Oct. 22, 2013 – HBO Sports® debuts an all-new installment of “2 Days” when the feature segment returns Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 10:15 p.m. (ET/PT) with a behind-the-scenes look at super middleweight sensation Andre Ward, one of boxing’s elite pound-for-pound fighters.
“2 Days” is a revealing and intimate look at a 48-hour span in the life of a boxer in the lead-up to one of his fights and the next edition will focus on super middleweight champ Andre Ward. HBO cameras followed the engaging and compelling fighter prior to his showdown with 175-pound champ Chad Dawson in Oakland.
HBO air times include: Nov. 7 (12:30 p.m.), 9, (12:45 a.m.), 10 (12:15 a.m.), 11 (11:45 p.m.), 14, (1:15 p.m.), 15 (4:00 p.m.) and 16 (8:15 a.m.).
HBO 2 air times include: Nov. 6 (3:00 p.m., 10:15 p.m.) 8 (8:45 a.m.), 9, (4:45 p.m.), 10 (8:30 a.m., 2:10 a.m.), 12, (4:15 p.m., 9:45 p.m.), 13 (9:30 a.m.) and 23 (12:30 a.m.).
All times are ET/PT.
Ward is set to return to the ring on Saturday, Nov. 16 when he faces No. 1 contender Edwin Rodriguez in Ontario, CA on HBO World Championship Boxing®.
“2 Days” will also be available on the HBO On Demand® service, HBO GO® and at www.hbo.com/boxing as well as various other new media platforms that distribute the series.
Oliver, Vincent return to Foxwoods
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Oct. 22nd, 2013) — Two of Connecticut’s most accomplished fighters are set to return to their stomping grounds next weekend to headline one of the deepest Pro-Am boxing events of the year.
Former world champion Mike Oliver (26-5, 8 KOs) of Hartford and undefeated female bantamweight Shelito Vincent (9-0) of New London will star in “The Connecticut Classic,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013 at the Fox Theater.
Oliver, who recently captured the North American Boxing Association (NABA) featherweight title, will face another tough test next weekend when he battles Philadelphia’s Cornelius Lock (21-6-1, 13 KOs) in the eight-round main event, while Vincent will put her unbeaten record on the line in the six-round co-feature against undefeated Canadian prospect Alisah McPhee (2-0) of British Columbia.
“The Connecticut Classic” features five professional bouts and six additional amateur bouts. Tickets are priced at $30.00, $50.00 and $100.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesboxing.com or www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at 401-724-2253/2254 or at the Fox Theater box office.
Both Oliver and Lock are coming off wins; Lock, a former North American Boxing Organization (NABO) featherweight champion, ended a three-year layoff with back-to-back wins in January and May, the latter by unanimous decision against Lonnie Smith in Detroit, while Oliver captured the NABA belt in September with a win over Eric Hunter via disqualification. The diminutive southpaw Oliver now has two titles on his resume; he won International Boxing Organization (IBO) world super bantamweight championship in 2007.
McPhee, a full-time elementary school teacher in British Columbia, will make her United States debut next weekend against Vincent. Undefeated as an amateur, McPhee made her debut in December against former Canadian National Team member and two-time bronze medalist Jaime Ward and beat her by split decision in a five-round bout. This will be Vincent’s first fight since May when she beat Angel Gladney by unanimous decision to capture the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) International title.
The undercard of “The Connecticut Classic” also features a four-round welterweight bout between Jimmy Williams (4-0-1, 2 KOs) of New Haven and veteran Evincii Dixon (2-2-1, 1 KO) of Lancaster, Pa., and a highly-anticipated four-round intra-state showdown between light middleweights Joe Wilson Jr. (1-0) of Hartford and New Haven’s Christian Lao (4-2, 2 KOs). Female flyweight Marcia Agripino (1-0) will make her Foxwoods debut against former New York State Champion Michelle Cook of Massena.
The amateur portion of “The Connecticut Classic” is loaded with bouts featuring several of New England’s top-ranked lightweights and middleweights, including light heavyweight Elvis Figueroa of New Haven’s Boxing In Faith Gym facing Bobby Harris Jr., of Worcester, Mass., the son of former Worcester heavyweight Bobby Harris. Middleweight Godfrey Campbell of New Haven’s Elephant In The Room Boxing Club will battle Jonathan Figueroa from Coondog Boxing in Meriden, Conn., and middleweight Deydrei Montalvo of the Montalvo Boxing Association in Stamford, Conn., facing Mohammad Allen of Martinez Boxing in New Britain, Conn. In the lightweight division, William Foster (BIF) will face Worcester’s Jermaine Ortiz; Victor DeJesus (Martinez Boxing) will take on Roberto Vega of Whaling City Boxing in New London; and Izaih Melendez of Sweet Science Boxing of East Hartford, Conn., will battle Edgar Figueroa of Hartford’s Bright Futures Youth Center. All amateur bouts are open division bouts with three-minute rounds, with the exception of the Montalvo-Allen bout, which is a novice bout at two minutes per round. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Mangiacapre and Selby dance to victory
Almaty, Kazakhstan, October 22, 2013 – The two star boxers covered the entire repertoire between them as the slipped, bobbed, and generally boogied their way through to the quarter-finals of the AIBA World Boxing Championships Almaty 2013.
Elsewhere we had a flash-TKO, a serious surprise and of course, a session of outstanding boxing in the last day of the preliminaries. This evening we had the pleasure of watching the Flyweights (52kg) and Welterweights (69kg) take to the ring.
Bout of the session
Ireland’s Flyweight Patrick Barnes faced strong opponent Simon Nzioki of Kenya in order to progress to the quarter-finals and stunned the arena when he knocked his opponent down with a huge left hook that was timed to perfection. His opponent almost ran into the blow which dropped him almost exactly on the one minute mark of the very first round. “I’ve been mixing my training up and trying different things in the build-up to Rio. But I’m feeling strong”, said the Irishman. “Becoming World Champion is more important to me than the Olympics”.
APB boxer of the session
Welshman Andrew Selby took on Gerardo Tejeria of Cuba at Flyweight. This one was always going to be good and round one was an extremely fast affair indeed. Selby as ever looked bouncy on his toes, while the Cuban took the centre of the ring. As a boxer who can switch stance, Selby made excellent use of the space available to him while the Cuban looked solid in the exchanges. The Celtic boxer was too mobile for Tejeria to really pin down hit however. Towards the end of the second, the Cuban finally cornered the former British Lionhearts boxer and managed to vent some of his frustration. Selby looked good again going into the third. He even felt confident enough to begin some of his usual fancy footwork and showboating. For all that he is fast, he is not immune to getting caught though and Tejeria would occasionally clip him as he tried to slip away. Selby became increasingly flamboyant as the final round went on and he literally danced rings around his opponent. Love it or loath it, Selby was able to pull it off. “I said after my last fight that I didn’t box that well but I was happy with that one”, said the Welshman. “As the tournament goes on, I’ll be getting better and better. He is a very good boxer but in the end I made him look ordinary”. In response to criticism of his antics, he explained: “I don’t dance around to be an arrogant person; I do it because it frustrates the [opposition] boxer and forces them to make mistakes. Then we are friends afterwards. That’s the way I’ve always been”.
WSB boxer of the session
In a good day for the Dolce & Gabbana Italia Thunder Boxers, Vincenzo Mangiacapre took to the ring against Azeri Parviz Baghirov at Welterweight. The Italian is looking very sharp and was clearly the more comfortable of the two athletes in the ring. At times, his opponent seemed completely unable to hit him. A fact that was made more emphatic by the Italian’s insistence on boxing with his arms completely by his sides; until he got caught with a punch straight on the nose, then for a while he boxed with a normal guard while he regrouped from the shock. Clearly, this psychological effort didn’t take too long as his hands were back down below his belt line shortly after. The Italian probably went a little too far with this risk taking but got away with it this time. Of course if you do manage to pull it off, then it’s clear that you completely out classed your opponent, which is why the Italian won 3:0. For sheer crazy confidence, he was the WSB boxer of the session as well.
Surprise of the session
Marvin Cabrera from the Mexico Guerreros took on Aram Amirkhanyan from Armenia. Both boxers had a careful first round, feeling each other out without taking too many risks. But round two started a little more brightly. The two southpaws still didn’t fully open up however. At this stage, I think it’s fair to point out, albeit in a somewhat self-congratulatory way, that we did pick Amirkhanyan as one to watch in the early days of the competition, and we were proved right (so make sure you are paying attention from here on). The Armenian totally stuffed the Mexican’s game, preventing him from boxing normally. So having started far too slowly, the Guerrero was unable to make up the lost ground and lost a split decision to the Armenian.
One to watch
Admittedly spotting hot prospects is becoming a little more obvious now we are already going into the quarter-finals. However, Alexander Besputin has impressed many in the media section here in Kazakhstan. Several journalists are already discussing his chances and giving each other knowing nods when his name is announced. The truth is that he just seems to be a cut above the rest in his category. Extremely strong, fast and with a good technical brain, Besputin is certainly very dangerous as he proved again in his bout today against Serdar Hudayberdiyev of Turkmenistan at Welterweight. Whether or not he goes all the way, he still produces wonderful boxing that is fantastic to watch, so make sure you don’t miss him in his next outing.
Fact/Stat of the session
Fast though it was (at one minute), Patrick Barnes’ knockdown win was actually only the second fastest win so far this year (sorry Paddy). Astonishingly, Cuban Heavyweight (91kg) boxer Erislandy Savon dropped his first round opponent Jinho Heo of Korea in less than thirty seconds for a TKO victory.
Tomorrow
The first quarter-final matches take place across all weight categories, so be sure to tune in.