A preview of the big Oct. 1 fight card at Boardwalk Hall, plus more Atlantic City boxing news and notes.
ATLANTIC CITY — Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City will be the place to be for fight fans this Saturday, Oct. 1, when exciting World Championship Boxing takes center stage as WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (47-2-2, 26KOs) brings his brand of pugilistic intensity back to the main arena.
Martinez will defend his belts against the tough, undefeated current European middleweight champion “Dazzling” Darren Barker (23-0, 14 KOs) from London, England.
Those who have witnessed Martinez’s last outings at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, know exactly what kind of excitement the Argentinean native brings to boxing’s fistic table.
The marquee name “Noche de ‘Maravilla,” which translates into “Marvelous Night” is rather apropos, as Martinez has performed in some of the most exciting bouts to take place at Boardwalk Hall, and has consistently made satisfied customers of all who have been in attendance.
Martinez’s beautiful title-winning performance at Boardwalk Hall against then-champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik in April 2010, and his subsequent one-punch KO of Paul Williams later that November, landed him fighter and knockout of the year honors for 2010.
Unfortunately for Martinez, instead of having a windfall of competitors beating down his door, he has become one of boxing’s most avoided fighters.
Big names have eluded him since his emergence to the top of the middleweight division, and Martinez looks to just keep with his winning ways Saturday in hopes of getting the top P4P names to step up to the plate.
Darren Barker, the European middleweight champion, known overseas, but not much in the U.S., expects to make a big splash in these waters when he challenges Martinez for his belts.
From the start of the promotion of this fight, the London native has shown confidence in his chances of upending the favorite Martinez.
“Rocky captured the mentality of the underdog," he said. "I’m here to prove that the underdog can cause a massive upset. So, you may not know who I am now, but come October 1, you will know exactly who 'Dazzling' Darren Barker is.”
In the opening televised bout, Andy Le (26-1, 19) of Detroit, Mich., seeks to avenge his only loss when he takes on Brian Vera (19-5, 12) of Austin, Texas.
The 10-round bout is a rematch from a 2008 meeting between the two in which Vera won via a 7th round TKO.
This sensational 11-bout fight card is presented by Dibella Entertainment, Caesars Atlantic City, Matchroom Sports, with these two exciting bouts being broadcasted live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing.
Tickets are priced at $51, $102, $202 and $302, and can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office. Ticket can also be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or by calling TM at 1-800-745-3000.
This Boardwalk Hall card has an early start of 6:30pm.
Super Six Finals postponed
Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic final match-up that was to be held at Boardwalk Hall on Oct. 29, 2011, has been rescheduled for the new date of Saturday, Dec. 17.
The postponement was due to an injury sustained by Andre “S.O.G.” Ward.
Ward, the current World Boxing Association (WBA) Super middleweight champion (24-0, 13 KOs), was scheduled to meet tough-as-nails and current World Boxing Council (WBC) Super middleweight champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) of the U.K.
Ward, of Oakland, Calif., received a cut over his right eye that reportedly required seven stitches while he was sparring in preparation for this extremely important unification bout.
In a release presented by his promoter Goossen Tutor Promotions, Ward humbly expressed his disappointment by saying: "I'm extremely disappointed about this cut. We used every precaution, including headgear with a face bar and it was just a fluke situation. My sparring partner and I were involved in an exchange inside and the next thing I knew, I was bleeding. That is the most frustrating thing about this-I don't have an explanation for how it happened.”
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"Well you can’t take too much away from Paul Williams, because he is one that’s good for boxing because he gets in there and fights. But Lara is a real fighter. He is a Cuban National Champion, and Cuba has a lot of great fighters coming out of there, and Lara is definitely one of them. "
Pictured above: Veteran boxing trainer Ronnie Shields (left) with writer Rob Scott The worst thing a fighter can do is take lightly and judge a book (i.e. fellow fighter) by their cover. Erislandy Lara (15-0-1, 10 KOs), who originally from Guantanamo, Cuba, but now resides in Miami, Florida, has a story that actually has many chapters to it. He and his followers have every intention on coming into Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, July 9, and not only add to their saga, but also become one of boxing’s best sellers. Lara takes on former two-time world champion and still highly avoided, Paul “The Punisher” Williams (39-2, 27 KOs), who resides in Aiken, South Carolina. Lara, who went from a Cuban National amateur superstar, to a Cuban defector, to a professional world boxing contender, has truly written his own story. I had the pleasure of talking to two key figures in the ongoing book of Lara when I interviewed his veteran trainer, Ronnie Shields, and longtime boxing figure Luis DeCubas, regarding their star, and what to expect when the bell rings on fight night. I’ve followed the Erislandy Lara story and seen many of his fights, but let’s face it, there are going to be...
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