LAS VEGAS– Former world light welterweight champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley is traveling halfway around the planet in hopes of keeping alive his dream of becoming world champion once again.
Corley, fighting out of Washington D.C., faces former Brazilian lightweight champion Sidney Siqueira (12-3-1, 7 KOs) in an 8-round bout May 9 on a star-studded card, headlined by undefeated light heavyweight sensation Beibut Shumenov against former IBF super middleweight champion Alejandro “Naco” Berrio, outdoors at Khadjimukan Stadium in Shumenov’s hometown of Chimkent, Kazakhstan.
The May 9 show, presented by KZ Event Productions, owned by the Shumenov brothers, Beibut and Chingis, will be taped live for later broadcasts in North America.
Corley (33-11, 19 KOs) has been on a comeback that took a bump hit this month when he was outright robbed, losing an 8-round decision to hometown favorite Hector Sanchez in Arizona.
“It was a great fight,” the slick southpaw Corley said. “I won but I lost. Everybody who saw it knew I won that fight. My head was down until I spoke to the promoter, Oscar (De La Hoya), who told me I really won the fight and he didn’t know what the judges were looking at. I felt better after that. We knew going in that I had to knockout my opponent to win. I tried to do that and hurt him, but he kept coming. Fans will be watching the rebirth of ‘Chop Chop’ on May 9th. I’m a different fighter today – much more aggressive. The Shumenovs are great promoters. They run clean shows, no delays. I’m looking forward to fighting on their show in Kazakhstan. I’m confident of a win and we’ll pick-up from there because I really want another world title shot. Right now, though, I’m trying to get somebody to translate ‘Chop Chop’ into Russian for me.”
The now 34-year-old Corley captured the WBO light welterweight title eight years ago, topping Felix Flores in the opening round, followed by two successfully title defenses via 12-round decisions against Ener Julio and Randall Bailey. Nearly half of DeMarcus’ pro losses have to world champions such as Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Zab Judah, Miquel Cotto, Junior Witter and Bailey.
2004 Kazakhstan Olympian Shumenov (7-0, 5 KOs), 2008 WBC Asian Boxing Council Organization’s Boxer of the Year, is already rated No. 8 by the WBA, No. 9 by the WBO and No. 16 by the WBC. His WBO Asia Pacific, WBC Asian Boxing Council and PABA Interim titles will all be on the line, as well as the vacant IBA world crown, versus Colombian knockout artist Berrio (28-5, 27 KOs), rated No. 9 by the IBF and No. 11 by the WBC.
Former IBF light middleweight Roman “Made In Hell” Karmazin will fight at home for the first time in seven years against Luis “Tyson” Augusto Dos Santos (24-15, 20 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature. Born in Russia, reigning NABF middleweight title-holder Karmazin (38-3-1, 24 KOs), rated No. 5 by the IBF and No. 10 by the WBC, was stationed in the military and later lived in Uralsk, Kazakhstan, where his son, Oleg, still resides and studies.
Also fighting on the May 9th card is 4-time Uzbekistan National amateur champion Gayrat Ahmedov (10-0-1, 6 KOs), making his KZ Event Productions debut, versus WBC Latino and Brazilian title-holder Luzimar “Tiger of Itacre” Gonzaga (25-4, 20 KOs), in an 8-round light heavyweight match.
The undercard is stacked from top to bottom with undefeated Uzbekistan light middleweight Ravshan Hudoinazarov (7-0. 5 KOs) vs. Andre Marcos Nascimento (13-2, 9 KOs), plus Chimkent hometown favorites such as light middleweight Kanat Orakbaev (2-0, 0 KOs) vs. Umid Soliev (1-1, 0 KOs) and pro-debuting heavyweight Doszhan Ospanov. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
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