ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (June 24, 2009) – World championship boxing monopolizes Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, June 27 with “Latin Fury 9!” The pay-per-view extravaganza will be headlined by World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion JUAN MANUEL “Juanma” LOPEZ defending his title against undefeated North America Boxing Association (NABA) super bantamweight champion OLIVIER LONTCHI. The televised portion of the card will also feature a 12-round bout super flyweight bout between four-time world champion JORGE “Travieso” ARCE and Filipino fireball FERNANDO “Poe” LUMACAD; a 12-round International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior middleweight title elimination bout between undefeated top-rated contender YURI FOREMAN and CORNELIUS “K9” BUNDAGE; and VANES “The Nightmare” MARTIROSYAN, risking his undefeated record and career-high ranking, against ANDREY TSURKAN in a 10-round junior middleweight battle. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Caesars Atlantic City, “Latin Fury 9” will be broadcast Live on Pay-Per-View from the Adrian Phillips Ballroom, beginning at 9 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. PDT. These eight sluggers boast a combined record of 219-14-5 (134 KOs), a winning percentage of 92% and a victory by knockout ratio of 61%!
Remaining Tickets, priced at $200, $100 and $50, can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster (800) 736-1420 or online at www.Ticketmaster.com.
“Call it the Perfect Storm because on June 27 Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall is going to be hit by a title wave,” said promoter Bob Arum. “A world championship fights plus three more battles between top-rated contenders. Whether you see it in-person or live on pay-per-view, fans are in store for an action-packed night. Even though their fights are in Atlantic City, it’s not going to be walk on the beach for any of these fighters.”
“Caesars is very excited to welcome these gladiators and their loyal fans to Atlantic City,” said Harrah’s Entertainment Sports & Entertainment Consultant Ken Condon. “We are looking forward to what is sure to be another fabulous night of world championship boxing at Boardwalk Hall with these exciting match-ups.”
Lopez (25-0, 23 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, returns to Atlantic City where he captured his world title, dethroning defending champion Daniel Ponce De Leon via a first-round knockout on June 7, 2008, ending De Leon’s three-year title reign, which had included seven successful defenses, five by knockout. Lopez has successfully defended his title three times since, all by knockout with only his most recent, against world champion Gerry Peñalosa, going past the first round and stretching his victory by knockout streak to 13. He was named Puerto Rico’s 2008 “Fighter of the Year,” where he went 4-0 (3 KOs), including three first-round knockout world title victories. His professional resume boasts a victory by knockout percentage of 92% which explains why the average length of his fights is under four rounds.
Lontchi (18-0-2, 8 KOs), a native of Cameroon who fights out of Montréal, Québec, Canada, has promised to put up a Canadian cold front that will ice Lopez’s winning streak and title reign. A recent power surge has produced knockout victories in his last two fights, his most recent on April 4 when he successfully defended his NABA title with a seventh-round KO of Cecilio Santos. The former Canadian featherweight champion dropped down to 122-pound division in 2007 where he captured the vacant NABA and NABO titles winning a dominant 12-round unanimous decision over Cruz Carbajal. He has successfully defended the NABA title three times while advancing his world ratings where he had been ranked No. 3 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and is currently No. 7 by the WBO.
Arce (51-5-1, 39 KOs), from Los Mochis, Mexico will be making his Atlantic City debut. The four-time, three-division world champion has won WBC and WBO titles at 108 lbs, a WBC interim title at 112 lbs and a WBA interim title at 115 lbs. A crowd favorite for his free-wheeling fighting style and outlandish ring entrances, he boasts a victory by knockout ratio exceeding 76%, which includes Hussein Hussein in a classic series, Rafael Concepcion, Melchor Cob-Castro and Yosam Choi. He enters this fight having won five of his last six fights, four by knockout. He is currently world-rated No. 3 by the WBC and inside the Top-10 of all the major sanctioning groups.
Lumacad (18-1-2, 7 KOs), from Manila, Philippines, making his U.S. debut, enters this fight riding a seven-bout unbeaten streak. He captured the WBO Oriental flyweight title during that streak, winning a unanimous decision over Dondon Jimenea last December.
Foreman (27-0, 8 KOs), from Brooklyn, makes his 2009 debut boasting a career-high world ranking, rated No. 1 by the WBA and No. 3 by the IBF. He won all three of his fights last year, two in defense of his NABF super welterweight title, against James Moore (16-1), Vinroy Barrett (22-6), and Saul Roman (28-4) – who had a combined record of 66-11 and a winning percentage of 86% when he face them.
Bundradge (29-4, 17 KOs), from Detroit, is rated No. 2 by the IBF. A former participant in the popular television series “The Contender,” Bundrage enters this fight having won six of his last eight fights including an impressive fifth-round TKO of undefeated contender Zaurbek Baysangurov in his most recent fight, last December. Other notable career victories include former world champion Kassim Ouma and former world title challenger Michael Clark.
Martirosyan (24-0, 15 KOs), a native of Armenia now living in Glendale, Calif., returns to the ring reunited with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and his assistant trainer former light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion Michael Moorer. Known as “The Nightmare,” the 2004 U.S. Olympian, whose amateur resume boasts victories over world champions Andre Berto and Timothy Bradley, is on the verge of breaking through professionally in the competitive junior middleweight division, where he is currently word-rated No. 11 by the IBF and No. 18 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
Tsurkan (26-4, 17 KOs), a Ukrainian native now living in Bronx, NY, enters this fight having won seven of his last nine bouts, including NABF super welterweight championship knockout victories over Hector Camacho, Jr. and Sammy Sparkman. In his last bout, the rugged Tsurkan became the only fighter to extend undefeated No. 1 contender Alfredo Angulo beyond the sixth round, making it into the 10th stanza, which was broadcast by HBO.
The “Latin Fury 9” pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $39.95. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. For “Latin Fury 9” fight week updates, log on to www.toprank.com.