CUTMAN DARREN ANTOLA TO BE AS BUSY AS DEREK JETER ON YANKEE STADIUM FIELD THIS SATURDAY NIGHT

BRONX, NY (May 31, 2010)—On Saturday night June 5^th, A special and historical night of boxing will take place at Yankee Stadium.

The night will be special for many reasons to many people.  But for one it will particularly special as for Darren Antola it will be a chance to serve as a cutman for WBA Super Welterweight champion Yuri Foreman in his title defense against former two-division champion Miguel Cotto.

Antola who grew up in North Jersey was a rabid Yankee fan as a kid and like many kids in his neighborhood, had dreams of donning the pinstripes and being a Yankee.

Antola will be a busy man on June 5^th as before he accompanies Foreman to the ring, he will be in the corner of emerging prospects Jorge Diaz and Pawel Wolak.

“This fight night is definatly a dream come true for me to participate at Yankee Stadium”, said Antola.

“Growing up I was a huge fan of the Yankees and Don Mattingly and I don’t think I was any different from anybody else on wanting to play for the Yankees and now I can work on the same grounds as Derek Jeter on a high profile stage.”

Antola began to box at the Times Square Gym where he met Jimmy Archer who was the brother of Middleweight contender Joey Archer.

Unfortunately, Antola was in a car accident which cut short any type of in-ring career.

Antola had the fire to stay around boxing and would hang around boxing gyms and just talk boxing with the likes of Lou Duva and legendary cutman Ace Marotta.

Also at the gym was world renowned trainer Tommy Brooks, who just happened to be the son-in-law to Duva.

Also in the gym was another cutman named Jimmy Colotto.  Colotto learned his trade from Chicky Ferrera and Charlie Goldman.

Colotto took Antola under his wing and young Darren began to learn everything there was to know about being a competent cutman.

Antola continued to observe and learn in the gym until he was ready to work his first corner.

Although a little nervous, Antola remembered a very important bit of advice he received from Archer and that is “Don’t Panic and just do your job”

Antola’s first experience with a cut happened in an exhibition bout in Ohio where Antola was working with Archer.  The fighter for which Archer was working with suffered a cut just ten seconds into the round, when sitting in the corner, Archer told Antola “Darren, be ready to take care of that cut”

Much to his surprise the nerves were gone and Antola went to work on the fighter’s cut.  The cut was not a problem for the remaineder of the fight and Antola had his calling.

Months later, Brooks came to Antola and told him that it was time to leave the exhibition circuit and join him and Duva in the paid ranks.  Antola wanted to seek approval from his mentor, and Archer gave him his blessing to become a professional cutman.

From that point on, Antola begun working with Brooks and Duva first at the Red Brick Gym in Newark, New Jersey then later at a gym that Brooks and Duva opened up in West Paterson, New Jersey.

Antola has built up a great reputation for himself as he has been in the corner for Yuri Foreman’s WBA Super Welterweight title winning effort this past November 14^th in Las Vegas.  Not bad for a kid from New Jersey.

Antola also has manned the corner of other world champions such as former WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Kendall Holt as well as former Heavyweight champion of the world Riddick Bowe and former Jr. Welterweight champion Vivian Harris as well as former two-time cruiserweight title challenger Bobby Gunn.

In addition to Foreman, Wolk and Diaz, Antola also is the chief cutman for some of New Jersey’s finest prospects such as Jeremy Bryan, Victor Valenzuela, as well as Maryland’s undefeated Light Heavyweight, Mark “TNT” Tucker .

Selcuk Aydin to face Ionut „Jo-Jo Dan“ Ion for WBC Silver championship next Saturday (June 5) in Istanbul

In only five days ARENA will present the first-ever boxing world championship on Turkish soil in Istanbul when rising welterweight star Selcuk Aydin takes on Canada based Romanian Ionut Dan Ion for the WBC Silver title.

Both contenders are unbeaten in their professional career. Aydin – ranked on no. 2 in the WBC 147 ratings only behind Floyd Maywether, jr. – holds 19 wins in as many pro-fights including a split decision over Said Ouali and a ninth round ko against „Sugar“ Jackson Osei Bonsu which earned him the European championship. „Jo-Jo“ Dan is rated on no. 1 at 140 lbs. He has won all of his 26 professional fights so far including 14 stoppages.

„We expect a very tough and close fight“ states promoter Ahmet Öner. „Selcuk is without a doubt the stronger man and I believe that he will overwhelm Ion with his physical skills. But the Romanian surely doesn’t come to Istanbul because of the good weather. He will give it his all and try to take the belt to Canada.“

Aydin and his trainer Ismael Salas arrived in Istanbul last week after finishing their training camp in Miami, Florida. Ion is expected to arrive in Turkey this afternoon from Montreal.

Tommy Rainone Ready for “Stadium Slugfest” at Yankee Stadium on June 5

Lee, Benavidez Steal Show from Soto Karass

By Mario Ortega Jr.

World ranked welterweight contender Jesus Soto Karass was the headliner, but two fighters with just seven combined pro fights stole the spotlight Saturday night on the latest installment of the “Top Rank Live” series from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

WBC #15/IBF #13 ranked welterweight Soto Karass had hoped to get back in the win column after a disappointing finish to his bout against Alfonso Gomez on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard in March. Instead, Soto Karass again went home disappointed Saturday in Chicago after his fight with completely unheralded Gabriel Martinez was ruled a no contest after a single solitary round.

Nothing of note occurred in the three minutes of action, other than an accidental head clash that opened a terrible gash underneath Martinez’ left eye. As Martinez (24-1-1, 13 KOs) of Empalme, Sonora, Mexico took a step forward, Soto Karass (24-4-3, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico leaped in with a looping right hand. The end result was the headbutt, which caused the stoppage in between rounds one and two.

For Soto Karass, 149, Saturday’s no contest was just another speed bump in a long career that has come a bit off track. Two point deductions cost him a draw against Gomez in their abbreviated six-round encounter. Prior to that bout, Soto Karass had gone on a solid win streak, picking up wins over some noteworthy names since his last defeat in 2005. For the unknown Martinez, 149, a precious opportunity was dashed and his cut will likely keep him out of the ring for some time. Martinez previous credentials included a draw against then unbeaten prospect Euri Gonzalez in 2007 and a kayo by ten against praised Mexican welterweight prospect Saul Alvarez in 2008.

The ticket-seller, as well as most locally and nationally publicized fighter on the card Mike Lee (1-0) of Chicago launched his pro career with a four-round unanimous decision over Emmit Woods (0-4-1) of Saint Joseph, Missouri in the night’s special attraction. Lee, reportedly singled-handedly responsible for $110,000 in ticket sales, pleased his large contingent of supporters as he won every round against the perfectly-matched Woods. Lee, 174, played up his Notre Dame graduate status by wearing the colors of the “Fighting Irish,” before taking the fight to the defensive-minded Woods, 171.

Woods presented little resistance, which was by the matchmaker’s design obviously, but Lee did prove to have the basic fundamentals of at least an ordinary fighter. Whether or not Lee, who has been under the tutelage of renowned trainer Ronnie Shields for the past two months, can turn into a true prospect remains to be seen. Lee does have the promoter in Top Rank that a fighter in his situation would want. Those who thought the career of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was moved painfully slow may need to hold on for the path that Lee’s career will tread.

Even with the action coming from one direction, the Lee crowd found reasons to chant his name, hoot and holler. After four rounds of arm-punching flurries with Woods covering up against the ropes, a visibly winded Lee was declared the winner on all three judges’ scorecards. Scores read 40-36 across the board for the former Chicago Golden Gloves Champion Lee.

With all the attention heaped on Lee, many fight fans at the UIC Pavilion on Saturday may end up recalling their presence at the event one day as the night they saw a young Jose Benavidez Jr. knockout Ronnie Peterson in one round. That is exactly what happened in the first fight of the night, which was held back to be the final fight on the Fox Spots en Espanol telecast.

Benavidez Jr. (6-0, 6 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Phoenix, Arizona grabbed headlines earlier in the week when his scheduled July 17^th Arizona homecoming was cancelled. The event was called off when sponsors threatened to pull out if it were held in Arizona, due to the controversial legislative measure SB 1070 that was signed into Arizona law. In public protest, Benavidez wore a shirt with the characters SB 1070 written across it with a circle and slash through it.

Peterson (3-2, 3 KOs) of Mounds View, Minnesota was in over his head with the classy Benavidez, 139, from the start. It would eventually be a body shot that would down Peterson, 138 ½, and end the fight. Time of the stoppage was 2:45 of the first. The July 17^th event is reportedly moving to border city Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, but Benavidez will first return to the ring on June 24^th on the Latin Fury card emanating from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Light welterweight prospect Ivan Popoca (14-0-1, 10 KOs) of Chicago, Illinois by way of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico survived a brief scare to pass the toughest test of his career thus far and score a fifth-round stoppage over Jose Luis Soto Karass (20-15-1, 18 KOs) of Los Angeles by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Popoca, 138, quickly found Soto Karass, 138, to be a determined and willing adversary, as the two combatants got right to work from the start. After flip-flopping the opening two rounds, Popoca briefly looked to be taking control before a sudden turn in the fourth. About thirty seconds into the round, Soto Karass landed a perfect right hand counter to surprise and drop the crowd favorite Popoca. Popoca got back to his feet, but was still on unsteady legs as he tried to hold on to Soto Karass. By midway through the round, Popoca, who had not yet completely regained his footing, was out landing a tired Soto Karass.

Soto Karass seemed to hurt Popoca early in the fifth, but the Chicago resident would not stop coming forward. As Soto Karass again began to slow his output, Popoca landed a crisp right hand to wobble and eventually drop his opponent. With a little help from one of the middle ropes, Soto Karass got to his feet before the count of ten. However, referee Gerald Scott waved of the bout at 2:07 of the round

Antonio Avila (3-1, 1 KO) of Chicago scored a four-round unanimous decision over David Laque (2-5-1, 2 KOs) of Bloomington, Minnesota. Avila, 134, had trouble with the southpaw stance of Laque, 138, in the first round. By the opening of the second round, Avila settled into his boxing stance and began to time the awkward Laque. A wide left hook for Avila excited the crowd and removed Laque’s mouthpiece late in the round. Avila proved to have the better conditioning, as Laque never gave up, but seemed to run out of gas. Some heated back-and-forth action closed the fight which was scored unanimously for Avila, 40-36.

Wendel Boyd Henley (5-0-1, 5 KOs) of Kansas City, Missouri and Marcus Thompkins (5-0-1, 2 KOs) of Michigan City, Indiana both remained undefeated after fighting to a six-round majority draw. Henley, 147, was the aggressor, but Thompkins, 145, was at times an effective counter puncher. In the end, the scores were 59-55 for Henley and 57-57 twice.

Krzysztof Zimnoch (3-0-1, 3 KOs) of Bialystok, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland remained perfect with a third-round knockout of Michael Moncrief (3-7-1, 1 KO) of Cleveland, Ohio. Zimnoch, 230, landed a right uppercut that stunned Moncrief, 245, in the third. Zimnoch quickly followed up with a hellacious series of unanswered shots that prompted referee Gerald Scott to stop the contest at 2:12 of the round.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com

Encountering Barrera: Deregulation, bad experiences, and Edwin Valero

By Bart Barry

It’s easy to find a professional athlete who will talk to you about his strengths.  It’s only slightly harder to find one who will tell you about his peers’ weaknesses.  A professional athlete who will speak to you in good faith about his own weaknesses, though, is a rare thing.

Those were my thoughts Thursday afternoon as I walked up the Alamodome ramp to Parking Lot A.  They were thoughts that came courtesy of an interview with Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera.  Still under the spell of Barrera’s courteousness, friendliness and apparent openness, I was about an hour from noticing something I’d missed with Barrera.

He hadn’t told me half as much as I’d imagined.

Barrera was at Alamodome to help Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. promote Top Rank’s “Latin Fury 15,” which happens June 26 in San Antonio.  Until last week, “La Furia de México” had a different Mexican in the co-main event.  Jorge Arce was scheduled to fight Puerto Rican Eric Morel but sustained a fight-canceling gash in sparring.  That meant Barrera’s match with Brazilian lightweight Adailton De Jesus acquired a new importance and mandated his presence at a rescheduled press conference, Thursday.

Barrera, dressed in a striped charcoal suit with a raspberry-sherbet tie, arrived late and strode in the arena with his wife.  He stood on stage beside Chavez and posed for pictures, looking darker and duller than usual.  He spoke in the hastily acquired English he’s been using since Golden Boy Promotions decided he had crossover potential five years ago, and he told us his goal was to win a fourth world title.  Then he switched to Spanish and became Barrera once more.

His upcoming match with De Jesus will add nothing to his legacy, a legacy that includes a historic trilogy with fellow Mexican Erik Morales, a legacy that will win him a first-ballot vote to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.  He understands his role in this promotion; he lends his name, a famous one in Mexico, to the name of Chavez’s dad, a more-famous one in Mexico.

Certain people radiate with intellectual horsepower.  You find them occasionally on college campuses, rarely in corporations, and almost never in professional athletics.  It is not the athlete’s place to supply such radiance, and to look for it is often a sign of envy: What kind of society values this guy a thousand times more than me?

Barrera is an exception.  As you interview him in Spanish, a language he’s mastered, you feel him examining you right back.  There’s no moral intent, per se; he doesn’t seem to care if you’re honest or will treat him honestly.  Rather, he examines you as a rival, as though he wants you to challenge him with a question.  He’s confident you can’t, of course, confident to a point that is often taken for arrogance.  He shows no defensiveness.

Now that he’s done protecting the Golden Boy Promotions brand as a “partner,” he is accessible.  Now that he’s temporarily under Top Rank’s banner, he is even more accessible.

Top Rank let’s you put hands on its people.  It understands the importance of access better than its rivals.  It allows public arguments within, or even against, the media, because it understands what a younger generation of promoters has yet to learn: So long as people talk about you and your event, whatever they say, they promote your event.

Thursday, I didn’t want the interference of a translator, and I sure as hell didn’t want Barrera’s English-speaking imposter.  I wanted the most eloquent prizefighter I’ve met, alone, and in Spanish.  I approached the table where Barrera and his wife waited for print media to finish interviewing Chavez, shook Barrera’s hand and told him that whatever he opined of my questions, he should understand they were good-faith inquiries from someone who admired him.

“Of course,” he said, and he smiled.

I asked him why, demons, he returned.  What did he hope to gain by fighting on?

“Something to prove, there is not,” he said.  That sentence was about as different in Spanish as it looks in English.  He didn’t say there was nothing to prove, in the double-negative way of pedestrian, if still proper, Spanish.  He used an alternative emphasis.

“The open television in Mexico permits more people to see me now,” Barrera said.  “People who did not, before, have the opportunity to see Barrera.  There are Mexicans who know solely the Barrera from that last time.”

In 2006, just before its presidential election, Mexico passed the “Ley Federal de Radio y Televisión.”  This law effectively deregulated Mexican television, in the name of bringing digital cable to the people, and eventually returned boxing to free channels.  Like most deregulation ploys, though, it disproportionately enriched a very small number of people.  A Mexican Supreme Court ruling in 2007 delayed its implementation.  And there would be further delay in converting average Mexican cable viewers’ hardware.  Barrera’s contention, then, is that very few of his countrymen were able to see him for most of his career.

Since 2007, Barrera has fought thrice.  A 2008 fight happened in China.  An early 2009 fight was the Mexican equivalent of an Off-Off-Broadway show, in Zapopan, Jalisco.  And then there was that U.K. fight 14 months ago.

“That was a bad experience,” Barrera said, of his match with English sensation Amir Khan.  It saw Barrera’s upper forehead sliced opened and bleeding freely in the first round.  U.K. officials, though, allowed the fight to continue until the fifth round, at which time the result went from a no-decision to a technical-decision in Khan’s favor.

“It is an experience that I am going to erase,” Barrera said.  “If a fourth championship comes along the way, good.  But I return to erase that fight.”

At this point in our interview, someone handed Barrera a cell-phone with a picture of the cut.  It was a scripted move, and as a script is beneath Barrera, I moved away from it:

As someone who admires you for your intellect as well as your boxing, I am nervous, if not sad, about your return, I said.  Tell me how I am mistaken.

“To the contrary, friend, you are not mistaken,” Barrera said.  “Boxing is filled with bad experiences.  Many bad experiences.”

And when you bade farewell to “this beautiful sport” at Mandalay Bay in October of 2007?

“That was all about my promoter,” Barrera said, and he laughed.  “I was not happy with my promoter, and I did that to escape them.”

The day after Barrera easily survived 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao, never imperiling himself or Pacquiao, en route to a unanimous-decision loss, I wrote of his relationship with Golden Boy Promotions:  “Barrera had become an overqualified employee in De la Hoya’s company, a guy who was too smart for the corporation, quietly resenting each new workday and the boss who caused it.”

“Exactly,” Barrera said, when I paraphrased this for him.

A better reporter would have plumbed the depths of Barrera’s resentment for his former promoter, a resentment he didn’t seem at all interested in hiding.  Instead, I asked Barrera about a curious relationship he’d developed with a man whose life ended terribly last month.

On that night of your goodbye to boxing, I reminded him, you brought Venezuelan Edwin Valero on stage with you.  You complimented him at length and called him a friend more than a sparring partner.

“We invited him to the city,” Barrera remembered of that training camp.  “It was a friendship.  A very good friendship.  That night, I said he would beat Pacquiao.  That was true.  Unfortunately, they were never able to have that fight.”

And when he heard that Valero had murdered his wife, on April 19, before apparently committing suicide in a Venezuelan jail cell?

“I regretted it, I felt very badly,” Barrera said.  “We waited to hear confirmation of the news.  I regret it even now.  I flee that date.  But none of it surprised me.  (Valero) had many psychological problems.”

I thanked Barrera and his wife, both, for being the people they have been, and for handling their celebrity with such grace.

On my way out, I stopped and spoke to Carlos Hernandez – who now resides in San Antonio – because on my way in, Jesse James Leija had told me Hernandez and Edwin Valero had trained together and been friends in Los Angeles.  Few prizefighters are charismatic or likable as Hernandez.  When I asked him if he were surprised by the news of Valero’s end last month, Hernandez shook his head.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Hernandez said.  “But we didn’t talk about family much in the gym.  We talked about other things.”

Such as?

“Venezuelan politics,” Hernandez said, and we both smiled at the oddity of such a conversation in the gym.  “He was really into it.”

“Too into it,” Hernandez’s wife added.

Bart Barry can be reached at bbarry@15rounds.com

Odlanier Solis calls out Vitali Klitschko: „Stop wasting your time fighting bums – Come and fight me!“

The WBC heavyweight championship between Vitali Klitschko and Albert Sosnowski turned out exactly as all experts and fans had expected. The challenger from Poland didn’t stand a chance against the more powerful half of the dominating force in the heavyweight division. The older Klitschko brother once more wore down a helpless opponent with his unorthodox style and his powerful left hand using the right only to finish off his opponent in the tenth round.

Most of the 40,000 fans in the not sold-out football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, were not amused with Vitali’s slow and boring performance against another challenger who wasn’t worth his money. And even Klitschko’s strong German TV partner RTL cannot be happy with „only“ 7 Mio. viewers and the lowest rating since RTL teamed up with the Klitschko Management Group four years ago to exclusively present the fights of both Vitali and Wladimir.

„With fights like this the Klitschkos risk their legacy“, says ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner about the one-sided bout. „Even worse: They emphasize the weakness of the heavyweight division at the moment. Vitali shouldn’t have chosen a guy like Sosnowski in the first place. Of course, he was European champion but he had beaten nobody of notice to win that title. He has no amateur merits and in 2008 he had lost to a journey man. This is not the kind of opposition we can expect for somebody like Vitali. He should finally take on the only man who has a chance of beating him: Odlanier Solis.“

Solis, 2004 Olympic gold medallist and multiple world amateur champion, is already the no. 1 contender in the WBC ratings. Negotiations regarding a final elimination bout against Russian Giant Nikolai Valuev are stuck at the moment due to Valuev’s exorbitant purse demands. For the same reason a fight between Vitali and Valuev had fallen through causing the Ukrainian champion to accept Sosnowski as challenger instead.

„I’m ready to go“, states Solis who lives and trains in Miami, Florida. „As most people in the USA I don’t follow Vitali’s fights but I heard that his performance this Saturday was a disgrace again. I don’t understand why somebody who claims to be the best boxer in the world picks lousy opposition like this Polish guy I have never heard of. This bullshit has to stop. Vitali, stop clowning around and fight me instead of those bums you’ve been in the ring with recently!“

„La Sombra“ had been one of the candidates to challenge Vitali before the Klitschko management signed the deal with Sosnowski. „The most probably chose Sosnowski because he was the safer option“, say Öner. „I bet he was cheaper as well but we surely weren’t asking for a lot of money. We believe that Solis will beat Vitali so he won’t go into a fight just for a decent pay-day. He wants to become the first ever Cuban heavyweight champion of the world. Vitali looked old and slow against Sosnowski. His team keeps on saying that he is only getting better and stronger but that’s hard to tell when he’s fighting tomato cans. Solis is definitely faster, stronger and technically better than Vitali. But Vitali is smart. He knows all that and therefore avoids fighting Solis.“

Experts critisize that Solis’ perfect record of 16 wins in 16 fights is lacking big names to qualify him for a title shot. „But that’s no tour fault“, is Öner’s response. „We had already signed a deal with Kevin Johnson when Vitali chose him for a voluntary defense. We also wanted to fight Arreola but HBO asked us not to because they wanted to protect their fighter. Now we would love to get our hands on Valuev but he seems to be ducking the fight as well. All elite fighters know that they would lose to Solis. That’s why everybody’s avoiding him – including the Klitschko bros.”

Solis is directly calling out the WBC champion: „Vitali, stop thinking about Valuev or Haye. Valuev has lost to Haye and Chagaev and should have lost to Holyfield as well. He is not in your league. In addition to that he stands behind me in the ratings and doesn’t want to fight me. There’s no point in you fighting him. Regarding Haye, he had his chance to get his hands on you and your brothers and he pulled out. Also I already knocked him out as an amateur. I am the only opponent left. And I promise you that after our fight you can concentrate on your career in politics. I will take your belt and retire you, my friend. If you don’t believe me – come and prove me wrong!“

UFC 114 Predictions: Jackson will go on a Rampage tonight

By Phil Lanides of San Jose MMA Examiner

UFC 114 is underway, so I need to make this one quick. The main event is the only fight I haven’t prognosticated, and to be truthful, there’s not a lot left to say. Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans have exhibited utter disdain for one another since their in-cage confrontation after UFC 96. After spending time as a opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, the disdain evolved into complete hatred. It’s taken time to get them in the Octagon together, due to Rampage’s contract dispute, resulting “retirement,” and subsequent return, but the time is upon us. Let’s take a look:

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-7) vs. “Sugar” Rashad Evans (14-1-1): Despite their personal differences, Rampage and Rashad share similar fight styles. Both have wrestling backgrounds that they’ve mostly abandoned in favor of the search for the KO. Both fighters hold knockout victories over “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell. Both are former title-holders, and both are amongst the elite in their division. Truthfully, it’s a pretty close matchup.

Many experts have pointed out that Jackson has not fought since March of 2009, while Rashad has stepped into the cage twice since that time. However, with the amount of animosity between the two fighters, as well as Jackson and UFC president Dana White, Rampage had all the motivation he needed to train hard for the fight. And with his experience, I don’t expect to see much of a drop-off, if any.

I expect both fighters to come out a little cautious at first, but in the end, Jackson’s determination and KO power will deliver him the vicious knockout victory – Prediction: Jackson via KO

Here’s the full card for UFC 114:

MAIN CARD
• Rashad Evans vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
• Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller
• Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
• Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• John Hathaway vs. Diego Sanchez

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
• Dong Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah
• Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon

PRELIMINARY CARD (Not televised)
• Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe
• Luiz Cane vs. Cyrille Diabate
• Joe Brammer vs. Aaron Riley
• Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensen

WELTERWEIGHT LEGEND MATT HUGHES JOINS UFC® HALL OF FAME

TWO-TIME UFC® CHAMPION ENSHRINED FRIDAY, MAY 28

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – “A country boy can survive.” For two-time UFC® welterweight champion Matt Hughes, those words echoed by singer Hank Williams Jr. don’t just serve as his inspiration before big fights. For the 36-year-old native of Hillsboro, Ill., those are words to live by.

Whether it was locking horns with the best of an era in the UFC or plowing acres upon acres of farmland growing up, Hughes’ unreal work ethic and drive have allowed him to not only survive, but excel.

You see, in the world of Matt Hughes, nothing is impossible. The self-proclaimed “farm boy” has proven that mantra time and time again inside the UFC’s hallowed Octagon^™. Over a span of 12 years, Hughes has become one of the fiercest competitors to ever compete. What’s more, Hughes – considered by many to be the greatest 170-pounder to ever put on four-ounce gloves – has earned dominant victories over the sport’s most elite challengers.

From Royce Gracie to Georges St-Pierre to BJ Penn to Matt Serra, the four-time All-American collegiate wrestler has dominated the best-of-the-best while also defending the welterweight title seven times over two championship reigns. For these accomplishments, the UFC announced Hughes’ selection into the UFC Hall of Fame.

“When we look back at the history books, Matt Hughes will go down as one of the best 170-pounders of all time,” UFC President Dana White said. “This is one of the guys who helped build this organization. Matt’s credentials as a mixed martial artist speak for themselves and we’re proud that he now has a well-deserved spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.”

The official UFC Hall of Fame ceremony took place Friday, May 28 at 6:00pm PT at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center as a part of the UFC^® FAN EXPO^™. Hughes joined Chuck Liddell, Charles “Mask” Lewis, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Randy Couture, and Mark Coleman as members of the UFC Hall of Fame. Upon learning of his enshrinement, Hughes was truly honored.

“I never thought about this, to be honest,” said Hughes, who owns wins over six current or former UFC champions. “I’m just a Midwest guy kinda living the dream. But I’m very privileged and I thank the UFC. Shaking hands, signing autographs, being a world title holder and being inducted into the Hall of Fame, this is beyond what I ever would have pictured my life being.”

Tickets for the UFC^® FAN EXPO^™ are on sale now and can be bought exclusively at www.ufcfanexpo.com. This year’s event leads into UFC 114: RAMPAGE vs. EVANS, taking place live at MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA, featuring the long-awaited grudge match between former light heavyweight champions Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans.

Ultimate Fighting Championship^® – www.ufc.com

Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live arena events around the world.  UFC programming is distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.’s Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.’s Versus network.  UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada.  Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 130 countries, territories and jurisdictions, reaching 430 million homes worldwide, in 20 different languages.  Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over 5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling UFC “Undisputed” videogame franchise distributed by THQ, UFC Gym™, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo™ festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, articulated action figures and other media including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.

ESPN2 to Continue Televising ESPN.com’s MMA Live Show

After airing episodes for the first time this May, ESPN2 will continue to televise ESPN.com’s produced and distributed weekly MMA Live series dedicated to news, highlights and analysis from the sport of mixed martial arts through August, 2010. ESPN2 will continue to provide the first airing of the weekly MMA Live series Fridays at 1 a.m. ET (Thursday at 10 p.m. PT) with the ESPN.com version, featuring additional content, available shortly after the ESPN2 telecast.

As previously scheduled, ESPN2 will simulcast ESPN.com’s MMA Live at UFC 114 Sunday, May 30, at 1 a.m. (Saturday at 10 p.m. PT). Future simulcasts of MMA Live specials originating from event sites are to be determined. MMA Live host Jon Anik, analysts Kenny Florian and Randy Couture, ESPN.com MMA Insider Franklin McNeil, and correspondent Molly Qerim will work the telecasts. Couture is an analyst in place of Rashad Evans who will compete in the UFC 114 event.

MMA Live launched on ESPN.com in 2008 and ESPN2 first began televising the popular series in May 2010 with four episodes of the weekly news and highlights program, on-site pre- and post-event specials surrounding UFC 113 on May 8 and May 9, and the post-event show following UFC 114.

In addition to ESPN.com, ESPN has offered mixed martial arts news, interviews, highlights, stories, discussion and weigh-ins across multiple platforms, including ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN International, SportsCenter, E:60, SportsNation, First Take and more.

Over 30,000 tickets have been sold for the Big Boxing Event at Yankee Stadium.

Good Ringside Tickets Still Available for the Big Boxing Event at Yankee Stadium

Good Ringside Tickets Still Available for the Big Boxing Event at Yankee Stadium

Over 30,000 tickets have been sold already

Gleason’s Gym still has the best available tickets for the Yuri Foreman – Miguel Cotto World Championship fight.

The better tickets are going fast. The demand is so great that Top Rank authorized an additional 10,000 seats for sale.

Also on the card from Gleason’s Gym is James Moore.

Do not delay. Call the gym at 718 797 2872 or use this email address to reserve your seats

The bout will take place at Yankee Stadium on Saturday evening June 5, 2010.

Our special commemorative Yankee tickets for this event are:

Section A4 -A5B- A5C – A5 – A6 -A7B and A7C

Section 110 and 111

Section 314

Section 407A

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