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03/05/2005 Archived Entry: "Worcester (MA) to Host Two World Title Fights on April 2"
Worcester (MA) to Host Two World Title Fights on April 2
WBC Champion Wayne “Big Truck” Braithwaite Faces WBA Champion Jean-MarcMormeck in a Cruiserweight World Title Unification Match; WBA WelterweightChampion Jose Antonio Rivera Meets No. 1 Contender Thomas “Lionheart”Damgaard
WORCESTER, Mass.—Two world title matches with international and local flairwill be presented by Don King Productions at the DCU Center on April 2 whenWorld Boxing Council champion Wayne “Big Truck” Braithwaite meets WorldBoxing Association champion Jean-Marc Mormeck in a cruiserweight world titleunification match while local star and WBA welterweight champion JoseAntonio Rivera makes his first world title defense against undefeated No. 1mandatory contender Thomas “Lionheart” Damgaard.
Tickets priced at $35, $50, $100 and $250 go on sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. atthe DCU Center Box Office, all area Ticketmaster locations, online atticketmaster.com, or charge by phone at (617) 931-2000 or (617) 228-6000.All tickets are subject to a $.50 facility fee.
“I’m bringing boxing back to the people,” promoter Don King said inreference to these world title fights being staged in Worcester. “We’ve goteverything you would want in a fight card from international world championsand top contenders to Worcester’s own welterweight world champion JoseAntonio Rivera.”
Both Braithwaite (21-0, 17 KOs), from Georgetown, Guyana, now fighting outof Brooklyn, N.Y., and Mormeck (30-2, 21 KOs), from Noisy-le-Grand, France,are undefeated and will square off at the 200-pound cruiserweight limit in awinner-takes-all match with two world titles on the line. This will be theonly fight on the card to be featured on the SHOWTIME Championship Boxingtelecast.
Braithwaite has won 15 out of his last 16 bouts by knockout and will makethe fourth defense of the title he won with a 10th-round technical knockoutof Vincenzo Cantatore on Oct. 11, 2002. A national hero in Guyana,Braithwaite won a unanimous 12-round decision over Louis “The Lion” Azille,in his last appearance on April 17, 2004.
“I want to unify the belts,” Braithwaite said. “I am ‘the man’ in thedivision, and if I have to go through everybody to prove it, I will. This isa division that needs a spark, and I am it.
“I am not worried about him at all. He is a very strong fighter, but he doesnot know how to move his head. He has got only one style. He is not acomplete fighter. My best quality is that I can fight both ways. I haveskills. I am a boxer-puncher. He has never fought anyone who moves or hashand speed like me.
“I am going to make Mormeck’s big head a punching bag. I guarantee that Iwill still be undefeated after the fight. But, I am not going to box him. Iam going to knock him out.’’
The explosive Mormeck has won 27 consecutive fights and won his belt bydefeating champion Virgil Hill to capture the WBA title on Feb. 23, 2002. Mormeck joined Anaclet Wamba, Taoufik Belbouli and Fabrice Tiozzo as theonly boxers from France to win a cruiserweight world title. In his laststart, the warrior retained his belt for a third time by registering a12-round unanimous decision over four-time world champion Hill in a rematchon May 22, 2004, in Carnival City, South Africa.
Rivera has lived in Worcester since he was 16, and his manager Steve “Tank”Tankanow is a native. Rivera became world champion by winning a majoritydecision over Michel Trabant in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 13, 2003.
Rivera had planned to make his first title defense against former unifiedwelterweight world champion Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga in New York’sMadison Square Garden on April 17, 2004, but Mayorga was unable to make the147-pound weight limit. Rivera subsequently suffered a hand injury whiletraining to meet Damgaard, which delayed this mandatory defense of his worldtitle until now.
“My dream was to become a world champion and to then defend my title inWorcester, so this is a dream come true,” Rivera said.
Rivera will receive a stiff challenge from the undefeated Daamgard (34-0, 26KOs), who hails from Kalunborg, Denmark. His unblemished record has earnedhim the WBA’s No. 1 mandatory contender position. This will be the firstworld title fight for the southpaw, who has won numerous international andEuropean titles while scoring an impressive 26 wins by knockout.
Another fight with world title ramifications will take place in anInternational Boxing Federation junior middleweight elimination bout pittingleading IBF contender Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin (32-1-1, 21 KOs), fromSt. Petersburg, Russia, against two-time middleweight world champion KeithHolmes, from Washington, D.C.
Additional undercard attractions will be announced soon.
