ESPN2’S FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS FRIDAY, APRIL 24TH, UIC PAVILION, CHICAGO, IL

ESPN2’S FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS is presented by Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Productions. The live broadcast will start at 9PM Chicago Time. Tickets, starting at $31, for can be purchased through Ticketmaster (Online: http://www.ticketmaster.com/, Phone: 312-559-1212) and through the 8 Count Productions office at 312-226-5800.

Further details for the UIC Pavilion, including directions, can be obtained through their website at http://www.uicpavilion.com/

About Golden Boy Promotions
Los Angeles-based Golden Boy Promotions was established in 2002 by Oscar de la Hoya, the first Hispanic to own a national boxing promotional company. In 2007, in its fifth year of promoting, Golden Boy Promotions set a record by selling over 2.5 million in pay-per-view homes in a single night. Also in 2007, Golden Boy Promotions established the record for highest grossing pay-per-view homes in a single year with more than 4 million total. Golden Boy Promotions is one of boxing’s most active and respected promoters, presenting shows in packed venues around the United States on networks such as HBO, HBO Plus, SHOWTIME, VERSUS and ESPN.

About 8 Count Productions
8 Count Productions, HOME OF THE BEST IN CHICAGO BOXING, was started by Dominic Pesoli in 1998 and has consistently presented the highest quality professional boxing events in Chicagoland. In 2003, Pesoli along with former featherweight contender Mike Garcia, opened JABB Boxing Gym, a 6,000 square foot venue dedicated to the finest Chicagoland boxers of all talent levels.

For more information on 8 Count Productions and JABB Boxing Gym, please visit http://www.8countproductions.com/ and http://www.jabbboxing.com/

MEDIA WEEK SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009/7PM
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC/MEDIA PRESS CONFERENCE
UNION PARK LOUNGE
228 S. RACINE AVE.
(3 BLOCKS NORTH OF THE UIC PAVILION)
CHICAGO, IL
312-243-9002
Main Event, Co-Main and Undercard Fighters to Attend

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009/7PM
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC/OFFICIAL WEIGH IN
MORGAN’S ON MAXWELL STREET
1325 S. HALSTED ST.
(2 BLOCKS SOUTH OF ROOSEVELT RD.)
CHICAGO, IL
312-243-4800

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009
DOORS OPEN AT 7:30PM, FIRST BELL 8:30PM
ESPN2’S FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTSUIC PAVILION
525 S. RACINE AVE.
(CORNER OF RACINE AVE. AND HARRISON ST.)
CHICAGO, IL
312-413-5740

Philadelphia Newspaper Lobby US Embassy Over Visa For British Boxer Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston.

British Super Bantamweight Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston, who was refused a visa in order to compete on the under card of Brian Cohen’s WBC Americas Light Heavyweight title fight on the 9th May at South Philadelphia High School, has learned that her plight has not gone unnoticed in the City that has been her adopted home for the best part of two years.

Journalist and boxing columnist Kerry O’Connor, who writes for Philadelphia newspaper Center City Weekly Press and Examiner.com, heard of Marianne’s plight and decided that something pro-active should be done to correct the matter. His solution was to start a campaign of support by encouraging readers of his column to write directly to the American Embassy In London to lobby them to reconsider Marianne’s visa application.
O’Connor wrote in his Philadelphia Boxing column on Examiner.com on the
17th April “Earlier in the week, boxing fans said goodbye to the Golden
Boy. Today, I'm reporting that we're being denied the chance to say hello
to the Golden Girl.

Marianne "Golden Girl" Marston, a Super Bantamweight boxer from London, England, was supposed to make her professional debut May 9th here at South Philadelphia High School.

However, after two years of playing by the rules, and filing proper paperwork with the American Embassy so she could come back and forth between Philly and London to train, the Embassy has denied her visa application.”

O’Connor then provides his readers with further information regarding Marianne and her plight before suggesting to his readers, “If you'd like to see Marianne get her visa, let the US Embassy know! Send an e.mail titled: "Let Marianne box" to Special Consular Services at SCSLondon@state.gov “

The Wednesday 22nd April issue of the Weekly Press will feature a more in-depth article by O’Connor, including an interview with Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham, to generate as much interest as possible in the campaign.

So what has made O’Connor leap to support Marianne and campaign on her behalf? "I found the circumstances surrounding Marianne's denial of a visa to be very unfair," said O'Connor. "She's always abided by the rules regarding her travels between the UK and the States in the past, so to say she might not return to London after the fight is ridiculous. She is just as deserving of a chance to box in the States as Ricky Hatton. Let her have her dream. Let her fight."

On learning of Kerry O’Connor campaigning on her behalf a very grateful Marianne said, “When I got a call telling me of the support coming from Kerry through his column I was blown away, I was speechless, what a truly wonderful thing to do.

In some ways I’m not surprised though as everyone there is so nice. Philadelphia is a very special place filled with such wonderful people. When I made the decision to train full time in America I had two choices, Philly or Los Angeles. What swung me to choose Philly was the people, they made me feel at home from the very first day I visited there. I know I was right to do so as they care about others. Kerry proves that, we’ve never met or spoken yet he has done this for me. Wow, that is something else.

I can’t thank Kerry enough as I love Philly and can’t wait to get back...and fight.”

If, like Kerry O’Connor, you would like to help Marianne fulfill her dream to professionally fight in America please send an e.mail titled: "Let Marianne box" to Special Consular Services at SCSLondon@state.gov asking them to reconsider Marianne Marston’s visa application. www.mariannemarston.com

For tickets and further details for the ‘Brawl on Broad Street’ event on
9th May 2009 at South Philadelphia High School please contact:

Donna Cohen
ABBCorp, Inc. & Bionic Bull Enterprise
Tel: 215 755 8155

Jessica "The Ragin" Rakoczy Returns After One Year Layoff"

Former WBC Lightweight world champion, Jessica "The Ragin" Rakoczy (29-3, 10 KO's) returns to the ring April 23, 2009 at the Tachi Palace Casino in LemooreCA, in a rematch against New York, N.Y.'s Belinda Laracuente (23-24-3). Rakcozy took a year off while nursing her body as she was pregnant and gave birth on November 16th 2009, to a healthy 7 lbs 9 oz baby boy, whom she named Jesse Jr.

"Words can't describe what its like being a mother for the first time." said Rakcozy. "I'm very blessed to have Jesse Jr. in my life. I'm very appreciative to Christian Printup who stuck with me through this layoff. My goal is to comeback strong and prove to everyone that I'm an elite fighter. I can't wait to get in the ring and perform to my best ability."

In Rakoczy's last fight against Cindy Serrano on April 17, 2008, Jessica won every round on all scorecards, proving she has the skills to compete at the highest level. With that victory, Rakoczy captured the NABF title, and looks to defend it come fight night with hopes of recapturing the WBC world lightweight championship.

The "Best of Both Words PFC/Boxing" card is promoted by the Palace Fighting Championships in association with Goossen Tutor Promotions. Tickets priced $60, $50, $40 and $30 are available at www.tickets.com or the Tachi Palace Box office by calling (559) 924-7751. For more information visit

www.palacefightingchampionship.com or www.goosentutor.com.

Mario Serrano
Publicist ~ Tachi Palace Casino
boxingpublicist@aol.com
(408) 607-5756


GET YOUR TICKETS NOW
$60, $50, $40, $30


TICKETS.COM

Langel's Pizza The Place To Be For Official Weigh-Ins For "Date With Destiny":

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS NOW!!!


"Date With Destiny" Fight Card Finalized And Ready To Weigh-in For A Night Of Championship Boxing



(Pictured above: One In A Million, Inc. President/CEO Octavius James and Langel's Pizza Owner Rodney Langel at the last One In A Million, Inc. Weigh-In. Langel's Pizza will serve as the Weigh-In Location for "Date With Destiny" on April 24th @ 6pm)


April 20 (Merrillville, In) - The official weigh-ins for "Date With Destiny" are set for Friday, April 24th at 6 p.m. @ Langel's Pizza, 2833 Highway Avenue in Highland, Indiana. There are seven professional bouts scheduled for this breathtaking night of championship boxing, including three special amateur fights.

"This is going to be an electric weigh-in with (Mary) and (Kristy) getting that last look at each other," said Octavius James, C.E.O. of One In A Million Inc. "Rodney Langel has been nothing but accommodating as he provides such an incredible environment for our weigh-ins and without his help and Miller Lite, this weigh-in wouldn't be possible."

The main event of undefeated NABC Lightweight Champion "Merciless" Mary McGee (16-0, 10 KOs) and WBF Light Welterweight World Champion Kristy "Rose" Follmar (16-1, 9 KOs) will look each other in the eye as they step on the scales before stepping into the ring for McGee's title and the vacant WBC International Super Lightweight World Title in a timeless 10-round fight.

"It's a huge event with a lot of young talent and the fact that it's at the Hammond Civic Center brings us back to our roots," said Rodney Langel, owner of Langel's Pizza. "We are getting a huge response from both Kristy's and Mary's camps."

"We are also really excited to see Tyree (Ortiz) get into the ring and we are actually hosting Tyree's after party here at Langel's Pizza," added Langel. "Big" Ty Ortiz (professional debut) will step from behind his One In A Million desk to take on LaPorte's Justin Sule (1-0, 0 KOs).

Other sensational fights scheduled are Hobart's Ed "2 Fast 2 Furious" Ochoa (7-0, 7 KOs) vs. Chris Hill (4-21-2, 2 KOs) for six rounds, Orphius Waite (4-0, 3 KOs) vs. Cedric Johnson (8-3, 8 KOs) for a six-round bout, Schererville's Josh Crouch (3-0, 3 KOs) vs. Jeremy Parks for four-rounds, Gary's Angel Hernandez (11-3, 9 KOs) vs. Gustavo Palacios (2-5, 1 KOs) and "Pit Bull" Jimmy Perez Jr. (4-1, 1 KOs) vs. Zack Graham.

Three special amateur bouts are also on tap for "Date With Destiny" with recently crowned Chicago Golden Gloves winner Tiffany Perez scheduled to take on Echo Sneed, while 11-year old Raul Sanchez of Portage and 17-year old Luis Anaya of Schererville will also be competing.

Tickets "Date with Destiny" are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at VIP $100, VIP ringside $75, ringside $50, and general admission $30 and they are available from any Ticket Master location at (219) 791-1234, (312) 559-1212, (866) 438-7372 or www.TicketMaster.com and at the Hammond Civic Center box office (219) 853-6378.

The Hammond Civic Center, 5825 Sohl Ave. just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago will open doors at 6 p.m. with the first bout at 8 p.m.



Visit us at our new knockout website and leave us some feedback: http://www.oneinamillionboxing.com/

It’s On! - Philadelphia’s Fight Of The Year - Brawl On Broad Street.

Philadelphia’s very own Brian ‘Bionic Bull’ Cohen (9-2) heads up anawesome 10 fight card when he faces Lafayette, Indiana’s Robbie ‘TazMexican Devil’ Tovar (15-4-1) for the WBC Americas Light Heavyweight titleat the Donna Cohen promoted ‘Brawl On Broad Street’ event at SouthPhiladelphia High School, Broad & Snyder, Philadelphia on the 9th May.

Cohen, who cuts an imposing figure due to his chiseled bodybuilder stylephysique, is odds on favourite to add another championship belt to hisalready impressive collection, which includes the USA Mid American, USAMid West, NABC, C.A.M. Land Indiana State Light Heavyweight Titles, eventhough he failed to capture the WBC USBN title in his previous outing inJanuary this year.

So why is Cohen such a sure fire bet? One thing for sure is it isn’tbecause his opponent a lame duck, anything but, as Tovar has an excellentpedigree and is a three time local champion at two different weights,Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight. The answer to this conundrum canbe found elsewhere.

Firstly, Cohen’s January loss to Billy Bailey followed a freak asthmaattack bought on by the 95 degree heat in the arena that day. Promoter,Donna Cohen, is taking no chances of a repeat scenario on the 9th May byhaving an air-conditioned trailer placed adjacent to the arena for Cohenon the day.

Secondly, and probably more relevant, is that out of the Cohen’s ninevictories to date all but one were by stoppage within three rounds, withfour of those being by way of knockout. Now that’s impressive stats andsurely answers the question.

Supporting Cohen vs.Tovar will be a card packed with local talentincluding Super Middleweight Dennis Hassan (8-0), Heavyweight ‘Big’ JohnMercurio (2-0), Cruiserweight Pedro Martinez (3-2), Super MiddleweightDhafir ‘No Fear’ Smith (20-19-6), Featherweight Paul Fernandez (4-2-1) andMiddleweight ‘Mighty’ Mike Tibberi (7-1)In addition to the seven male fights there will also be three femalefights, although unfortunately the highly anticipated and heavilypublicized debut at this event of former World Champions, the legendary Smokin’ Joe Frazier and Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham’s protégé, British SuperBantamweight Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston will not be one of them due tothe American authorities decision not to grant her a visa in time to takepart.

Instead Donna Cohen has bought in an exciting replacement in the form ofNo. 8 ranked Welterweight Olivia Fonseca (2-2-2) in addition toLightweight Lonnie Jackson Jr. (1-0) and the professional debut ofLightweight Liz Sherman.

For tickets and further details on ‘Brawl On Broad Street’ at SouthPhiladelphia High School please contact:Donna CohenABBCorp, Inc. & Bionic Bull EnterpriseTel: 215 755 8155

Klitschko predicts long, slow defeat for Haye

By ROBERT MILLWARD, AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP)—Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko fought off a barrage of David Haye’s insults and interruptions Monday and vowed to send the outspoken challenger back to the cruiserweights with a 12th-round knockout.
Haye gave up his cruiserweight world titles to move up to heavyweight, where he has fought twice before, and challenges Klitschko for the IBF and WBO belts in Schalke’s football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 20.
Promoters said Monday that 47,000 tickets have already been sold and they expect a sellout of up to 70,000.
The fighters came face-to-face at a second news conference in a swanky London club with the 33-year-old Klitschko (52-3) still unhappy with the behavior of the 28-year-old British fighter.
Haye (22-1) continues to wear a T-shirt with a drawing of him holding the dismembered heads of both Klitschko and his brother, WBC champion Vitaly Klitschko.
“David Haye provoked me by cutting my head off in a photo in a men’s health magazine. He provoked me and I took the fight,” Klitschko said. “So I’m asking what’s going to be next? Is he going to cut off my dad’s head, my mom’s head? Maybe he will attack my religion, my race. This is over the edge. This is not sport.”
While Haye continued to hurl insults at the Germany-based Ukrainian and frequently interrupted him at the news conference, Klitschko was not distracted.
“This man was good as his job as a cruiserweight and that’s where he has to stay,” Klitschko said. “He’s had only two fights in the heavyweight division and now wants to be champion.
“You listen to me about what I say,” the Ukrainian said amid interruptions. “I’m telling you this guy is going to be punished, jabs, jabs and more jabs in the face for 12 rounds.”
Turning to Haye, he said: “And, in the 12th round, I’m going to knock you out.”
Haye, who is three inches shorter and likely to be up to 30 pounds lighter, hopes his superior speed and punching power will counter Klitschko’s bulk and jabbing skills.
“It’s not going to be a fight, it’s going to be a massacre,” Haye said. “In my way I’ve got this big dude, he’s got a decent jab. He’s physically got a lot of different tools but I’m going to turn them against him. His jab, jab, grab tactics that he’s been doing right through his career will not work against me.
“I am going to make him fight. He’s a fighter who doesn’t like to fight and doesn’t stand in the ring. A true heavyweight should go to war.”
Haye only began fighting as a pro in December 2002 after Klitschko had already made five defenses of the WBO title. But the British fighter ridiculed the champion’s choice of opponents.
“I’ve seen the guys who’ve turned up to fight Wladimir. Only two guys have really turned up with any ambition and in shape and to knock this guy out,” Haye said. “Corrie Sanders turned up and threw punches and knocked him out (in two rounds). Lamon Brewster did the same thing (TKO in five). The others were just there to make up the numbers.”
Klitschko later made up for that loss to Brewster by stopping him in six rounds in July 2007. His last defense was a seventh round stoppage of Hasim Rahman last December and he has won his last seven world title fights.
Klitschko said he had hoped the fight would be in London at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium but, because his promoters won purse rights, it will take place in Germany. The Schalke stadium was the venue for the 2004 Champions League final in which FC Porto beat Monaco 3-0, and also where England went out of the 2006 World Cup in a penalty shootout against Portugal.
Bernd Boente, managing director of Klitschko’s management group, said there was huge interest in the fight as soon as the tickets went on sale last week.
“We started ticket sales on Friday of last week and on the first day we sold 30,000,” Boente said. “Today we have 47,000 tickets sold. We are very sure that the fight will be sold out. I think we will have something between 60-70,000 on fight night.”

Weekend Fights

By The Associated Press

MAFIKENG, South Africa (AP)—Malcolm Klassen, South Africa, stopped Cassius Baloyi, Johannesburg, South Africa, 7, to win the IBF super featherweight title.
MONTREAL (AP)—Ali Chebah, France, stopped Joel Juarez, Mexico, 2, to win the vacant NABF light welterweight title; Peter Manfredo Jr., Pawtucket, R.I., stopped Walid Smichet, Tunisia, 7, super middleweights.
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP)—Guadalupe Martinez, Mexico, stopped Francisco Soto, Mexico, 4, to win the WBC Continental Americas light flyweight title.
LA CARLOTA, Argentina (AP)—Oscar Jesus Pereyra, Argentina, outpointed Alejandro Daniel Gomez, Argentina, 11, to retain the WBA Fedelatin lightweight title.
Sunday
MANILA, Philippines (AP)—Nonito Donaire, Philippines, stopped Raul Martinez, San Antonio, 4, to retain the IBF-IBO flyweight titles; Brian Viloria, Waipahu, Hawaii, stopped Ulises Solis, Mexico, 11, to win the IBF light flyweight title; Denver Cuello, Philippines, stopped Hiroshi Matsumoto, Japan, 4, to win the vacant WBC International minimumweight title.