ניו יארק - יאנואר 16, 2019 – A 10-round clash between undefeated super lightweight prospects will headlineשאָבאָקס: די ניו גענעראַטיאָןwhen Uzbekistan’s power-puncher Shohjahon Ergashev takes on Mykal Fox Friday, פעברואַר 15 live on SHOWTIME from Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, מייַ.
The second of two February editions of the prospect
developmental series will feature four fighters with a combined record of 71
wins against just one loss. Undefeated super middleweight prospect Ronald Ellis
will take on DeAndre Ware headlines a three-fightשאָבאָקסtelecast on February 1.
In the February 15 co-featured fight, 28-יאָר-אַלטשאָבאָקסveteran Jesse Angel Hernandez returns
to face WBO No. 4-ranked Thomas Ward in what will be the toughest test of his
career in a 10-round super bantamweight bout.
“Shohjahon Ergashev is one of the hardest punchers in all of
boxing. He will be facing a challenge in the undefeated skilled,
determined fighter in Mykal Fox. A great fight the winner of which will
cement himself as one of the best in the Jr. Welterweight division,” said
Dmitriy Salita, President of Salita Promotions. “The co main event is one
of the best fights in the super bantamweight division between two proven world
title contenders. A real cross roads fight with lots on the line for the winner
to emerge as the new dominant name in the talent packed super Bantamweight
division.”
The 27-year-old Ergashev (15-0, 14 קאָס) is a former member of
the Uzbek national team where he won 202 פון זיין 216 amateur bouts. A
decorated amateur, Ergashev owns a win over Uzbekistan’s Shakhram Giyasov, a
silver medalist in the welterweight division at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Ergashev, who started his pro career by registering 11
consecutive knockouts, made hisשאָבאָקסdebut
in January 2018, handing then-unbeaten and top-10 ranked 140-pound prospect
Sonny Fredrickson the only loss of his career with a third-round TKO. The
southpaw slugger, who was named one of ESPN’s top prospects of 2018, trains in
Detroit under Javan “Sugar” Hill Steward and Rick Phillips at the famed Kronk
Gym in Detroit.
“I’m very excited to fight on SHOWTIME again,” said Ergashev.
“Everyone says Mykal Fox is my toughest opponent to date, but that doesn’t
concern me. It actually excites me because when I knock him out, just like I
knocked out Sonny Fredrickson, all of the champions in my weight class will
know I am coming for them soon. It’s going to be Shoh-time in 2019!"
Unlike his opponent, פוקס, 23, had a rocky amateur journey
amassing 40 ווינס און 60 losses—two of his wins came over undefeated top
prospect Lamont Roach. פוקס, 6-פֿיס 3 ½-inches from Forestville, מד., admitted
that he was not disciplined and fully committed to the sweet science in his
teenage years, but once he turned pro in 2014 everything changed and boxing
became his way of life. זינט דעמאָלט, he has defeated all of his 19 קעגנערס,
five by way of knockout. פוקס, who is promoted by King Promotions, owns
victories over the likes of former world champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, Ricardo
Garcia and Anthony Mercado.
Fox comes from a family of boxers. He is trained by his father
Troy and his older brother and formerשאָבאָקסfighter Alantez (24-1-1, 11 קאָס) is a
160-pound prospect whose only defeat came by the hands of Demetrius Andrade.
“It’s been a dream of mine to fight onשאָבאָקס. It has catapulted the
careers of some of my favorite fighters,” said Fox, who is making his debut on
the series. “I’m hoping it will catapult my career too.
“My opponent is a good fighter. He has good feet, good speed and
great power. This is going to be a fight that can potentially steal the show. I
look forward to seeing how our styles matched up.”
הערנאַנדעז (12-1, 7 קאָס) broke onto the scene in 2017 with
back-to-back wins over previously undefeated, top-15 ranked fighters onשאָבאָקס– a unanimous decision over Glenn
Dezurn and a fifth-round TKO of Vladimir Tikhonov. Hernandez followed up those
performances with a split-decision over Ernesto Garza in January 2018. The
28-year-old Hernandez, the youngest of 15 קינדער, איז 73-6 as an amateur and
took five years off from boxing between 2009 און 2014 to work construction jobs
in his hometown of Fort Worth, טעקסאַס.
“On February 15, fans can expect to see the best performance
from Jesse Hernandez yet,” said Hernandez, who will be making his fourth
appearance onשאָבאָקס.
“It’s been a long time coming and I won’t let this opportunity pass me. A win
over Thomas Ward will definitely boost my career and hopefully lead to a world
title shot. I know I will have all eyes on me on national television, I must
impress. I believe the bantamweight division is mine for the taking. So I will
go head and take what’s rightfully mine.”
Ward hails from County Durham in North East England, where he
compiled an amateur record of 60 ווינס, just four losses. The 24-year-old turned
professional in 2012 בייַ די עלטער פון 17 און דורך 2017, he had won 20 straight
fights and the British super bantamweight title. Currently ranked No. 4 by the
WBO, Ward hopes a win in his U.S. debut will set him up for a world title shot.
“This is a really good fight,"האט וואַרד. “I’m looking forward
to it and a win will put me in place for a world title fight, which is exactly
what I want. It’s great to be boxing on SHOWTIME, I can’t wait and I hope for
many more opportunities to be fighting on the network in the future.”
בערי טאָמפּקינס וועט רופן דישאָבאָקסaction from ringside with Steve
Farhood and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The
executive producer is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips
directing.
טיקקעץ פֿאַר די לעבן געשעעניש, which is promoted by Salita
Promotions, will go on sale on Friday, יאַנואַר 18טה בייַ 10 אַ.ם. ET and are priced at $110,
$75, $60, $45 and $25. Tickets can be purchased atwww.KansasStarCasino.com , www.Ticketmaster.comand at the Lucky Star Players Club at
Kansas Star Casino.
זינט זייַן ינסעפּשאַן אין יולי 2001,
די קריטיקאַלי אַקליימד שאָוטיים באַקסינג סעריע, שאָבאָקס: The New
Generation האט פיטשערד יונג טאַלאַנט מאַטשט האַרט. דישאָבאָקסphilosophy
is to televise exciting, crowd-pleasing and competitive matches while providing
a proving ground for willing prospects determined to fight for a world title.
עטלעכע פון די גראָוינג רשימה פון די 79 פייטערז וואס האָבן ארויס אויףשאָבאָקסand
advanced to garner world titles includes: ערראָל ספּענסע קינג, אַנדרע קעסטקינד, Deontay
Wilder, עריסלאַנדי לאַראַ, שאָן פּאָרטער, גערי רוססעלל קינג, לאַמאָנט פּעטערסאָן,
גויללערמאָ ריגאָנדעאַוקס, נאָניטאָ דאָנאַירע, דעוואָן אלכסנדר, קאַרל פראָטש, Robert
Guerrero, טימאטעאוס בראַדליי, דזשעסי Vargas, וואַן מאַנועל לאָפּעז, טשאַד דאָסאַן,
פּאַוליע מאַליגנאַגגי, ריקי האַטטאָן, קעלי פּאַווליק, Paul Williams and more.
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SHREVEPORT – January 12, 2019 – Devin Haney passed the biggest test of his young career Friday night onשאָבאָקס: די ניו גענעראַטיאָן, kicking off the 2019 boxing year with a dazzling performance and unanimous decision victory over fellow undefeated former South African champion Xolisani Ndongeni live on SHOWTIME from StageWorks of Louisiana.
Haney (21-0, 13 קאָס) scored a second-round knockdown and wore Ndongeni (25-1, 13 קאָס) down with punishing body shots in the latter part of the fight in winning easily on all three judges’ scorecards, 100-89 צוויי מאָל, and 99-90.See the second-round knockdownדאָ.
Haney told SHOWTIME’s Steve Farhood in the ring after the fight he only wants to be considered a contender from here on out. “I want those top guys,"ער האט געזאגט. “Now they really can’t deny me. I’ve been saying this for a long time but now, I’m a contender.”See the post-fight interviewדאָ.
The knockdown came at 1:30 of the second round as a Haney right hand landed flush knocking the unbalanced Ndongeni to the canvas. But it was Haney’s body shots that wore out the stubborn Ndongeni, who was fighting in the United States for just the second time. Haney badly wanted to end the fight with a knockout, even telling his father Bill Haney between rounds, “I’m going to knock him out!"
“He’s a great fighter,” said Haney, who with the victory takes home the WBO Intercontinental and WBC International belts. “You don’t make it to 25-0 without being anybody. I knew it was going to be tough opponent from the very beginning. He’s a really good fighter and I didn’t choose him. That was the opponent that came up and you know me, I don’t turn down anybody. I fight whoever comes in front of me.”
Farhood said 2019 could be the year Haney fights for a world title. “I’m impressed because he showed a side of himself that we hadn’t seen before,” the International Boxing Hall of Famer Farhood said. “For a young fighter, although he’s very skilled, you want to see him handle all kinds of situations. He went to the body effectively and if the fight goes 30 seconds longer he gets the stoppage. Is a world title fight in 2019 a possibility? Certainly. Just because he’s 20 doesn’t mean he’s not good enough. It’s clear there’s no one that’s going to out-box him.”
Farhood finally gave Ndongeni a round for the first time in the seventh as he used some effective body work to control the round, although never visibly hurting Haney or putting him in too much danger.
As the fight went deeper and deeper, Haney just kept getting stronger. In the final two rounds, he led 69-28 on overall landed punches (16-6 jabs and 53-22 מאַכט). In the final minute of the final round, Haney out-landed Ndongeni 23-3 in total connects.
“I’m getting stronger with each fight and I feel my man strength emerging,” Haney said. “Ndongeni is a very durable fighter. I attribute his big heart for keeping him in the fight. I knew I was the superior fighter. I showed everyone I can fight coming forward, איך קענען קאַסטן, I can bang, I do it all. איך בין גרייט…no one is stopping me.”
In a battle of undefeated Rubens, former decorated amateur Ruben Villa (15-0, 5 קאָס) handed Colombian Ruben Cervera (10-1, 9 קאָס) his first career defeat scoring a dominating unanimous decision, 80-72 on all three scorecards in the eight-round featherweight co-feature bout.See fight highlightsדאָ.
The 21-year-old two-time Junior Olympic National Champion and the 2014 און 2015 National Golden Gloves Champion from Salinas, קאַליף., Villa outworked and outperformed the slower but determined Cervera en route to a decisive decision victory.
“It felt good fighting on the big stage and I got the victory against a very tough undefeated fighter,” the one-time Olympic alternate Villa said. “I felt I controlled the entire fight with my superior boxing skills. I’m ready to step up to the next level. I’m taking on all comers no matter who they are, I feel I’m the best featherweight in the world.”
In the sixth round, Villa got to work featuring a strong right hand and following up with jabs and combinations that seemed to buzz Cevera, who was out-landed on punches in the round 35-5.
The jab was the key weapon for Villa as he led 105-23 in connects as well as holding a 36 percent to eight percent advantage in jab accuracy. Villa exceeded double-digits in jabs in every round but the first.
The lefty Villa said visiting Riverside and spending time with noted trained Robert Garcia has helped his game. “I’ll give myself an 8 אָדער 9 הייַנט בייַ נאַכט,"ער האט געזאגט. “I believe in my speed. I know there are guys like [אַבנער] Mares and [לייב] Santa Cruz who people know, but visiting Riverside let me see I can step in there with anyone.”
Cevera became the 182נדcareer fighter to lose his undefeated record onשאָבאָקס. “I knew Ruben Villa was a very fast fighter because I saw some video of him, but I didn’t know he was that fast,” Cervera said. “He’s much faster when you see him inside the ring. I tried everything I could but my distance was off. I was able to hit them with a couple of combinations and he probably felt my power. I don’t disagree with the judges’ decision, he was the better man tonight.”
In the telecast opener, Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez (11-0, 9 קאָס) overcame a 14-minute delay between the first and second rounds knocking out former college football player Willie Jake, דזשוניער. (8-2-1, 2 קאָס) בייַ 2:59 פון די רגע קייַלעכיק. Both fighters sat calmly on their stools as local promoters worked to repair two of the ropes that had fallen from their post.See fight highlightsדאָ.
After controlling the action in the first round, Frank’s raw punches simply overpowered the heavier Jake, catching him with a glancing right to the head and a cuffing hook to the body that caused Jake to fall face-first to the canvas and the fight was waved off with just one second remaining in the second round.
Sanchez was the more accurate fighter landing 39 percent of his power shots to Jake’s 25 פּראָצענט. He also outlanded the Indianapolis native in total connects (28-15) and in landed power shots (20-14).
“I wanted to show the world that I’m the new Cuban boxing sensation,” said Sanchez, who grew up in Guantanamo, קובאַ, and now resides in Miami. “I didn’t let the ring rope delay affect my performance. I was ready to go no matter what happened. My manager the great Richard Steele [former boxing referee] is already putting together my next fight. I’m coming for everyone in the heavyweight division. All contenders better watch out.”
The event was promoted by Devin Haney Promotions and Bishop Promotions LLC, in association with Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing. The full telecast will replay on Monday, יאַנואַר 14 בייַ 10 פּ.ם. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME and will be available on SHOWTIME ANYTIME®and SHOWTIME on DEMAND®.
Barry Tompkins called the action from ringside with boxing historian Steve Farhood and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer was Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.