TWO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS
HIGHLIGHT CHÁVEZ JR. vs.
MARTINEZ
MÉXICAN
INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND
PAY-PER-VIEW UNDERCARD!
RIGONDEAUX AND MARROQUIN BATTLE
FOR
WBA SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP
MARTINEZ AND BELTRAN JR. RUMBLE FOR
VACANT WBO JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT
TITLE
MACKLIN AND ALCINE DUKE IT OUT
IN
MIDDLEWEIGHT SHOWDOWN
THE RETURN OF UNDEFEATED
NOTRE DAME CHAMPION MIKE LEE
LAS VEGAS, NEV. -- The Méxican Independence Day
Weekend boxing extravaganza headlined by the Julio César Chávez Jr. vs.
Sergio Martinez World Middleweight Championship will feature four
exciting bouts on the live pay-per-view undercard, including two world
championship showdowns. Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) super
featherweight champion and Cuban expatriate GUILLERMO “El Chacal”
RIGONDEAUX will defend his world title against knockout artist ROBERTO
MARROQUIN of Dallas. Former world champion ROMAN “Rocky” MARTINEZ, of
Puerto Rico and MIGUEL “Barreterito” BELTRAN, JR., of México, will
battle for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight
title. One-time world title challenger MATTHEW “Mack The Knife”
MACKLIN, of England, will rumble with former world super welterweight
champion JOACHIM ALCINE, of Montréal, Québec, Canada, in a 10-round
middleweight bout. The pay-per-view undercard telecast will open with
undefeated University of Notre Dame champion MIKE LEE in a six-round
light heavyweight bout against an opponent to be named soon.
These
seven gladiators boast a combined record of 155-9-2 (100 KOs) – a
winning percentage of 93%, with nearly 2/3 of those victories coming by
way of knockout.
Promoted by Top Rank®, Zanfer Promotions and
DiBella Entertainment, in association with Wynn Las Vegas, AT&T and
Tecate, the Chávez Jr. vs. Martinez Middleweight Championship Event will
take place Saturday, September 15, at the Thomas & Mack Center, on
the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It will be produced
and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET /
6:00 p.m. PT.
Remaining tickets, priced at $600, $400, $200,
$100, $75, $50 and $25, can be purchased at the Thomas & Mack Center
box office and Town Square Las Vegas Concierge. Tickets can also be
purchased online at www.unlvtickets.com. To charge by telephone call
(702) 739-FANS.
"The pay-per-view
undercard will set the stage for the most anticipated fight of the year
in Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez. September 15 is going to be a great night of
action and a very entertaining event worthy of its date," said Todd
duBoef, president of Top Rank.
“Macklin put
his name into the world boxing scene with great back-to-back
performances against Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez,” said Lou DiBella.
“While he came up a little short in those world title opportunities, he
is hungrier than ever and looking to move himself back into the title
picture. In his way stands Joachim Alcine, who is a former world
champion and coming off the huge upset victory over David Lemieux. This
is a do-or-die fight for both of these guys and they are going to leave
it all on the line come fight night.”
Rigondeaux (10-0, 8
KOs), of Miami, Fla., had a stellar amateur career, winning Olympic
gold medals in 2004,and 2000, World Amateur Championship titles in 2005
and 2001, and Pan American Games gold medals in 2005 and 2003, all at
119 pounds, before defecting from Cuba and embarking on a professional
career which began in Miami in 2009. In only his seventh professional
fight where both fighters scored knockdowns, Rigondeaux captured the WBA
interim super bantamweight title, winning a tough split decision over
the vastly more experienced former world champion Ricardo Cordoba in
2010. After successfully defending the interim title last year with a
first-round knockout of previously undefeated former European super
bantamweight champion Willie Casey, Rigondeaux won the WBA world super
bantamweight championship with a sixth-round knockout of previously
undefeated defending champion Rico Ramos on January 20. Rigondeaux
returns to ring after successfully defending that title on June 9,
blasting once-beaten Teon Kennedy out in the fifth round, which included
Kennedy suffering five knockdowns en route to the loss.
Marroquin
(22-1, 15 KOs), from Dallas, TX, is known for bring the “total package”
– a fan-favorite combination of style, technique, power and
personality. A former amateur standout with victories over Gary Russell
Jr. and Adrien Broner, Marroquin enters his first world championship
challenge with a professional resume highlighted by several impressive
performances, including knockout victories of Edward Arcos, Gilberto
Sanchez-Leon and Arturo Camargo, who had a combined record of 68-23-5
when Marroquin fought them, all before Marroquin had fought his 19th
professional fight. Riding a three-bout winning streak since losing a
hotly-contested split decision to Francisco Leal, Marroquin is
world-rated No. 15 by the WBA.
Martinez (25-1-1, 16 KOs),
of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, captured the WBO junior lightweight title in
2009, scoring two knockdowns en route to knocking out defending
champion Nicky Cook in the fourth round. Martinez successfully defended
his title twice – both by knockout – against world-rated contenders
Feider Viloria and Gonzalo Munguia, before losing the title in 2010 via
the slimmest of margins in a spirited battle against Ricky Burns – a
consensus Fight of the Year candidate. Currently world-rated No. 9 by
the WBO, Martinez returns to the ring after stopping former world title
challenger Daniel Attah in the sixth round last October.
Beltran
Jr. (27-1, 17 KOs), of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, México, making his U.S.
debut, will be challenging for a world title for the second time. His
first attempt, against IBF junior lightweight champion Juan Carlos
Salgado last December, was ruled a No Contest due to a cut over the left
eye of Salgado from an accidental clash of heads in the second
round. Known for his aggressive style and solid punching power, Beltran
boasts impressive victories, including winning the Campeon Azteca
featherweight tournament by beating Miguel “Mickey” Roman, and sticking
previously undefeated Eduardo Lazcano with his first loss. World-rated
No. 8 by the WBO, Beltran enters this fight riding a two-year, six-bout
unbeaten streak.
Macklin (28-4, 19 KOs), hails from
Birmingham, England, though the proud Irishman travels on an Irish
passport. Macklin returns to the ring after two high profile competitive
world championship battles. After fashioning a four-year, 11-bout
winning streak between 2007 and 2011, which included knockout victories
of Wayne Elcock for the British middleweight title and Amin Asikainen
and Shalva Jomardashvili for the European middleweight championship,
Macklin rose to career-high world rankings -- No. 2 in the WBA and No. 4
in the WBO – and his first world title shot, against “Super” WBA
middleweight champion Felix Sturm. The two clashed June 25, 2011 in
Sturm’s native Germany, where Macklin outworked and seemingly outscored
the defending champion in every round only to be handed a very
controversial split decision loss. Macklin’s heroic effort and favorable
world opinion led to his getting another title shot, this time against
Sergio Martinez on March 17 in front of a raucous and partisan St.
Patrick’s Day crowd at Madison Square Garden. Macklin took an early
lead and even dropped Martinez in the seventh round, but Martinez
returned the favor in the 11th round dropping Macklin twice leading
Macklin’s corner to end the contest during the break between the 11th
and 12th rounds. Macklin enters this fight world-rated No. 7 by the
WBC.
Alcine (33-2-1, 19 KOs), a native of Haiti, now
living in Montréal, Québec, Canada, won the WBA super welterweight title
in 2007, dethroning Travis Simms via a dominant unanimous decision. He
held the title for one year before losing it to Daniel Santos. Alcine
has gone 3-1-1 since losing the title, but it was his most recent fight,
a 12-round majority decision upset victory over the highly touted David
Lemieux for the WBC International middleweight crown, on December 10,
which put the boxing world on notice that Alcine was back. Currently
world-rated No. 9 by the WBC and the WBO, Alcine knows what’s at stake
when he faces Macklin.
Lee (10-0, 6 KOs), a native of
Chicago who now fights out of Houston, is a 2009 graduate of Notre Dame
where he earned a Finance degree from the Mendoza School of Business
with a 3.8 GPA while winning the school’s legendary Bengal Bouts boxing
tournament three years in a row as well as the 2009 Golden Gloves
Championship. Trained by Ronnie Shields, Lee has shown great potential
as a fighter while attracting Madison Avenue to the sport as a national
spokesman for Subway Restaurants where he has been featured in the
company’s nationally-televised advertising campaigns. Lee has also
proved to be a powerful box office attraction, packing houses with rabid
and loyal University of Notre Dame fans, students and alumni. Lee
returns to the ring fresh a career-best victory, a second-round knockout
of Tyler Seever on August 4. Seever’s victory by knockout ratio was a
powerful 85%, where 11 of his 13 wins had come inside the distance.
The
Chávez Jr. vs. Martinez world championship telecast, which begins at
9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT, will be produced and distributed live by
HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 92 million
pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View, a division of Home Box Office,
Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view
industry. Follow HBO Boxing news at www.hbo.com and at
www.facebook.com/hboboxing. Use the hashtag #ChavezMartinez to join the
conversation on Twitter. For Chávez Jr. vs. Martinez updates log on to
www.toprank.com, www.dbe1.com or www.hbo.com.
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