HENDERSON, Nevada– The best kept secret in women’s professional boxing today, Crystal Hoy, will not be a mystery to her next opponent, IFBA World flyweight champion Elena “Baby Doll” Reid, in their 10-round title fight on Thursday night, June 12 on Fox Sports Net’s Best Damn Championship Fight Night Period card at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Best Damn Championship Fight Night Period, presented by Cappiello Boxing in association with Hollybrook Regency, Inc., is headlined by a 10-round championship fight between IFBA World junior featherweight champion Lisa “Bad News” Brown (14-3-3, 4 KOs) and challenger Alicia “Slick” Ashley (14-7-1, 1 KO).
Hoy (3-1-2, 2 KOs), fighting out of Las Vegas, is a late replacement for Russian invader Anastasia Toktaulova (12-8, 2 KOs), whose visa problems prevented her from taking on Reid (19-4-5, 5 KOs) for the IFBA crown.
Up until a surprisingly strong performance this past February 29 against NABF title-holder Monica Lovato (11-1), Hoy was a relatively unknown having fought only four times between 2002 and 2004. She hadn’t been in action since November 19, 2005 when she walked up the three steps into the ring to face Lovato in their 8-round title fight. The dangerous Hoy floored Lovato twice in the seventh round but she lost a controversial decision (74-76, 74-76, 74-75) in Lovato’s hometown of Albuquerque that was met by heavy booing upon announcement. After the fight Lovato called Hoy an underestimated, hard hitter who was her toughest opponent.
Hoy and Reid, however, are not strangers and Elena won’t make the mistake of underestimating Crystal. They both live and train in Las Vegas, where they have also sparred. “Crystal’s a great fighter who has a great trainer (Jessie Reid),” Reid said. “I saw what she did to my friend Monica Lovato and I respect Crystal a lot. I prepared for two months to fight Toktaulova and I’m disappointed in few people because they had plenty of time to get her visa straightened out. Crystal is much bigger than Toktaulova but I’m a fighter and at least I know Crystal.
We’ve sparred and two weeks is more than enough time for me to prepare to fight her.
“You know, I really love everything about boxing. It’s tough to explain. I’m really excited to be fighting on the East Coast. Some of my friends, family and fans will be there and others all across North America can watch me fight on Fox Sports Net and see what I’m all about. I’m so excited to be part of this show. Judy (Kulis, IFBA president) puts us all in great match-ups and she does a great service to women’s boxing in the United States. We’re not trying to take away from men’s boxing; we want to add to boxing. Women’s boxing is further along everywhere else in the world than the United States. I could fight in Europe, Japan or Korea and make a lot more money, but I’m an American and I want to help women’s boxing grow by fighting here. Shows like this one, especially with these kinds of match-ups, are what’s been lacking in this country.”
Las Vegas undefeated mega-star Melinda Cooper (18-0, 10 KOs) kick-starts her comeback after nearly 18 months of inactivity against vaunted knockout specialist Donna “Nature Girl” Biggers (19-7-1, 16 KOs), of Shelby, North Carolina, in a special 6-round junior featherweight bout.
Also on the undercard in a pair of 6-rounders, junior featherweight contender Jeri Stizes (14-7-1, 6 KOs), of Springfield, Missouri, faces tough Ela “Bam Bam” Nunez (6-3, 2 KOs), fighting out of Jamestown, New York, while popular Jill Emery (8-2, 3 KOs) and experienced Cristy “Code Red” Nickel (7-6, 4 KOs) -- both fighting out of New York City, college graduates and physical training instructors – meet in an entertaining junior middleweight bout.
Tickets are priced at $10.00, $25.00 and $40.00 and on sale at the Mohegan Sun box office or online at www.mohegansun.com.
Go to www.ifba.com for more information. The undercard will start a 7 PM/ET, followed by the first of three scheduled televised bouts beginning at 8 PM/ET.
IFBA
Since its inception in 1997, the IFBA has sanctioned more than 100 women’s title bouts and was the first to sanction all-women’s cards on cable and broadcast television, including ESPN2, USA Network, Pay-Per-View, Fox Sports International and on SBS, MBC and MBC-ESPN in Korea. With the help of various State Boxing Commissions, the IFBA established many of the rules used in the sport today. The IFBA is sanctioning four championship bouts June 13, featuring a showdown between Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm and Mary Jo Sanders for the vacant IFBA World junior middleweight title and pound-for-pound supremacy, live on pay-per-view television from Albuquerque. For more information, visit www.IFBA.com.
FSN
FSN is the nation’s leading provider of local sports. FSN’s 16 owned-and-operated regional networks and its affiliated networks reach more than 70 million homes across the U.S. FSN serves as the TV home to nearly two-thirds of all MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States. FSN also produces close to 5,000 live local events each year, including more than 1400 in high definition. In addition to its thousands of home team games and a wide variety of locally produced sports programs, FSN televises national sports events and programs, including Pac-10 and ACC basketball and Pac-10 and Big 12 football.
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