PROMOTING THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: BOXING AND MMA

Posted on | April 16, 2008 | No Comments

Boxing vs. MMA?
Printup, Palace offers both

LEMOORE, Ca. — The debates rage on about the sports of mixed martial arts and boxing and the squabbles over if an MMA’er could beat a boxer or vice versa.

It’s one of the hottest topics in currently in combat sports.

But while many promoters, fans and fighters are taking sides, at least one man stands behind both sports — he even cross promotes.

“I have always been a boxing fan. I have always been a fan of combat sports and entertainment. Not everyone knows but one of my first work experiences was as a member of the ring crew for the World Wrestling Federation, which is now the WWE. I was seventeen-eighteen-years-old traveling from my home in Niagara Falls, New York to New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, setting up the rings, doing whatever was needed, airport pick ups, whatever. And we’d get paid like $25 a day plus gas and meals, but I learned so much at a very early age and I’m a better promoter because of it,” Palace Fighting Championship President Christian Printup said.

“MMA has been a huge part of my professional life now for going on seven years and I love everything about the sport. It’s easy for some people to say boxing is in decline and MMA is taking over, but it’s just not true. Boxing is an institution it will never go away; it has been a cyclical sport throughout its history. The health of boxing as an industry has always been heavily dependant upon the landscape of the heavyweight division and that divisions been lacking for some time now,” Printup added.

“People ask me all the time, ‘what’s hurting boxing?’ ‘Is MMA taking away from boxing?’ Honestly, no. What has hurt boxing and what has hurt the heavyweight division in the United States in my opinion is the NBA and the NFL. For decades boxing was a way for a lot of athletes to make a living in professional sports, but boxing is a tough business. You have to really want to succeed and be willing to go through pain and work your way up the ladder and get beat up sometimes for six hundred bucks when you’re starting out, in order to reach the big money fights,” Printup said.

“Nowadays guys that could be the saviors of the heavyweight division in the United States aren’t boxing anymore in the amateurs, they’re playing basketball and football and that’s it. Because of the guaranteed contracts and the guaranteed money out there for them. Why travel the hard knock life of a prizefighter if you’re 6-foot-7, 240-pounds, strong, mean, and coordinated? I would bet my last dollar that if Lebron James, Ben Wallace, Ron Artest, or even going back a few years Larry Johnson. If those guys boxed instead of played basketball they’d be heavyweight champions. I guarantee it,” Printup said.

“MMA just speaks to a younger audience because of the way it’s been packaged and the fact that it’s roots in the United States are still primarily wrestling and traditional martial arts, which are amateur sports and activities that are still thriving for the most part in the United States. Both sports offer unparalleled excitement, tremendous athletes and prolific entertainment value for your hard-earned dollar and both sports will continue to co-exist. We just want to be able to bring them together and give fans of both sports a good show and hopefully allow some traditional boxing fans to become appreciative of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts,” added Printup.

Printup has promoted boxing for seven years and MMA for six years and now is putting both sports in the same venue at the same time to help educate fans as well as help promote both sports to a different market.

“By blending the Palace Fighting Championship into our boxing shows, what we’re trying to do is introduce MMA to traditional boxing fans and at the same time it allows us the ability to keep PFC fighters busy in between full PFC events,” Printup said. “Even though MMA is growing at such a rapid rate, and is more readily available on TV these days, there are still people who can benefit from seeing action live for the first time.”

And on April 17th at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino, Printup and the PFC will have World Middleweight Champion Kenny Ento (9-3) of Visalia take on Taft’s Jeff Terry in a non-title bout on a night of World Championship Boxing at the Palace, which features WBC Champion Carina Moreno (17-1) of Watsonville, NABF Champ Jessica Rakoczy (28-3) of Las Vegas and Dewey Cooper (15-1-2) of Las Vegas.

“Kenny Ento is a very cerebral fighter, he is very gifted naturally and he’s so fluid, and athletic, but he has a mean streak in him that is really opposite of his outside demeanor. Ento is always smiling and giggling, but he is ruthless in the ring. He is the type of fighter I love. He shows up and he doesn’t back down from any challenge. He has never turned down a fight,” Printup said.

“On April 17th some may say ‘awww it’s just a tune up for Kenny while he gets ready for Nate Loughran in May’ but I’ll say this, Jeff Terry is a big strong kid who doesn’t care that Kenny is the Champion. Terry just wants to get in there and exchange punches. He won’t be intimidated and Kenny will need to be ready and not overlook Jeff Terry or his world could crash in a hurry,” Printup added.

Not only does Printup often put MMA bouts on his boxing cards, but he has recently also encouraged some of his boxers to fight MMA.

Cooper was the first, making his PFC debut in June of 2007 with a victory over Adam Smith (0-2). Cooper is currently 2-1 in MMA competition.

Most recently Wasco’s Manuel Quezada entered the PFC ring and dispatched Madera’s Charles Hodges (0-3) by knockout in 1:02 of the first round.

Quezada is one of the Palace’s most coveted boxers on the roster. He is the WBC CABOFE Champion and carries a 22-4 record as a heavyweight with 15 knockouts.
“I think blending the two disciplines is going to be a staple of the future. We’re actually talking to a fellow promoter about blending the two on a show at he Playboy Mansion in June… so our idea seems to be catching on,” Printup said.

Also this month, on the 26th at Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, Printup will have Hanford welterweight Chris Botelho (3-2) fight Porterville’s Morris Aldaco (5-0) in a special PFC MMA attraction a night of World Championship Boxing, as Quezada defends his title against Tim Williamson, and Fresno’s Frank Mondejar (16-4) and Madera’s Joaquin Marquez (3-0-1) take on challengers.

“The Botelho vs. Aldaco fight initially was going to be a title fight. That’s not the case anymore as both guys have had to take excessive amounts of time off for varying reasons, but what remains unchanged is that this is a great fight, period,” Printup said. “We have tremendous talent and depth at 170 pounds, but whomever wins this fight is definitely right in the mix for the vacant title and could potentially face Bryan Travers for the belt.”

Printup has already had PFC bouts on his boxing cards at the Palace, as Lemoore lightweight Poppies Martinez (13-4) defeated Taft’s Billy Terry (2-7) in December and in February Mexico’s Olaf Alfonso (6-8) won an intriguing lightweight showdown with Fresno’s Casey Olson (6-2).

“The addition of PFC bouts to our boxing shows has generated a lot of positive feedback. The first thing it has done is helped us move tickets there’s no doubt about that. So our boxers are getting some people seeing them that otherwise may not come out. I still think that there is some division between people that are boxing fans and people that are MMA fans,” Printup said. “Boxing has always drawn a more mature, refined audience. MMA has sort of been viewed as a sport for rebellious young adults, but as time has gone on, you’re seeing those lines disappear and I think the answer is simple because at the end of the day since the days of Roman Gladiators human beings have always relished seeing other people beat each other up. There is nothing more dramatic than one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat and the fact that at any moment the unexpected can and often will happen.”

There’s also been talk of some of the PFC fighters making a transition to boxing, as Poppies Martinez has openly talked about boxing, as has Ento.

“I think that Mixed Martial Artists should cross train and box as well as fight MMA, it helps them become more well rounded. As long as they’re doing it because they want to better themselves and improve their overall game and not just for another paycheck, Printup said. “There’s a big difference between the technique and pace of a boxing match versus MMA competition, but if a Poppies Martinez or Kenny Ento were to put in the necessary preparation, as I know they both are into pure boxing it’s a good thing. It makes them well rounded. And, it puts you know what’s in the seats.”

For Thursday’s fights at the Palace, tickets cane be purchased at tickets.com or charge by phone at 1-800-225-2277. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and fights start at 6:30.

For more breaking PFC news log on to www.palacefightingchampionship.com or check http://www.myspace.com/tachipalacefights.

Palace Fighting Championship

PFC 8
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino
Lemoore, CA
Tickets can be purchased at tickets.com or charge by phone 1-800-225-2277.

PFC Lightweight Title Fight
Atlanta’s Diego Saraiva (11-6-1) vs. Bakersfield’s Brian Cobb (11-4)
*Saraiva is the current PFC Champion and will be making his first title defense.

PFC Middlweight Title Fight
Visalia’s Kenny Ento (9-3) vs. Santa Rosa’s Nate Loughran (7-0)
*Ento is the current PFC Champion and will be making his first title defense.

PFC Featherweight Title Fight
Oakdale’s Art Arciniega (6-1) vs. Fresno’s Jorge Evangelista (6-2-1)
*Arciniega is the current PFC Champion and will be making his first title defense.

PFC Bantamweight Title Fight
Oakdale’s Rolando Velasco (5-0) vs. Porterville’s Shawn Klarcyk (7-2)
*Velasco is the current PFC Champion and will be making his first title defense.

Lightweights
Lemoore’s Poppies Martinez (14-4) vs. Huron’s Sergio Cortez (3-3)

Heavyweights
Oregon’s Devin Cole (7-6) vs. Arizona’s Vince Lucero (18-13)

Light Heavyweights
Oxnard’s Lodune Sincaid (12-6) vs. Tulare’s Rafael Del Real (5-8)

Lightweights
Sacramento’s Dustin Akabari (1-0) vs. Cody Canterbury (1-2)

Bantamweights
Sacramento’s Joseph Benavidez (4-0) vs. Los Angeles’ Maurice Eazel (3-6)

Lightweights
Sacramento’s Thonglor Armatsena (1-0) vs. TBA

Featherweights
Lemoore’s Sergio Quinones (2-1) vs. TBA

Lightweights
Mexico’s Olaf Alfonso (6-8) vs. Newport Beach’s Matt Doyle (1-2)

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