RUSSELL JR. FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS, INTERVIEW ON SHOBOX

TELECAST NOTE: 2008 Olympian Gary Russell, Jr., takes on Alvaro Muro in a four-round featherweight bout Friday night before the SHOWTIME telecast begins. Between the two featured fights, highlights will be shown of Russell’s fight and he will be interviewed about his transition from the amateur to professional ranks and what is next for the Washington D.C., resident. Russell is 2-0 since turning pro in January. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Russell never got to enter the ring as he missed the Olympic weigh-in hours after losing consciousness in his Olympic Village dorm room.

The event is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC.

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©®™2007, 2008 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick Morrisey for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

ShoBox Results:Orlando Cruz crushes Miranda w/ devastating one-punch KO, Marvin Quintero Defeats Casal, Gary Russell, Jr. Makes Successful Pro Debut

TULSA, Okla.– Featherweight Orlando Cruz remained undefeated Friday night with a devastating fifth-round knockout over previously unbeaten Leonilo Miranda on ShoBox: The New Generation. Cruz improved to 16-0-1 while Miranda fell to 24-1.

The tripleheader on SHOWTIME began with an impressive performance from 2008 United States Olympian Gary Russell, Jr. Making his professional debut, the talented 126-pounder defeated Antonio Reyes by TKO at 0:21 of the third round. In the second fight of the telecast, Marvin Quintero out-performed Nick Casal, who threw the towel in after the third round.

The event, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, took place at the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino in Tulsa, Okla.

Cruz, of Puerto Rico, entered the scheduled 10-round bout as an underdog, but he never acted the part against Miranda, of Mexico, who had knocked out 23 of his 24 opponents.

While he started a bit slowly, Cruz never backed down. Early into the fifth round of a close, exciting fight, Cruz dropped Miranda with a solid left hand to the chin. While Miranda attempted to beat the count, referee Steve Smoger waved off the contest at 0:39.

“I am so proud to win and prove myself,’’ Cruz said. “This is my first time fighting on national television. This is very emotional for me. I am so excited and humbled and this only motivates me to keep working and keep proving myself.”

ShoBox analyst Steve Farhood felt Miranda’s knockout percentage may have hurt him. “Miranda clearly suffered from having knocked out so many opponents so easily,’’ Farhood said. “When he didn’t get rid of Cruz, the fight turned quite suddenly. To his credit, Cruz never lost his composure; he stayed in the pocket and perfectly timed the one punch that ended the fight.”

Russell, Jr., of Capitol Heights, Md., was not overwhelmed with his performance. “I give myself a C+ for my performance tonight,’’ he said after whipping Reyes, of Dallas, whose record dropped to 3-3. “But I am excited that I got this opportunity to have my pro debut on SHOWTIME. I want to come back as quickly as possible and show everyone my A skills.”

In a bit of a surprise, Mexico’s Quintero (15-1) mostly overpowered Casal (18-4-1) of Chicago.

After Quintero thoroughly dominated the third round, Casal made the decision to retire on his stool. As he sat down, he could be overheard saying that he didn’t want to continue.

When asked by his corner what the problem was he responded, “No legs, no legs man. That’s it. I’m done.” His corner signaled to referee Mike England that the boxer did not intend to continue.

SHOWTIME will replay Friday’s telecast on Jan. 22 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO 2.

Nick Charles called the action from ringside with boxing historian Farhood serving as expert analyst. The executive producer of ShoBox is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.

ShoBox: The New Generation will return on Friday, Feb. 6, when undefeated, world-ranked Andre Ward will defend his NABO super middleweight title against Henry Buchanan from The Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif. (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).

For more information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go to the new SHOWTIME Sports website at http://sports.sho.com.

See you at the Fights.
Thanks for your time.

Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience The Video Channel Online http://www.youtube.com/ELEmpress1

EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine

Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick Morrisey for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

NEW YORK– United States Olympian Gary Russell, Jr.’s dream of competing in the Olympic Games last August ended without him throwing a punch. But he promises that won’t be the case this Friday night as he makes his pro debut in what is now a tripleheader on ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).

Russell will be opposed by Antonio Reyes (3-2) of Dallas in a four-round featherweight bout at the Million Dollar Elm Casino in Tulsa, Okla.

Russell, a two time National Amateur Boxing Champion, passed out in his Beijing dorm room on the eve of the weigh-in, at approximately 1 a.m. The 20-year-old boxer wasn’t hospitalized, but he was not permitted to participate in the weigh-in, or the Games.

“To be honest, none of it made sense to me,’’ Russell said. “I still do not know for sure what happened that night and never received the official diagnosis as to why or what happened. Olympic doctors never gave me an exact reason. They just said, ‘it could be this, it could be that.’

“I’d been in Beijing for a month and everything was fine. I was ready to achieve a life-long goal, something I had dedicated myself to for eight or nine years. When it all came down, when I couldn’t fight, I was so mad and blown away. Everything I worked for went down the drain in an instant.’’

Reports blamed dehydration for Russell’s collapse, saying he had been fighting at 125-plus pounds in recent fights and that making 119 had become an impossible chore.

But Russell insists excess poundage was not a factor. “I don’t think it had anything to do with weight,’’ he said. “I think I weighed 120.4 the day before the weigh-in, which is not bad for me.

“My dream was to become an Olympian, but that is not the same as not competing. Turning pro will definitely help. I am really looking forward to fighting on SHOWTIME and appreciate the opportunity. I have a lot of family, friends and fans who’ve supported and followed my career a long time. I really want to make it up to them.

“I’m 100 percent now and really looking forward to making my mark on SHOWTIME.”

ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael likes what he’s seen from Russell.

“I've been following Russell's amateur career for several years since he's from the area where I live and I have always thought he'd be a quality professional prospect,’’ Rafael said. “I thought he was one of the best medal hopes for the U.S. at the Beijing Olympics, so it was unfortunate that he was unable to participate because of his weight situation.

“But as a pro,’’ Rafael concluded, “he'll be a featherweight instead of a bantamweight, and I think he's got a lot of potential. He's got speed, skills and good defense from what I've seen of him in the amateurs. I'm looking forward to following his progress in the pros.’’

Undefeated featherweights Antonio Reyes (24-0, 23 KOs), of Mexico, and Orlando Cruz (15-0-1, 6 KOs), of Puerto Rico, will clash in an excellent ShoBox 10-round main event. The co-feature will match Marvin Quintero (14-1, 11 KOs), of Mexico, against Nick Casal (18-3-1, 14 KOs) of Chicago, in an eight-round lightweight bout. The first ShoBox event in 2009 is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.

Nick Charles will call the action from ringside with Steve Farhood serving as expert analyst. The executive producer of ShoBox is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.

For more information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go to the new SHOWTIME Sports website at http://sports.sho.com.

See you at the Fights.
Thanks for your time.

Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience The Video Channel Online http://www.youtube.com/ELEmpress1

EL Boxing Empress Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine

Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™2007, 2008 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick Morrisey for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved