LOS ANGELES (Sept. 9, 2009) – Two spectacular heavyweight fights were added to the highly anticipated event featuring the world title showdown between World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali “Dr. Iron Fist” Klitschko and WBC No. 1 contender Cristobal “The Nightmare’’ Arreola on Saturday, September 26 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.
Tom Loeffler, of K2 Promotions, was excited to announce the addition of these fights. “These two heavyweight fights are a great compliment to our Heavyweight World Championship main event. It will be an exciting display of Heavyweight talent where the six fighters have an amazing record of 155 wins with only 8 losses”
Fast rising star, the hard-hitting, undefeated heavyweight Alexander Ustinov (17-0, 14 KOs), of Minsk, Belarus, will take on once-beaten Cedric Boswell (31-1, 24 KOs), of Atlanta, Ga. This will be a 12-round championship fight for Ustinov’s World Boxing Association (WBA) European title, where the winner is guaranteed to rise to the top of the division.
The other compelling heavyweight match features two talented American brawlers. Once-beaten Johnathon Banks (21-1, 15 KOs), of Detroit, Mich., will take on Javier Mora (22-4, 18 KOs), of Anaheim, Calif., in a scheduled10-round fight.
Tickets are on sale at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000 and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available at the STAPLES Center Box Office. Tickets are priced at $500, $300, $200, $100, $75, $50 and $25.
The remaining undercard fights will be announced soon. The event will be promoted by K2 Promotions in association with Goossen Tutor Promotions.
Ustinov, who won the vacant WBA European title with a fifth round TKO of then-unbeaten Maksym Pedyura on Feb. 26, 2009, has climbed through the world heavyweight ranks this year to No. 13 in the WBA and has knocked out 82 percent of his opponents.
The 6-foot-seven, 32-year-old Ustinov will face his toughest challenge to date in the veteran Boswell, who’s only loss came against world title-tested Jameel McCline in 2003. Since the loss, the 6-foot-3, Boswell has knocked out eight of his nine opponents, all but one of which came inside of three rounds.
Banks will be fighting for the second time since moving up from cruiserweight. The sole blemish on his record came in a fight for the IBF cruiserweight title against current champ Tomasz Adamek on Feb. 27, 2009. Since the loss, the 6-foot-3, 27-year-old Banks scored a seventh round TKO over Paul Butlin in his heavyweight debut and hopes to contend for another title in his new division.
The 6-foot-2, 28-year-old Mora is experienced against top opposition, having fought former World Boxing Organization (WBO) champ Sultan Ibragimov on March 10, 2007. Mora scored a first round TKO in his next fight, and the Anaheim resident will enjoy a hometown crowd when fighting against Banks at STAPLES Center.
Klitschko will return to the famous site of two of his most memorable fights when he defends his WBC crown against the unbeaten Arreola, who is trying to become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican decent.
Klitschko brings a record of 37-2 with 36 knockouts into what will be an exciting, hotly contested 12-round showdown. The dangerous-punching Arreola, of Riverside, California, via East Los Angeles, is 27-0 with 24 KOs.
The Ukrainian heavyweight has been involved in the only two heavyweight world title fights to emanate from the internationally-known home of the NBA Champion Lakers, STAPLES Center. He is 1-1, but both matches were unforgettable. The first – against then-champion Lennox Lewis on June 21, 2003 – was a bloody, exhilarating slugfest that resulted in a hotly disputed victory for Lewis.