Interesting Article on the 1/22 Darwish Bros. Show in NJ

Keith Idec on boxing: Totowa brothers ready Friday, January 16, 2009 http://www.northjersey.com/sports/boxing/37695894.html LITTLE FALLS — Three of the 10 fights the Darwish brothers scheduled for Jan. 22 in East Rutherford had fallen apart by Thursday afternoon, but Walid Darwish didn’t sound the least bit concerned. The 37-year-old Darwish and his younger brother Hani, 34, have been through this before. Only this time, the Clifton High School graduates are much more prepared to handle the kind of last-minute mishaps that ruined two of the club cards they tried to promote in Newark in 2005. They scheduled 10 fights for Thursday night because they knew some fighters inevitably would ask for unreasonable amounts of money, withdraw due to injuries or fail to meet medical requirements of New Jersey’s State Athletic Control Board. The Totowa residents also will make sure each of the 14 fighters set to compete on their first card in nearly four years is licensed, medically cleared and paid in advance by today, so that next week will be a lot less stressful than usual. "When we first started promoting boxing shows, we were naive to certain things," Walid Darwish said. "We made mistakes, but we feel like we’ve learned from those mistakes. That should help us this time around." The Darwish brothers, whose Knockout Promotions is based in Little Falls, thought about breaking into mixed-martial-arts promotions last summer, but they ultimately decided to return to boxing. They envision eventually promoting shows on premium cable networks such as HBO and Showtime. They remain realistic, however, knowing that they’ll first need to enjoy some sustained success at the local level. They hope their show next week will be the first of 10 that they stage in New Jersey this year. They want to sign between five and 10 fighters to promotional contracts, but they’re using fighters under contract with other promoters or unattached boxers Thursday night at the Sheraton Meadowlands. Elvin Sanchez (1-0, 1 KO), a cruiserweight prospect from Paterson; junior middleweight Archak Ter-Meliksetian (16-7, 13 KOs), a former Paterson resident; and Victor Valenzuela (4-0, 1 KO), a featherweight prospect from Passaic, are scheduled to compete on the card. Alex Perez (9-0, 6 KOs, 1 NC), a junior middleweight from Newark, will face Jay Krupp (12-1, 5 KOs) of Catskill, N.Y., in the six-round main event. "We’re not into protecting fighters, giving them easy fights just to build up their records," Hani Darwish said. "We care about the fans that pay to see our shows. We want them to be entertained and we want them to keep coming back for more. They’re coming to see real fights. We understand that." Tickets to the card ($100 for ringside, $50 for reserved) are available by calling 973-339-9611.