Friday, March 23, in the Event Center at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, promoter Kris Lawrence’s The Heavyweight Factory will present “Rumble at the Rock,” an 11-bout night of world-class professional boxing.
Featured in the night’s main event is a 12-round WBA Bantamweight Eliminator for the mandatory contender between WBA #4-rated southpaw Stephon “Showstopper” Young (17-0-3, 7 KOs) from Saint Louis and WBA #5 Reymart “GenSan Assassin” Gaballo (18-0, 16 KOs) from General Santos City, Philippines. In the 10-round co-main, red-hot 19-year-old Hawaiian welterweight prospect Logan “The Korican Kid” Yoon (11-0, 11 KOs) will face an opponent TBA for the IBF Youth World Championship.
Special guests expected that evening include former heavyweight champions Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe and Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield.
Tickets for “Rumble at the Rock” are priced at $55, $80, $130, and $250 and are available through ticketmaster.com.
For 29-year-old Young, the fight against Gaballo represents him getting one step closer to his dream of a world title after years as a contender.
“It feels good,” he said. “I’m in shape and ready. I feel like I have my chance to show the world who the king of the bantamweights really is. Gaballo is obviously very strong. He’s 18-0, 16 KOs. But I also feel like he hasn’t fought anyone like me yet. That’s a whole different story when you step up. It may be a case that his team is putting him into a fight like this way too soon. We will soon see.”
For 21-year-old Gaballo, the fight against Young represents a huge leap up in class of opponent. The young slugger has only fought outside his native country twice before. A victory over the well-respected Young would put him instantly on the world stage.
“I’m very happy to be fighting in this WBA eliminator and I’m looking forward to being world champ one day. I know Young is a slick southpaw fighter and he’s working hard to beat me, so I have to train twice as hard as usual to come out on top.”
Event promoter Kris Lawrence says he’s proud of this event’s world-class international flavor. “This show brings back boxing in South Florida in a big way,” he said. “We will be announcing the huge undercard shortly and it includes a variety of exciting fighters from different countries including USA, Philippines, Nicaragua, Cuba, Honduras, Haiti, Mexico and Kazakhstan. I’m very happy to be able to present this great event at a world-class venue like the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel.
“Being back at the Hard Rock brings back old memories of great years of boxing,” said Henry Rivalta Director of Heavyweight Factory Boxing Operations. “We have very evenly matched fights and this event will be extremely crowd-pleasing. I invite all South Florida fans to come witness it live at Hard Rock’s Event Center. This will be the first boxing event held in the new event center. A special thanks to Kris Lawrence for making this all possible and being a pioneer for boxing here in South Florida, past and present. Also, I want to thank Armero Tequila and Jim, Allen and Dave Gold for their support of boxing on these amazing grounds at the Seminole Hard Rock. This will be the first of many to come. See you at the fights!”
On fight night, the Event Center doors open at 6 pm and the action starts at 7 pm. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is located at 1 Seminole Way in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
|