MTAGWA BOXES MEDINA IN MINI-WORLD WAR MAY 1 AT BLUE HORIZON
Posted on | March 19, 2009 | No Comments
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Crowd-pleasers Rogers Mtagwa, of South Philadelphia, and Ricardo Medina, of Mazatlan, Mexico, will go at it for 10 rounds or less in their featherweight main event Friday evening, May 1, at the Legendary Blue Horizon, 1314 North Broad Street. First fight 7.30 p.m.
Throw out the records in this one!
If you thought Mtagwa’s Nov. 7 fight with Tomas Villa was a Fight-of-the-Year candidate for 2008, wait until you see this one!
Mtagwa, 29, is rated No. 9 in the world as a super bantamweight (122 pounds) by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), No. 14 by the World Boxing Council (WBC). This fight will be contested at 130 pounds.
In his fight Nov. 7 in Tucson, AZ, Mtagwa got off the floor in the ninth round and knocked Villa down three times in the 10th in a sensational turnaround. The win improved Mtagwa’s record to 25-12-2, 18 K0s..
Prior to that, Mtagwa had earned a 10-round decision over Aldo Valtierra, of Mexico City, on March 7, 2008, at the New Alhambra in South Philadelphia.
Mtagwa, former United States Boxing Association (USBA) and North American Boxing Federation (NABF) featherweight champ, has beaten contenders Fernando Trejo, Joe Morales and Art Simonyon and has been in there with world champions Agapito Sanchez and Valdemir Pereira as well as top contenders Orlando Salido, Martin Honorio and Billy Dib.
Medina, 38, is 31-33-5, 17 K0s, and like Mtagwa, he rarely gets an easy assignment. Medina’s six-round draw last year with Lenny DeVictoria at the Blue Horizon was voted Philadelphia’s Fight of the Year for 2008. Previously, he had out-pointed DeVictoria in 2007.
A pro since 1988, Medina has fought them all and his list of opponents reads like a Who’s Who of big little men around the world: champs Paulie Ayala, Guty Espadas, Jr., Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, Enrique Sanchez; contenders Gerardo Martinez, Cuauhtemoc Gomez, Hugo Dianza, Zahir Raheem, Marcos Licona.
Matgwa is 5-foot-5, Medina 5-foot-6.. Neither man knows how to fight backing up. Neither man will have to look hard to find the action.
This will be the second fight card back—after an eight-year hiatus–at the Blue Horizon for Hall-of-Fame promoter J Russell Peltz, who began his career there as a 22-year-old in 1969. On March 6, welterweight Mike Jones, of North Philadelphia, knocked out Dairo Esalas, of Miami, FL, in front of a packed house of 1,327. Peltz is promoting this card, the second of six within a 12-month period at the Blue Horizon, with Joe Hand Promotions, Inc.
Tickets for the May 1 are priced at $45 and $60. They are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing Promotions, Inc. (215-765-0922) and at the offices of Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. (215-364-9000). They also can be purchased online at www.peltzboxing.com.
# # #
Tags: Agapito Sanchez > Art Simonyon > Billy Dib > Blue Horizon > Boxing > Cuauhtemoc Gomez > Enrique Sanchez > Fernando Trejo > Gerardo Martinez > Guty Espadas > Hugo Dianza > Joe Morales > Jr. > Marcos Licona > Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson > Martin Honorio > Mexico > orlando salido > Paulie Ayala > Philadelphia > Ricardo Medina > Rogers Mtagwa > Valdemir Pereira > Zahir Raheem