Sunday, March 1, 2009

Latinos will box for title

ESPN2: IBF Latino 126 Beltran Jr.-Valtierra, March 20
Seconds Out Sat 28-Feb-2009

On Friday, March 20, Fernando Beltran Jr. will take on Aldo Valtierra for the vacant IBF Latino 126 lbs. belt, at the Laredo Entertainment Center in Laredo, TX, to be seen on ESPN2 FNF. Banner Promotions and Golden Gloves will present the boxing card.

In the main event scheduled for 12 rounds, Beltran Jr., 31-3-1 with 18 knockouts, of Culiacan, Mexico, will battle Valtierra, 25-10 with 13 knockouts, of Mexico City, Mexico.

Beltran, a 27 year-old lefthander who currently holds the IBO featherweight title, won that vacant title with a 12 round split decision against Takalani Ndlovu of South Africa in his last fight in August, 2008. It was a fast-paced, exciting fight and the momentum shifted back and forth. After six rounds, the fight was scored 58-56 Beltran, 57-57, 57-57, but Fernando rallied in the late rounds and finished the fight strongly. He swept the last three rounds on all three scorecards, although he was penalized one point for low blows in the tenth, and won by scores of 115-112, 115-112 Beltran, 114-113 Ndlovu.

Valtierra, a 38 year-old former WBC Central American super featherweight champion, has been in several exciting fights in recent years, and is coming off an impressive win in his last fight: in December, 2008, he won a 10 round majority decision against previously undefeated New York prospect Jorge Teron (22-0-1 at the time) on Teron’s home turf in New York City. Teron, at six-feet tall, had a five inch height advantage, but Aldo came on strongly in the late rounds to get the win.

In the co-featured bout scheduled for eight rounds, hard-hitting Russian jr. welterweight prospect Ruslan Provodnikov, 11-0 with 7 knockouts, of Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, will face an opponent to be announced.

2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrius Andrade, 2-0 with 2 knockouts, of Providence, Rhode Island, will also be featured on the card in a four-round jr. middleweight bout. Andrade is co-promoted by Joe DeGuardia/Star Boxing and Art Pelullo/Banner Promotions, and is considered by most observers to be the top prospect from the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

Promoters Arthur Pelullo/Banner Promotions and Rodney Berman/Golden Gloves will present a sensational championship fight card on Friday, March 20, 2009, at the Laredo Entertainment Center, located at 6700 Arena Boulevard in Laredo, Texas. The main event and other selected fights will be televised live on ESPN2, ESPN Desportes, their Spanish-Language Network, and ESPN 360.com. It will be the first championship fight card at the LEC since 2005 and the first time that ESPN has televised a fight card from the arena.

Roy Medina, Interim General Manager at LEC, said, “The Laredo Entertainment Center, SMG, and the City of Laredo are proud to work with Banner Promotions and ESPN to bring championship boxing back to Laredo, Texas. This is guaranteed to be an exciting night of boxing action, and with ticket prices starting at just $7, plus facility fee, everyone can afford to attend this spectacular event.”

Doug Loughrey, Director of ESPN Programming and Acquisitions, said, “We are very pleased to bring ESPN’s Friday Night Fights to Laredo, Texas, and serve a passionate audience of boxing fans. We expect to bring our viewers an energetic and electrified arena with this solid night of boxing simulcast on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com.”

Arthur Pelullo said, “We think this is going to be a terrific show for the fans in attendance and those watching on ESPN. In addition to a well-matched, competitive main event that features two Mexican warriors, the fans will get a good look at up-and-coming Russian prospect Ruslan Provodnikov and of course, 2008 Olympian Demetrius Andrade, who many of us feel is one of the top young prospects in the ring today.”

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