East Rutherford, NJ- Staging their first boxing show in four years, Darwish Brothers Knockout Promotions returned to the sport in a big way Tuesday night at the Meadowlands Sheraton Hotel in East Rutherford, NJ. The show was streamed live across the world online at GoFightLive.tv and featured some of New Jersey’s hottest rising talent, as well the return of DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley.

“The atmosphere was electric,” says Wally Darwish, who promoted the show alongside his brother Hani. “The bouts were evenly matched and none of the fights were walk-overs. There wasn’t a single fan that left unsatisfied. Our next show is going to be bigger and better.” The next event will take place at the same venue in March with a date to be announced shortly.

In the ten-round main event, former junior-welterweight world champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley of Washington DC and former title challenger Wilson “El Topadora” Enrique Galli of Long Island by way of Salto Uruguayo, Uruguay both knew they needed a win to get back into world title contention. In a classic boxer versus brawler matchup, DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley scored a seventh round TKO over his tough adversary. Official time was 1:23.

Corley, 140.5, established his speed of hand and foot over Galli, 141.5, early in the first round. A Corley left cross on Galli’s nose sent the three-time South American champion. Galli showed a ton of grit as he survived the assault and began to come forward, applying sustained pressure to the former WBO 140 pound champion. The two traded blows throughout, Galli finding most of his success with the right hand while Corley preferred to uppercut with both hands.

In the seventh round Corley sensed that his opponent was beginning to fade as he pushed him back. Corley landed a huge straight left cross on Galli’s chin that sent him sprawling to the floor a second time. Galli bravely rose to his feet but his corner wisely threw in the towel. The time was 1:23.

“I felt my performance was great,” said Corley, now 33-10-1 (19 KO). “On a scale of one to ten, I give myself a nine. I’m not back where I should be but I’m getting there. I’ll be back in the gym on Thursday and I’m going to stay busy. Look forward to me continue fighting great fights and becoming world champion again soon. I want to thank the Darwish Brothers for having me on their card and I hope to do it again soon.” Galli drops to 31-9 (13 KO).

In a stunning upset, Hector Rivera of Passaic, NJ defeated previously unbeaten Omar Brito of Pleasantville, NJ by a four-round unanimous decision. Brito, 135, suffered the first knockdown of his young career in the first round when a southpaw right hook from Rivera, 134, crashed into him. Brito survived the round but once again a right hook would be his bane as a second knockdown followed. Realizing that he had to catch up in a big way, Brito uncorked a huge right hand in the third round that put Sanchez on the canvas and turned the tide. Brito pulled out all of the stops in the fourth round but it was too little, too late. Scores were 37-36 across the board.

Rivera improves to 2-4 (1 KO) while Brito drops to 1-1 (1 KO).

Cruiserweight prospect Elvin Sanchez of Paterson, NJ wasted little time disposing of Charles Presnell, 198.5, of Fernley, NV by way of Masan City, South Korea. Fifty-six seconds into the first round Sanchez, 198, blasted a southpaw right hook to Presnell’s liver that momentarily left him paralyzed. Sanchez, who is managed by Lou Duva, was a class above his opponent. Sanchez raises his record to 2-0 (2 KO) while Presnell drops to 0-3.

Despite giving away 21 pounds to his opponent, New Jersey tough guy William “Big Will” Gill of Newark, NJ, 183, pitched an eight-round shutout over Chuck Berry, 204, of Philadelphia, NJ. Gill, who has a deceptive record despite his propensity to pull off upset wins, showed his class against his much bigger opponent. Gill frequently used his speed and power advantage while hitting his opponent seemingly at will. Berry showed plenty of heart and never stopped trying but it was Gill’s night.

Scores were 78-75, 77-76, and 79-72, all in favor of Gill, now 9-21 (7 KO) over Berry, now 4-8 (3 KO).

Unbeaten welterweight prospect Rashad Bogar, 147, of Newark, NJ picked up his second win in as many fights but it wasn’t easy. Rami Ibrahim, 145, of Philadelphia used every trick in the book and even a few some have never seen before to ruffle the 2007 Golden Gloves champ. It was Bogar who held the decisive edge in power, speed and technique and that was the difference. Ibrahim, a superstar in the Muay Thai community ranked number 3 in the world, drops to 2-8 while Bogar moves to 2-0 (1 KO).

The scores were identical at 39-37.

“Wild Thing” Ling books appointment with Solicitor

Earl “Wild Thing” Ling has an appointment with a solicitor on February 28th – and it’s guaranteed to come to blows. The Norwich cruiserweight will take to the ring in his hometown at the Norfolk Showground as he looks to end the unbeaten run of Dewsbury based solicitor Zahid Kahut.

It will be Ling’s first bout in over 3 years in a long career that stretches back to 1992 when he was a regular on Herbie Hide undercards in Norwich.

“To be honest sometimes it feels like I’ve been around since the pre war days never mind the Herbie Hide days,” joked the charismatic Ling. “When I made my debut back in 1992 boxing was booming in Norwich but I think it’s even better now at the moment, you have some very good fighters around. Take this next bill as an example, you have Jon Thaxton defending his European title and Danny McIntosh is another young guy coming through at Light Heavyweight. There’s a real buzz about the sport in Norwich again.”

Ling’s current record stands at 6 wins, 11 losses and 5 draws but he feels the bare stats don’t tell the whole story. “My record doesn’t look the best but quite a few of my defeats were down to injuries like cuts and even a broken ankle in one of my fights. In my last fight I ripped the anterior cruciate ligament in my right knee so I knocked it on the head after that but I’m feeling good at the moment and with boxing going so well in Norwich again I thought I’d comeback and give it one last go.”

Ling says he’s being realistic about his comeback ambitions and feels ending Kahut’s unbeaten record would be a good start. “I’m not coming back to win the world title or set the world alight but I’d like to have 2 or 3 fights and then fight for a minor title. I’m enjoying being back and although it’s a lot of hard work it’s also a lot of fun. I’ve no pretences about being a world beater but I’m always good value and I put a lot of bums on seats in Norwich because I’m an entertainer.

“They call me the ‘Wild Thing’ but I actually think I’m more a boxer than a fighter. Sometimes that goes out the window when I fight though and I’m nearly always in a good, exciting scrap. I’ll be 37 in March so a nice little win in Norwich would be an early birthday present.”

Ling’s time out of the ring in the last few years has allowed him to concentrate on his acting career and he will be hitting the big screen again in the summer.

“Acting is something I always wanted to do and I got my first role in 2003 playing a Russian hit man! I’ve been in a couple of BAFTA nominated films since and I play a guy called ‘Two Guns Tony’ in a Danny Dyer film coming out this summer called ‘Malice in Wonderland’. Obviously given my background I do tend to get typecast a bit so I normally end up playing the gangster or tough guy but I really enjoy it.”

Featuring on the exciting undercard: Danny McIntosh v Matthew Barney for the English Light Heavyweight Title (subject to Boards approval), also appearing New Heavyweight Sensation Tyson Fury, Matthew Thirlwall, Lee Purdy and making his pro debut, ABA Senior Featherweight Champion 2008 & awarded the best boxer of the night Royston’s Bradley Evans.

Tickets for Ling – Kahut which is part of the undercard of Jon Thaxton’s first European title defence at the Norfolk Showground, Norwich on the 28th February are available from the Ticketline box office on 0871 424 4444 or via www.ticketline.co.uk.

Kennedy vs. Villalobos March 6 at the Blue Horizon

Unbeaten super bantamweight Teon Kennedy, of North Philadelphia, will face his most experienced opponent as a pro when he boxes crowd-pleasing southpaw Paulino Villalobos, of Veracruz, Mexico, in an eight-round contest Friday evening, March 6, at the Legendary Blue Horizon, 1314 North Broad Street. First fight set for 7.30 pm.

Topping the seven-fight card will be Mike Jones’ first defense of his North American Boxing Association (NABA) welterweight title in a 10-round match with Larry Mosley, of Los Angeles, CA.

Kennedy, 22, won the 2004 National Golden Gloves flyweight championship. As a pro, he is 11-0, 5 K0s, with his biggest wins coming over Castulo Gonzalez, of Lowell, MA, by decision, and over Thomas Snow, of Washington, DC, by knockout.

In his last fight Nov. 14 at the New Alhambra in South Philadelphia, Kennedy pounded out a one-sided, six-round decision over Felipe Almanza, of Lorica, Colombia.

Villalobos, 37, is 27-39-2, 16 K0s, and he has fought some of the best. His list of foes is a virtual Who’s Who of flyweights and bantamweights: Antonio Escalante, Cruz Carbajal, Mike Oliver, Oscar Andrade, Nonito Donaire, Al Seeger, Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson and Melchor Cob Castro.

In his last fight July 18 in Tucson, AZ, Villalobos upset previously unbeaten (12-0-2) Jesus Ruiz, of Nogales, Mexico, scoring an eight-round decision.

Villalobos does well against unbeaten prospects. He is the only man to beat Puerto Rican prospect (5-0) Jonas Hernandez, earning a six-round decision on Jan. 26, 2007, in Cicero, IL. A p ro since 1989, Villalobos has been stopped just six times in 68 fights.

The March 6 card represents a return to the Blue Horizon after eight years for Hall-of-Fame promoter J Russell Peltz, who began his career there as a 22-year-old in 1969. He is promoting this card with Joe Hand Promotions, Inc.

Tickets for the March 6 card are priced at $45 and $60. They are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing Promotions, Inc. (215-765-0922) and at the offices of Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. (215-364-9000). They also can be purchased online at www.peltzboxing.com.

JESSE BRINKLEY AND JOEY GILBERT ARE ALL IN, CIVIL WAR, FEBRUARY 14TH IN RENO

“He never should have asked, he spent four years telling me no and then he calls and asks me to fight him. He never should have made the call because on Saturday, February 14th I’m going to show all of Northern Nevada who the king in town is” said super middleweight contender Jesse Brinkley, calling from his training camp in Pawtucket , Rhode Island .

Presented by Reno’s “Let’s Get It On” Promotions and Las Vegas based TKO BOXING Promotions, four years in the making since they both starred on The Contender Season One, super middleweights Jesse Brinkley and Joey Gilbert will battle at “CIVIL WAR” on Saturday, February 14th at the Reno Events Center . The twelve round showdown will be contested for Brinkley’s WBC USNBC world title.

“We should have fought right after The Contender, but he kept on dodging me. Now he must think that I’ve had all these fights that’s it’s a good time to fight me. The truth is, ‘he wasn’t good enough four years ago and he won’t be good enough on the 14th’” continued Brinkley. “He was always fighting guys from out of town and bringing them to Reno instead of fighting me.”

Countered Gilbert, “Maybe we should have fought then, but the truth is this is the perfect time. We both have a lot to win and lose. For me the shortest distance is a straight line, if I’m going to reach my goal of becoming a world champion I have to beat Brinkley.”

Brinkley has been training with Peter Manfredo Sr. in Pawtucket , Rhode Island in preparation for the showdown with Gilbert. “This is the best camp I’ve had. We sparred ten rounds today and it felt great. Normally, after a while in camp there’s always something wrong or that doesn’t feel right, but my body is in great shape for this fight.”

Responded Gilbert, “I feel outstanding, my training camp he been on point since day one. The fans have heard a lot about us for the last three years and they’re definitely going to get a great fight and I will be victorious.”

Hit back Brinkley, “It’s all about the ‘will to win’ and mine is much greater than his. One hundred years from now, all of Northern Nevada will remember that I kicked his butt. And there’s nothing he can do about it. Everything I’ve accomplished is on the line and there’s no way this guy wins next Saturday. Like they say in the casinos in Reno , ‘I’m all in’ with this fight.”

He’s underestimated me the whole time; he thinks this is a walk in the park. For him it will be more like a nightmare” concluded Gilbert. “He’s wanted to fight me since The Contender, well now he’s got his chance, all my chips are in the middle of the table.”

Brinkley, of Yerington , Nevada , brings a record of 32-5-0 (22KO’s) into the showdown with Gilbert. He is currently world ranked #13 by the IBF.

Reno’s Gilbert, has a record of 17-1-0 with thirteen knockouts.

Tickets, available through Ticketmaster and the Reno Events Center box office, for “CIVIL WAR” are priced at $253.25, $153.25, $78.25 and 43.25. A five dollar discount is available on tickets priced at $43.25 for students, active military, and police and fire department personnel with valid ID. Doors will open the night of the event at 6pm, with the first bell at 7pm.

Reno, Nevada based “Let’s Get It On” Promotions was founded in 2000 by legendary boxing referee Mills Lane . In early 2005 he was joined by sons Terry and Tommy in the operations of the company. Along with super middleweight contender Jesse Brinkley, “Let’s Get It On” Promotions also promotes lightweight prospect Bayan Jargal and highly regarded brothers Tyler and Derek Hinkey. They have consistently promoted world class boxing events on a national basis.

Further information on “Let’s Get It On” Promotions can be viewed at www.letsgetitonboxing.com

Formed in early 2008, Chet Koerner’s Las Vegas based TKO BOXING Promotions stable includes; super middleweight Joey Gilbert, middleweights Elvin Ayala, Albert Onolunose and James Countryman, junior middleweights Bastie Samir and Anthony Thompson, welterweight Juan Buendia and Raul Tovar, junior welterweights Jonathan Gover, Francisco Contreras and Hastings Bwayla, lightweights Rolando Reyes and Terrance Crawford, junior lightweight Katy Klinefelter, featherweights Matt Remillard, Carney Bowman, Delvin Placencia, Rafael Lora and Maxwell Awaku, super bantamweights Rafael Valenzuela and Carlos Reyes and bantamweight Emily Klinefelter.

Further information on TKO Boxing Promotions can be viewed at www.tkoboxingpromotions.com