Claudio 'The Matrix' Marrero Growing into a World Champion

Dominican featherweight returns Friday in Pittsburgh vs. Felix Perez

Claudio "The Matrix" Marrero  (pictures by Rey Sanchez) MIAMI (August 5, 2014) - "The Matrix," world-rated featherweight Claudio Marrero(15-1, 11 KOs), has to be seen in order to truly appreciate his tremendous athleticism in the ring. The dynamic Dominican returns to the ring this Friday night in Pittsburgh in an eight-round bout against former World Boxing Council (WBC) FECARBOX champion Felix Perez (8-6, 3 KOs), of Puerto Rico. "He is a very elusive, aggressive southpaw who can pick apart his opponent, counter-punching from the outside," Marrero's manager/head trainer Herman Caicedo described his 25-year-old fighter's style.   "He uses his jab and effectively cuts-off the ring. He's learning how to not complicated things, even with his style he doesn't have to avoid every punch, and he knows he has to sit in the pocket more to be even more effective." Marrero learned a valuable lesson August 23, 2013 at Turning Stone Casino, when he suffered the first and only loss of his professional career by way of a close 12-round decision (116-111, 115-112, 114-113) to Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar (22-1) for the Interim World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title. In retrospect, the then 24-year-old Marrero had only 14 pro fights under his belt, and the quantum leap into a world title fight, even an interim, was somewhat premature. "Maybe it was a bit premature," Marrero admitted, "but at the end of the day, it was a world title fight opportunity. It just wasn't my night but that loss has made me a better fighter. I've never been egotistical, always a humble man, and that fight humbled me more and I'm a bigger man today because of it. I learned that I have to be 100-percent at my best to win a big fight." Marrero has a rich amateur pedigree, finishing with a sterling 297-12 record and, at the tender age of 17, he lost by a mere single point to two-time Olympic gold medalist and reigning unified world bantamweight champion, undefeated Cuban great Guillermo Rigondeaux, in an amateur bout held in Havana. Training the last four years in South Florida has provided Marrero with invaluable sparring sessions with Rigondeaux and another Olympic gold medalist from Cuba,Yuriorkis Gamboa, also a multiple world champion as a professional. "Everybody benefits from that sparring, not just me, but probably me more than anybody," WBA No. 6-rated Marrero explained. "I fought 'Rigo' in the amateurs and have had more than 100 rounds sparring with both him and Gamboa. I've gained a lot more confidence in my skills having sparred with them." Caicedo. who also manages and trains undefeated bantamweight Juan Carlos Payano (15-0, 8 KOs), a two-time Dominican Olympian scheduled to challenge WBA Super bantamweight Anselmo Moreno on September 26, believes Marrero is special because of his unique talent as well as the sacrifices he has made. "I think he needs two or three more wins and then he's in position for another world title fight," Caicedo remarked. "The fight he lost was a little premature - he was still a baby in boxing - but the opportunity arose and we took a shot. He learned a lot and he's on his way back to the top. "Claudio is very reserved. He deeply cares about family, especially his wife and three-year-old son. He is very dedicated, driven, and willing to do whatever it takes to be world champion. Look at what he's sacrificed the last four years, leaving his family in the Dominican Republic to train here. He only gets to go home once or twice a year. It's a lot easier for other guys to sacrifice when they go home every day after training. He lives in the gym; always happy and training hard." A Dominican brotherhood among boxers has helped Marrero better deal with separation from his family, in addition to him living in a foreign country in which he doesn't speak its native language, English. "I believe there is a strong brotherhood of Dominicans who support each other worldwide in professional boxing," Marrero concluded. "I admire Joan Guzman for breaking away from the Dominican to accomplish all he has in boxing. I've oftened looked to him for advice." Follow Claudio Marrero on Twitter @MarreroMatrix.

Jean Pascal to Battle Aleksy Kuziemski live on WealthTV

Former Reigning WBC Light Heavyweight Champion to battle Olympian and WBO Title Challenger

SAN DIEGO, CA -December 10, 2012– Jean Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KOs), the proven World Boxing Council (WBC) Light Heavyweight champion from 2009 to 2011, is returning to the ring to battle former Olympian and two-time WBO world challenger Aleksy Kuziemski, live and exclusively on WealthTV Friday, December 14 at 7 PM EST from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

In 2010, Pascal had an impressive victory over the then undefeated Chad Dawson, giving Dawson his first professional loss.  Pascal twice went the distance with the legendary Bernard Hopkins.   In the first Pascal v. Hopkins fight, Pascal became the first man to put the future Hall of Famer on the canvas in more than fifteen years, yet Pascal was only able to secure a draw.   In Pascal’s last outing, a WBC/IBO world unification fight against Hopkins back in May of 2011, Pascal took Hopkins the distance but came up short on points.   Pascal plans to once again fight WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Chad Dawson on March, 23 2013 but before that fight can take place Pascal must get himself back in the various boxing associations’ rankings with an impressive performance against Kuziemski.

Looking to upset the apple cart, Kuziemski (23-4, 7 KOs), comes into this fight with extensive amateur and professional experience.  He won a bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, and represented Poland in the 2004 Athens Olympics (Pascal fought for Canada in the same Olympiad.) Kuziemski has also challenged for a WBO world title twice but came up short against champion Juergen Braehmer and undefeated Nathan Cleverly

“Jean Pascal is one of the most exciting fighters in the world.  We know Kuziemski has been training hard and will be trying to make a statement, making the toe-to­-toe action exciting for our viewers,” stated Tommy Morris, director of live events for WealthTV.  “The main event will have fight fans on the edge of their seats. We’re also excited about the strong undercard bouts featuring a number of undefeated rising stars, making for a great night of professional boxing entertainment,” Morris concluded.

The card also contains middleweight, David Lemieux (27-2, 26 KOs), who has astonishingly knocked out 26 opponents in his 27 victories.  Lemieux will square off against a tough Albert Ayrapetyan (20-3, 9 KOs.) 

Eleider Alverez (10-0, 6 KO) will be trading punches with England’s Danny McIntosh (13-3, 7KOs) for the WBO NABO light heavyweight title.  Both Lemieux and Alverez appeared on WealthTV on October, 12, 2012, both won in knockouts in the first and second round respectively.

Additionally, undefeated super featherweight Logan McGuinness (18-0 9 KOs) is scheduled for 10 rounds with Carlos Manuel Reyes (23-1-1, 15 KOs) and welterweights Kevin Bizier (18-0, 13KOs) and upset specialist Doel Carrasquillo will duke it out as well.

The entire card will be featured live and exclusively on WealthTV, which is available nationally on Verizon FiOS TV channel 169 and 669 in HD, AT&T U-Verse TV channels 470 and 1470 in HD, along with over 100 cable systems across the country as well as on line viewing via computer and a numerous connected devices and via www.wealthtv.com.

About WealthTV

WealthTV is the premier lifestyle and entertainment network —the destination for exclusive and original programming, simultaneously transmitted in high definition and standard definition.  WealthTV delivers to informative shows to its viewers, providing invaluable insights on what every American dreams of – from travel secrets to fast cars, from outrageous homes to live events, and much more.  The network fills a television vacuum by delivering intellectually stimulating, thought-provoking entertainment and always-unbiased news from an insider’s perspective. For more information, please visit www.wealthtv.com

THOMAS DULORME & JONATHAN GONZALEZ REMAIN TOP TEN IN THE WBC RATINGS

December 5, 2012 - During the 50th Convention of the World Boxing Council (WBC) held in Cancún, México, Puerto Rican boxers, Thomas Dulorme (16-1, 12 KO's) and Jonathan "Mantequilla" González (15-0-1, 13 KO's ) remained ranked in the top ten globally by the organization. 

Dulorme is now ranked No. 10 at the junior welterweight division (140lbs), and González is rated No. 9 at the light middleweight division (154lbs).

"Dulorme and Gonzalez are ready to take on the toughest challenges presented to them." said Gary Shaw. "Both fighters vow to make 2013 a memorable year for the Puerto Rican fans." 

"We are excited by the work we are doing together with Gary Shaw, Lou DiBella and Leon Margules" said Javier Bustillo, president of Universal Promotions. "On January, 4 "Mantequilla" will be fighting against Derek Ennis in Miami, and Dulorme on January, 23 in New York against an opponent to be named later."

Dulorme, who was ranked No. 1 by the WBC at the welterweight division, will be campaigning at junior welterweight (140lbs), after he suffered his first loss against Juan Carlos Abregú. González got a draw in his last fight, against former world champion, Sergiy Dzinziruk.

González and Dulorme are members of "Team Puerto Rico", which is a collaboration between Gary Shaw Productions, DiBella Entertainment, Universal Promotions and Warriors Boxing, made with the goal of gathering the best of Puerto Rico's boxing talents.

Stevenson ready to conquer world in Super Middleweight division

Starting Friday night with Gonzalez; Unification title fight headlines ESPN2 FNF live from Montreal

MONTREAL (April 18, 2012) - International Boxing Federation("IBF") No. 2-ranked, dangerous Adonis "Superman" Stevenson (17-1, 14 KOs), is ready to take on the top super middleweights in the world. First, though, the sensational southpaw must get past World Boxing Council ("WBC") No. 2-ranked Noe "El Carbonero" Gonzalez (28-1, 20 KOs) in their much-anticipated unification showdown headlining this week's ESPN Friday Night Fights, live at the famed Bell Centre in Montreal.

Stevenson-Gonzalez is the marquee match-up on a stacked card, which is another installment in the popular Fast and Furious Series, presented in Montreal by Mise-O-Jeu and Videotron.

In addition to future world title fight implications for the winner, the 12-round main evident will be contested for Stevenson's IBF Inter-Continental, North American Boxing Organization ("NABO") and North American Boxing Association ("NABA") super middleweight title belts, as well as Gonzalez' WBC Silver Championship.

"This is a big fight because my goal is to become world champion," Stevenson y said prior to leaving his Kronk Gym training camp in Detroit. "And everybody is going to be watching this fight on ESPN. I don't care who I fight for the world title - (Lucian) Bute, (Andre) Ward or any world champion - but first I need to beat Gonzalez. He's a tough guy, a power puncher like me, and I've been sparring with some top guys to get ready for him. I will use my speed and movement.

"Manny Steward is the best trainer in the world to teach me how to be a world champion. He knows what it takes and is preparing me. He's helped to improve my technique and I've improved in a lot of ways. He is the best trainer in boxing."

Haiti-native Stevenson, fighting out of Quebec, is also ranked No. 7 by the World Boxing Association ("WBA") and World Boxing Organization ("WBO"), and No. 9 by the World Boxing Council ("WBC"). Last February against Jesus Gonzales (27-1), Adonis registered a frightening "Superman"-like Knockout of the Year candidate in the opening round.

"I was happy with that win," Adonis noted, "but I was scared watching his body shaking on the canvas. I didn't want to hurt him. I'm glad that he's okay."

Gonzalez, a native of Uruguay now living in Argentina, is a feared puncher who has won 14 fights in a row, all but one by knockout. He captured the WBC Silver Belt in January, 2011, with a ninth-round technical knockout of Gustavo Magallanes (29-1) in Uruguay. Gonzalez is promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz (president of Sampson Boxing), who also handles Noe's manager, World Super middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs).

"I'm going to win," Stevenson predicted. "I'll box to win and, if the knockout comes, that will be good. Gonzalez is fast and I know he'll be prepared for this fight. I'm going to be ready and prove that I'm ready to fight for the world title."

Unbeaten North American Boxing Organization ("NABO") light heavyweight champion Eleider "Storm" Alvarez (7-0, 5 KOs) takes on upset-minded Rayco "War" Saunders (22-15-2, 9 KOs) in the eight-round ESPN FNF co-feature. Alvarez, rated No. 15 by the WBO, was a 2008 Colombian Olympian now living in Montreal.

Local favorites and rising stars fighting on the undercard include heavyweight Oscar "Kaboom" Rivas (9-0, 6 KOs), another Colombian Olympian living in Montreal, who steps-up in class to face veteran Kendrick "The Apostle" Releford (22-16-2, 10 KOs) in an eight-round bout; super featherweight Baha Laham (8-0, 3 KOs) vs. Leonis Francois (8-6, 2 KOs) in an eight-rounder, a pair of Canadian heavyweights, Eric Barrack (6-0, 5 KOs) vs. Sandy Pembroke (2-4, 1 KO), in a six-round fight; Montreal light heavyweight Schiller Hyppolite (2-0, 1 KO) vs. Martin Desjardins. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

The Officials for the Stevenson/Gonzalez Unification are:

Supervisor: Mike George, Rhode Island, USA

Referee: Michel Albert Griffin, Canada
Judges: Jack Woodburn, Canada
Claude Paquette, Canada
Richard Flaherty, Massachusetts, USA

GYM's Fast and Furious is an innovative and unique series, featuring seats close to the action, staged at the Bell Centre. These exciting events are also available for PPV via Canal Indigo, Bell TV and Shaw TV.

Tickets, starting at $60.00, are on sale and available to purchase at the Bell Centre box office, or at GYM evenko.ca (383.0666).