Viernes, Junio 9 en 10:30 p.m. ET / PT del Turning Stone Resort Casino en Verona, N.Y.
Haga clic en AQUÍ Para Pesar-en Fotos; Crédito Tom Casino / SHOWTIME
Haga clic en AQUÍ Para las fotos de la campana de apertura del Salón de la Fama; Crédito Tom Casino / SHOWTIME
VERONA, N.Y. (Junio 8, 2017) - Regis “Rougarou” Prograis y Joel Diaz Jr. hizo el peso el jueves pocas horas después de la "Campana de apertura" para dar inicio a las festividades de la 2017 Fin de semana del Salón de la Fama del Boxeo Internacional.
El Prograis invicto (19-0, 16 KOs) y compañero invicto Diaz (23-0, 19 KOs) se enfrentará en el evento principal súper ligero de 10 asaltos de una edición del Salón de la Fama de ShoBox: La Nueva Generación Viernes, Junio 9, en vivo por SHOWTIME (10:30 p.m. Y/PT) de Turning Stone Resort Casino en Verona, N.Y.
La triple cartelera de ShoBox celebrará a los analistas de toda la vida Barry Tompkins y Steve Farhood solo dos días antes de su inducción al Salón de la Fama del Boxeo Internacional.. Farhood y Tompkins se unieron en la campana de apertura el jueves por un puñado de sus compañeros 2017 inducidos: leyenda del boxeo Marco Antonio Barrera, Entrenador australiano Johnny Lewis, y la esposa del fallecido Johnny Tapia, Teresa Tapia.
En la co-función de ShoBox, invicto peso súper mediano Steve Rolls (15-0, 9 KOs) se enfrentará al contundente Demond Nicholson (17-1-1, 16 KOs) en una pelea de ocho asaltos. En la primera pelea de la transmisión por televisión, El protegido de Sergio "Maravilla" Martínez, Jon Fernandez, (12-0, 10 KOs) se enfrenta a Juan Reyes (14-3-3, 2 KOs) en un duelo de peso ligero de ocho asaltos.
Las entradas para el evento, co-promocionado por DiBella Entertainment (DBE) y rompe récords de AASHA, tienen un precio de $65 for ringside, $50, $40 y $30 (puede estar sujeto a tarifas adicionales) y están disponibles en la taquilla de Turning Stone, llamando al 877-833-SHOW, o en línea en Ticketmaster.com. Las puertas abrirán a 7:00 p.m., con la primera pelea programada para 7:30 p.m.
PESOS OFICIALES
10-Evento principal redondo superligero:
Regis Prograis - 139 ½ libra
Joel Díaz Jr. - 137 ¼ de libra
Árbitro: Mark Nelson; jueces: Don Ackerman, tom Schreck, John McKaie
Co-estelar de peso súper mediano de ocho asaltos:
Steve Rolls - 161 libra
Demond Nicholson - 162 ½ libra
Árbitro: Benjy Esteves; jueces: Glenn Feldman, Don Trella, Wynn Kintz
Apertura de transmisión televisiva ligera de ocho asaltos:
Jon Fernández - 132 ½ libra
Juan Ramon Reyes – 131 ½ libra
Árbitro: Charlie Fitch; jueces: Don Ackerman, Glenn Feldman, John McKaie
CITAS FINALES:
Regis Prograis
"La persona que gana esta pelea sube, Ojalá, a una pelea por el título. Estoy 19-0, él es 23-0. Siento que esta es una gran pelea.
“Tomo a todos mis oponentes en serio, pero me lo estoy tomando más en serio que otros en el pasado. Él es 23-0, y hay una razón por la que está invicto. El es bueno, y tiene el mejor récord que he enfrentado.
"Estoy en una etapa de mi carrera en la que cada pelea puede llevar a la próxima gran cosa y creo que esta pelea puede ser para mí. Soy paciente, pero estoy listo para más. Quiero una oportunidad por un título.
"Es un luchador, pero tengo el mejor poder de golpe, y la velocidad.
"Si me siento como él [Díaz] no puedes lastimarme desde la primera ronda, I’ll probably just walk him down the whole night and punish him.
“Seeing what [Errol] Spence did motivates me, especially the way he did it in his opponent’s hometown. It got me thinking: that can be me one day. We went at it in the amateurs, so I know how good he is, but I’m good too. Just seeing him go over there and take the title away, I know my time is coming next.
“I grew up watching Macho Camacho, Roberto Durán, Mike Tyson, but I watched more Duran than anything. I really liked his style. I learned a lot watching the boxing greats on tape.
“Terence Crawford, Adrien Broner, Victor Postol. Those are the type of guys I want to fight.
“I started boxing in New Orleans, and if it wasn’t for Katrina, I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now. When I moved to Houston, I got into the boxing scene and started taking it seriously. It was a horrible situation [en Nueva Orleans], but it changed my life.
“My family went back [to New Orleans], but not me. I stayed in Houston to box. I feel it’s not time for me to go back home just yet. I’ll come back when I become a superstar, like I’m supposed to be.”
Joel Díaz Jr.
"Esta es mi oportunidad, esta es mi oportunidad. I’ve been told, ‘you only get one chance’, and this is it for me. I know Regis is good, but we’re going to put it on him. I’m going to be on him like flies on shit. This is one of the opportunities I can’t let pass.
“We’re going to break him down mentally, find our way in, and drop the bomb.
“He throws combos, and that’s what I have to take away from him. I have to be on him and be the first to attack. My power will take care of his speed.
“This means a lot to me, getting to show the world who the ‘secret’ is. People haven’t really seen what I have, but there will be no more secrets after mañana.
“I’m going to show the world who the real Joel Diaz is. I’m now at the right weight for me and I’m 110 por ciento. I didn’t waste four weeks of training camp trying to lose weight. Me siento fuerte.
“A world championship after this fight, eso es lo que quiero. This is my opportunity to actually show who I am and I can’t let it go. If I let this go, I might as well go back to school. This is going to open all the doors for me.
“We’ve been ready for this step for a while. I’d like to fight the winner of [Adrien] Broner- [Mikey] García, pero ya veremos. I know Broner doesn’t want to fight me. I tried to fight him and he turned it down. He knows I’ll give him trouble.
“I changed trainers. I used to be with Abel Ramos, now I’m with Chris Byrd. With Coach Chris, it’s more defense than offense. Working with Chris is amazing. He was a fighter, so he knows what it takes to step in that ring. Ha estado allí, so he understands me from a fighter’s perspective and that’s very important for me. The bond we have inside and outside the ring is special.
“You’re going to see a more active Joel Diaz and a more defensive Joel Diaz. I’m going to show the world who Joel Diaz is at 140 and trust me, they will ask for more after they see it.”
Steve Rolls
“My last fight on ShoBox [against Steed Woodall in December 2015] was a learning experience. I was knocked down in the third, but I rebounded. You never know how you are going to react in the face of adversity until you are put in that position. I’m glad that happened early on in my career. It taught me a lot.
“I’m know I’m 33, but I feel better than when I was younger. I take care of myself. I have a clean lifestyle. Age is not a thing for me.
“Nicholson has a good jab. I’ve seen him fight before. I’m not sure if he’s made adjustments or if he’s coming with a different game plan. Estoy listo para lo que aporta.
“From what I’ve seen, él puede luchar. He knows what he’s doing in there and it looks like he has some experience.”
Demond Nicholson
“This guy [Rolls] is not as experienced as me. I’m a big step-up for him.
“My last fight [against Immanuwel Aleem] was a big step up, and I fought to a majority draw. It was a slow start, but I’m a fighter, and I soldiered through. That fight really opened my eyes up to better my career, my future.
“Look at what Aleem has done since we fought. He knocked out an undefeated guy [Ievgen Khytrov] that no one wanted to face.
“My experience is going to get us over the hump against this guy. He has a dangerous right hand, but I’m going to take that away from him.
“I’m a natural boxer, but people were calling me a brawler after my performance with Aleem and that’s not who I am. But I get it – I didn’t box at all in that fight. That’s why I had to go back to the drawing board.
“I learned a lot training at Head Bangers in Washington, D.C. con Barry Hunter, Lamont Peterson and all those guys. I’ve learned from Lamont, from Adrien Broner, from Austin Trout. They spar with top fighters and that’s why they perform at the highest level – because they’ve sparred with the best. So I’m doing the same.”
“I have one loss, and that taught me a lot. I had to lose 15 libra in three days for that fight and that took a toll on me. There are no issues making weight for this fight.”
Jon Fernandez
“This is my second fight with my new trainer Tinin Rodriguez. I always try to get better and changing trainers seemed to be the best path for me. He’s helping me round up the fundamentals of boxing.
“I know I’m tall for my weight class, but I feel OK. Yo creo que 130 is my ideal weight, but I might go up in weight in the future. Veremos. I’m still young and I have a long career ahead of me.
“I used to watch tape of Maravilla when I was growing up. He inspired me to be serious about boxing. He was so good. It’s such of honor to be working with him. I respect him a lot.”
Juan Reyes
“I haven’t fought anybody that tall, but I have a good game plan. I know he’s a volume puncher, but that’s just going to get me excited. It’ll get my adrenaline pumping.
“I’m excited that I’m fighting on TV and in such special weekend, it’s the Boxing Hall of Fame. Esto es un sueño hecho realidad. If I beat this guy it could change my life.”
Sergio Martinez – Jon Fernandez Co-Promoter
“Jon is a thinker. He knows when to attack and when to defend himself. He’s truly gifted.
“Some may draw comparisons of him with Paul Williams, but I fought Williams twice and let me tell you they are not alike. Paul was the type of fighter that would get in the ring and go from first, to second, to third gear without thinking. JonFer will read you, will go to whatever gear he needs to be to defeat his opponent. He has a very high boxing IQ.”
Chris Byrd – Diaz’s Trainer
“Joel is an aggressive machine, so my main focus has been on developing his defense. He’s a talented boxer, but his aggressiveness sometimes opens holes in his defense. In this training camp, we worked on that. We have a good strategy going.
“He already knew how to fight, but you just have to push him a little bit on defense. He’s still aggressive as ever, but he needed to think about what’s coming back at him.
“My main thing is life after boxing. I have two brothers that are messed up from boxing. That’s why I focus on defense so much. He has an aggressive style, but he also has talent, good feet and eye coordination. He’ll go on to do great things.
“You’re going to see something special. Regis is good, I give him props, but you’re going to see something special from Joel. And a great fight.”
# # #
Barry Tompkins llamará al ShoBox acción desde el ringside, con Steve Farhood y el ex campeón mundial Raúl Márquez calidad de expertos analistas. El productor ejecutivo es Gordon Hall con Rich Gaughan como productor y Rick Phillips dirigiendo..
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