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Manfredo will fight for world title on Nov. 13 |
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Monday, 20 October 2008 |
By ERIC BENEVIDES
Sports writer
PROVIDENCE --- Peter Manfredo Jr. is getting another shot at a world title.
And "The Pride of Providence" will fight for it in his backyard.
Manfredo Jr., who was the runner-up of "The Contender I" reality TV show, will take on Australia's Sakio Bika, who was the winner of "The Contender III" series, for the vacant International Boxing Organization (IBO) super middleweight championship in the 12-round main event of the “Tough & Tested" show (co-promoted by the "Tournament of Contenders" and Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc.) on Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
This show, which will air live on VERSUS, will feature five alumni from the three series of “The Contender” in the top three fights. In addition to Manfredo and Bika's fight, "The Contender II" series winner Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer will take on "The Contender II" fan favorite Cornelius “K9” Bundrage in an IBO light middleweight title eliminator in the co-feature, and "The Contender III" runner-up Jaidon “The Don” Codrington will duel an opponent to be determined in a 'Special Attraction' super middleweight affair.
This will be first major world title fight in Providence since Oct. 1, 1991, when at the then-called Providence Civic Center, Vinny Paz recorded a 12th-round TKO of Gilbert Dele to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight championship, one of five world titles won by the Cranston native.
It will also be one of the biggest fights in Manfredo's career, and the Manfredo's Gym product and two-time world title challenger wants to puts forth a magnificent performance in front of his home fans.
"I'm more focused on winning the fight more than anything else," said Manfredo during a small press conference at Dave & Buster's in the Providence Place Mall. "It's do or die for me. If Sakio beats me, he'll be the better man that night and that's it, but I'm going in there to beat him up and win this fight. It's a big opportunity for me, and believe me, we're not going to let this one go."
Manfredo is facing a tough customer in Bika (26-3-2, 16 KOs), a member of Cameroon's 2000 Olympic team who currently resides outside Sydney, Australia and is the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Pan Pacific champion. Bika, who is ranked fifth by the IBF and eighth by "The Ring" Magazine, seized "The Contender III" title with an eighth-round TKO of Codrington in last Nov. 6's championship fight at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.
"I think I can beat him in every aspect of the game," said Manfredo, who is 31-5 (16 KOs), the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) Interim champion, and ranked 13th in the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings. "I can box him, I can brawl him. He's big and strong, but he's wide with every shot. He doesn't move his head, and a lot my punches are short and sharp, so I have to catch him when he's winding up or go under and make his miss a lot."
A big plus for Manfredo is landing the bout at home and not having to deal with the aggravation of flying halfway across the globe to the Land Down Under. And he has never lost a fight in Rhode Island -- Manfredo's 16-0 (10 KOs), and that includes a 3-0 (3 KOs) mark in the friendly confines of the Dunk.
"I don't care where it is," added Manfredo. "If the fight was in Australia, I would have went there. I didn't lobby for it to be here, but I'm extremely happy it is here. He's not a ticket seller, and if the fight was in Australia, it would have probably been in front of 3,000 people. It will be big to sell (the Dunk) out -- the more people the merrier -- but the bottom line is to bring a world championship home.
"If it doesn't happen now, I don't think it will ever happen. I think Sakio is a very tough, durable opponent. I respect him as a person to come here and fight me, but I don't respect, his power, his speed, or how tough he is, and if I can't beat a guy like this, then I don't think that I will ever become a world champion."
The 10-round co-feature also promises to be an entertaining battle. Brewer (23-11, 13 KOs) is a former International Boxing Association (IBA) light middleweight champion, and Bundrage (28-3, 16 KOs), is ranked 12th in the International Boxing Federation (IBO).
The undercard will also featured some of New England’s most talented fighters and is highlighted by Codrington (10-2, 14 KOs), who is a Bridgeport, Conn. native. Two local light welterweights will fight in separate four-round fights, Providence's Jesus Caro (2-0, 2 KOs) of Manfredo Gym and Pawtucket's Diego Periera (1-0, 1 KO), and also scheduled to fight are WBC World Youth and USNBC featherweight champion Matt “Sharp Shooter” Remillard (15-0, 8 KOs) of Manchester, Conn. and super flyweight Isander “Peachy” Beauchamp (5-0, 2 KOs) of Lynn, Mass.
The "Tough & Tested" show will also benefit the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation (www.gloriagemma.org), and the promoters are calling for a ‘Pink Out’ and hoping that the fans wear something colored pink to show their support for this cause. A portion of the proceeds from ticket and T-shirt sales will go to the Gloria Gemma Foundation for research into early breast cancer detection.
The tickets are priced at $18, $23, $58, $79, $107, and $222 and on sale at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center box office or through CES at 724-2253/2254 or online at www.cesboxing.com. Tickets are also on sale through www.Ticketmaster.com and at all local Ticketmaster outlets, as well as Manfredo’s Gym on Conant Street in Pawtucket (723-1359), Elite MMA on Smithfield Avenue in Pawtucket (728-1356). and Balletto’s Gym in Providence (641-9994). Every paid ticket holder will also receive a complimentary Dave & Buster’s $10 Power Card ($12 value) upon entry.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 22 October 2008 )
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