Unbeatens Regis Prograis and Joel Diaz Jr., Collide In Main Event On Viernes, Junio 9 En vivo por Showtime® en 10:30 p.m. ET / PT
2017 Hall of Fame Inductees Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood To Be Joined By Fellow Hall of Famers Al Bernstein & Jimmy Lennon Jr.
NUEVA YORK (Mayo 23, 2017) - ShoBox: La Nueva Generación will celebrate the 2017 Hall of Fame weekend with a special doubleheader on Friday, Junio 9 en vivo por SHOWTIME (10:30 p.m. Y/PT) from Turning Stone Resort Casino, just minutes from the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y.
Longtime ShoBox analysts Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood will call the actionel viernes before their induction in the “Observer” category el domingo as part of a 2017 clase encabezada por los grandes del boxeo Evander Holyfield, Marco Antonio Barrera and Johnny Tapia.
Fellow Hall of Famers Al Bernstein and Jimmy Lennon Jr. will join Farhood and Tompkins on-air during the special Hall of Fame edition of the prospect oriented series. Lennon Jr. returns to Canasota for the posthumous induction of his father, world-renowned ring announcer Jimmy Lennon, Sr.
En el evento estelar a 10 asaltos, undefeated super lightweights Regis “Rougarou” Prograis (19-0, 16 KOs) and Joel Diaz Jr. (23-0, 19 KOs) will meet in a quintessential ShoBox matchup that could thrust the winner from prospect to legitimate title contender. Viewers have seen both fighters develop on the series – this will be Prograis’ fourth start and Diaz’ third on ShoBox.
En la pelea co-estelar, unbeaten Canadian super middleweight Steve Rolls (15-0, 9 KOs) hace su segunda salida en ShoBox when he faces the dangerous Demond Nicholson (17-1-1, 16 KOs) en un partido de ocho asaltos.
“I think I can speak on behalf of all of us here at SHOWTIME about how happy and proud we are to see both Steve and Barry’s careers validated with their induction into the Boxing Hall of Fame,”Dijo Gordon Hall, ShoBox Executive Producer and SVP Production, SHOWTIME Sports. “And when you add four fighters with only one loss between them in a quintessentialShoBox tarjeta, it just doesn’t get much better than that.”
Tompkins and Farhood are the one-two punch behind ShoBox: El nuevoGeneration. Tompkins calls the blow-by-blow and Farhood offers his wealth of boxing knowledge and expert analysis. The series announce team also includes former world champion Raul Marquez, who also serves as expert analyst.
This will be the fifth ShoBox visit to Turning Stone Resort Casino, which hosted its first ShoBox telecast during the 2013 Hall of Fame weekend.
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 6:30 p.m., con la primera pelea programada para 7:30 p.m.
REGIS PROGRAIS VS. JOEL DIAZ JR. – SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT – 10 RONDAS
No clasificado. 4 por el CMB, the 28-year-old Prograis has scored knockouts in 12 de su pasado 13 peleas. Originally from New Orleans but currently fighting out of Main Street Gym in Houston, the 5-foot-9 Prograis is an aggressive-minded southpaw with stunning accuracy on his power shots.
Prograis has beaten two previously undefeated fighters on ShoBox – an eight round stoppage of Abel Ramos and an eight-round decision over Amos Cowart – in addition to his most recent performance, a first round KO of veteran Aaron Herrera. The former amateur standout is coming off a first round knockout of Wilfrido Buelvas on Febrero. 11.
“It’s ‘Rougarou Time’,"Dijo Prograis, whose nickname originates in Louisiana folklore and is defined as a werewolf-like creature. “This is a crossroads fight for me. I am ranked No. 4 by the WBC and fifth by El Anillo en 140 libra. I have worked hard to get here, and I am on a hunt for the title belts.
“Diaz is standing in the way of my ultimate objective and I know that I must defeat him to get where I want to be. He needs to get past me to move onto the next level himself, so I am sure he is equally motivated. That is what makes for great fights.”
Joel Diaz Jr., of Palmdale, Calif., will return to ShoBox por tercera vez. He debuted on the SHOWTIME series in just his sixth pro bout, stopping unbeaten prospect Guy Robb in seven rounds in 2012. Díaz Jr. returned to headline aShoBox event on May 16, 2014, dominating Canadian Tyler Asselstine over 10 rounds en route to a unanimous decision.
The 25-year-old won all of his starts by stoppage in 2016.
“I am honored to be back on SHOWTIME and am thankful to my promoters DiBella Entertainment and Jean Pascal Promotions for the opportunity,” said Diaz Jr. "EnJunio 9, I will be more than ready to hand Regis Prograis his first defeat. ShoBoxfans are in for a treat as this will be a thriller while it lasts. Cuando el humo se disipa, I know that I will be the one left standing.”
STEVE ROLLS VS. DEMOND NICHOLSON – SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT – 8 RONDAS
Steve Rolls, de Toronto, Canadá, earned his biggest victory in his ShoBox debut en diciembre 2015, stopping then undefeated prospect and amateur standout Steed Woodall inside four rounds. He has since earned two impressive knockout wins in 2016.
Rolls had a successful amateur career, competing on both the 2009 y 2010 Canadian National boxing teams and finishing with an 83-14 record overall. En 2009, he went to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Campeonato de Boxeo masculino en Milán, Italia, where he lost in the Round of 16 a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Vijender Singh.
“It feels great to be back on ShoBox and I’m looking forward to putting on another spectacular performance,"Rolls dijo. “I know that Nicholson can fight and I expect him to come prepared. Training camp has been going very well and on Junio 9, I will be more than ready.”
Demond “D’Bestatit” Nicholson is a super middleweight from Laurel, Maryland. with devastating power, scoring all but one of his wins by knockout, Incluyendo 10 en la primera ronda. The 24-year-old has won seven fights with one draw since his only defeat in 2014.
Nicholson, who owns an impressive victory over former world title challenger Milton Nunez, is coming off of a questionable draw against Immanuwel Aleem –who recently stopped Ievgen Khytrov in a back-and-forth brawl that aired on SHOWTIME. Como amateur, Nicholson accumulated a record of 110-15, before turning pro in July 2013.
“My time is now,” said Nicholson. “Any time that I am able to showcase my talent in front of a national audience means a lot. I am very humbled and thankful to be a part of this card. I’ve had great sparring, making adjustments every session. I saw Rolls’ fight against Steed Woodall – I think he has a lot to learn, and I will teach him a lesson. I look forward to victory and continuing to move up the world rankings.”
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Tompkins will call the ShoBox acción desde el ring con Farhood y el ex campeón mundial Raúl Márquez como analistas expertos. The executive producer is Hall with Rich Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
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Sobre ShoBox: La Nueva Generación
Desde su creación en julio 2001, la aclamada serie de boxeo de SHOWTIME,ShoBox: La Nueva Generación ha ofrecido a jóvenes talentos boxístico. LaShoBox la filosofía es para televisar emocionante, muchedumbre-agradable y partidos de competición mientras que proporciona un campo de pruebas para los prospectos en ascenso determinados a luchar por un título mundial. Algunas de la creciente lista de la 67 combatientes que han aparecido en ShoBox y han avanzado para ganar títulos mundiales incluye: Andre Ward, Deontay Wilder, Erislandy Lara, Shawn Porter, Gary Russell Jr., Lamont Peterson, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Omar Figueroa, Nonito Donaire, Devon Alexander, Carl Froch, Robert Guerrero, Timothy Bradley, Jessie Vargas, Juan Manuel Lopez, Chad Dawson, Paulie Malignaggi, Ricky Hatton, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams y más.