Rainone Wants to Have His Birthday Cake and Eat it Too!

Today being his 35th birthday and having just weighed in at a rough-and-ready 146.8 lbs. for his showdown against Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (24-0, 13 KOs), you would think that Long Island, New York's Tommy "The Razor" Rainone (22-5-1, 4 KOs) would want a victory over Harrison for his birthday gift. Wrong. "I want to eat!!!" said a hungry Rainone, after stepping off the scale. Rainone and Harrison (24-0, 13 KOs) will meet 10-round main-event showdown on music superstar Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports debut boxing card tomorrow (Friday, January 9), at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City and live on FOX Sports 1 (10PM ET/7PM PT). "Eating like a normal person again after this long training camp," is my gift to myself," continued Rainone. "Beating Hernandez-Harrison tomorrow night? That'll be my birthday cake!" Also featured on the card at MSG is, Rainone's GCP stable mate, Cecile McCalla, of Randallstown, Maryland, who will face South African southpaw Chris "The Heat" van Heerden (21-1-1, 11 KOs) for the IBF International Welterweight Championship. ### About Greg Cohen Promotions One of boxing's premier promotional outfits, Greg Cohen Promotions (GCP) is a well-respected name for staging world-class professional boxing events and promoting elite professional fighters throughout the world. Founder and CEO Greg Cohen has been involved with professional boxing in various capacities since the late 1980s, honing his craft and establishing himself as a shrewd international boxing businessman. Distinguished by his ability to spot and develop raw talent, Cohen made headlines for his expert guidance of, among many others, former WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin "No Doubt" Trout, who Cohen helped guide from unknown New Mexico prospect to elite pay-per-view level superstar. In addition to Trout, Greg Cohen Promotions has worked with established names such as former unified and two-time heavyweight champion Hasim "The Rock" Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KOs); and all-time-great multiple-weight class world champion James "Lights Out" Toney (74-7-3, 45 KOs). Current world-rated contenders in the GCP roster include Arash Usmanee, universally recognized as a top-10 super featherweight; former WBA International Middleweight Champion and world-rated middleweight contender Jarrod Fletcher; top-rated featherweight Joel Brunker; Freddie Roach-trained heavyweight Lateef Kayode; Canadian lightweight and TV action hero Tony Luis, currently rated #12 in the WBA; Top 15 IBF and WBA and five-time Irish National Amateur Champion, Dennis Hogan; and Rising Undefeated Welterweight sensation Cecil McCalla.  Greg Cohen Promotions has hosted world-class boxing events in the finest venues throughout the United States and the world and has also proudly provided talent and/or content for several television networks including HBO, Showtime, ESPN, NBC Sports Network, MSG and FOX Sports Net.

Greg Cohen Promotions Inks Tommy Rainone Prior to Friday Showdown with Dusty Hernandez-Harrison

Promoter Greg Cohen of Greg Cohen Promotions proudly announces the signing to an exclusive promotional contract of Long Island, New York's popular welterweight Tommy "The Razor" Rainone (22-5-1, 4 KOs). The deal comes just a few days before Rainone's high-profile 10-round main-event showdown against Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (24-0, 13 KOs) on music superstar Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports debut boxing card this Friday, January 9, at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City and live on FOX Sports 1 (10PM ET/7PM PT). The 34-year-old Rainone is an aggressive southpaw with the heart of a warrior. In his last fight, on November 13 at The Space at Westbury in Westbury, New York, Rainone picked up his second professional title, the United States Boxing Organisation Welterweight Championship by scoring a unanimous decision over Carl McNickles (scores: 98-89, 98-89 and 97-91). Rainone also won the IBA Americas title in 2012. "I'm proud to be working with a throwback fighter like Tommy Rainone," said Greg Cohen. "He's going into the biggest fight of his career and he's 100% ready. Tommy plans on making the most of this opportunity and knows that a victory over Dusty at Madison Square Garden will be the launching pad he's needed to secure fights at the highest level of the sport." Outside of boxing, the multi-talented Rainone works as a supervisor for Hilton Hotels and was also a cast member of the Off Broadway boxing play, Kid Shamrock, which appeared in winter of 2011 and the summer of 2012. Also featured on the card at MSG is, Rainone's GCP stable mate, Cecile McCalla, of Randallstown, Maryland, who will face South African southpaw Chris "The Heat" van Heerden (21-1-1, 11 KOs) for the IBF International Welterweight Championship. ### About Greg Cohen Promotions One of boxing's premier promotional outfits, Greg Cohen Promotions (GCP) is a well-respected name for staging world-class professional boxing events and promoting elite professional fighters throughout the world. Founder and CEO Greg Cohen has been involved with professional boxing in various capacities since the late 1980s, honing his craft and establishing himself as a shrewd international boxing businessman. Distinguished by his ability to spot and develop raw talent, Cohen made headlines for his expert guidance of, among many others, former WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin "No Doubt" Trout, who Cohen helped guide from unknown New Mexico prospect to elite pay-per-view level superstar. In addition to Trout, Greg Cohen Promotions has worked with established names such as former unified and two-time heavyweight champion Hasim "The Rock" Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KOs); and all-time-great multiple-weight class world champion James "Lights Out" Toney (74-7-3, 45 KOs). Current world-rated contenders in the GCP roster include Arash Usmanee, universally recognized as a top-10 super featherweight; former WBA International Middleweight Champion and world-rated middleweight contender Jarrod Fletcher; top-rated featherweight Joel Brunker; Freddie Roach-trained heavyweight Lateef Kayode; Canadian lightweight and TV action hero Tony Luis, currently rated #12 in the WBA; Top 15 IBF and WBA and five-time Irish National Amateur Champion, Dennis Hogan; and Rising Undefeated Welterweight sensation Cecil McCalla.  Greg Cohen Promotions has hosted world-class boxing events in the finest venues throughout the United States and the world and has also proudly provided talent and/or content for several television networks including HBO, Showtime, ESPN, NBC Sports Network, MSG and FOX Sports Net.

McCalla Confident Heading into van Heerden Showdown this Friday

"It's the biggest opportunity I've had, but in my mind, it's just another fight," says undefeated welterweight Cecil McCalla (20-0, 7 KOs). The easy-going McCalla, a Randallstown, Maryland, native, will face South African southpaw Chris "The Heat" van Heerden (21-1-1, 11 KOs) for the IBF International Welterweight Championship this Friday, January 9, at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City and live on FOX Sports 1 (10PM ET/7PM PT). McCalla vs. van Heerden will serve as the main supporting bout to fan favorite New Yorker Tommy Rainone (22-5-1, 4 KOs) taking on unbeaten Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (24-0, 13 KOs) on music superstar Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports debut boxing card, entitled "Throne Boxing." If McCalla is feeling the pressure before the biggest fight of his boxing career, he's hiding it well. But the 29-year-old has already proven himself a clutch player. He was scheduled to fight van Heerden last July until van Heerden pulled out with an injury two weeks before the fight. Despite having spent his entire training camp preparing for a southpaw, McCalla agreed to fight orthodox fighter Oscar Godoy (then 13-2) on short notice and won a dominant unanimous decision. "I feel like that opponent (Godoy) is a little tougher than this guy van Heerden," continued the confident McCalla. "He (van Heerden) is a southpaw from South Africa and a pretty rough pressure fighter, but I won't have any problems with him. I used to spar Paul Williams before I even turned pro and he's a lot stronger than this guy." If McCalla sounds supremely confident, it's because he has a secret weapon from across the ocean on his side. "I trained for my fight in the UK," explained McCalla. "My manager, Camero Mercer,knew a trainer named Lee Beard, and told me I should go over there and work with him. I decided to give it a shot two summers ago and I've been going there to train for every fight since then. Lee knows his stuff." McCalla says the improvements from working with Beard, best known for his work with Ricky and Matthew Hatton, have been incredible. "I felt like I was getting caught too much before and it's made a very big difference in working with Lee. He's hard to please and he pays close attention to everything. I like him." Happy with the opportunities afforded him by his promoter, Greg Cohen of Greg Cohen Promotions, McCalla says a victory over van Heerden will put him exactly where he wasnts to be. "Greg Cohen does a great job for me and I'm happy with where I am as far as opportunities coming my way. And I'll start getting better fights after this victory and that will put me in the mix with the Andre Bertos and Keith Thurmans and guys like that. Hopefully I'll be world champion sometime this year. This is my year!" ### About Greg Cohen Promotions One of boxing's premier promotional outfits, Greg Cohen Promotions (GCP) is a well-respected name for staging world-class professional boxing events and promoting elite professional fighters throughout the world. Founder and CEO Greg Cohen has been involved with professional boxing in various capacities since the late 1980s, honing his craft and establishing himself as a shrewd international boxing businessman. Distinguished by his ability to spot and develop raw talent, Cohen made headlines for his expert guidance of, among many others, former WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin "No Doubt" Trout, who Cohen helped guide from unknown New Mexico prospect to elite pay-per-view level superstar. In addition to Trout, Greg Cohen Promotions has worked with established names such as former unified and two-time heavyweight champion Hasim "The Rock" Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KOs); and all-time-great multiple-weight class world champion James "Lights Out" Toney (74-7-3, 45 KOs). Current world-rated contenders in the GCP roster include Arash Usmanee, universally recognized as a top-10 super featherweight; former WBA International Middleweight Champion and world-rated middleweight contender Jarrod Fletcher; top-rated featherweight Joel Brunker; Freddie Roach-trained heavyweight Lateef Kayode; Canadian lightweight and TV action hero Tony Luis, currently rated #12 in the WBA; Top 15 IBF and WBA and five-time Irish National Amateur Champion, Dennis Hogan; and Rising Undefeated Welterweight sensation Cecil McCalla.  Greg Cohen Promotions has hosted world-class boxing events in the finest venues throughout the United States and the world and has also proudly provided talent and/or content for several television networks including HBO, Showtime, ESPN, NBC Sports Network, MSG and FOX Sports Net.