FORMER TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION ANDRE BERTO TO FACE FOUR DIVISION & SIX-TIME WORLD CHAMPION ROBERT GUERRERO IN A THRILLING WELTERWEIGHT SHOWDOWN ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24 AT CITIZENS BUSINESS BANK ARENA IN ONTARIO, CALIF. WHICH WILL BE TELECAST LIVE ON HBO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®
KEITH THURMAN VS. CARLOS QUINTANA & RICHAR ABRIL VS. SHARIF BOGERE WBA LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIOSHIP ROUND OUT ACTION-PACKED TRIPLEHEADER
LOS ANGELES (October 23) – One of the biggest fights of 2012 is coming to Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif., on Saturday, November 24 when former Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto faces Four-Division and Six-Time World Champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero.
This 12-round matchup, a surefire “Fight of the Year” candidate, will air live on HBO World Championship Boxing. The event will also feature two compelling co-featured bouts with unbeaten rising star Keith “One Time” Thurman facing his toughest test to date when he takes on former World Champion Carlos Quintana in a junior middleweight showdown and WBA Interim Lightweight World Champion Richar Abril taking unbeaten WBA #3 rated lightweight contender Sharif “The Lion” Bogere for the vacant WBA Lightweight World Championship.
“I’m happy to be back and to be fighting someone as talented as Robert Guerrero,” said Berto. “It’s a great challenge for me to face one of the best coming off of my layoff. I know I have the ability to be the best in my division and in the sport, and proving that to everyone starts with this fight.”
“I am looking forward to this opportunity and it will be a nice way to spend the holiday weekend doing what I love to do which is to fight,” said Guerrero. “Berto has proven himself over the years as one of the best, but I am confident that I will come out on top and close out 2012 with a big win. I have a lot to be thankful for in my life and a win over Berto over Thanksgiving weekend will be one more thing to add to that list.”
“There are a lot of fighters saying they are the best, but not everyone is willing to prove it in the ring,” said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions. “Andre Berto and Robert Guerrero put on a show every time they step through the ropes and I’m excited that they’ll be putting on a show against each other on November 24. On Thanksgiving weekend, I’ll be giving thanks that we have a great fight between two of the best young fighters in the world and I know they’ll be giving everything they have to walk out of that ring victorious.”
“Fight fans can add to the enjoyment of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with this action-packed World Championship Boxing tripleheader,” said Kery Davis, Senior Vice President of Programming, HBO Sports. “Andre Berto and Robert Guerrero will be primed for the main event showdown and we think boxing fans are in for a real treat.”
“Citizens Business Bank Arena, managed by AEG Facilities and the City of Ontario, is extremely pleased to have been selected by Golden Boy Promotions to be the host venue for this exciting boxing event,” said Steve Eckerson, General Manager of Citizens Business Bank Arena. “The Inland Empire is a great market and will certainly support this great night of boxing.”
Berto vs. Guerrero, a 12-round welterweight bout, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. Also featured will be a junior middleweight bout between rising star Keith Thurman and former World Champion Carlos Quintana and a 12-round battle between WBA Interim Lightweight World Champion Richar Abril and number 3 rated WBA lightweight contender Sharif Bogere for the vacant WBA Lightweight World Championship. The event will take place at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif. and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Tickets priced at $200, $100, $75, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges and taxes, are on sale and available for purchase by calling (888) 9AXS TIX (888-929-7849), at Citizens Business Bank Arena box office or online at www.cbbankarena.com or www.axs.com.
A 2004 Olympian for Haiti, Winter Haven, Florida’s Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KO’s) has been among the top welterweights in the world for years, starting in 2008, when he won the WBC 147-pound title with a seventh round technical knockout win over Miguel Angel Rodriguez. After five successful defenses, Berto lost the title in his 2011 “Fight of the Year” battle against Victor Ortiz, but the 29-year-old bounced back with a fifth round stoppage over Jan Zaveck in his next bout to capture the IBF Welterweight World Championship, proving that he was still amongst the elite at 147 lbs. On November 24, he’ll look to continue to make that fact evident against a Four Division and Six-Time World Champion in Guerrero.
The pride of Gilroy, California, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (30-1-1, 18 KO’s) is a Four-Division World Champion who may prove to be more dangerous than ever now that he can concentrate one hundred percent on his boxing career. With his wife Casey healthy after a battle with leukemia and Guerrero’s shoulder surgery a thing of the past, the 29-year-old southpaw got back to work in July with a hard-fought 12 round win over previously unbeaten Selcuk Aydin that earned him the WBC Interim Welterweight World Championship. Now he’s looking forward to closing out the year with another big win over former World Champion Berto.
A one-punch knockout artist who has ended 12 fights in two rounds or less, Clearwater, Florida’s Keith “One Time” Thurman (18-0, 17 KO’s) brings excitement every time he steps through the ropes. Fully healed from injuries that kept him sidelined in 2011, the 23-year-old returned with a fury in 2012, stopping Christopher Fernandez, Brandon Hoskins and Orlando Lora in succession to extend his knockout streak to seven. On November 24, he faces his toughest opponent yet in former World Champion Carlos Quintana.
Still dangerous at age 35, Moca, Puerto Rico’s Carlos “El Indio” Quintana (29-3, 23 KO’s) has found new life in the junior middleweight division, where he has scored technical knockout victories over Yoryi Estrella and Deandre Latimore in his last two fights. The owner of wins over Paul Williams and Joel Julio and having faced Miguel Cotto and Andre Berto, former WBO Welterweight World Champion Quintana has the skills and experience to find out whether Thurman is the real deal on November 24.
Thirty-year-old Richar Abril (17-3-1, 8 KO’s) was fairly unknown outside of diehard fight circles heading into 2012, but when the Cuban-born resident of Miami, Florida took on highly-touted Brandon Rios for the WBA Lightweight Title in April of this year, he quickly became better known. Although Abril lost a split decision to Rios that night, the boxing media and fans around the world voiced their displeasure, calling it one of the worst decisions ever. On November 24, Abril rightfully gets another shot at the title, this time against Sharif Bogere.
Uganda native Sharif “The Lion” Bogere (23-0, 15 KO’s) was a five-time African champion in his amateur days, and he’s eager to add some professional gold to his trophy case on November 24. An aggressive contender with impressive power, the 24-year-old who now makes his home in Las Vegas has impressed fight fans with wins over Ray Beltran, Francisco Contreras, Sergio Rivera and Manuel Leyva, putting him in prime position for a shot at the world title.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
