DiBella Entertainment has announced a solid undercard supporting the Sergio Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin card, entitled “The Real Middleweight Championship – Get Your Irish Up”, on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The 12-round main event features The Ring Magazine’s No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter, World Middleweight Champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs), defending against rugged Irish challenger Matthew “Mack the Knife” Macklin (28-3, 19 KOs).
In the 10-round “Bombs Away” co-feature, super middleweight Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (20-0, 14 KOs) takes on Don “Da Bomb” George (22-1-1, 19 KOs) in an highly anticipated action-packed fight with possible future world title shot implications. Martinez-Macklin and Rodriguez-George will both air live on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing,” starting at 10 PM/ET 7 PM/PT.
A battle of unbeaten heavyweights, Magomed “Mago” Abdusalamov (13-0, 13 KOs) and Jason Pettaway (11-0, 8 KOs), will provide chief support on the undercard in a 10/12 round fight for the vacant World Boxing Council (“WBC”) Silver Championship. The Russian-born Abdusalamov, who now lives and trains out of Oxnard, California, where Martinez is based, sports a perfect 13-fight pro record with 13 wins by knockout and is already rated No. 15 by the World Boxing Association (“WBA”).
WBA No. 6-rated junior middleweight Charlie Ota (19-1-1, 13 KOs), who is the reigning OPBF and Japanese 154-pound champion, will be fighting for the first time outside of Japan, ironically, in the city in which he was born.
Former world title challenger Argenis Mendez (19-2, 10 KOs), a Dominican junior lightweight, will be fighting close to his Brooklyn home in an eight-round bout. The 25-year-old is a past United States Boxing Association and WBA FEDALATIN super featherweight titleholder.
The remainder of the entertaining undercard finds a strong Irish flavor, starting with popular Irish-American light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan (12-0, 8 KOs), who faces his stiffest test to date against Eric Watkins (6-1) in an eight-rounder.
DiBella Entertainment’s hard-working publicist, popular Catskills middleweight Kevin Rooney (3-1, 1 KO), returns in a four-round bout. His father is former pro fighter and Mike Tyson’s trainer, Kevin Rooney Sr.
Fan favorite Danny “Little Mac” McDermott (9-3-2, 4 KOs) is scheduled to fight in an eight-round junior welterweight fight, while Yonkers, by way of Dublin, heavyweight Thomas Hardwick is matched against Blu Delong (0-3) in a four-round bout.
DiBella Entertainment builds upon the unique insights Lou DiBella developed as a television executive and matchmaker to combat the contractual exploitation of professional boxers. DiBella
Entertainment creates a business model that shifts the balance of power from promoters to boxers; and establishes a legacy of matchmaking excellence, both in an effort to improve the health of the boxing industry. DiBella Entertainment represents its athletes with honesty and integrity all while making the best and fairest financial deals for its clients.
Tickets, priced at $505, $355, $205, $125 and $65, are available to purchase through the Madison Square Garden Box Office, through Ticketmaster at Ticketmaster.com or by calling (866) 858-0008. Call DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577, visit www.dbe1.com and @loudibella on Twitter for more information.
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