Ulli Wegner is convinced that Arthur Abraham will be the undisputed middleweight king by the end of the year. The undefeated 28-year-old takes on Lajuan Simon on March 14 in what will be the ninth defense of the IBF title he won in December 2005. After WBA champion Felix Sturm avoided an all-German showdown with the hard-hitting crowd favourite, King Arthur has now set his sights on Kelly Pavlik´s belts. “Arthur has worked very hard in training. He has high goals for 2009,” Wegner lauded. “I am sure he will be the super-champion before the end of the year.” However, the coaching legend warned his fighter to take one step at a time. “We are not thinking too far ahead,” Wegner added. “Our full focus is on Simon now. He has not lost any of his 24 fights so we expect a hard battle. Arthur needs to be in top shape to defeat him.”
Wegner and Abraham paid a visit to Kiel yesterday where they staged a press conference alongside First Lady Cecilia Braekhus, who will fight Denmark´s Vinni Skovgaard for the world title. “It is good to be back in Kiel,” King Arthur said. “My knock-out victory against Elvin Ayala certainly was one to remember. The crowd support was fantastic. I am looking forward to returning. I will not allow Simon to destroy my big plans for 2009.”
Philadelphia, PA--Hard-hitting lefty Andre Wilson, of St. Joseph, MO, steps in against unbeaten super bantamweight Teon Kennedy, of North Philadelphia, in the scheduled eight-round semifinal Friday evening, March 6, at the Legendary Blue Horizon, 1314 North Broad Street. First fight i s set for 7.30 pm.
Wilson replaces another lefty, veteran Paulino Villalobos, of San Diego, CA, who withdrew due to medical reasons.
Topping the seven-bout card will be Mike Jones’ first defense of his North American Boxing Association (NABA) welterweight title against Larry Mosley, of Los Angeles, CA, in a 10-round contest.
Wilson, 26, is 11-1-1, 9 K0s. He stepped up his career in 2008 when he knocked out Francisco Rodriguez (14-2), of Mexico, in two rounds in Chicago, IL, and earned a 10-round decision over Alex Baba (26-14-1), of Ghana, in St. Joseph, MO.
Kennedy, 22, won the 2004 National Golden Gloves flyweight ttle. As a pro, he is 11-0, 5 K0s. His biggest wins came against Castulo Gonzalez, of Lowell, MA, by decision, and over Thomas Snow, of Washington, DC, by knockout.
In his last fight Nov. 14 at the New Alhambra in South Philadelphia, Kennedy pounded out a one-sided decision over Felipe Almanza, of Lorica, Colombia.
The March 6 card marks a return to the Blue Horizon after eight years for Hall-of-Fame promoter J Russell Peltz, who began his career there as a 22-year-old in 1969. He is promoting the card with Joe Hand Promotions, Inc.
Tickets are priced at $45 and $60. They are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing Promotions, Inc. (215-765-0922) and also can be purchased online at www.peltzboxing.com
The Numbers Tell the Story
When boxing returns to Newark’s Prudential Center on Friday, February 27th fans will be treated to an entire night of competitive bouts.
Starting with the main event, where unbeaten Johnathon Banks of Detroit (20-0, 14 KO’s) challenges reigning IBF World Cruiserweight Champion Tomasz Adamek of Jersey City (36-1, 24 KO’s) a total of eight undefeated fighters will test their skills and risk their unblemished records on the scheduled eight-bout card.
Even more amazing is the fact that when added together, the total won/lost records of the night’s competitors amount to 121-14, 77 KO’s vs. 115-19, 73 KO’s. In a pair of six-rounders, four unbeaten young prospects will put their perfect records at risk in bouts where somebody’s “O” definitely must go.
“Top to bottom, this is one of the most competitive fight cards I have ever seen,” promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events, said. “Quite often, promoters tend to ignore the preliminary fights and assume that the fans and media in the arena will be happy to sit and watch nothing interesting until the televised portion of the evening begins,” she added. “We believe that the fans in the arena deserve a full night of entertainment, and we intend to make sure that they get their money’s worth on Feb. 27th.”
Other bouts on the card include a dazzling co-feature event pitting two sluggers against each other in an official IBF eliminator for the #1 position in the middleweight division. Giovanni Lorenzo of the Dominican Republic and NYC (26-1, 18 KO’s) takes on Colombia’s Dionisio Miranda, also of Miami (19-3-2, 17 KO’s) in the 12-round match.
In a pair of eight rounders, Paterson welterweight standout Henry Crawford puts his 20-0-1, 9 KO’s record on the line vs. tough Keenan Collins (12-4-2, 8 KO’s) of Reading, and Newark’s popular former Olympian, Jerson Ravelo (19-3, 12 KO’s), takes on Don Mouton (7-3-1, 6 KO’s) of Houston, TX in a super middleweight match.
Four outstanding six-round attractions on the card feature a total of 6 competitors with unblemished records. Super Middleweight Patrick Majewski of Atlantic City puts his 9-0, 6 KO record up for grabs against Philadelphia’s undefeated Latif Mundy (8-0, 3 KO’s). Unbeaten Anthony Flores of Philadelphia (6-0, 4 KO’s) faces 4-0, 1 KO Super Featherweight Ikem Orji and Philadelphia’s longtime fan favorite, Chucky Tschorniawsky, (25-9-1, 14 KO’s) will test the mettle of unbeaten welterweight Jesse Lubash, (9-0, 5 KO’s) of Pittsburgh, PA. Finally, Paterson’s two time National Golden Gloves Champion, Jeremy Bryan, now unbeaten as a pro, will put his flawless 8-0, 4 KO record on the line vs. Mexico’s Francisco Rios Gil (13-9, 9 KO’s) in a Junior Welterweight match.
Tickets are on sale now and priced at $38, $53, $78, $103 and $253. They can be purchased at Prudential Center Box Office, online at www.prucenter.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 201-507-8900. The first bout will begin at 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 8 p.m. The fight will be televised live on ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast.
This event is promoted by Main Events and Ziggy Promotions, in association with K2 Promotions.
