-6-1, 3 KOs), from Memphis, Tenn.
“I am happy to be fighting in the United States,” Oliveira said. “I am from Brazil and have fought there and in other places, but this is the best country in the world. South Florida has very large Brazilian population and they will all be out to support me.”
“I want to show that I am one of the best and I want to become a world champion.”
Augustama, like Stiverne, is a Haitian fighting out of Miami.
“My Haitian fans are looking forward to being here at Miami Jai-Alai on Saturday night to see me fight. I always come to fight and I’m excited after signing with Don King. I will impress him and my fans.”.
Thailand Boxing Association to host 2012 AIBA Youth World Championships
Lausanne, Switzerland, 11 April 2012 – AIBA President, Dr Ching-Kuo and Mr Chamlong Boongrapue, Vice President of the Thailand Boxing Association, on behalf of its President, signed the Host City Agreement confirming the 2012 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships will be held in the city of Bangkok from 15-28 October this year.
During this press conference, Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu congratulated his counterpart and said, “Thailand has been one of AIBA’s strongest partners. I am very pleased to be bringing one of our most important events to a country where boxing is one of the most popular and beloved of sports. I really look forward to seeing our Youth boxers in action in the wonderful setting of Thailand”.
“It is our great honour to host this prestigious AIBA event in our country. We will do our utmost to make this event a very successful boxing competition which all participating youth boxers will remember for a long time”, expressed by Mr Chamlong Boongrapue on behalf of the Thailand Boxing Association.
Frankie Archuleta to test undefeated Irish Super Featherweight Patrick Hyland
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (April 11, 2012) – Battle-tested veteran boxer Frankie Archuleta figures to be a significant test for undefeated Irish super featherweight prospect Patrick “The Punisher” Hyland, headlining the “Irish Invasion” card, May 12 at Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The “Irish Invasion” card is being presented by Final Round Promotions, in association with Team Snooki Boxing and Bob Duffy’s Ring Promotions, and sponsored in part by Title Boxing.
Hyland (25-0, 11 KOs) and Archuleta (27-9-1, 14 KOs) square-off in the eight-round main event. The 28-year-old Hyland, a Dubliner now living in nearby Marlboro (NY), is rated No. 12 by the North American Boxing Association (“NABA”). Trained by two-division world champion Tracy Harris Patterson, Patrick is the reigning World Boxing Federation (“WBF”) super featherweight champion.
Upset-minded Archuleta has a history in terms of pulling off surprises in the ring. The highlight of his career is a split-decision win over five-time world champion Johnny Tapia. A former New Mexico and Texas State champion, Frankie extended former world champion Alejandro Berrio and world title challenger Emmanuel Lucero the full 12-round distance in their respective fights. The vastly experienced Archuleta has also fought world champion Kevin Kelley and world title challengers Juan Carlos Burgos, Rocky Juarez and Daud Cino Yordan, as well as the International Boxing Federation’s (“IBF”) currently top-rated lightweight, John Molina, and No. 1 junior lightweight contender Martin Honorio.
Yonkers (NY) super featherweight Chazz McDowell (5-1, 1 KOs) faces Joseliz Cepeda (5-2) in the six-round co-feature. Canadian light welterweight Natasha Spencer (3-0-1, 2 KOs) meets Racquel Bailey (1-1-1) in a six-round female match.
Also fighting on the undercard in separate four-round bouts are undefeated Newburgh light welterweight favorite Treysean Wiggins (3-0, 3 KOs), New York City light middleweight Valdrin Muriqi (2-1), and Waterbury (CT) light welterweight Jair Ramos (2-0, 1 KO); former USA Mid-American middleweight champion Bryant “The Spartan” Pappas (13-0-1, 13 KOs) tangles with Josh Williams (5-4, 4 KOs), while unbeaten Poughkeepsie heavyweight Detroy Jones (5-0-1, 2 KOs) fights Kimani “King Kong” Cunningham (0-5) in a rematch from a year ago..
Pappas, a sergeant in the Yonkers Police Department, is a cancer survivor who is donating his purse to cancer research. Team Snooki Boxing is donating $1.00 from each sold ticket to Rolling Thunder, Chapter III New York to support needy U.S. military veterans.
Tickets, reasonably priced at $35.00, $50.00 and $100 (Gold Ringside), are available to purchase at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center and through all Ticketmaster outlets.
Doors open at 6:30 PM/ET with the first bout scheduled for 7:30 PM/ET. Go to www.finalroundpromotions.com for additional information.
About Final Round Promotions: A full service boxing and MMA promotional company, Final Round Promotions is based in Poughkeepsie, New York and operated by Mike Pascale and Brian Burke.
About Team Snooki Boxing: Founded by one of the stars of MTV’s reality show, Jersey Shore, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, and her father, Andy, Team Snooki Boxing promote Patrick Hyland.
About Rolling Thunder, Chapter III New York: The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize POW-MIA issues: To educate the public that many American prisoners of war were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect future veterans from being left behind should they become prisoners of war-missing in action. Go online to www.rtnych3.com for more information about his non-profit organization that is also committed to helping American veterans from all wars.