WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLEHEADER; World Championship City, live on HBO, MIGUEL COTTO vs. ALFONSO GOMEZ, CINTRON vs. ANTONIO MARGARITO, April 12

Miguel Cotto remains Undefeated and the WBA Welterweight champion. Miguel Cotto now
(32-0, 25 KOs), of Caguas, Puerto Rico stopped, in round 5, the Contenders rising star Alfonso Gomez now (18-4-2, 8 KOs), of Guadalajara, MX, in the main event of a scheduled 12-round contest, live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Miguel Cotto and Alfonso Gomez at the New York City Press conference


Miguel Cotto and Alfonso Gomez face off at the New York City Press conference


Miguel Cotto enters the ring to face Alfonso Gomez


Evangelista Cotto and Miguel Cotto attends the post Press conference


Miguel Cotto, Arturo Gatti attends the Post Press conference to present the undefeated WBA Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto with an exclusive jeweled necklace and ornament set from the new Arturo Gatti Collection Jewelry-line


Alfonso Gomez attends the Post Press conference


Cotto vs. Gomez


Antonio Margarito (36-5, 25 KO's), from Tijuana, Mexico, became the new IBF Welterweight champion, in a co feature stopping the now former IBF Welterweight champion Kermit Cintron, now (29-2, 27 KO's) of Reading, Pa, 1:57 seconds of round 6, scheduled for 12 rounds.

Antonio Margarito and Kermit Cintron attends the New York City press conference


Antonio Margarito enters the ring to face Kermit Cintron


Antonio Margarito enters the ring II


Kermit Cintron and Antonio Margarito in the ring action


Antonio Margarito attends the Post Press conference after the defeat of Kermit Cintron


Antonio Margarito's IBF Welterweight championship belt


Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito in the making? Miguel Cotto challenged Antonio Margarito to meet Saturday July 26, 2008 in the square ring


The Top Rank Under-card

Luis Cruz remains undefeated (5-0, 3 KO's) of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico winning by an unanimous decision over Olvin Meija who now drops to (3-2-1, 3 KO's) of Laredo Texas, in a 6 rounds Featherweight bout.

Jesus Rojas remains undefeated (11-0-, 8 KO's) of Caguas, Puerto Rico TKO'd in round 4, 2;14 seconds, Andre Ledesma who now drops to (14-9-1, 9 KO's) of Cartegena, Columbia, in a scheduled 8 rounds Super Batamweight bout.

Jesus Rojas and Luis Cruz after their victories


Ronny Vargas is still undefeated now (5-0, 3 KO's) of the Bronx New York, TKO'd Robert Irrizarry who now drops to (2-4-0, 0 KO's) of New York City, in round 3, 2:51 seconds, of a scheduled 6 rounds Middleweight bout.

Ronny Vargas and Melissa Hernandez, female fighter and trainer attends the 2008 Golden Gloves Finals in New York City


Richard Pierson now (7-1-, 4 KO's) of Paterson New Jersey won by an unanimous decision over Angel David Gonzalez, who now drops to (6-5-1, 3 KO's) of Guaynabo Puerto Rico, in a 6 rounds Middleweight bout.

Richard Pierson


Luis Del Valle attends the Cotto vs Gomez and Cintron vs Margarito bout April 12, after making an impressive professional debut April 11, with a TKO victory


See more video footage on the Cotto vs Gomez and Cintron Margarito, go to Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience channel at, http://www.youtube.com/ELEmpress1 See other Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience boxing entertainment videos as well.
Photos property of Keisha C. Morrisey All Right Reserved
Two photo logos Property of HBO

TARVER CALLS OUT DAWSON AFTER BOTH ARE VICTORIOUS

Photos: TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME


TAMPA, Fla. Antonio Tarver registered a unanimous 12-round decision over defending champion Clinton Woods to capture the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight crown and World Boxing Council (WBC) 175-pound kingpin Chad Dawson remained undefeated with a thrilling, hard-fought 12-round decision over hard-luck Glen Johnson Saturday on SHOWTIME.

Former undisputed light heavy champ Antonio Tarver had his way against defending champion Clinton Woods, winning a lopsided 12-round decision and the IBF 175-pound title.

The world championship doubleheader, billed as “TNT: Title Night in Tampa,” took place at the St. Pete Times Forum and was promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, and AT Entertainment in association with Fight Academy. A crowd-pleasing event aired on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).

Tampa’s Tarver (27-4, 19 KOs), a former undisputed light heavy champion and reigning International Boxing Organization (IBO) titleholder, mostly dominated en route to winning by the scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. There were no knockdowns.



“It’s all about the belts; I’m looking for all the belt-holders,’’ Tarver said. “He was a tough, gritty fighter but I came into this in great shape. I took some and got some (punches) but the best man won tonight. I’m not surprised by anything that went on in there.

“A lot of credit for my performance goes to my trainer, Jimmy Williams, who never let me give up or get down on myself. Jimmy is one of the all-time great teachers and absolutely definitely should be in the Hall of Fame."

Tarver, who called out Dawson at the post-fight press conference – Shaw said a unification world title fight could take place in the fall -- wasn’t impressed with Dawson’s performance in the telecast’s opening bout.

“Chad Dawson would be easy pickings now,’’ Tarver said. “He’s not the fighter now that he was before his fight. He’s a wounded duck.

“Dawson took a lot of hard hits against Johnson, but there is a difference between getting hit by Glen Johnson and getting hit by me.’’

There was an electric atmosphere inside the jam-packed room where the weigh-in took place.



Woods (41-4-1, 24 KOs), of Sheffield, England, could not find his range or rhythm for much of the 36 minutes.

Tarver and Woods Weigh In


“I fought the best light heavyweight in the world tonight,’’ said Woods, who was making the fifth defense of the crown he won in March 2005. “I don’t know if it is my time to retire or not."

Dawson (26-0, 17 KOs), of New Haven, Conn., wanted a tough test and he got it.

In a tremendous slugfest that featured non-stop, two-way action, Chad Dawson remained unbeaten and retained his WBC light heavyweight title with a close, hard-fought unanimous 12-round decision over Glen Johnson Saturday on SHOWTIME.


“Johnson is a warrior and we trained for that,’’ Dawson said after winning the fight of the night by the scores of 116-112 on all the scorecards. “We worked on stepping around and boxing him in training and we did that, too.



“I executed my game plan and landed more punches. Glen is a great fighter. He caught me with some good shots but I did my job and took them."

There were no knockdowns in a non-stop slugfest with constant two-way action, but both boxers were rocked on several occasions.

Johnson (47-12-2, 37 KOs), of Miami, by way of Jamaica, owns wins over Tarver, Woods and Roy Jones Jr., but almost is as well known for coming up on the wrong end of close, unpopular decisions.

Tarver and Woods Weigh In


Such was the case again Saturday. “The decision was total bull,’’ Johnson said. “Dawson is a good, young fighter with a great future, but I really worked hard for this fight and definitely feel I won it.

Dawson vs Johnson Weigh In


‘I can’t afford to keep losing these kinds of fights at this stage of my career. I wish I knew why these kinds of bad decision keep going against me.

“This loss hurts me more than any other in my career. I would love a rematch.’’

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING’s Steve Albert and Al Bernstein called the action from ringside with Karyn Bryant serving as special correspondent. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast was David Dinkins Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.

Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING fight card will re-air as follows:

DAY CHANNEL

Monday, April 14 at 8 p.m. ET/PT SHO EXTREME

Tuesday, April 15, at 9 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME TOO

Wednesday, April 16, 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME


For more information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video, photo galleries and complete telecast information, please visit http://www.SHO.com/Sports.

About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL® XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL® ON DEMAND. SNI is also an owner and manager of SUNDANCE CHANNEL®, a venture of NBC Universal, Robert Redford and SNI. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

Kimbo Slice, who headlines the EliteXC mixed martial arts fight card on Saturday, May 31, on CBS, and WBC super welterweight champion Vernon Forrest, who looks to defend his title against Sergio Mora on Saturday, June 7, on SHOWTIME, pose together at Saturday night’s light heavyweight world championship doubleheader in Tampa.

Photos: TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME



The always entertaining Kimbo was interviewed by Al Bernstein during Saturday’s telecast. You can catch the interview during a replay of the thrilling SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecasts, which featured a war between WBC Champ” Bad" Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson as well as a flashy performance by the always entertaining Antonio Tarver against IBF champion Clinton Woods.

Replay schedule:
Tuesday, April 15, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME TOO;
Wednesday, April 16 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.

The telecast is also available On Demand starting this Tuesday and ending on Monday, May 12 where available.

MMA AND BOXING SHOW LOOKS TO BREAK NEW GROUND HOPING TO PUSH MIXED MARTIAL ARTS CLOSER TO THE MAINSTREAM Airs Monday Nights LIVE on TheStream.TV

In February 2008, The Yac & J’s MMA and BOXING SHOW launched as a part of a line-up of new Internet TV Programming on interactive, fledgling network, THESTREAM.TV. The series is co-hosted by ProElite.com Correspondent/Commentator ‘The Yacman’ Ron Yacovetti, Pundit and Practitioner Randy Johnson, (aka Randy J) and MMA.TV’s Underground Queen Miss RaRa.

Amongst a handful of quality MMA television shows, The Yac & J Show offers the unique characteristic of being fully interactive while broadcasting LIVE. During the webcasts, airing on four to five online syndicates, viewers can instant message into the show or chime in via the chat functions that accompany the video players. Each episode is immediately available to view the following Tuesday morning.

Preparing them for this venue, Ron Yacovetti and Randy Johnson tout full time careers in stand-up comedy, having toured nationally, appearing in major comedy club chains such as THE IMPROV, CATCH A RISING STAR and DANGERFIELD’S in NYC. This unique background in the comedy world is something that Yac & J did not want to exclude from their MMA endeavors. Instead, it provided them an avenue to produce a show in a manner unlike anything else in MMA or BOXING. The recipe is one part comedy, one part combat sports.

In addition to their comedic efforts, The Yacman and Randy J have always been involved in the fight world in one way or another. Both have trained in various fighting disciplines over the years. And Yacovetti also wrote and produced for a couple of syndicated boxing shows, as well as penning an online column for BoxingInsider.com.

Miss RaRa (whose real name is Tamara) was drawn into MMA by her close friend Drea who had become acquainted with one of the most celebrated Jiu-Jitsu experts around, Eddie Bravo. Once she took one step into the world of the cage fighter, Miss RaRa never looked back and the MMA community online embraced her. Tamara also put herself in a position to give back to the sport of MMA in an amazing way within a very brief time frame, as she is one of the organizers of the annual North American Mixed Martial Arts Expo – known as NAMMAE.

Their collective reason to do this show, besides a shared passion for the sport, may surprise you. The vision Yac and J’s MMA and BOXING SHOW has for itself, is to help push both sports, though mostly MMA, further into the mainstream. The Yacman says you need not look far to see the blueprint for such a thing, already producing that result in another venue.

Ron Yacovetti, of ProElite.com, says, “All you need to do is look at how unappealing politics were a number of years back, both with young and middle-aged people, and how informed and involved those generations are regarding it now. Why the change in this arena? I’d undoubtedly say in large part thanks to ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Colbert Report’ on Comedy Central -- and HBO’s ‘Real Time with Bill Mahr’. These are comedic based shows that entertain, lampoon and still get the word out mainstream. If we can successfully build our own brand, from this type of model within the combat sports world, it could help make MMA far more digestible to the masses. Nothing would make us happier than to make a difference that way.”

Yac and J’s MMA and BOXING SHOW is currently sponsored by ProElite.com, Melee Fight Gear and it airs LIVE every Monday Night 10pm PT / 1am ET, with archives available the next morning, on TheStream.TV.

Archives of each new show available the following Tuesday morning

Contact:
Ron Yacovetti, Randy Johnson
Yacandjshow


Miss RaRa
missrara@nammae.com