NEW YORK (Dec. 3, 2009) – Any way you look at it, Tyrone “The One” Brunson’s world record of 19 first-round knockouts in his first 19 professional fights is impressive. Friday night on ShoBox: The New Generation, live on SHOWTIME® (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast), fight fans will finally get a chance to see the heralded young, undefeated Philadelphia fighter in action as he takes on “Kid” Carson Jones in a 10-round junior middleweight affair from the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif.
The 24-year-old Brunson (21-0-1, 20 KO) is exactly the kind of fighter ShoBox has so successfully highlighted since its inception in 2001, says executive producer Gordon Hall. “Tyrone Brunson is your typical ShoBox fighter: Young and untested,” he said. “It’s time for him to step up and be tested. Not all 21-0 fighters are what they appear to be. We’ll find out exactly what kind of fighter Brunson is when he steps in against a very match-tough competitor like Carson Jones.”
Brunson knows his opposition hasn’t been all that competitive. In his record breaking 19th first-round knockout in March, he flattened Francis McKechnai with a flurry of devastating punches knocking McKechnai to the canvas three times before the referee called the fight at 1:12. McKechnai had a record of 3-14, with all 14 losses by knockout coming into the fight.
“The knockout streak did hold me back because now it’s like I’m graduating to the stage where I’m fighting the guys that I should have been fighting then,” said Brunson, who turned pro in 2005 after an amateur career of 82 wins, 90 percent coming by way of the knockout. “But I always could fight, because I had a good amateur background and I come from Philadelphia – so we all can fight. The world gets to look at me now. I’ll shut all my critics up.”
In his last fight on Nov. 7 in Hartford, Conn., he TKO’d Jose Medina in the third round.
Brunson’s opponent is the 23-year-old, five-year pro Jones (23-7-1, 2 ND, 14 KOs), who isn’t impressed with Brunson’s world record.
“I know Brunson has the world record of first-round consecutive knockouts against like, bums off the street,” he said. “I know he’s never fought a fighter like me – he’s never fought a real fighter. I saw him fight on YouTube. But I haven’t seen any of his recent fights.
“He’s just very basic. He tries to be a boxer, but he looks bad doing it. He tries to be slick, but he’s not. He’s just there. I don’t really have to have a game plan, because I’m good enough to adapt to his style. There’s no way he can beat me. Whatever he brings to the table, I can adapt to it.”
In the co-feature, Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (13-0, 6 KOs) of Riverside, Calif., takes on former World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight champion Mike Anchondo (29-2, 19 KOs) of Hacienda Heights, Calif., in an eight-round super lightweight bout.
The event is being promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC.
The 29-year-old Herrera turned pro at the late age of 27. In his last fight on Oct. 9, 2009, in Ontario, Calif., he won an eight-round majority decision against Cleotis Pendarvis by the scores of 79-73, 77-75 and 76-76.
Anchondo has been inactive in recent years and didn’t fight for a year from December 2005 to December 2006, then took two years off from April 2007 to April, 2009. He has fought two times this year, and won both fights.
In November, Andre Ward became the 40th ShoBox alum to win a major world title with his victory over World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler on Nov. 21 in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Ward, who fought and developed as a professional on ShoBox, is the most recent alum to be crowned a champion.
Earlier in 2009, Yonnhy Perez, Antonio DeMarco and Yuri Foreman joined the elite group, which includes current stars Ricky Hatton, Chad Dawson, Paul Williams and Timothy Bradley, by winning their first world titles.
Curt Menefee will call the action from ringside with Steve Farhood and Antonio Tarver serving as expert analysts. The executive producer of ShoBox is Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
For information on SHOWTIME Sports Programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go the new SHOWTIME Sports website at http://www.sho.com/sports.
About ShoBox: The New Generation
Since its inception in July 2001, the critically acclaimed SHOWTIME boxing series, ShoBox: The New Generation has featured young talent matched tough. The ShoBox philosophy is to televise exciting, crowd-pleasing and competitive matches while providing a proving ground for willing prospects determined to fight for a world title. The growing list of fighters who have appeared on ShoBox and advanced to garner world titles includes: Leonard Dorin, Scott Harrison, Juan Diaz, Jeff Lacy, Ricky Hatton, Joan Guzman, Juan Urango, David Diaz, Robert Guerrero, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Malignaggi, Kendall Holt, Timothy Bradley, Bernard Dunne, Yonnhy Perez, Yuri Foreman and Andre Ward.
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 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®.
