PROVIDENCE (November 19, 2008) – NABF cruiserweight champion Matt “Too Smooth” Godfrey (17-1, 10 KOs), rated No. 3 by the WBC, fights Saturday night for the first Sovereign Nations Boxing Council (SNBC) title against Eddie “The Iron Man” Gutierrez at 4 Bears Casino in New Town, North Dakota.
SNBC is a fledging professional boxing organization linking federally recognized tribes throughout the United States and Canada.
“Fighting for the SNBC title is special for me because I’m almost 100-percent Native American,” the 27-year-old Godfrey said. “I am Native American and we don’t get much press. I’m proud to be boxing for the Sovereign Nations Boxing Council’s first title. It is recognizing Native Americans in sports and I’m glad to be part of it.”
Godfrey’s fight against Gutierrez (15-5-1, 6 KOs) is risky because the WBC recently ordered a title elimination fight between Matt and No. 2 rated Herbie Hide, former 2-time WBO heavyweight champion, with the victor facing the winner of the WBC championship bout between new defending champion Giacobbe Fragameni and the No. 1 mandatory challenger, Krzystof Wlodarczyk.
“All I’m thinking about is passing the doctor’s test and making weight on Friday and putting on a good performance Saturday night,” Matt explained. “Fighters like this (Gutierrez) are the most dangerous. People probably expect me to blow away a guy like him. Even if it’s a close fight, it won’t look good, so we’ve been training as if this was a world title fight. They will be different fans out there and I want to put on a real show for them. I want to really impress them. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Godfrey is also rated No. 11 by the WBA and IBF.
Matt, second heavyweight alternate on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, had a 194-23 amateur record, capturing six national championships — four open tournaments including the 2004 Everlast U.S. Championships, plus two in the Junior Olympics – as well as a Bronze medal at the 2001 Pan-American Games, Silver in all four of that year’s national major tournaments (National Golden Gloves, PAL (Police Athletic League), U.S. Championships and U.S. Challenge) and six-time New England Golden Gloves champion.
Al Bernstein Boxing Channel to Cover Pre & Post Hatton/Malignaggi Fight Weigh-in Also Broadcast Over iBN Sports Network
Foothill Ranch, Calif. – November 19, 2008 – iBN Sports, a premier Internet-based broadcast sports television network announced that its Al Bernstein Channel (ABBC) will provide full coverage of the November 22nd Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi junior welterweight championship match from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Al Bernstein and iBN Sports will be on hand to cover the weigh-in on Friday, Nov. 21st and provide coverage of the post fight press conference on Saturday, Nov. 22nd. It can all be seen at http://www.ibnsports.com.
“This match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas has a great international flavor with Hatton and his fans coming over from Great Britain,” Al Bernstein said. He added, “Paulie Malignaggi is a talented and gritty performer and this match has great appeal, we are happy to again to give boxing fans around the world coverage of an important match. We will cover the emerging stories, offer analysis and do interviews with major boxing figures.”
The ABBC is at major boxing matches and will continue that with full coverage of the Dec. 6 Oscar DeLaHoya-Manny Pacquiao match, also from the MGM.
Visit http://www.ibnsports.com for more information on the company and to view Live and On-demand sporting events for free. Please contact mconley@ibnsports.com to schedule print, Internet, radio, or television interviews for Mr. Bernstein.
ONTARIO DOUBLETREE HOTEL, PRESS-ENTERPRISE & SISLEY ITALIAN KITCHEN SIGN ON TO SPONSOR “AT LAST”
Los Angeles, CA (November 19, 2008) – With the anticipation of the first-ever professional boxing show set to take place next week on Saturday, November 29 at the new state-of-the-art Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California prestigious corporate sponsors have committed to add their support to this unprecedented event.
Promoter Dan Goossen is pleased to announce that the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA., The Riverside Press-Enterprise, La Prensa and Sisley Italian Kitchen the multiple chain California restaurants, will all serve as presenting sponsors of the card billed as “AT LAST” which will be televised on HBO and internationally.
In the main event, boxing’s “most feared fighter,” 2-time WBO Welterweight Champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams (35-1, 26 KOs) will move up a weight class to take on the IBF Junior Middleweight Champ Verno Phillips (42-10-1, 21 KOs) in a scheduled interim 12-round battle for the WBO Super Welterweight Championship.
The scheduled 12-round co-feature bout will pit local (Riverside, CA) favorite and, arguably, the heavyweight division’s hottest young heavyweight, Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola (25-0, 22 KOs) against heavy-handed, knockout artist, Travis “Freight Train” Walker (28-1-1, 22 KOs). Arreola, the reigning WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Champion and Walker the current NABF Heavyweight Champion will put both those titles up for grabs along with being sanctioned as an IBF Heavyweight Elimination bout.
Doubletree Hotels is a growing collection of upscale accommodations in more than 150 gateway cities, metropolitan areas and vacation destinations throughout the U.S., Canada, Asia and Latin America. Its hotels feature distinctively designed properties that provide true comfort to today’s business and leisure travelers. The Doubletree in Ontario will serve as the host hotel, providing accommodations for the fighters and their camps and HBO personnel for the November 29 boxing event, along with hosting the 2 PM PST Friday, November 28 weigh-in, which will be open to the public. For hotel accommodations for this spectacular event, please contact Doubletree Hotel Ontario at 1-800-222-TREE (8733).
The Press-Enterprise and its online version — PE.com — are THE sources for news and information in Inland Southern California. Both entities are based in Cristobal Arreola’s hometown of Riverside and have a total circulation of close to 500,000 newspapers with 200,000 impressions. In addition, their sister paper, La Prenza, a weekly Hispanic driven paper will assure the full scope of reaching the key Inland Empire region for this event.
The Jamie and Fran Alba owned Sisley Italian restaurants have been a staple in the California market for twenty years in such locations as Sherman Oaks, Valencia, Westside, Thousand Oaks and their Sisley Rancho Cucamonga restaurant in the Victoria Gardens Mall where they will be hosting the fighters and their camps throughout fight week. In addition, Sisley is offering a complete entertainment package for all their customers which includes cocktails and appetizers prior to the event at each restaurant, transportation on a luxury bus to and from the event, VIP event tickets and an after fight dinner at their Rancho Cucamonga restaurant.
With the U.S. national print media already covering the various stories surrounding this event, including Williams and Arreola’s climb of making history, along with the pro debut of Shawn Estrada, the US Olympian from East LA and what was the most heart-wrenching story to come out of the recent Olympics in China, the partnership with the Press-Enterprise and La Prensa highlights the event at levels usually reserved for the huge boxing Pay-Per-View type of events.
“It’s a testament to the excitement that Williams and Arreola bring to California having such respected companies being involved in such a big way,” Goossen said.