CLEVELAND, Ohio (nod32)- Legendary international boxing promoter Don King (pictured), also publisher of the Call and Post Newspaper, a Black weekly with distributions in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, will bring a nationally televised (live on Showtime's ShoBox Series, 10:45 p.m. ET/PT) boxing extravaganza to Cleveland on Feb. 21 at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University. Featured on the card is Angelo Santana (14-1, 11 KOs) vs. Hank Lundy (23-3-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight main event. Tickets are priced slightly below what premier boxing matches go for and are $38, $78, and $128, and can be purchased through the Wolstein Center box office, www.wolsteincenter.com or charged-by-phone at (877) 468-4946. Doors open at 7 pm.
Call and Post Associate Publisher and Executive Editor Connie Harper said that the military and students can get tickets two-for-one.
Santana is a Cuban southpaw out of Miami, Florida whose father and uncle were champion boxers. Lundy, who is Black and grew up in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, is the former North American Boxing Federation (NABF) and North American Boxing Organization (NABO) lightweight champion and the No. 13-ranked fighter among light welterweights in the World Boxing Council (WBC)
"I'm going to beat the hell out of him," said Santana,25, referencing Lundy and Friday's match up in Cleveland.
The veteran Lundy, 30, said that "when I get in the ring with this guy its going to be blood, sweat and hurt, mark my words."
Opening the boxing telecast will be a 10-round super lightweight bout featuring one of the most exciting prospects in boxing, Amir 'Young Master' Imam (12-0, 11 KOs), and Jared 'The Quiet Storm' Robinson (14-0, 6 KOs) in what is billed as "a battle of unbeatens. "
Sponsored by Don King Productions out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, King's boxing company, these are the first fights for King in Cleveland since April of 2006 when Siarhei Liakhovich captured the WBO heavyweight title over Lamon Brewster.
King held a press conference in Cleveland last week with Mayor Frank Jackson and his close allies, Cleveland Attorneys Clarence Rogers and George Forbes, a former city council president and part time local attorney who is legal counsel for the Call and Post.
Also at the City Hall press announcement on the fight were area Black clergy, including Cleveland Chapter Southern Christian Leadership Conference Executive Director the Rev. Dr. E. Theophilus Caviness, also first vice president of the Cleveland Chapter NAACP, and Bishop F.E. Perry, pastor at the Cathedral Church of God in Christ in Cleveland and second vice president of the Cleveland NAACP.
"I grew up here, was educated here, "said King, with the mayor adding that "this is the beginning of what we hope are a series of fights."
King, 82, is a multi-millionaire and native Clevelander who graduated from John Adams High School in Cleveland and briefly attended Kent State University. He has promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez, Ricardo Mayorga, Andrew Golota, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones, Jr. and Marco Antonio Barrera. His highlights include "Thrilla in Manila" and "The Rumble in the Jungle," in which heavyweight Muhammad Ali, boxing's all time greatest, regained his crown from George Foreman. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com) (nod32)
