Kauffman & Mansour in Showdown at Reading Friday!
By: Ken Hissner
There was a time when they were sparring one another. Then came the Facebook trash talking back and forth. Now the rubber has hit the road on March 17th at the Santander Arena in Reading, PA. Travis “My Time” Kauffman, 31-1 (23), of Reading, PA, takes on southpaw Amir “Hardcore” Mansour, 22-2-1 (16), of Wilmington, DE, over 12 rounds for the WBC US (USNBC) and PA State heavyweight titles.
This writer is not a fan of two boxers I like fighting one another but I have to say it will be an interesting match-up on Premier Boxing Champions: The Next Round on Bounce TV starting at 9pm. Doors open at 6pm and first bout 6:30pm. It is a ten bout card! It’s quite unusual to have 20 boxers on a card with only one with a losing record. Kings Promotions and Corona are promoters.
Wednesday in Reading a press conference was held at the Doubletree Hotel with David Feldman at the microphone. He started with the co-feature with former IBF welterweight champion Kermit “El Asesino” Cintron and David “Day Day” Grayton. Cintron’s trainer Joe Pastore said “Kermit has re-discovered the style he once had. His right hand after surgery is now fine”. “I am well prepared and come Friday it will be my night,” said Cintron. Grayton had little to say.
Mansour is the former USBA and PA State champion. Kauffman is the No. 1 rated USBA contender. “Everything is great. I was in Houston since December 20th and came home March 5th. I have been motivated knowing that I have a killer in front of me. Amir wants what I want and that’s a shot at the heavyweight title.I knew if I beat Arreola it would open eyes, but if I beat Mansour it will open doors,” said Kauffman.
Trainer of Kauffman Naziim Richardson said “I think it will be worth for both. One word for Mansour and that is “dangerous” guy. He can blow your brains out with a good shot. You can’t lose your focus for a second.”
In pertaining to his age Mansour said “I’m selling youth juice at 1k a bottle if anyone is interested. I like to see sparks fly and this is a great opportunity for both of us.”
In the co-feature former IBF welterweight champion Kermit “El Asesino” Cintron, 39-5-2 (30) will be seeking win number 40. He is 6-0-1 in his last seven fights. He is taking on David “Day Day” Grayton, 15-1 (11), of Wash., D.C., in a scheduled 10 round super welterweight bout. Grayton was the 2010 National Golden Gloves champion defeating Errol Spence who is now the No. 1 IBF contender and former 2016 Olympian. This will be Cintron’s biggest test since coming back in 2013.
The undercard features the former 2-time IBF cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, 28-8-1 (13), of Philadelphia, back after an almost a year lay-off taking on Felipe “El Indio” Romero, 19-11-1 (13), in a scheduled 8. He is from Baja, MEX. He twice defeated Julio Cesar Gonzalez who stopped Poland’s DariuszMichalczewski win streak when he was 48-0 and in Germany winning the WBO light heavyweight title. Romero was the Mexican cruiserweight champion at the time. In his next fight he won the Mexican heavyweight title. Then he defeated Gonzalez in a rematch.
A pair of unbeaten Brooklyn boxers will be on the undercard in Chordale Booker, 5-0 (3), and Chris Colbert, 5-0 (2), in separate bouts. Local Reading product southpaw super welterweight Erik Spring, 8-1-2 (1), will be meeting Jeremiah Wiggins, 10-5-1 (5), out of Newport News, VA. Another local middleweight Nicholas Hernandez, 5-2 (1), meets Nick Valliere, 5-1 (2), of Forked River, NJ. And another Reading boxer super lightweight Kashon Hutchinson, 2-1 (1), takes on Darius “I Am King” Ervin, 3-1 (0), of L.A. While another in Jesus Perez makes his debut.
