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08/11/2005 Archived Entry: "Four World Titles on Line at United Center on Saturday"
Four World Titles on Line at United Center on Saturday
WBC Interim Heavyweight Championship: Former World Heavyweight Champion Hasim ‘The Rock’ Rahman vs. No. 2-Ranked Contender Monte ‘Two Gunz’ Barrett
CHICAGO—The plot thickened surrounding Don King’s Global Glory pay-per-view event at the United Center on Saturday (Aug. 13, 2005) after the World Boxing Council ruled on July 15 that the winner of the card’s main event—Hasim “The Rock” Rahman vs. Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett—will next face Vitali Klitschko in a WBC heavyweight title match.
The WBC sanctioned Rahman vs. Barrett as an interim WBC heavyweight championship after Klitschko, the WBC heavyweight champion, postponed three matches with Rahman: April 30 (postponed due to Vitali’s jogging “thigh injury”); June 18 (postponed as Vitali needed more time to recover from “jogging injury”); and July 23 (Vitali’s “thigh injury” spread to his back, necessitating “minor back surgery”) on April 19.
The WBC sent another strong message to Klitschko in its July 15 ruling when its Board of Governors rejected Klitschko’s petition to fight another optional defense on Sept. 24 rather than face Rahman, his mandatory challenger. Now Klitschko must face the winner of Rahman vs. Barrett.
Rahman is the former unified heavyweight world champion and current World Boxing Council No. 1-ranked heavyweight contender. Barrett is the WBC No. 2-ranked contender.
Three additional world title fights will be on the card as well as a heavyweight bout with world title ramifications: Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga will square off against former International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Michele Piccirillo for the vacant WBC super welterweight championship; World Boxing Association welterweight titlist Luis Collazo will defend his title against former world champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez; WBA interim super welterweight champion Alejandro “Terra” Garcia will take on Luca “Bergamo Bomber” Messi; and a special heavyweight attraction featuring former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver “The Atomic Bull” McCall facing former European heavyweight champion Przemyslaw “Chemek” Saleta.
Tickets priced at $25, $50, $100, $150, $250 and $400 can be purchased at the United Center Box Office, www.ticketmaster.com, and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling (312) 559-1212. The event is being promoted by Don King Productions in association with the United Center.
Rahman, (40-5, 33 KOs) from Baltimore, Md., now living and training in Las Vegas, reached the pinnacle of his career when he shocked unified world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and the world on April 22, 2001, with a fifth-round knockout punch in Carnival City, South Africa.
The newly crowned WBC and International Boxing Federation titlist was contractually obligated to give Lewis an immediate rematch, which was held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Nov. 17, 2001.
Rahman deviated from the game plan that had served him so well in South Africa months earlier, and Lewis went on to win the fight by way of knockout in round four.
Rahman went on to face Evander Holyfield, David Tua and John Ruiz with mixed results. Long considered by many to be the most physically gifted athlete in the heavyweight division, Rahman, 32, recently re-dedicated himself to the sport. In his last appearance he weighed in at his best weight since defeating Lewis, a trim 232 pounds. The result was a fourth-round technical knockout over Australian Kali “Checkmate” Meehan on Nov. 13 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Barrett, (31-3, 17 KOs) from Queens, N.Y., arrives at his first world title appearance coming off impressive back-to-back wins over previously undefeated foes, both of whom were 24-0 before facing Barrett. He won a decision over Dominick Guinn in Hot Springs, Ark., on March 27, 2004, and scored a ninth-round technical knockout over Owen “What the Heck” Beck on Feb. 5 in St. Louis.
Barrett, 34, is also a seasoned veteran like Rahman whose only losses have come against top-notch contenders Lance “Mount” Whitaker (split decision, 1999), Wladimir Klitschko (KO, 2000) and “Baby Joe” Mesi (majority decision, 2003).
WBC Super Welterweight Championship:
Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga vs. Michele Piccirillo
The former unified world welterweight champion Mayorga and former IBF welterweight champion Piccirillo will vie for the vacant WBC 154-pound championship. The colorful Mayorga (27-5-1, 23 KOs), a beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking and hard-punching boxer from Nicaragua, has delighted fans with his free-spirited training regimen and his macho boxing style. Mayorga’s manager Carl King was successful in convincing Mayorga to bring in Yoel Judah, father and trainer of undisputed world welterweight champion Zab “Super” Judah, to co-train Mayorga along with Luis Leon.
One of Mayorga’s favorite antics is to drop his gloves to his waist and allow his opponent to hit him on the chin with their best shots. Mayorga did this to Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis before relieving him of his WBA welterweight crown and against Vernon “The Viper” Forest before defeating him, twice, to pick up the WBC welterweight title.
In Mayorga’s last appearance on Oct. 2, 2004, he participated in one of the great slugfests of the year when he faced the legendary knockout artist Felix “Tito” Trinidad at Madison Square Garden. “El Matador” knocked Trinidad down in round three, but Trinidad outlasted Mayorga to prevail by technical knockout in the eighth round.
Piccirillo (44-2, 28 KOs), from Italy, won the 140-pound Italian championship in 1996 and won the European Boxing Union welterweight title in 1997. He successfully defended his EBU crown eight times before defeating Cory “The Next Generation” Spinks to win the vacant International Boxing Federation championship.
Spinks won in the immediate rematch by unanimous decision. Piccirillo then moved up to super welterweight and is currently riding a seven fight winning streak.
WBA Super Welterweight Championship:
Alejandro “Terra” Garcia vs. Luca “Bergamo Bomber” Messi
WBA interim super welterweight champion Garcia will defend his title against Italian native Messi. Garcia, (24-1, 23 KOs) from Tijuana, Mexico, won the interim title in Chicago on May 21 in a terrific fight, his second meeting with Roshii “The Mongoose” Wells.
The heavy-handed Garcia decked Wells in round eight and disposed of his game foe by way of technical knockout near the end of round nine.
Messi, (28-5-1, 12 KOs) from Bergamo, is currently the Italian 154-pound champion and held the WBA International welterweight title in 2002. This will be the biggest fight of his career, his first appearance in America, and only his second appearance outside of Italy.
WBA Welterweight Championship:
Luis Collazo vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez
WBA welterweight champion Collazo (Zab Judah has been anointed a WBA Super Champion) will defend his title against former WBC lightweight champion Gonzalez.
Collazo made the fateful decision to take his first world title fight on three weeks’ notice when WBA welterweight champion Jose Antonio Rivera’s opponent scratched just before their April 2 meeting.
If that weren’t daunting enough for Collazo (25-1, 11 KOs), a proud Puerto Rican from Queens, N.Y., the fight took place in Rivera’s hometown of Worcester, Mass. The brave challenger battled Rivera for the full 12 rounds, always seeming to give more than he took, and was rewarded with a split-decision victory and his first world title.
Gonzalez (49-4-1, 39 KOs) is a Mexican legend who has battled many greats during his career including Julio Cesar Chavez, “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya, Kostya Tszyu and Cory Spinks.
Special Heavyweight Attraction:
Oliver “Atomic Bull” McCall vs. Przemyslaw “Chemek” Saleta
Saleta had been scheduled to face Andrew Golota in a Polish super-fight until Golota sustained a training injury that forced him to withdraw from the match. Former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver “The Atomic Bull” McCall was already scheduled to appear on the card and agreed, on just 11 days notice, to switch opponents to jump in the ring against Saleta in a special heavyweight attraction scheduled for 10 rounds.
Golota was sparring at the Windy City Gym on Aug. 1 when his opponent hit him with a left hook that caused Golota’s headgear to stretch and tear his right eyelid. He was taken to New Horizon Clinic in Skokie, Il., where Dr. Gregory Turowski administered eight stitches inside the eyelid and 10 stitches to the outside of the eyelid to close the cut.
McCall (44-8, 31 KOs) became heavyweight world champion by scoring a second-round technical knockout over then WBC champion Lennox Lewis in 1994. Always a dangerous puncher, McCall has also scored wins over Larry Holmes, Oleg Maskaev and Henry Akinwande.
On Nov. 13, McCall fought heavyweight contender DaVarryl Williamson at Madison Square Garden in New York. McCall lost a close decision to Williamson, who recently earned the right to be the current mandatory challenger to IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd.
Saleta, (42-6, 21 KOs) from Warsaw, was the first Polish fighter to turn professional in 1991. He had been a national, European and world kickboxing champion as both an amateur and professional prior to that time. He met and defeated Vitali Klitschko while a kickboxer.
Saleta lived in Florida and trained under the legendary Angelo Dundee from 1992 to 1996. He became the WBC International cruiserweight champion in 1994 before moving to heavyweight the following year.
His career highlight occurred when he became the first and only Polish fighter to become European heavyweight champion when he scored a ninth-round technical knockout over then-undefeated Luan Krasniqi in Dortmund, Germany on July 20, 2002. Krasniqi defeated Lance “Mount” Whitaker on May 28 in a World Boxing Organization elimination bout, and will face heavyweight champion “Relentless” Lamon Brewster in Germany on Sept. 28.
Saleta’s movie star looks and endorsement deals have made him a media darling in Poland where he hosts numerous television and radio shows while often gracing the covers of female-appeal magazines.
His first wife was a model, his soon-to-be ex-wife posed for the Polish edition Playboy, and his current girlfriend, 21-year-old Kasia Kraszewska, was the cover girl and Playmate of the Month in the March issue of the Polish edition of Playboy. She shot a Playmate test in Chicago on July 19 for the U.S. edition of Playboy.
Global Glory is being promoted by Don King Productions in association with the United Center and will be produced for television broadcast by KingVision and domestically distributed by SHOWTIME Pay Per View at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Saturday (Aug. 13, 2005) with a suggested retail price of $39.95 and is being distributed internationally by DK International Sales, a division of Don King Productions.
