Forecast calls for ‘reign’
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Oct. 13th, 2011) – Fresh off the biggest victories of their respective careers, undefeated Polish heavyweight Mariusz Wach and New Haven middleweight Elvin Ayala are returning to the scene of their most recent success.
Wach and Ayala will headline next month’s “November Reign” card, the latest installment of live professional boxing at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5th, 2011 and presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports in association with Global Boxing.
Both fighters won titles at CES’ “Heat Wave” show at Mohegan Sun on July 29th; Wach (25-0, 13 KOs) captured the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) International heavyweight title with a fourth-round knockout win over Kevin McBride while Ayala (24-5-1, 11 KOs) outclassed veteran Derrick Findley over 10 rounds to earn the vacant WBC U.S. National Boxing Council (USNBC) middleweight title in a unanimous-decision victory.
Wach will now make his first title defense in arguably the toughest bout of his career Nov. 5th when he faces former world champion and Chicago native Oliver McCall (56-11, 37 KOs) in a 12-round bout. McCall, 46, is famous for knocking out previously-unbeaten WBC world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis in London in 1994. McCall went on to defend his title against former three-time champion Larry Holmes in 1995 before losing the belt to Frank Bruno later that year. Holmes made 20 successful title defenses in his career, second all-time among heavyweights behind Joe Louis.
McCall also knocked out former world champions Bruce Seldon (1991) and Oleg Maskaev (1996) and won a 12-round unanimous decision four years ago against Sinan Samil Sam in Turkey to capture the WBC International title – the same belt Wach won in July. McCall is looking to become just the fourth two-time WBC International heavyweight champion in the belt’s 24-year history, joining Sam, Herbie Hide and current International Boxing Organization (IBO), World Boxing Organization (WBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight champion Wladimir Kltischko, who won the belt in 1998 and 2000.
Wach, a Krakow, Poland native now fighting out of North Bergen, N.J., is ranked No. 9 in the WBC while McCall is ranked 22nd among heavyweights in the IBO.
Ayala – a New Haven, Conn., resident – is facing an equally-dangerous opponent in Miguel Hernandez (20-11, 10 KOs) of Chicago, a former contestant on Season 3 of “The Contender” reality television series, in a 10-round non-tile bout. Since signing a promotional agreement with CES in 2010, Ayala has won four consecutive bouts – the last two under the guidance of trainer Peter Manfredo Sr. – and is now ranked 28th in the WBC.
“November Reign” will also feature a special 10-round North American Boxing Federation (NABF) title bout in the middleweight division between undefeated Patrick Majewski (17-0, 11 KOs) of Atlantic City, N.J., by way of Radom, Poland, and Dionisio Miranda (21-7-2, 18 KOs) of Barranquilla, Colombia, who now lives and trains in Miami. The 31-year-old Majewski has won four of his last five fights by knockout and is the reigning North American Boxing Organization (NABO) middleweight champion, courtesy of a unanimous-decision win over Marcus Upshaw in June.
Tickets for “November Reign” are on sale now at $40, $65 and $105 and can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253/2254 or Ticketmaster at 1.800.745.3000. Fans can also purchase tickets online at www.cesboxing.com, www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Mohegan Sun Box Office.
“Nowhere in New England – or anywhere, for that matter – will you find more talent under one roof,” Burchfield said. “This promises to be our biggest show yet. Two champions and two title fights on one card is unprecedented, and we’re proud to bring this spectacular event to the Mohegan Sun Arena.
“Our loyal fans brought the house down on July 29th, and we’re anticipating an even bigger reception next month. Mariusz Wach continues to climb the ladder in the heavyweight division and Elvin Ayala is on the fast track to a major, world-title bout. Patrick Majewski, one of the hardest-working middleweights in the world, is on the cusp of capturing two titles in one calendar year. That’s a phenomenal achievement. Yet that’s only the beginning of what we have in store for our fans on November 5th.
“We’re adhering to our traditional formula of bringing you the best in both local and international talent, and we’re expanding our horizons with each show. You won’t find better talent, or more history, on any other card this year.”
The undercard of “November Reign” also features a four-round super middleweight bout between New Haven’s Rick Dawson (4-0, 1 KO) and Borngod Washington (2-9) of Queens, N.Y., and a four-round female bantamweight fight between Shelito Vincent of Providence, R.I., who recently won her professional debut against Karen Dulin on Oct. 7, and newcomer Bridget Stevens of Bedford, Nova Scotia. Heavyweight Artur Szpilka (7-0, 5 KOs) of Wieliczka, Poland; super featherweight Kamil Laszczyk (4-0, 3 KOs) of North Bergen; cruiserweight Jose Torres (0-1) of Springfield, Mass.; and welterweight Edwin Soto (7-0-1, 3 KOs), junior featherweight Josh Crespo (0-0-1) and junior welterweight Christian Lao (2-1, 1 KO) of New Haven will also be on the undercard in separate bouts.
For more information on “November Reign,” visit www.cesboxing.com or www.mohegansun.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the first bout scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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.
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