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.

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.

Former World Champions Ray Mercer and Evander Holyfield To Battle Again

18 years ago Ray Mercer and Evander Holyfield fought in a 10-round war in which Holyfield won a unanimous decision…on February 2, 2013, in South Africa, the two former world champions will once again step between the ropes of the squared circle and go to battle in  a four round exhibition match.

The rematch is part of The Nelson Mandela Boxing Tribute night, and there are talks about a matchup between Roy Jones Jr. and Steve Cunningham as well, although nothing has been confirmed.

“I am honored to be part of this celebration of Nelson Mandela and to be part of history,” said Mercer.  “I am beyond motivated for this one, and I can hardly believe it is happening.  I will be representing Find A Dream and I think it is a great way to give the organization the international exposure it deserves.  It truly is an awesome feeling.”

Both men are highly decorated warriors within the boxing world, and have and continue to do much for the sport and communities across the nation inside and out of the ring.

Mercer has been a Board Director with Find A Dream—a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that reaches out to community children and provides them a healthy channel to find and work towards fulfilling a dream—for nearly two years, donating his time as often as possible.

Upcoming for the Olympic Gold Medalist is also a trip to London which he will be part of a brief tour of local schools, talking with young kids about staying focused and working towards achieving their goals in life. 

While Mercer (36-7, 26 KO) hasn’t fought since 2008, and Holyfield (44-10, 29 KO), while remaining active late in his career, hasn’t thrown hands since May of last year, fans can expect to see the competitiveness come out of these former champs. 

In coming weeks more information will be provided as additional details and added fights are released. 

For more information on Find A Dream visit www.findadream.org.