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MIDDLEWEIGHT FIGHT SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 13 HAS A HISTORY
Lewiston, Maine (April 20, 2015) – When Crowsneck Boutin (0-0) makes his professional debut on June 13, 2015 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, it will be just days shy of the three-year anniversary of his amateur debut in the very same building. On that warm, late-spring evening in 2012, a crowd of more than 3,000 had assembled to witness the Maine debut of former UFC World Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia (31-10) at New England Fights’ (NEF) third mixed-martial-arts (MMA) event. Earlier that night, on the amateur portion card, Boutin was in action against Brent “Frosty” Dillingham (1-1). Dillingham won via technical knockout (TKO) in the first round. That was not the end of the action, however, as Boutin and Dillingham exchanged in a heated post-fight confrontation, having to be separated by officials.
The bad blood has continued over the course of the past three years, with occasional barbs being hurled by both sides on social media. Boutin’s opponent on June 13 will be none other than Dillingham’s coach at MMA Athletix, “The Junkyard Dog” Ryan Cowette (2-2). When he met Dillingham, Boutin was an independent fighter with no formal training in the martial arts. In the months that followed, Boutin would join the Choi Institute of Portland, Maine and transform himself into a prolific striker. Boutin is clear that the fighter who will step in the cage on June 13 opposite Cowette is not the same undisciplined street fighter who lost to Dillingham three years ago.
“As an amateur with zero days in a gym, I debuted against MMA Athletix,” recalled Boutin of his amateur debut. “Fast forward three years later, three years straight at the Choi Institute. Here is your throat back, thanks for the loan.”
Not only is Cowette the head of MMA Athletix, but he is also the founder and pastor of Victory Church in Bath, Maine. Having suffered a major disappointment when his opponent backed out of their scheduled bout during fight week of “NEF XVII” earlier this month, Cowette is optimistic in regards to the June 13 fight with Boutin.
“This should be a great fight for the fans,” said Cowette. “We both show up to fight and put on a show. I’m looking to push forward in the 185-pound division. Crowsneck will be a good test. I’m thankful for the opportunities NEF gives me.”
NEF’s next MMA event, “NEF XVIII: Made in America” will originate from the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine on June 13, 2015. Tickets for “NEF XVIII” start at just $25 and are on sale now at www.TheColisee.com or by calling the Colisee box office at207.783.2009 x 525. For more information on the event and fight card updates, please visit the promotion’s website at www.NewEnglandFights.com. In addition, you can watch NEF videos at www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, follow them on Twitter @nefights and join the official Facebook group “New England Fights.”
About New England Fights
New England Fights (“NEF”) is a fight events promotions company. NEF’s mission is to create the highest quality events for Maine’s fighters and fans alike. NEF’s executive team has extensive experience in combat sports management, events production, media relations, marketing, legal and advertising.
Mendon Twin Drive-In to show UFC 186 this Saturday night
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Hogan Outworks Brunson on CBS Sports Network Night of Boxing
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MATTHYSSE DEFEATS PROVODNIKOV BY MAJORITY DECISION IN A THRILLER BATTLE AT TURNING STONE RESORT CASINO IN VERONA NEW YORK
LIVE ON HBO BOXING AFTER DARK®
SOLD-OUT SHOW ALREADY BEING DUBBED CANDIDATE FOR
‘FIGHT OF THE YEAR’
‘FIGHT OF THE YEAR’
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Photo Credit: Emily Harney-HoganPhotos/
VERONA, NEW YORK (April 18) -Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York was treated to a historic sold out match-up between two of the most exciting gladiators in boxing as Lucas “La Maqina”” Matthysse (37-3, 34 KO’s) took a majority decision victory over “The Siberian Rocky” Ruslan Provodnikov (24-4, 17 KO’s) in a 12-round junior welterweight bout on the split-site doubleheader on HBO Boxing After Dark ®.
Presented by Banner Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, & Arano Box Promotions the action packed night showcased two athletes fighting in the prime of their careers, with a title shot in the 140-pound division likely hanging in the horizon.
Provodnikov was cut badly in round two from an accidental headbutt. Matthysse targeted the eye but Provodnikov walked through every shot. Provodnikov came back later in the round with some solid combinations and landed some furious shots to Matthysse’s head. Matthysse had a nice bounce back round five as he landed some hard jabs to the face of an oncoming Provodnikov.
The war continued through the middle rounds as both fighters went toe to toe while Matthysse landed combinations from distance and Provodnikov went on the offensive and continued to brawl. Provodikov had a strong round eleven as he landed a hard left to the top of the head that buckled Matthysse and the Argentinian was forced to hold on. The two waged a final flurry in round twelve and it was Matthysse the former WBC champion won via majority decision with scores of 115-113 twice and 114-114.
“I think I dominated the fight, I knew I had the best hits,” said Lucas Matthysse. “Ruslan is a tough fighter, he took everything I threw at him. I have a lot of respect for him. There was a point when I thought that they would stop the fight because of Ruslan’s cut, but his team was able to control it. I hurt my hand in the sixth round, but I kept going because I wanted to prove that I am the best in the division and that I am ready for the toughest fighters. I want to move forward and fight the winner of Mayweather-Pacquiao.”
“He is the hardest puncher I have ever fought but I fight as hard as I can to the very end,” said Provodnikov. “I never want the fight stopped. The only time would be when I am on my back.”
Going on before the live split-site HBO Boxing After Dark doubleheader, Patrick Teixeira(25-0, 21 KOs) of Santa Catarina, Brazil faced off against Accra, Georgia’s Patrick Allotey (30-2, 24 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round middleweight bout. Both fighters came at each other aggressively in the first round in an exciting exchange of hard punches. Teixeria put an end to the fight in the second round as he delivered a devastating blow to Allotey’s body knocking him down to win the fight via knockout.
“I am very happy and feel emotional about my first fight with Golden Boy Promotions,” said Patrick Teixeira. “I wanted to make sure I impressed them in my first fight, so I trained very hard to make sure I went the full 10 round. But I am very excited I got the knockout.”
Vitaly Kopylenko (25-1, 14 KO’s) won an eight round unanimous decision over Lekan Byfield (6-8-2, 1 KO) in a middleweight bout. Kopylenko knocked down Byfield twice on punches that staggered the Atlanta native into the ropes. Kopylenko cruise down the stretch of the fight to win via unanimous decision with a score of 79-72.
“I hurt my shoulder in the first round but I was able to gut it out and land some good shots,” said Kopylenko.
Washington, D.C standout, Lamont Roach Jr. (7-0, 3KOs) faced Carolina, Puerto Rico’s Jose Miguel Castro (4-3, 2 KOs) in a scheduled six-round lightweight bout. Roach dominated the fight early on, winning the bout by unanimous decision.
“It was my first six-rounder,” said Lamont Roach Jr. “I think that I could have knocked him down or made him quit if I would have hit him harder in the beginning but I trained for six round and wanted to make sure I could go the distance. I did want the knockout towards the end, but I didn’t get it.”
Vitor Jones De Oliveira (9-0, 5 KO’s) won a six round unanimous decision over Guillermo Sanchez (15-14-1, 6 KOs) in a lightweight bout. De Oiveira boxed well from the outside and countered the southpaw Sanchez nice and came home with the victory by scores of 59-55 and 58-56 twice.
“It was a good fight. It took me a few rounds to get going but I am very happy with my performance and looking forward to my next fight,” said De Oliveira.
Eddie “E-Boy” Gomez (18-1, 11 KOs) of The Bronx, New York started the night with a technical knockout victory over Jonathan Batista (14-6, 7 KOs) of San Pedro de Marcos, Dominican Republic, when Batista could not answer the bell to start round six in their scheduled 10-round super welterweight bout.
“I feel good, I’m satisfied with the win, but I wanted to show more,” said Eddie Gomez. “I was just getting warmed up, showing my boxing and foot work skills to prove I was ready for the 12-round championship fights.”
Sidney McCow scored a first round technical knockout over Paulo Souza in a scheduled four round welterweight. McCow (3-2, 2 KO’s) of New York, NY pummeled Souza until the bout was stopped at 2:55 of round one. Souza of Somerville, Massachusetts is now 0-8.
Matthysse vs. Provodnikov was a 12-round junior welterweight bout presented by Banner Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions in association with Arano Box Promotions and is sponsored by Corona Extra, Mexico, Live it To Believe It! and Khortytsa Vodka. The live HBO Boxing After Dark split-site doubleheader telecast began at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.banner-promotions.com, www.hbo.com/boxing and www.turningstone.com follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @BannerBoxing, @HBOBoxing, @RuslanProvod,@ TurningStone and become a fan on Facebook at Golden Boy FacebookPage,www.facebook.com/
ANDRZEJ FONFARA STOPS JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR., WINS BY 9TH-ROUND TKO AT STUBHUB CENTER
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Will Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Live up to the Hype?
Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26 KOs) and Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) are set to clash on May 2nd, 2015 in one of the most hyped fights in boxing history. This fight is so huge they are even planning to sell tickets to the weigh-in due to crowd control issues. The proceeds will not be going to the promoters or the boxers, though. It all goes to charity. Still, this is a first for the state of Nevada, which traditionally requires that all weigh-ins be free of charge for fans to attend.
The level of anticipation surrounding this fight had a long time to build up. For the better part of the last decade, these two pound-for-pound juggernauts could not make this fight happen for one ridiculous reason after another. As someone who personally attended some of Mayweather’s public workouts in Vegas, I can attest to the fact that the undefeated welterweight champion repeatedly and relentlessly cited Pacquiao’s refusal to undergo Olympic style blood testing when asked about the attempts being made to get this fight signed over five years ago.
Mayweather even came up with a little rap lyric to express the issue in simple terms:
“If you wanna fight the best, you gotta take the test,” he belted out during a sit-up session at one of those open workouts.
Pacquiao changed his tune on the testing and overcame the biggest hurdle of all when he met personally with Mayweather and agreed that he would be the “B” side and should therefore get a smaller split of the purse. As the video above outlines, Mayweather was then able to dominate the negotiation process.
Although pundits still say this fight will be the biggest in the history of the sport, the question must be asked if this pairing is happening too late in the careers of both fighters for it to be as exciting as some experts predict it will be.
It was always clear to me this fight would happen, but it became obvious that the longer it took to sign the contracts, the better Floyd’s chances of winning would be. Still, Floyd did admit in 2012 that the real reason he didn’t want to fight Pacquiao was due to health concerns. He denied being scared, calling himself “smart” for thinking about his family and his health first. Still, he insisted that the main reason his health would be at risk in that fight was if Pacquiao was really doing steroids, as Mayweather alleged and ended up being sued over. The two settled out of court and the fight is now imminent, so some fans think it’s all water under the bridge. Others are just plain aggravated that we had to wait this long for this bout to come to fruition.
Boxing Legend Marvin Hagler even commented recently that Mayweather waited until Pacquiao aged a little more before signing to fight him. Hagler compared Mayweather’s tactics to Sugar Ray Leonard waiting until Hagler became a little “soft” himself before they signed their fight contract. That bout turned out to be hugely controversial and left Hagler extremely bitter about the sport that made him famous.
So, the May-Pac fight will happen, and Mayweather is the obvious favorite. To learn more about the gambling side of this story, check out Boxing betting at William Hill site. The biggest payoff for any lucky bettor will be a successful bet on Pacquiao, but it’s easy to wonder if Pacquiao really is too old to win this time out. After all, there are tons of concerns with Manny’s calf muscles seizing up, and he reportedly uses a healing cream that costs thousands of dollars per bottle to address the problem.
Mayweather (38) is actually the older fighter, but the 36-year-old Manny’s fought 17 more bouts in the pro ranks and will likely be the most active puncher “Money” ever faced. Mayweather’s normally spectacular and overwhelming defensive prowess just might be tested.
This fight may not be worth every penny you spend on tickets or the Pay-Per-View feed, but the fact that it is finally happening is still special. It will still be a fight boxing fans everywhere around the world can enjoy and appreciate. It’s ultimately up to the fighters to prove they are both up to the task of making sure this fight lives up to expectations. Chances are, Floyd will do his best to leave the MGM Grand with an uneventful decision win. Let’s just hope Pacquiao has enough left in the tank to make sure this is the most competitive fight Mayweather’s ever been in. It may not be the most opportune time for this fight to happen, but it’s a lot better to get it late than never.
RESULTS FROM MOHEGAN SUN
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INSIDE MAYWEATHER VS. PACQUIAO | Episode 1
Enjoy this free preview of Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao:
Weights from Valley Forge, PA
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