NEW YORK (Jan. 8, 2013) – As part of a Free Preview Weekend on SHOWTIME® that begins this Friday, Jan. 11, and runs through Sunday, Jan. 13, over 80 million households
will be able to watch the fighters who will compete on a ShoBox: The New Generation doubleheader Friday live
on SHOWTIME (11:15 p.m. ET/PT,
delayed on the West Coast).
Three of the boxers on the Jan. 11 ShoBox twin bill at Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, Calif., are undefeated. The other has one loss. Combined, they are 59-1-1, but for all
their success, you can’t beat the kind of exposure they’ll get during a Free
Weekend Preview that offers the opportunity to sample the premium network’s award-winning programming on
SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME
HD™, SHOWTIME On Demand® and SHOWTIME
ANYTIME®.
“A great example of what TV exposure
can do for a young fighter is Austin
Trout,” ShoBox analyst Steve Farhood said. “He was a world champion who was
virtually unknown to even hardcore fight fans, but then he fought on ShoBox (Frank LaPorto), and then shortly
thereafter on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP
BOXING (Delvin Rodriguez). That landed him a fight with Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden
on SHOWTIME. He won that and now
everyone knows who he is.
“Friday is a huge opportunity for
the four ShoBox fighters, who have
never approached this level number of available viewers. When you deliver in a situation like
this it almost guarantees that promoters and the TV networks will bring you back
because the public wants to see you again.”
In the 10-round main event,
always-exciting Ronny Rios (19-0, 9 KO’s), of Santa
Ana , Calif. , puts his unbeaten
record on the line when he faces former WBA Super Bantamweight World Champion Rico Ramos (21-1, 11 KO’s), of Los Angeles, for the vacant NABF
Featherweight Championship.
In a clash of unbeaten junior
middleweights, Daquan Arnett (9-0, 6 KO's), of Orlando , Fla. , takes on Brandon Quarles (10-0-1, 2 KO's) of Alexandria , Va. , in the 8-round co-feature.
One of Southern California’s most
popular fighters, undefeated NABO Bantamweight Champion Randy “El Matador” Caballero (17-0, 9 KO’s),
of Coachella, will make his 11th appearance at Fantasy Springs when
he meets an opponent to be announced in the top non-televised
fight.
Tickets priced at $25, $35 and $45
are available at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, by calling (800) 827-2946 or
online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. PT and the first
fight begins at 6:30 p.m. The event
is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona.
Farhood says the first ShoBox event of the year is atypical of
the critically acclaimed series, which has been a hit since its inception in
July 2001.
“The main event is another classic ShoBox fight with an unbeaten
prospect moving up in class against a former world champion,” Farhood said. “It is an age-old tradition, but in this
case Ramos is a younger former world champion and presumably has a lot of fight
left in him.
“It’s also crossroads fight because
Rios needs to prove he can become a contender and Ramos needs to prove he’s
still a top-10 fighter. This is a
fascinating style matchup with Rios being the pressure fighter and Ramos the
boxer-puncher.
“What’s interesting about the
co-feature is that we have Arnett coming off a fight in which he was dropped and
almost stopped getting right back in with his second consecutive unbeaten
opponent. It’s time for Arnett to
show he’s a legitimate prospect.”
The 5-foot-6 ½ Rios, a former
amateur standout who turns 23 on Jan. 22, is making his ShoBox debut. A stable mate of WBC World Champions Abner Mares (super bantamweight) and Daniel Ponce de Leon (featherweight),
the crowd-pleasing four-year pro is taking a significant leap in class after
being steadily stepped up in recent fights and giving solid performances.
“I’ve been training really hard, and
we really want to take advantage of this opportunity that’s been presented to
us,” said the offensive-minded Rios, who’s facing by far his toughest opponent
on paper to date. “I’m looking
forward to a good fight.”
The rising Rios is a gym rat who
enjoys reading mystery novels in his spare time. A boxer-puncher with solid speed and
movement, he’s campaigned at featherweight and junior lightweight the last few
years. He made his 10-round debut
in his last start, scoring an impressive ninth-round knockout over game veteran David Rodela in a thrilling
all-action junior lightweight slugfest on July 28 at Fantasy Springs.
Ramos, 25, is a ShoBox alum and former amateur standout
who captured the WBA 122-pound
world title in his 20th pro fight
with a spectacular, come-from-behind, one-punch, seventh-round knockout over Akifumi Shimoda on July 9, 2011.
The 5-foot-5 Ramos, currently ranked
No. 7 in the IBF, No. 8 in the WBA and No. 23 in the WBC at 122 lbs., is seeking
his second consecutive victory since losing the WBA crown in his first defense
to unbeaten Guillermo Rigondeaux on
Jan. 12, 2012. In his lone fight
since, Ramos finished much the strongest to win an 8-round majority decision in
a spirited encounter over previously undefeated Efrian Equiovoas last June 23 by the
tallies of 78-74 twice and 76-76.
While his opponent’s weight
fluctuates slightly from fight to fight, Ramos has been fighting at or around
122 pounds since going pro in March 2008. However, this move north in weight isn’t necessarily a permanent
one.
“I just want to see how I feel at
126 because I know I’m strong at 122. We’re going to see where it takes us right
now,” said the more experienced Ramos, a natural counterpuncher who possesses
good natural athletic ability, skills, speed and movement. “I can still make 122, but I just want to
see where the opportunities are. This isn’t a permanent move up in weight.’’
Reunited with trainer Charles “Chili” Wilson and re-energized
after some time off, Ramos is primed for a top effort. “I’ve been working on a lot of stuff:
throwing more punches, not tensing up too much, throwing more combinations with
a lot of movement and not standing straight up,” he said. “I’m ready for all fighters from 122 to
126. I’ll be back on top. I’m happy to be
back.”
Arnett will be making his
eight-round debut and first official start on ShoBox although highlights of his last
fight on Nov. 9 (a fourth-round KO over Jeremiah Wiggins) were shown during the ShoBox telecast. He also fought on SHOWTIME EXTREME, winning a six-round
decision over Jesus Tavera last
Sept. 8.
An accomplished amateur and 2009
Junior Olympic national champion, the talented, aggressive-minded 5-foot-10,
20-year-old Arnett has kept busy since turning pro on Dec. 1, 2011. He had eight fights in 2012, winning six
by knockout. He’s gone into the
fourth round four times and six full rounds once.
Arnett’s last fight was his roughest
as he had to rebound from a knockdown to stop Wiggins. Arnett had dominated the first two
rounds, but got nailed by a hard right hand by Wiggins during an exchange in the
third. Visibly hurt, Arnett held on
and got through the round. In the
fourth, Arnett knocked Wiggins through the ropes from a barrage of punches and
the referee stepped in and stopped it at 1:59.
One of three children, Arnett hails
from a family of fighters. “My younger brother is a top amateur, my sister, who
got into the sport pretty much for self-defense, knows more about boxing than a
lot of people I know,” Arnett said. “My dad was a boxer, all of my cousins
competed in the amateurs and my uncle was a Golden Gloves champion. Boxing’s my life. My dad literally introduced us to boxing
when we were one and two years old – from the time we were able to
walk.”
Quarles is a 5-foot-10, 26-year-old
who is managed and trained by George
Peterson, the career-long manager and trainer of former Two-Time WBO
Welterweight World Champion Paul
Williams.
A pro since July 2010, Quarles is
coming off of a six-round draw in his last start on Oct. 27 against John Mackey. Quarles, who was decked in the first,
registered a knockdown in the final 10 seconds to get the draw. Two judges had it 56-apiece; the other
scored it for Mackey, 57-55.
“I’ve seen Arnett fight a few times
and I’ve seen him hurt a few times, too,” said Quarles, a boxer with good speed
and movement who was one of Williams’ top sparring partners. “My friend Jeremiah Wiggins just fought
him. He told me, ‘just don’t wait
on him. Take it to him as soon as
the bell rings.’
“I’m just ready to fight. I’m ready to put on a show. It’s what it is – go for
broke.”
Barry Tompkins will call the action from ringside with
Farhood and former World Champion Raul
Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.fantasyspringsresort.com, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.twitter.com/fantasysprings or visit on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing or www.facebook.com/fantasysprings. For information on SHOWTIME, visit http://Sports.SHO.com, www.twitter.com/SHOsports or www.facebook.com/SHOBoxing.