Broner-Howard, Mikaelian-Makabu, Guidry-Escalera, Bryan-Chaney
Hall of Fame promoter Don King just celebrated his 92nd birthday, and he’s been working non-stop to put together another boxing card that is a night that fans will remember. That birthday celebration will continue in his “Only in America 92 Celebration” as he has put together a boxing extravaganza set for November 4 at Casino Miami Jai Alai.
“We are bringing the public a boxing card, where all the fights will be co-feature events,” said King. “One great fight after another. It will be an action-packed night to remember and we have more to come.”
Adrien “The Problem” Broner, a four-time world champion in four weight divisions, meets another Cincinnati, OH fighter in Chris Howard (18-2-1, 8 KOs) for the “People’s Championship”. Broner (35-4-1, 24 KOs) made his return to the ring on June 9th a successful one in winning a unanimous decision over William “Hutch” Hutchinson. It was Broner’s first fight in nearly 26 months, who is on a mission to secure the 140-pound world title.
A clash for the vacant WBC cruiserweight championship features the top two ranked fighters with #1 Noel Mikaelian (26-2, 11 KOs) from Miami via Armenia against former champion Ilunga Makabu (29-3, 25 KOs) of Johannesburg, South Africa via the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Makabu, who lost his title to Badou Jack as he was stopped in the 12th round, is hoping to regain his belt after Badou Jack relinquished the title.
On top of those two bouts will be two heavyweight attractions.
WBA NABA gold heavyweight champion Jonathan Guidry (19-1-2, 11 KOs) from Dulac, LA will defend his title against WBC FECARBOX heavyweight champion Jesus Escalera (18-0, 18 KOs) from Riverview, FL via Puerto Rico.
The other heavyweight attraction will feature former WBA heavyweight champion Trevor Bryan (22-1, 15 KOs) returning to the ring after losing his title to face Cassius Chaney (22-1, 15 KOs) from New London, CT.
Also, WBA Continental America’s middleweight champion, Ian Green (17-2, 11 KOs) from Haledon, NJ, defends his title against Mark “The Bazooka” DeLuca (30-4, 18 KOs) of Quincy, MA.
Tickets, priced from $50, go on sale and can be purchased at www.playcasinomiami.com. Ringside tables are $3000. next level tables $2500, ringside seats $750 and side seats are $200 and $100. General Admission tickets at $50.
How cool would it be if Trevor Bryan’s fight was on before Guidry’s?! I had no idea Badou Jack had vacated; I guess he really is going after Rozanski.
Lucie, not sure which they might plan on airing first, but Bryan-Cheney seems a more significant (for lack of a better word) fight than Guidry-Escalera. Saw highlights of Escalera on YouTube, and it doesn’t look like there’s much there…certainly appears to be levels below Bryan or Cheney anyway. Either way, how about the opportunity to witness this card from a ringside table for a mere $3k? What a deal.
You’re probably right, USF; but Guidry is still hanging onto a top 15 ranking by the WBA and they recently dropped Bryan (and reinstalled Charr as regular champion, ridiculously), for whatever that’s worth.
If you pay THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS to see this card — like actual, real life money and not monopoly money — you are…. uhmmmmm….. yep.
Yes. Hard to imagine spending $3K on ringside seats for this, especially considering all the other entertainment options in & around Miami. However, $50 isn’t a bad price at all for General Admission tickets. Actually considering going to this one. Agree w/Kris that it’s a decent card.
$50 is just fine. I’d go for that price. Have a legit world championship fight on the card and another big name headlining. Sure. I’d do that.
Lucie-How can the WBA still be considered a legitimate organization when they state Manuel Charr as the champion? It’s both mind blowing and amusing to see the maneuvers they pull. I love David Morrell and I think he will prove to be the #1 guy at 168, but he was somehow crowned the WBA champion after 3 fights, showed up like 5 lbs overweight for his 1st defense against Mike Gavronski and their stance was basically-“we’ll just completely ignore the fact he didn’t make weight”.
Kris, out of all the stuff people have to say about the sanctioning bodies – the WBA is the worst of them all imo. Usyk beats Dubois and clears away that belt as per their title consolidation plan and…. they reinstate Charr and for his mandatory, they order Jarrell Miller.
And I remember that happening with Morrell (and I agree, I think he’s the future of that division) and I think what happened is that they technically ‘stripped’ him of the interim title and immediately gave him the regular title. So he got promoted, in a sense, for missing weight.
USF-I figured there would be nothing there with Escalara. You get enticed by an 18-0 record, all KO’s then you look them up, they’re usually around 38 year old, started boxing when they were 32, and have fought nothing but guys with records of 3-15, 7-25, etc. I’m assuming that’s the case with Escalara.
Kris, the fight I saw of Escalera was vs. Marcelo Leandro Da Silva on YouTube. Da Silva offered very little resistance, and may have taken a dive from the looks of things.
As far as Escalera’s record, I guess the most recognizable names would be Alejandro Berrio and Epifanio Mendoza, who both started around 160/168 I believe. Escalera himself is listed @ 5’11”. Not sure of his weight, but he looked over 250 in the fight I saw, appeared way out of shape. He’s also 43 years old. Would be very surprised if Guidry didn’t get the W here. Still not a bad card overall…
OK. Looked up Escalara. He’s actually 43 years old and didn’t start boxing professionally until 42! All his 18 fights have been in under a year! He fought almost entirely in Colombia and beat all the usual suspects with shitty records and even some guys with decent records, but they were older than he! One was 48. It may have taken me a while, but I’ve learned not to be lured in by spectacular KO records. I actually learned my lesson with Frank Bruno, John Mugabi, and Alex Stewart, and those guys were good!
How can you not love Don King at this point? 92 years old and still doing his thing! Really not a bad card. All these fights are quasi interesting- insignifigant in the grand scheme of things, but they have a little bit of appeal.
Ringside tables are 3,000. Considering the fact, you’ll be sharing a table with 7 others, and most of the time they do put on a 3 course meal with the table deal.
3k between 8 ppl and food. Good deal I reckon.
My money is not going to Don King. No way. Not a chance.
My money is going to an expensive sushi restaurant, when I celebrate Joe Biden’s impeachment in a couple of weeks.
Don King is a fraud. Cross apply that to Broner.