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11 days before facing WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in Stuttgart (Germand) “The Black Panther” Juan Carlos Gomez is very confident regarding his chances for the fight. “I have never been this well prepared and this fired up for a fight”, states Gomez. “Vitali will be surprised to see what I am capable of. He thinks he can beat me up? I say it will be the other way around. I will destroy the legend of Vitali Klitschko.”
ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner confirms that two-times Olympic gold medallist Guillermo Rigondeaux has finally defected from Cuba, has arrived in Miami, Florida, and signed with ARENA Box-Promotion. “It’s true”, says Öner. “Our director of boxing operations in the USA, Luis DeCubas, has met Rigondeaux in Miami. Obviously, we are excited that this extraordinarily gifted athlete joins our team of Cuban world class boxers like Yuriorkis Gamboa, Erislandy Lara and Odlanier Solis. They will train together at our gym in Miami. We will announce everything else and answer questions on a press conference in Miami next week.”
Fort Lauderdale, FL — Arena Box Promotion in association with JSO is proud to announce that Yuriorkis Gamboa, Olympic Gold Medalist and 2009 Prospect of the Year, has been added to its February 20th card, “The Gunslingers,” which will air live on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights.” 2009 Prospect of the Year Yuriorkis "El Ciclon" Gamboa (13-0, 11 KO’s) will be in action against Walter Estrada (35-8, 24 KO’s) in an eight-round, featherweight fight.
Bad news for Herbie Hide: The WBC Final Eliminator in the cruiserweight division between the “Dancing Destroyer” and Matt Godfrey that was originally scheduled to take place on March 6th in Cuxhaven, Germany, has to be postponed for at least eight weeks because Godfrey suffered a hand injury while preparing for the fight. Nonetheless Hide (46-4, 42 kos) will make his next appearance on March 6th in an eight-rounder against an opponent to be announced.
WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko and his mandatory challenger Juan Carlos Gomez met at Hamburg airport yesterday for the first time before stepping into the ring on March 21st in Stuttgart, Germany. Klitschko’s ‘warm reception’: “Juan, my friend, I am sorry that I have to beat you up!”
ARENA’s fast rising featherweight superstar Yuriorkis Gamboa (13-0, 11 kos) will be back in action again on February 20th at the University Center Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Only six weeks after stopping Roger “Speedy” Gonzalez in round 10 at his last ESPN appearance “El Ciclon” is ready to shine again on the next “Friday Night Fights” show presented by ARENA Box-Promotion US, LLC.
ARENA has started off this year’s ESPN “Friday Night Fights” series last week with Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Erislandy Lara scoring impressive wins in Primm, Nevada. On February 20th, promoter Ahmet Öner will present his next FNF show live from the University Center Arena at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
At the boring world heavyweight championship bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Hasim Rahman the only man who brought some excitement to the show was former undisputed world cruiserweight champion David Haye who showed up in Mannheim, Germany, to call out both Klitschko brothers.
ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner will present his next US show on January 9th in Primm, Nevada. The show will be featured live on ESPN Friday Night Fights. For the first time Cuban Olympic 2004 gold medallists Yuriorkis Gamboa and Odlanier Solis will be on the same card in the United States as Solis will give his US debut.
Rising middleweight star Mahir Oral added another victory and title to his record. The 28-year-old “Lion” scored an 8th round tko over Alexander Sipos to win the vacant WBC Mediterranean championship. Sipos started strong but Oral (WBC #7, WBA #9, WBO #12, IBF #14) took control in the later rounds forcing his opponent to give up after the 7th.