TICKETS GO ON SALE TOMORROW/THURSDAY FOR ELITEXC’S FIGHT CARD FEATURING JOEY VILLASENOR SATURDAY, SEPT. 20, AT THE PIT IN ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

World-Ranked Middleweight And Long-Time New Mexico Resident Will Make First Start In Front Of Hometown Fans In More Than Five-And-One-Half Years; Opponent For “Smokin Joe” To Be Announced In Near Future

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 6, 2008) – “Albuquerque is and has always been a great fight town. For sure, it is an accomplishment and especially an honor for me to fight before all my friends, family and fans. I am very excited about Sept. 20. This is going to be a great night for EliteXC, mixed martial arts and for this city.’’

The classy young man doing the talking is popular Joey Villasenor, aka “Smokin’ Joe,’’ who’ll be featured against an opponent to be announced on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Pit in Albuquerque, N.M.

“I have heard a few names being tossed around, but I do not care who I fight,’’ said the talented, world-ranked middleweight (http://joeyvillasenor.proelite.com/), who will be making his first appearance in Albuquerque since he registered a first-round TKO over Joe Merit on June 14, 2003.

Villasenor, who registered a 1:11, first-round TKO (strikes) over Phil Baroni in his last start on May 31, has won three straight and four of five. Villasenor (26-6) has lived in New Mexico the last 25 years (first in Albuquerque, then Farmington and, for the last seven years or so, back in Albuquerque).

“For sure, the Pit will be rocking on Sept. 20,’’ Villasenor said. “Seriously, I can’t wait.’’

A limited number of $20 tickets are available for UNM attendees (first come, first served), who will sit in a special “student section.’’

Other tickets, priced at $30, $50, $65, $100, $150, $200 and $500 (VIP) can be purchased at the UNM/PIT box office (8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday), online at http://www.unmtickets.com/ and by phone at (877) 664-8661 or (505) 925-5858. The pre-sale for tickets began Wednesday, Aug. 6.

The event is presented by Los Angeles-based ProElite, Inc.’s live fight division, EliteXC. The remainder of the card, including the fights to be televised on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast), will be announced in the near future. The first live fight will begin at 6 p.m. MST.

For more information on EliteXC and other MMA-related stories, including bios, video-on-demand, photos, stats, Fantasy Fight Game TM and more, please visit ProElite.com and EliteXC.com. For information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video, photo galleries and complete telecast information, please visit http://www.SHO.com/Sports.

About ProElite, Inc.
ProElite Inc., the parent company of EliteXC, delivers the most exciting entertainment experience in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) with live arena-based entertainment events, network television programming on CBS Television Network, cable television programming on Showtime Networks Inc., and community-driven interactive broadband entertainment via the Internet. ProElite embraces MMA on the highest levels of honor, integrity, discipline and self-esteem, all the while remaining inclusive for fighters, fans and schools. ProElite’s live fight division, EliteXC, delivers spectacular live MMA fight events that showcase the world’s top fighters.

About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL® XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL® ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

Don Marino on Joe Calzaghe

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

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When an athlete reaches his early twenties, he is usually in the prime of his career, more so in the manly art of self-defense. Some prime examples of this are Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, and Muhammad Ali. Examples at twenty or below are Felix Trinidad, Wilfred Benitez and Mike Tyson – just to name a few on the list of Hall of Famer’s.

Joe Calzaghe, however, does not enter into this pattern. He won his title at 26, and acquired peak performance at the age of 34, an age when most fighters retire or are still plowing their trade as a means of sustainment.

At 34, Joe stepped into the ring against USA’s undefeated IBF 168 pound world champion, Jeff Lacy. The betting machines in Vegas had Lacy heavily favored, but when it was all over Calzaghe had scored a shutout victory. He had beaten the best from the USA at a moment when some unjustly questioned the quality of his past opposition.

At 35, he then further unified his title by clearly outpointing the WBC/WBA champion, Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler, who was also undefeated.

And this year, at 36 years of age, it was a quick jump to 175 for a “go” against the legendary Bernard Hopkins, universally recognized as the light heavyweight champion. Another win in a crowning achievement and in a most convincing fashion!

To add icing to Calzaghe’s cake, another icon is next on the menu. Boxing’s longest reigning #1 Pound-for-Pound fighter, Roy Jones Jr., is next on Joe’s list. Roy rejuvenated his career with his brilliant unanimous decision win over Felix Trinidad in his last start. Jones commented to WBO President Paco Valcarcel that he would be interested in Joe’s 168 WBO belt. However, Calzaghe sent a letter to the President Valcarcel where he reiterated his intentions of fighting to defend his 168 WBO belt against or after Roy Jones.

This fight could close the year as the most intriguing event of the year. One man is a former Heavyweight, 175, 168, and 160 pound champion who dominated the fistic scene for close to ten years, facing a Super Champion Calzaghe who has won the admiration of the American public, more so than any other figure from abroad. Two of the most skilled all-time technicians in the upper weight divisions in a traditional face-off!

There is, however, another goal within Calzaghe’s reach, and curiously has to do with another Joe. It is the record of the “Most Successive Years as World Champion in One Division” established by the immortal Joe Louis, who won his title from Jimmy Braddock on June 22nd 1937. His last successful title defense against Joe Walcott on June 25th 1948 places an exact 11 years and 3 days from the Braddock to the Walcott win.

Ironically, The Brown Bomber’s last defense was at the age of 34, an age when Calzaghe geared his performance into high gear. Having won his title over former Champion Chris Eubank on October 11th 1997, Calzaghe will surpass the immortal heavyweight champion’s last successful defense on October 14th 2008. By the time the Calzaghe – Jones bout comes around, Calzaghe will have broken the records of history as the champion with the “Most Successive Years as World Champion in One Division”. A true Super Champion!

WORLD BOXING COUNCIL NEWS

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

August 5, 2008 – Mexico City.

From WBC President Jose Sulaiman:

I am very sad to report the passing away of the great Mexican fighter Bernabe “Baby” Vazquez and of Mr. Ray Hawkins, a boxing judge from Texas.

“Baby”Vazquez, who was very close to me, must be considered as one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all times.

Mr. Ray Hawkins, a formidable human being who served as a ring official for the state of Texas, was without a doubt one of the best judges in the world.

The WBC declares a Day of Mourning for these sad happenings.

It has been a very difficult time, as the boxing family has lost several dear members in the recent weeks: Mr. Carlos Trapaga, the CEO of the newspaper Esto, who fought relentlessly to keep space for boxing news; Mrs. Thangarajah, wife of WBC Board member Edward Thangarajah, passed away in London; Mate Parlov, a great former champion passed away in Croatia; “Baby” Vazquez, and yesterday our dear Ray Hawkins.

May God keep them all in peace.

From Don Mario’s Viewpoint

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman travelled to Puerto Rico last week to render tribute to Boxing Commissioner Jose “Toto” Peñagaricano, as well as to render tribute to former island greats, whose claim to greatness were garnered under the sponsorship of WBC recognition.

Multiple Cruiserweight champion, Carlos “Sugar” De Leon, welter king Wilfredo Benitez, and most certainly Wilfredo Gomez, during his record breaking tenure of 17 knockout defenses as 122 pound champion, were part of that glorious WBC period.

We must also acknowledge Jose’s innovative qualities in pioneering major improvements in the sport, like reducing the number of championship rounds from fifteen to twelve, certainly be attributed to him.

But on this Puerto Rican adventure he did have a couple of major faux-pas to contend with. To begin with he extolled the honesty of former fight manager, Yamil Chade, when in reality Yamil was a product of a period in boxing where honesty was not the best policy, if you wanted to get along in the business end of this sport.

Big time boxing began with street-smart Manhattan people like Mike Jacobs, Marciano manager Al Weill, underworld king-pins Blinkey Palermo, and Frankie Carbo who controlled fights, fighters, managers, promoters and even boxing commissions, and of course quite a bit and in the minor leagues, islanders Chade and Pepe Cordero. Now, how in heavens name can Sulaiman classify Yamil for his honesty? His boxing astuteness is being insulted by such statements.

Jose’s second faux-pas was declaring Toto’s son, Gabriel as his “immediate heir” to the WBC throne. Can you visualize Sulaiman moving out of his plum position? No way Jose! Even less so when Sulaiman has always mentioned his son Mauricio as the heir to his throne!

I may be wrong, but Gabriel, as a member of the WBC board may have overstepped his bounds by acting as legal aid to a boxing champion of a competitive entity.

STAR BOXING: AUGUST 6TH WEIGH-IN

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

AVIATOR IN BROOKLYN AND B.B. KING’S IN NEW YORK

Bronx, NY – Aug 05, 2008 The weigh-in for both of Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing events Wednesday night took place today at the New York State Athletic Commission in New York City. Vinny Maddalone (29-4, 20KO’s) who is fighting at B.B. King’s in New York City on a card co- promoted with DiBella Entertainment, looked in great shape as he weighed in at 233 lbs. His opponent Joe Stofle (11-13- 2, 10KO’s) tipped the scales at 261 lbs.

Maddalone says he is more then ready to go and is looking forward to fighting in front of his hometown fans again. “It’s always nice to fight at home and have your fans behind you supporting you every step of the way. It motivates me and really gets me up for the fight. I am looking forward to this fight and plan on putting on a great show and giving the fans in attendance something to be excited about,” stated Maddalone.

The second card DeGuardia is promoting the same night is taking place at the Aviator Sports and Recreation Center in Brooklyn, NY and will be shown live on ESPN2’s “Wednesday Night Fights”. The card which is co-promoted by Final Forum Boxing features Ali Oubaali (21-3, 17KO’s) taking on Chris Fernandez (15-4-1, 9KO’s) in the main event. Oubaali weighed in at 137 lbs while Fernandez was 140.

Oubaali said he feels great and is ready to go. “I love fighting in my new home, New York. The fans are great, and I plan on giving them something special tomorrow. I want to thank my promoter Joe DeGuardia and Star Boxing for putting this fight together. I am going to show the boxing world tomorrow on ESPN2 that I am the real deal. The Hurricane is coming.”

In the co-feature of the night Poland’s Albert Sosnowski (43-1, 26KO’s) who weighed in at 223 lbs. takes on battle tested Zuri Lawrence (23-14-4). Lawrence who has been in with many of the top heavyweights in the world weighed in at 241 lbs. Sosnowski was originally scheduled to face Kevin Burnett, but Burnett pulled out earlier this week. Lawrence will be a good test for Sosnowski, and Sosnowski is looking forward to the challenge, and the opportunity to be fighting on national T.V. here in the U.S. once again.

Former amateur standout and one of Star Boxing’s newest, and brightest stars, Yathomas Riley (1-0, 1KO) looks to shine once again when he takes on Phil Hannah in Hannah’s pro debut. Riley weighed in at a ripped 170 lbs while Hannah was 172.

It’s finally here. I had a great training camp and I am ready to go. I’m looking forward to fighting in Brooklyn and I hope everyone comes out to see the show,” said Riley.

A complete list of the weigh in goes as follows:

Aviator Brooklyn, NY

Ali Oubaali 137 vs. Chris Fernandez 140
Albert Sosnowski 223 vs. Zuri Lawrence 241
Derrick Rossy 231 vs. Jermell Barnes 218
Yathomas Riley 170 vs. Phil Hannah 172
Tarvis Simms 169 vs. Carl Daniels 173

Malignaggi Recovery Ahead of Schedule

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

NEW YORK CITY (August 5, 2008) – IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KOs) is significantly ahead of schedule in terms of full recovery from his May 28th surgery to repair a fractured metacarpal bone of the middle finger on his right hand.

Malignaggi already is preparing for his November 22nd mega-showdown against Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas, lightly working out in Brooklyn’s famed Gleason’s Gym as well as running three days a week.

“I can start punching in a few weeks,” an ecstatic Malignaggi said after last week’s evaluation by renowned boxing hand specialist, Dr. Steven Margles, at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts. “I’m building a base now and excited about soon starting training camp (with head trainer Buddy McGirt in Vero Beach, Florida). After I beat Hatton I will be universally recognized as the top junior welterweight in the world.”

Dr. Margles reported, “I’m impressed with how the bone has healed. It looks great and is way ahead of normal healing schedules. Paulie will be able to punch the light bag (probably by the end of next week) and two weeks later punch with more resistance.”

-PM-

EUROPEAN BOXING NEWS

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

WBA supermiddle champ Mikkel Kessler´s defence against German challenger Danilo Haussler appears now to be on for October 25 somewhere in Germany. Danish media have speculated in Kiel or Flensburg, where Kessler resided for a brief spell, as possible sites but according to Sauerland Event´s CEO it won´t be in neither of these towns close to the Danish border. Nothing is set yet but Kessler´s former stable- and gymmate Mads Larsen could be fighting on the undercard.

It´s official: Vladimir Virchis and Juan Carlos Gomez clash in a WBC heavyweight eliminator September 27 at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg as co-headliner along with Firat Arslan´s defence of the WBA cruiser title against Guillermo Jones. WIBF jr fly champ Julia Sahin defends the title in the third headliner.

IBF middlweight champ Arthur Abraham will defend the title October 4 against Raul Marquez at a site to be announced in Germany.

Finnish Steel RIng Promotions begin the season September 12 in Reisjarvi with unbeaten jr welter Jaakko Myllyla on top taking on Frenchman Mourad Sabry El Malik.

Attila Levin continues his comeback September 5 in Karlstad, Sweden, when he takes on Nikolai Valuev lookalike Evgeny Orlov. Orlov, 8-2-1, made his prodebut already back in 98 but then turned to martial arts before returning to boxing last year when he became one of Ruslan Chagaev´s sparring partners during training for the first fight against Valuev. Orlov impressed and have since racked up seven straight wins over rather soft opponents. He´s not as tall as Valuev and a lot heavier around the midsection but strong to take the Swede the distance.

Russian journeyman Daniel Peret takes on Polish heavy prospect Mariusz Wach tomorrow night on a Boxing Europe promotion in Swiebodzice. It´s Peret´s eleventh fight this far in 2008 and he have another lined up September 27 in St Petersburg. Norwegian jr welter Geir Inge Jorgensen is also on the bill that is headlined by Piotr Wilczewski, who fights Sergey Kharchenko in a non-title ten-rounder.

Hungarian jr middle Attila “Viper” Kovacs keeps busy with a six-rounder August 19 in Sturovo, Slovakia, on a show put on by L P Promotion, headed by still active heavyweight Laszlo Paszterko.

Check out Don Mario Rivera Martino´s column at the WBO website! It´s to see somebody remembering the good old days and where modern day professional boxing comes from and in some cases still remain.

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA SECURES GROUNDBREAKING FILM FESTIVAL DEDICATED TO SPORTS

Posted on | August 6, 2008 | No Comments

The U.S. Sports Film Festival, the Most Comprehensive Film Festival Dedicated To The Competition of Sport, To Debut In Philadelphia, Oct. 23-26

NEW YORK (August 6, 2008) – Philadelphia, home to sports film icon Rocky Balboa and the invincible Vince Papale, has agreed to host the inaugural U.S. Sports Film Festival, the most comprehensive sports film festival in United States history. The USSFF will be held in various locations throughout the city from October 23-26, and will feature a combination of classic sports films, in-depth documentaries and never before seen releases.

Nearly 100 films have been submitted for review to date, ranging from the traditional sports to Mixed Martial Arts, Extreme Endurance Racing and even Pin Trading. The titles selected will be announced in the coming weeks.

“I knew from the first conversation with Stephan Hartman about the US Sports Film Festival that it belonged in Philadelphia, the greatest sports city in America where film is also a passion and a business,” said Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office. “It didn’t take much to convince Governor Rendell, Mayor Nutter and my colleagues in tourism and economic development to jump on board and lend their support. This festival will be embraced by Philadelphia!”

“Philadelphia is a city that embraces all aspects of athletic competition like no other, whether it is enjoying the recent professional successes of the Phillies last year and the Soul last month, or regaling in the tradition of its collegiate and amateur athletic history,” said festival founder and president Stephan Hartman. “We are very excited about this relationship with Governor Rendell, Mayor Nutter and Sharon Pinkerson from the Greater Philadelphia Film Office. They all have combined to help make this festival a reality at a time of year when all four major sports, plus all collegiate and high school athletic competition, will be top of mind for both the casual competitor and the die-hard fan. It will be three day dream come true for anyone interested in sport.”

In addition to new films, the USSFF will also showcase classic films, including Miracle, Invincible and The Natural, as well as a track of Olympic films by award winning documentarian Bud Greenspan. Lectures, receptions, celebrity appearances and other special events will be included and announced in the coming weeks.

For sponsorship information and to obtain tickets to the U.S. Sports Film Festival go to www.ussportsfilmfestival.com or call 646.233.2033.

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