RUMBLE AT THE HILTON RYE TOWN

On July 16th Star Boxing's former light heavyweight title challenger, David Telesco (29-6-1, 24KO) will once again step inside the squared circle under the Star Boxing banner, when he takes on New Jersey's own William Gil in an eight round light heavyweight affair. Telesco v. Gil will be the main event bout of the evening. The card is being held at the beautiful Hilton Rye Town hotel, located in the New York City suburb of Rye, NY, and is ten minutes east of White Plains, NY in Westchester County. Situated on 45 beautifully landscaped acres of lush woodlands, the Hilton Rye Town hotel is Westchester County, New York's premier hotel, combining the relaxed setting of a resort with the flexibility of a full-service business hotel.

For the fan favorite Telesco, who lives in nearby Portchester, NY, it will be somewhat of a homecoming, as it will be the first time Telesco has fought in the Westchester County area since 2001. Telesco, who has been in- active since 2005, is excited to be returning to the ring especially in front of his hometown fans.

"David's had some great moments in his boxing career. He has always been a dangerous puncher and was a top light heavyweight some years ago," stated Joe DeGuardia CEO of Star Boxing. "David has been itching for a comeback and has always wanted to be back in front of his fans, so the Hilton Rye Town makes perfect sense. The Hilton Rye Town is a beautiful hotel where fans can experience a great night of Boxing in the Ballroom. We are looking to put some of the top prospects in the New York City area, as well as some of our top prospects on the Star Boxing roster on the card. We expect a great night of fights come July 16th."

The official undercard will be announced shortly. Tickets can be purchased through the Star Boxing office by calling (718) 823-2000 or by visiting the Star Boxing website (http://www.starboxing.com/) Tickets are priced at Gold Ringside - $100, Silver Ringside - $60 and reserved seating for $40. The Hilton Rye Town hotel is located at 699 Westchester Avenue, Rye Brook, New York, 10573.

Lopez headlining Top Rank card on Boardwalk

By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP)—Juan Manuel Lopez watched countryman Miguel Cotto fill Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade and marveled at how thousands of people gravitated toward the welterweight champion.

The young super bantamweight champ imagines himself in the same role one day.

“I know I’m getting to the level I can headline,” said Lopez, who will defend his title against little-known Olivier Lontchi on Saturday night in Atlantic City. “But I do look forward to a year, two years down the line, being the headline on that night.

“That’s the dream. That’s every Puerto Rican’s dream.”

Lopez won his title on the boardwalk last year by knocking out Daniel Ponce De Leon in the first round, ending his three-year title reign.

He’s been busy ever since.

The hard-hitting Lopez (25-0, 23 KOs) has already defended his title three times, all by knockout, and aced arguably the most difficult test of his burgeoning career in April, when he dismantled Gerry Penalosa on the way to a 10th-round stoppage. It was the 13th straight fight Lopez has ended early.

“At 122 (pounds),” promoter Bob Arum said, “he’s beginning to run out of opponents.”

That’s why Arum intends to build a worthy challenger over course of the next 18 months, or at the very least a worthwhile test. Few believe that Lontchi (18-0-2, 8 KOs) stands much of a chance, so Arum has already requested the theater at Madison Square Garden for Sept. 26, when he hopes Lopez and exciting Cuban knockout artist Yuriorkis Gamboa will be on the same card in separate fights.

Then, down the road, the two would ultimately face each other.

“They don’t know who Gamboa is and they don’t know who this kid is, but that’s my job in the next year, to make that a must-see fight they put on pay-per-view,” Arum said. “I don’t know if I can do it, but that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Arum knows better than anyone that things can change quickly in boxing.

Just look at how the card Saturday night came together.

It was originally headlined by middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik defending against Sergio Mora, but that fight was scrapped months ago. A bout involving Paul Malignaggi and unbeaten Mike Alvarado was scratched when Alvarado was hurt sparring, and a bantamweight title bout between Fernando Montiel and Eric Morel was postponed when Montiel hurt his hand.

Top Rank wound up turning the event into one of its “Latin Fury” cards, which are designed to showcase some of its top fighters from Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The co-main event is a super flyweight fight between Jorge Arce (51-5-1, 39 KOs), who was convincingly stopped by Vic Darchinyan in a February title fight, against Filipino challenger Fernando Lumacad (19-1-2, 7 KOs).

“I will fight again for the title,” said Arce, who once held an interim super flyweight title. “Maybe next year, I will fight (Darchinyan) again.”

Also on the card, Vanes Martirosyan (24-0, 15 KOs) takes on Andrey Tsurkan (26-4, 17 KOs) in a junior middleweight fight, and Yuri Foreman (27-0, 8 KOs) takes on Cornelius Bundrage (29-4, 17 KOs) in an IBF junior middleweight eliminator.

Foreman may be the most unique story on the card, in that while he’s training to be a world champion he’s also training to be a rabbi. The 28-year-old Belarussian is about 18 months from earning a degree in rabbinical studies.

“Foreman is a real great story, and it will capture everyone’s imagination,” Arum said. “If you tell the story and people are following the story, then people will look for the plus side of what he’s doing in the ring, the skilled boxer he is.

“He can’t punch hard,” Arum added. “But he tells me, ‘I don’t punch hard, I don’t hurt anybody, because it’d be wrong for a rabbi to do that.”

NEW OPPONENT FOR FRES OQUENDO IN CHICAGO, WEDNESDAY PUBLIC PRESS CONFERENCE AT 7PM

CHICAGO, IL (June 23, 2009) Two time heavyweight world title challenger Fres Oquendo of Chicago, will now face New Jersey native Mark Brown for the WBC Latino Heavyweight Title this Friday night, June 26th, in the ten round main event at the seven bout “WINDY CITY FIGHT NIGHT 3” at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion, it was announced today by Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions.

Said Pesoli, “There was an issue with his original opponent, Gonzalo Omar Basile getting into the United States from Argentina . Brown is a very tough, heavy handed, heavyweight from New Jersey . He’s won eight in a row and had three knockouts in 2008. He’s coming to fight and I know Fres wants to put on a great performance for the fans so it should be a very good battle.”

Advance tickets for “WINDY CITY FIGHT NIGHT 3”, starting at $31, can be purchased through the 8 Count Productions office at 312-226-5800 and through Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or http://www.ticketmaster.com/. Tickets will also be available at the door starting at 7pm on the night of the event.

A public press conference for “WINDY CITY FIGHT NIGHT 3” will be held at the UIC Pavilion on Wednesday night, June 24th at 7pm. The open to the public weigh-in will be held on Thursday night at 7pm at the Union Park Lounge, 228 S. Racine Ave. in Chicago, just three blocks north of the UIC Pavilion. Fans are encouraged to join their favorite fighters at both events.

Recently signed to Simmons Entertainment Marketing LLC, headed by NBA Star Bobby Simmons, Oquendo is looking towards another run at a world championship bout in the near future. The bout against Brown, for the WBC Latino Heavyweight Title, is Oquendo’s first hometown bout in nine years.

Oquendo, 29-5-0 (18KO’s) is coming off a highly controversial split decision loss to former world champion James Toney on December 13th. The bout, broadcast from Cabazon, California on VERSUS, was thought to be amongst the worst decisions of 2008.

Brown, 15-1-0 (7KO’s) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Willie Perryman on April 24th. Prior to that bout, Brown knocked out previously unbeaten Tony Grano on September 27th in Bridgeport , CT for the WBF All-Americas Heavyweight Title.

Co-headlining “WINDY CITY FIGHT NIGHT 3” is an outstanding eight round junior welterweight showdown between undefeated Chicago fan favorite, Ivan Popoca, 10-0-1 (7KO’s) and Tulare, California’s Hector Alatorre, 15-7-0 (5KO’s)

An additional eight round bout at “WINDY CITY FIGHT NIGHT 3” is a super middleweight title fight between Chicago’s Andrzej “THE POLISH PRINCE” Fonfara, 12-2-0 (3KO’s) and Rockford, Illinois’ Skyler Thompson, 11-3-0 (9KO’s) for the WBF All-Americas Super Middleweight Title.

In a special feature attraction, Chicago fan favorite Rita “LA GUERA” Figueroa, 10-0-1 (3KO’s) and Lynnwood , Washington native Tammie “THE TASMANIAN DEVIL” Johnson, 3-2-2, will square off once again in an eight round rematch of their draw on March 27th at the inaugural “WINDY CITY FIGHT NIGHT”.

The undercard features three Chicago natives; featherweight Juan Bailon, 4-1-0 (1KO) taking on Denver, Colorado’s Tommy Atencio, 3-1-0 (2KO’s) in a six round bout.

Ryan Smedick, 2-0-1 (1KO) will face Gabriel Morris, 1-1-1 of Toledo, Ohio and Chicago’s Achour Esho, 2-0-0 91KO) will face Maryland’s Dontre King, 1-4-1, both welterweight bouts scheduled for four rounds.

Doors on the evening of the event will open at 7pm with the first bell at 8pm. The UIC Pavilion is located at 525 S. Racine , just one block south of the Eisenhower Expressway. For further information, please visit their website at www.uicpavilion.com

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/

Chris John falls ill, fight with Juarez scrapped

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Featherweight champion Chris John’s rematch with Rocky Juarez has been canceled after John fell ill during training.

John (42-0-2, 22 KOs), an Indonesian fighter who beat Juan Manuel Marquez three years ago, was due to fight Juarez at Staples Center on Saturday night as the co-main event with Victor Ortiz’s bout against Marcos Maidana.

Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, said John collapsed during a sparring session Saturday. John’s handlers believe the fighter has a blood illness, Schaefer said.

John, who has been training in Los Angeles, was hoping to fight in this country for just the second time in his career. John and Juarez fought to a draw Feb. 28 in Houston.