| |
|
|
Lundy vs. Ayala Headlines
ESPN2 On March 30
Both Elvin Ayala and “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy have reached the
point in their careers where they can no longer hide behind
past accomplishments without facing each test the sport of
boxing has to offer.
On Friday, March 30th, 2012 at Foxwoods Resort Casino’s MGM
Grand Theater, Ayala and Lundy will put their belts – and
reputations – on the line at “All In,” presented by Jimmy
Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports and broadcasted
live in front of a worldwide audience on ESPN2’s “Friday
Night Fights.”
Ayala (24-5-1, 11 KOs), the New Haven, Conn., native
currently ranked No. 16 in the World Boxing Council (WBC),
will defend his WBC U.S. National Boxing Council (USNBC)
middleweight title against Hector Camacho Jr. (53-4-1, 28
KOs), the son of former four-time world champion Hector
“Macho” Camacho Sr., in the 10-round co-feature while Lundy
(21-1-1, 11 KOs) – ranked No. 4 in the WBC – will defend his
North American Boxing Federation (NABF) lightweight title
against No. 11-ranked “Dangerous” Dannie Williams (21-1, 17
KOs), the NABF’s No. 1 contender, in the 10-round main
event.
“‘All In’ is an appropriate title, because these two ring
warriors are putting everything on the line and going all in
on March 30th at the beautiful MGM Grand Theater,”
Burchfield said. “This is what boxing, and network
television, needs – two title-holders with everything to
lose willing to face anyone at any given time.
“Elvin Ayala and Hank Lundy are two of the sport’s brightest
stars, both on the path to championship glory, but Hector
Camacho Jr. and Dannie Williams are coming to fight,
promising to make this the must-see boxing event of the
year.”
Ayala is looking to make a big splash in his 2012 debut
after finishing 4-0 in 2011, including a win over former
“Contender” reality television star Derrick Findley on July
29th to capture the WBC USNBC title. In addition to winning
the belt, Ayala rose to No. 16 in the rankings, all just 12
months after suffering a first-round knockout loss to David
Lemieux on national television.
Camacho Jr. is looking to derail Ayala’s path to a
world-title bout. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native, who
lives and trains in Orlando, Fla., bounced back from a 2010
loss to Lemieux – ironically by first-round knockout – by
beating former title-contender Juan Astorga in February of
2011, but will be fighting for just the second time in 16
months when he faces Ayala in March.
Camacho Sr. won 79 bouts and four world titles in his
remarkable 30-year career, which ended recently in June of
2010, just 10 days before his 48th birthday. Among his most
notable bouts are his thrilling, split-decision win over
Edwin Rosario to capture the vacant WBC light welterweight
in 1986 and his split-decision win over Greg Haugen in 1991
to recapture the World Boxing Organization (WBO) light
welterweight title. Camacho Sr. also beat Providence’s Vinny
Paz in a WBO title defense in 1990 and sent “Sugar” Ray
Leonard, then 41, into permanent retirement via fifth-round
knockout in 1997.
Camacho Jr. is carving a similar niche as a fighter with a
heavy workload; the 33-year-old southpaw began his
professional career at 18 and has fought 58 times in just 15
years. In a rare showcase six years ago, Camacho Jr. and his
father fought on the same card in Tucson, Ariz., with
Camacho Jr. defeating Francisco Barra and Camacho Sr.
beating Raul Munoz by unanimous decision. Camacho Jr. also
beat Hartford’s Israel “Pito” Cardona for the vacant WBC
Caribbean Boxing Federation light middleweight title in
1990, earning him a brief stay among the Top 10 fighters in
the world, and also won the United States Boxing
Organization (USBO) welterweight title in 2002 with a win
over Arturo Urena. He had won nine consecutive bouts – three
by knockout – prior to his loss to Lemieux in 2010.
The main event of “All In” features a highly-anticipated
showdown between two heated rivals in the lightweight
division. Williams recently caught Lundy’s attention in
December when he threatened to “hurt” the Philadelphia
native if the two were to face one another.
“This has to stop,” Lundy said in December. “I’ve proven
myself time and time again on the road. Now y’all have to
come to me. I went out to Chicago and knocked out the former
world champ [David Diaz on Aug. 9]. What more do I have to
do to get respect? So, if y’all aren’t coming to
Philadelphia, Rhode Island, or Connecticut to fight ‘Hammerin’’
Hank, then we don’t have a fight. I’m tired of going into
people’s backyards. It is what it is.”
Lundy has won three consecutive bouts since his first and
only loss to John Molina Jr. in 2010. Among the victims were
former two-time Venezuelan Olympian Patrick Lopez, whom
Lundy beat for the then-vacant NABF title at Foxwoods in
April in front of a worldwide audience on ESPN2’s “Friday
Night Fights,” and the former world champion Diaz, whom he
knocked out in Chicago in the 2011 season finale of “Friday
Night Fights.”
Since 2010, Lundy has won five of six overall during a
stretch that includes trips to Chicago, Memphis, Boston,
Rhode Island, Montreal and Connecticut. The combined record
of his opponents during that stretch is a remarkable
120-9-3. The first bout of that stretch was a split-decision
win over Richard Abril, the reigning World Boxing
Association (WBA) world lightweight champion. March 30th
will be Lundy’s sixth consecutive bout on ESPN.
Williams has been equally active since the start of 2010,
winning nine consecutive bouts, including a first-round
knockout win over Manuel Leyva, who was 18-2 at the time, in
May for the vacant WBC Continental Americas lightweight
title, and a fourth-round knockout win in August over
Antonio Cervantes on the undercard of ESPN2’s “Friday Night
Fights” telecast in St. Louis.
Tickets for “All In” are $40.00, $65.00, and $125.00 (VIP
ringside) and can be purchased by calling CES at
401.724.2253/2254, or the Foxwoods box office at
800.200.2882, online at
www.cesboxing.com or
www.foxwoods.com. Doors open 6 p.m. with the first bout
scheduled for 7.
|
|
|
