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Tag Archives: Minnesota
Championship Boxing on CBS Sports Network’ Event at Grand Casino Hinckley Taking Shape
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CHAMPIONSHIP PRO BOXING RETURNS TO HIALEAH PARK ON MARCH 26
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ESPN Thursday Night Fights Back in South Florida with Strong Televised Fight Card
Reigning IBF Super-Featherweight Champ
Hialeah Park will be back in the international spotlight when ESPN’s Thursday Night Fights return to this iconic venue with an action-packed evening of championship professional boxing on March 26 starting at 6 PM ET.
The star-studded fight card, which will be broadcast live in the United States and in key Latin markets on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, is expected to include the Lightweight debut of reigning IBF Super-Featherweight champion Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy, who is 21-0 with 12 knockouts.
Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing, co-promoters of the event with Hialeah Park, confirms that the card will feature a ten-round welterweight affair between Breidis “El Khanqueror” Prescott (27-6, 20 KOs) of Colombia and Fredrick “General Okunka” Lawson (23-0, 20 KOs) of Ghana.
“This will be a key fight for Prescott,” Margules related. “He’s 31, now. He’s won three fights but dropped two since the start of 2012, so he’s pretty much in a must-win situation if he wants to remain relevant in his division.”
Prescott, now fighting out of Miami, won the first 21 fights of his professional career before losing back-to-back outings in late 2009. Lawson is six years younger at 25. He’s won three different vacant regional title bouts since December of 2012, most recently the vacant IBF International Welterweight title in July of 2013.
“Lawson didn’t fight in the United States until he re-located to Chicago last year,” Margules noted. “He’s a solid pro who doesn’t need friendly surroundings to win. He’s won in Minnesota and California since coming to America.”
Two undefeated Cuban heavyweight fighters will battle on the card. Yasmany “El Tiburon” Consuegra has a record of 16-0 with 14 knockouts, most in the early rounds. Consuegra has not had to wait for the scorecards to be tallied since winning a four-round bout 5 years ago in only his third lifetime fight. Robert Alfonso is 4-0 in his young career. Tickets for ESPN’s Thursday Night Fights, also billed as “Noche De Combates,” are on sale now through Ticket Force (www.myticketforce.com),www.hialeahpark.com, and at the Hialeah Park Casino cage.
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About Warriors Boxing
Launched in 2003, Warriors Boxing operates under a simple philosophy-bring the best boxers in the world to fight fans, match them in competitive bouts, and in doing so help re-establish the sport of boxing for a new generation.
With a series of successful Pay-Per-View shows and packed houses to its credit, the Warriors business model is working wonders in a sport that was sorely in need of the innovation and energy that the company brings to the table.
When it comes down to it though, a promotional company is only as good as the fighters and fights it promotes. Warriors Boxing has delivered on all fronts, with outstanding bouts such as Lara-Molina, Cayo-Peterson, Abraham-Miranda I and II, Miranda-Pavlik, Miranda-Green, Ibragimov-Briggs, Ibragimov-Klitschko, Urango-Hatton, Urango-Bailey, Cayo-Maidana and Ibragimov-Holyfield.
For more information on Warriors Boxing, visit their website at www.WarriorsBoxing.com. |
BOJAN VELICKOVIC FIGHTING FOR PERSONAL GLORY AND NATIONAL PRIDE
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Personal Glory & National Pride:
Bojan Velickovic’s Journey
RFA 24 IN MINNESOTA FRIDAY MARCH 6TH LIVE ON AXS TV
BY K. David Bena
@kdavidbena
When Denver, a city known for cold biting weather, breaks a record for snowfall, maybe it’s best to stay indoors – and rising welterweight Bojan Velickovic can attest, “The gym (Elevation Fight Team) was closed. There was no training that afternoon. It’s crazy. Two feet of snow fell and one of the coaches couldn’t make it (to the gym), so the owner decided to close. The roads are awful. I almost got into two car accidents this morning!” So being trapped indoors, Bojan “Veli” Velickovic (9-3) did some homework for his upcoming welterweight bout with Chris “The Hitman” Hugh (16-9). The two meet at RFA 24 on Friday, March 6th at the Mystic Lake Casino & Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota. The bout will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV. “I’m home now trying to do things for the fight and to watch my opponent, my own fights, to do at least something since I can’t train,” Velickovic explained. With “The Hitman” Hugh touting a 5-fight win streak, Velickovic knows how dangerous his opponent is, “The most important thing I have to do is to put my own pace and see how he’s going to react to my striking and wrestling.” Velickovic realizes that winning a fight is not just about studying an opponent, but about studying one’s self, “Hugh has 25 fights, but only two fights on YouTube so I can’t study him that much, but I can also see my previous fights and see what I did bad – and not do those types of mistakes again.” Training with the esteemed Elevation Fight Team, Velickovic loved the Denver-based fighters and gym, “I trained a lot with UFC fighters Brandon Thatch and Neil Magny for their UFC fights, so I think my striking game and wrestling became better and, as always, I like to fight with the aspects of MMA as a whole and I think that’s what I’ll try to do for this fight (with Hugh).” At the age of 12, Velickovic started training in Judo for several years and transitioned into kickboxing at the age of 18, “I had like 7 amateur fights and 7 professional. I think my record was total 14-2 or 15-2 – and from kickboxing, I switched to MMA. I see myself now as a mixed martial artist. I like to be good in all aspects. I’m not skipping wrestling class to go to jiu-jitsu. I’m just trying to become better everyday in every aspect of MMA and that’s my goal.” And Velickovic hasn’t looked back since, “I got to the United States through the reality show, “Road to the Ring of Fire”. Basically, one of the coaches (for the upcoming reality show) was a pro MMA fighter and told me ‘There’s a good reality show coming up. You have good striking, a Judo background, maybe it’s a good opportunity for you.’ So I registered for the reality show and they invited me. I won 4 fights in the show and won the show – and I won my next 3 fights as well.” Applying for a professional visa, Velickovic has lived in the states since 2013, where he was recruited by American Top Team (ATT) in Coconut Creek, Florida, “ATT helped apply for my visa and I have a contract with them for 5 years.” Asked if there was any tension, because of splitting his time between two perennial powerhouse gyms (Elevation Fight Team and ATT), Velickovic clarified, “No. I’m with American Top Team – a lot of guys at ATT train in different gyms for a couple of weeks before their fight then come back to ATT for a couple of weeks of sparring and additional training camps, but they always have ‘American Top Team’ on their banners.” He also sheds light on the politics and influx on fighters that migrate to ATT, “There are a couple of guys that are there full-time, but fighters are always visiting Florida and ATT. A lot of them come back and forth from (places like) California, Texas and stay a couple of weeks, work on sparring, and then they go back home and compete for American Top Team and their hometown gyms.” Quick to reassure there was no bad blood or misunderstandings with ATT, Velickovic states, “I told them that I was invited to Elevation Fight Team to help Brandon Thatch and Neil Magny get ready for their fights and then I decided to stay here for my whole camp for RFA 24. It’s a high altitude, good gym, good environment, and the guys from the gym accept me really good- and I feel I’m home and that’s the most important thing. But if I decide to move to Colorado, I will still wear ‘American Top Team’ on my shorts for the next couple of years, since I’m still under contract.” Being a fighter often requires a nomadic existence, leaving behind family and friends to further your skills. Fighting out of Novi Sad, Serbia, Velickovic speaks of his hometown and country fondly regardless of the close proximity of warring countries, “Novi Sad is very beautiful place and when the Yugoslav Wars occurred, Novi Sad was far from the border where the war and fire-fight was and somehow managed to stay out of the conflict. Now Serbia has been peaceful in the last 15-20 years.” He adds, “I left and came here to become better at MMA, because the training environment in the U.S. and the skills of the fighters are much more advanced than back home. I thought if I came here to train with the best, I can become with one of the best. That’s the main reason why I moved out to U.S.” To read complete article click HERE About RFA:
RFA is a professional mixed martial arts promotion that gives rising stars and top contenders the opportunity to prove their talent to fans and leaders in the industry. The RFA presents up to 10 fights annually around the United States including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver and Milwaukee. RFA can be seen live in over 40 million homes nationally through its television deal with AXS TV. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, RFA is one of the most active and respected MMA organizations in the fastest growing sport in the world. (The Octagon, Ultimate Fighting Championship®, UFC®, and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC. All rights reserved).
About AXS TV Fights:
AXS TV Fights is renowned for its universally recognized Friday Night Mixed Martial Arts and Kickboxing events. As Your Home For MMA, AXS TV utilizes an expansive network of promotions from the United States, Canada, and Europe. And Asia to broadcast more LIVE fights than any other television network. “The Voice” Michael Schiavello and five-time MMA world-champion Pat Miletich provide viewers expert play-by-play, in-depth fighter coverage, and extensive analysis to each fight card. AXS TV broadcasts world-class LIVE fight events from RFA, Lion Fight, Legacy FC, and MFC every Friday night at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET.
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DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK: The Jeff Curran Story
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JEFF CURRAN: DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK!
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RFA 24 IN MINNESOTA FRIDAY MARCH 6TH LIVE ON AXS TV
BY K. David Bena
@kdavidbena
UFC, PRIDE, WEC, WFA, IFL, Strikeforce. Only ONE FIGHTER has fought for all six of these promotions that are currently under the Zuffa umbrella. That fighter? Jeff “Big Frog” Curran. Curran ends his 19-month retirement and enters the octagon at RFA 24 on Friday, March 6th at the Mystic Lake Casino & Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota. The event will be televised live and nationwide on AXS TV. The veteran bantamweight, Curran (36-16-1) will test his mettle in the co-main event against the surging Melvin Blumer (11-2) who is touting a 5-fight win streak. Think back to 1991… What were you doing? Well, Curran was a wide-eyed 14-year old that decided to train jiu-jitsu. Curran explains, “My first class, I learned something called ‘paint the floor’ also known as an Americana and I knew that’s what I wanted to do and I just continued training jiu-jitsu ever since. I kept the focus on myself as an athlete and a fighter and one thing kept leading to another.” Fast-forward to August 16, 2013 at RFA 9, Curran lost a split decision in a bantamweight title fight against Pedro Munhoz. “I retired after my last fight in the RFA. I’ve fought for a world title and been in every major show in the sport and been fighting, at that time, for 17 years. I just felt that with my business and the gym, where I was at that stage in my life, my kids and family, I thought that it was time to retire.” Curran adds, “But, mainly, I didn’t want to be second best, I never wanted to be average as a fighter. Once I felt the dream was gone or the opportunity was gone to climb back to the UFC, to fight the best guys in the world, I felt it was best to stop since my prime has kind of passed.” However, after careful introspection and the smoldering desire to continue fighting, Curran decided to step back into the cage. “I wanted to win the fight, win the belt, and go out on top. I felt it would be a real admirable way to retire, but it didn’t go my way. So I retired – and it never sat well with me,” Curran explained. “And the more time that went on, I felt the need to fight. I started to look for opportunities and RFA found an opportunity for me to fight again. So here I am.” Juggling roles as a family man, business man, coach, and fighter might make some people’s head spin, but Curran explains, “I had my gym before I had my first fight, so I was always used to the responsibility of splitting my time, but now it’s a lot more in-depth than it used to be because my fighters are at different levels and require more time. Business is also on a different level – and I have two boys that are growing faster by the day and I have my wife. There’s responsibility across the board and it’s more than it was schedule-wise than back when I was opening a school. Yeah, it’s a lot to juggle, but I do it.” Through all his responsibilities, Curran maintains focus for his upcoming fight with the dangerous Melvin Blumer, “His win streak speaks volumes, especially in the Midwest because a lot of the guys you fight are pretty similar in strength and skill set, so you get tough competition and local promoters in the Midwest are always looking to put on good fights. A guy that is 11-2 (Blumer) and on a 5-fight win streak is impressive to me and it’s exactly what I want.” Curran explains further, “I don’t want to fight some bum or fight someone I know I can beat. I want to fight someone that can challenge me and let me know if I still belong in the game or give me the right sense of accomplishment if I win, so Blumer’s a great opponent. Blumer is tough. I give him enough respect to train my ass off and treat him as a top ten guy. But with that being said, I know I’m top ten caliber, so I’m bringing everything I got and I think it will make for a good fight.” And what is Curran’s next step with a victory? Even he isn’t sure, “I don’t know what my next move is. I didn’t make a definite decision one way or another. To be honest, I know when I lost, retirement didn’t fit well with me, but with the right win it most likely could, but at the same time with the right win, I can get the attention of the UFC and decide if I want to chase my first UFC victory.” On Friday, March 6th, Curran and everyone watching will be wondering what the “Big Frog’s” next venture in life will be. About RFA:
RFA is a professional mixed martial arts promotion that gives rising stars and top contenders the opportunity to prove their talent to fans and leaders in the industry. The RFA presents up to 10 fights annually around the United States including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver and Milwaukee. RFA can be seen live in over 40 million homes nationally through its television deal with AXS TV. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, RFA is one of the most active and respected MMA organizations in the fastest growing sport in the world. (The Octagon, Ultimate Fighting Championship®, UFC®, and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC. All rights reserved).
About AXS TV Fights:
AXS TV Fights is renowned for its universally recognized Friday Night Mixed Martial Arts and Kickboxing events. As Your Home For MMA, AXS TV utilizes an expansive network of promotions from the United States, Canada, and Europe. And Asia to broadcast more LIVE fights than any other television network. “The Voice” Michael Schiavello and five-time MMA world-champion Pat Miletich provide viewers expert play-by-play, in-depth fighter coverage, and extensive analysis to each fight card. AXS TV broadcasts world-class LIVE fight events from RFA, Lion Fight, Legacy FC, and MFC every Friday night at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET.
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