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Holiday Toy Drive to be Held at Premier Boxing Champions Event Friday, December 15 at Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster, Calif.
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JIM GRAY AND STEVE ALBERT ELECTED TO INTERNATIONAL BOXING HALL OF FAME
Veteran SHOWTIME Sports® Reporter Jim Gray and Former Play-By-Play Announcer Steve Albert Join 2018 Class Alongside Vitali Klitschko, Eric Morales and Ronald “Winky” Wright
SHOWTIME Sports veteran reporter Jim Gray and former, long-time play-by-play announcer Steve Albert were elected to the 2018 class of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, it was announced by the Hall on Tuesday.
Gray and Albert earned induction into the Observer category, which recognizes outstanding achievements of print and electronic media journalists, sportscasters, publishers, writers, historians, photographers and artists. Gray and Albert will join SHOWTIME Sports boxing analyst Al Bernstein (2012), ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. (2013), analyst and historian Steve Farhood (2017) and announcer Barry Tompkins (2017) in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, four-division world champion Eric Morales and former undisputed super welterweight world champion Ronald “Winky” Wright headline the 2018 induction class. The newly elected class will be inducted during Hall of Fame Weekend June 7-10, 2018, in Canastota, N.Y.
“All of us at SHOWTIME Sports who have worked with Jim and Steve over the years are thrilled that they are receiving this well-deserved honor,” said David Dinkins Jr., Executive Producer, SHOWTIME Sports. “Both were instrumental in building the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® franchise. Jim’s interviews have become classic post-fight drama while Steve’s fight calls are integral to some of the most significant moments in boxing history.”
Gray has been a reporter for SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING since 1994, and has earned 11 Emmy Awards throughout his career, including one for his interview of Mike Tyson following the heavyweight’s infamous “bite fight” loss to Evander Holyfield. The National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association also named that interview the “Sports Broadcast Story of the Year.” Additionally, the American Sportscasters Association voted Gray “Sportscaster of the Year” in 1998 and 1999.
Throughout his four-decade career as a reporter, Gray has covered numerous Super Bowls, World Series, Olympics, NBA Finals and NCAA Final Fours, and has interviewed many of the most lauded sports figures of this era including Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Pete Rose, Michael Jordan and many others.
One of the most recognizable voices in sports, Albert joined SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING shortly after its inception in 1986. In a tenure that spanned over two decades, the world-famous broadcaster called over 300 title fights, including Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Greg Haugen in front of 130,000 fans at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, and Tyson-Holyfield I & II. In 2007, Albert received The Sam Taub Award for excellence in broadcast journalism by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
In addition to boxing, Albert spent 19 seasons covering the NBA, spending 13 of those years with the Nets, five with the Golden State Warriors and one with the New Orleans Hornets. Albert has also done play-by-play for the New York Mets, Jets, Islanders and Rangers, as well as the New Jersey Devils.
The recognition by the International Boxing Hall of Fame is the result of a career’s worth of hard work and accomplishments for Gray and Albert.
FIGHTNIGHT LIVE MAY REACH 1,000,000 VIEWS AS CES CAPS 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION THURSDAY IN RHODE ISLAND
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Ali & Holyfield to be inducted this Friday into USA Boxing Alumni Hall of Fame inaugural class
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Brunson stops Woods in 8
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31stannual Ring 8 Holiday Event & Awards Ceremony This Sunday afternoon in New York
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IT WILL BE VICTORY OR VALHALLA (AND MAYBE A NEW TATTOO) AT NEF 32
Lewiston, Maine (December 5, 2017) – No, you have not been transported back to the 9th century. There will be no longboats, no battleaxes, and no shield maidens present on February 3rd in Lewiston. Yet, the Androscoggin River is very likely to run red with blood that evening. A Viking and a Berserker will wage war in Central Maine when New England Fights (NEF) returns to Lewiston with the fight promotion’s next mixed-martial-arts event, “NEF 32: Super Saturday.” Wrestling and jiu-jitsu, rather than swords and Thor’s hammer, will be the weapons of choice as Jesse “The Viking” Erickson (8-7) faces Mike “The Mustache” Hansen (5-8) of Berserkers MMA in a featured professional welterweight bout.
The fight will be Erickson’s twentieth in the NEF cage, a record number for any one fighter in the promotion, but it will be a year since his last NEF appearance. He lost to Jon Lemke (7-8) in the semi-finals of the NEF Lightweight Title tournament last February at the Colisee. Erickson, an instructor with Central Maine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (CMBJJ), and a homegrown talent of Lewiston-Auburn, will be looking for a triumphant return after a recent loss in Canada.
“It will be a year since I’ve fought in Lewiston,” said Erickson. “The NEF cage is like home to me. I’m really looking forward to hearing my friends, family, and CMBJJ team as I enter the cage. But once the door shuts, all I hear is my corner and all I’m focused on is dismantling the man across from me. Odin’s Son is here to slay the great wolf. This is Ragnarok. Victory or Valhalla.”
Like his opponent, Mike Hansen is also in search of a much-needed win. Hansen lost all four of his fights in 2017, including back-to-back defeats this fall in Western Massachusetts. His last win came at “NEF 25” in 2016 when Hansen, a former state champion wrestler for Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Maine, scored an impressive first-round submission of Matt Andrikut (2-1), defending the honor of Maine wrestling against the New York mat native.
“I’m super excited for this fight,” exclaimed Hansen of the upcoming meeting with Erickson. “It’s a great matchup for Maine MMA. Our schools are close to each other and we have competed against each other many times. It’s finally time for the coaches to get down and boogie. My pick for this fight is the fans for sure. Fans will not be upset.”
Hansen challenged Erickson to add a stipulation to the bout when they announced the fight publicly at “NEF 31” in Portland last month. Hansen would like the loser to receive a tattoo with the design chosen by the winner.
“I have nothing but respect for Jesse Erickson, but so still want our sponsor C+C O’Leary Tattoo in Lewiston to do his tattoo I pick for him when he loses. I will, ‘finish him,’ and ‘if he dies, he dies.‘ Time to start making your sacrifices Jesse, you will need the gods in your favor on February 3rd, because when war time comes the blood will flow.”
NEF’s next mixed-martial-arts event, “NEF 32: Super Saturday,” will see the company make its return to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine. The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 3, 2018. Tickets are on-sale now online at www.TheColisee.com.
PRIMUS Fighting Championship on FITE
Top Heavyweight Contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz Clashes With Daniel Martz in a Featured Attraction on a Special Friday Night Edition of Premier Boxing Champions TOE-TO-TOE TUESDAYS on FS1 & BOXEO DE CAMPEONES on FOX Deportes Dec. 8, From Hialeah Park in Miami, Florida
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