Legendary boxing promoter Don Elbaum and Joey Eye Boxing announced their next boxing show which will be headlined by Aaron Pryor Jr. on Sunday afternoon on June 13 at the Hyatt Regency in Philadelphia. The show is billed as “Fight Day On The Delaware.”
Pryor Jr. (12-2, 10 KO’s) will face Willis Lockett (12-9-5, 5 KO’s) in an eight round super middleweight bout. Pryor promised to put on “a boxing exhibition” and received high praise from his legendary father Aaron Pryor who stated, “I’d be the first one to tell him if he didn’t have it, but he has it. He has the same heart and will that I have. He has talent and he gives it everything he has. When he reaches his potential in a year or two, he can win a world title.”
Also on the card will be respected Ghanaian Ossie Duran (24-8-2, 9 KO’s) vs. Jerome Ellis (12-11-2, 10 KO’s) in an eight round junior middleweight fight. Aaron Pryor also gave high praise to Duran, calling him, “…a helluva fighter who can give any one a tough fight.”
Garrett Wilson (7-4, 2 KO’s) will battle 40-year-old undefeated 9-0 Julio Cesar Matthews at cruiserweight.
Also on the show will be Jason Escalera (8-0, 7 KO’s) and undefeated Swedish heavyweight Andreas Gustafsson (4-0, 2 KO’s) who boasts an amateur win over WBA Heavyweight beltholder David Haye. 5-0 cruiserweight Patrick Farrell is also scheduled to be on the card.
Elbaum and Joey Eye Boxing held the press conference at the Route 3 East Bar & Grill which was attended by Harold Lederman, manager Pat Lynch, Bergen County Record boxing columnist Keith Idec, Philadelphia journalist George Hanson, Contender star Freddy Curiel, New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame president Henry Hascup and attorney David Berlin.
Elbaum has been promoting boxing shows since the age of 17 and has staged shows all over the globe with such boxers as Roberto Duran, Willie Pep, Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Aaron Pryor. Elbaum is a living legend of the sport and has an autobiography in the works, which is gauranteed to be a phenomenal read, and potentially one of the greatest boxing books ever written. For example, Elbaum told the story about Pryor’s first world title fight which was against Antonio Cervantes of Colombia for the WBA Junior Welterweight title. Pryor took on the most dangerous of the 140-pound champs – Cervantes is a Hall of Famer himself – but got floored in the first round by Kid Pambele. Elbaum recalled, “By the time he hit the canvas, he was already on his way up. Pryor actually pushed the referee away to get at Cervantes, like a wild animal. I looked over to Cervantes and he couldn’t believe it. The look on Pryor’s face. I knew the fight was over right then.” Pryor, of course, won by fourth-round stoppage and the rest is history.
Tickets are priced at $100, $75 and $45 and can be purchased by calling Ron Reuther at 201-774-1646 – or in the Philadelphia area by calling Joey Eye Boxing at 267-304-9399 – or call Center Stage Tickets at 1-800-677-8499.