5/25/04
FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
CONTACT: TAMARA PETTIT
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
304-387-8335(OFFICE)304-479-8097(CELL)
Chester, WV – Five West Virginia State Championships
will be settled in the ring June 18 at THE HARV, Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort’s theater and event center.
Four of the titles are currently vacant and one title will
be defended on a night that should prove to be the biggest
in West Virginia boxing history. All Championship contests
will be scheduled for 10 rounds, with three other four-round
bouts scheduled.
The Main Event will pit two long time rivals
in a welterweight title match that has been anticipated for
years. The waiting will end when Johnny “Macho
Midget” Bailey (22-11-2, 12 KOs) of New Cumberland, WV will slug it out
with Jacy Kuhn (12-1-1, 8 KOs) of Uniontown, PA. As young prospects, Bailey
and Kuhn were scheduled to fight early in their careers, but the bouts failed
to
materialize for various reasons. This has left some bad blood between the combatants
to be settled in the ring.
The Co-Feature will have defending Heavyweight Champion
Brian “The Beast” Minto
(15-0, 8 KOs) of Butler, PA in his toughest contest to date when he fights
265 lb. Billy Douglas (9-1, 8 KOs) of Columbus, Ohio. Minto recently won
the Title
with a devastating 8-round stoppage of Jeremy Bates. Minto, who fights around
210 pounds, may be giving up as much as 60 lbs. when he battles the brother
of James “Buster” Douglas. Buster is a former Heavyweight champ
and the first man to beat “Iron” Mike Tyson.
Two of the areas
most exciting fighters will square off for a memorable West Virginia Junior
Welterweight Championship fight. Aliquipa’s Scotty McKracken
(15-6, 11 KOs) will fight fan favorite Brian “Mountain Man” Thacker
(10-9, 6 KOs) of Gallipolis, Ohio. McCracken has not been in the ring since
his split decision loss to former World Champion Jorge Paez in December.
Thacker
has been very active in the Ballroom Boxing series at Mountaineer, and
always has the crowd on its feet. He is coming off a decision win over
Karl Hunter.
Alphonso “Soldier” Williams will have to better
a much more experienced opponent if he wants to bring home the State
Welterweight Title. Williams (6-0,
4 KOs) of Pittsburgh will fight veteran Ken “The Big Hurt” Hock
(10-5-1, 7 KO’s) of Chambersburg, PA. The fifth Title contest will
have unbeaten prospect Monty Meza-Clay (10-0, 5 KO’s) take on Chad
Wright (10-3-1, 9 KO’s) of Gallion, Ohio.
The undercard will have
local star power Verquan Kimbrough (6-0, 4 KOs) in action against a
yet-to-be-named opponent in a six-round bout. Also
on the
card will
be former national Golden Gloves champ Durrell Richardson (2-0, 2 KOs)
of Youngstown and prospect Shawn Bailey (3-0) of Cleveland.
The undercard
will get underway at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $100 – VIP;
$60 –Gold; $40 – Reserved; and $20 – General Admission.
Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster Locations or on site
at Mountaineer at
the Downtown Speakeasy Roarin’ 20’s Players Club. |
