Verona, NY (May 21, 2014)–Once again the stakes have been raised for this Friday night’s Boxcino 2014 championship bouts.
When the tournament began it was known that the fighters would be competing for the Boxcino championship belt. Now two more belts will be on the line as the NABA and the NABO belts will be up for grabs when lightweights Fernando Carcamo and Petr Petrov do battle while in the middleweight finals it will be undefeated Brandon Adams taking on Willie Monroe Jr. will square off for the three titles.
The fights are promoted by Banner Promotions and will be televised live on ESPN 2. ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN beginning at 9 PM ET and will originate from the Turning Stone Resort and Casino.
“I want to thank the WBA and the WBO for making their North American title available for the fighters to compete for,”said Banner Promotions president Artie Pelullo.
“This has been an outstanding tournament and are delighted that these two organizations are rewarding these fighters for the opportunity to fight for these titles.”
Boxcino 2014 Finals on ESPN Friday Night Fights and Noche de Combates on May 23
ESPN2 Studio On-Site in Verona N.Y. Two fighters—one in the Lightweight division and one in the Middleweight—will be named Boxcino 2014 Champion and receive the Boxcino 2014 championship belt on May 23, when ESPN Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates presentado por Corona Extra features the finals of Boxcino 2014 sponsored by 1800 Tequila.
Friday’s show, from the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN. The card is promoted by Banner Promotions.
Commentators:
Blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore, will be ringside with analyst Teddy Atlas describing the action for ESPN2, while studio host Todd Grisham (@GrishamESPN), will provide the latest boxing news and information on site. Delvin Rodríguez and Pablo Viruega will call the fights for Noche de Combates (Fight Night) on ESPN Deportes, while Leopoldo González and Claudia Trejos will anchor the studio. Bilingual reporter Bernardo Osuna (@osunaespn) will present live interviews and reports for both shows.
Middleweight Finals Matchup: 10 Rounds
The final round of the Middleweight tournament will feature:
Brandon Adams (14-0, 9 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (17-1, 6 KOs)
Lightweight Finals Matchup: 10 Rounds
The final round of the Lightweight tournament will feature:
Petr Petrov (34-4-2, 15 KOs) vs. Fernando Cárcamo (17-5, 13 KOs)
Fighter Backgrounds:
N.Y.’s Monroe, the son of former Middleweight contender Willie Monroe, is coming off an eight-round unanimous decision win over Vitalii Kopylenko in the semifinal round of the tournament. Prior to that, Monroe won a six-round unanimous decision over Donatas Bondas (Bondorovas) in the quarterfinals. Adams, fighting out of Los Angeles, opened the tournament with a fourth round TKO win over Daniel Edouard and is looking to stay undefeated following an eight-round split decision win over Ray Gatica in the semifinals.
Spain’s Petrov, a former Jr. Welterweight world title challenger, defeated Chris Rudd by fourth-round TKO in the semifinals. In the tournament’s opening round, Petrov won an upset over Yakubu Amidu in a fight that had to go to a seventh-round “drawbreaker” to determine the winner. Mexico’s Cárcamo, who opened the tournament with a second–round TKO win over previously undefeated 2008 Olympian Samuel Neequaye, is looking to score another victory following an eight-round majority decision win over Miguel González in the semifinals.
About Boxcino 2014:
The tournament, which started in February, is a single-elimination, two-weight class competition featuring eight fighters in the Lightweight and Middleweight divisions. Tournament details and matchups can be found on ESPN MediaZone.
ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions Brian Kweder, who oversees content strategy and acquisition for ESPN’s soccer, boxing and bowling properties, recently discussed the tournament in a Q&A on ESPN Front Row.
Upcoming Schedule:
Date Time (ET) Main Event Location Networks
Fri, May 23 9 p.m. Boxcino 2014 Finals sponsored by 1800 Tequila
Brandon Adams (14-0, 9 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (17-1, 6 KOs)—10 rounds, Middleweights
Petr Petrov (34-4-2, 15 KOs) vs. Fernando Cárcamo (17-5, 13 KOs)—10 rounds, Lightweights Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
Fri, June 6 10:30 p.m. Yudel Jhonson (15-1, 9 KOS) vs. Norberto González ( 20-3, 13 KOs)—10 rounds, Jr. Middleweights Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN
*Schedule subject to change
Friday Night Fights and Noche de Combates Social Media:
• Follow ESPN Friday Night Fights on Twitter @ESPNFNF or like it on Facebook.
• Score the fights round-by-round with the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook Voting App,” an application on the ESPN FNF Facebook page that allows viewers to score the fight round-by-round.
• Follow ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates on Twitter @ESPNBoxeo.
• For the latest ESPN.com boxing news and analysis follow @ESPNBoxing.
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.
