7/22/05
FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
CONTACT: TAMARA PETTIT
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
304-387-8335 (OFFICE) 304-479-8097 (CELL)
CHESTER, WV-The rivalry between Pittsburgh and Cleveland
will heat up at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort
on August 11. Verquan “The Show” Kimbrough will
pursue yet another title when he fights Cleveland’s
Fred Neal. The 12-round contest will be for the International
Boxing Council’s Super Featherweight Continental Championship.
If victorious, Kimbrough, who already holds the I.B.C. America’s
belt, will be guaranteed a top ten world ranking.
Kimbrough, who sports a 12-0-1 record, is coming off three
consecutive impressive knockout wins. He devastated Terrell
Hargrove in 33 seconds in December after Hargrove had stopped
Scott McCracken. In April, Kimbrough overwhelmed Chad Wright
in five rounds to capture the I.B.C. America’s belt.
Then Kimbrough was highly impressive as he defeated Antonio
Young with a four-round TKO in the boxing hotbed of Las
Vegas. Kimbrough was featured in the Las Vegas media after
a dominating performance that was viewed live around the
world on ESPN deportes.
Neal will be a major step up in class of opposition for
Kimbrough. With an extremely successful amateur career,
Neal has a 17-3-2 record as a pro. Four of his wins came
in Mexico in front of hostile crowds rooting for their local
heroes. He also has several wins in Las Vegas and in many
nationally televised contests. His major wins include Julio
Alvarez (23-6-1), Sandra Marcos (20-5-2) and Eddie Croft
(23-5-1).
Monty Meza-Clay will have a score to settle when he battles
Marty Robbins of Nashville, Tennessee. The two were scheduled
to fight last summer, but a stomach flu hit Meza-Clay on
fight day, and the bout was a last minute cancellation.
Robbins made no secret that he felt the ailment was an excuse
and that the unbeaten fighter had second thoughts about
fighting a 40 plus fight veteran. Robbins was promised that
the bout would be rescheduled, but when that failed to materialize,
the talking continued and the bad blood heated up. So when
the Rankin, PA native brings his 15-0 record to the ring,
he will be more concerning about settling an issue that
has become personal. Both boxers have a similar style of
not stepping back and putting constant pressure on their
opponent. This eight-round bout has all the ingredients
of a non stop action affair that could be memorable.
The undercard will feature number 2 IBF contender Michael
Clark (34-3) of Columbus, Ohio in an eight-round Lightweight
contest against Jerry Cooper (17-14) of Kansas City. Local
favorites will also be on the card. George Klinesmith (20-9-3)
of Bloomingdale, Ohio, will attempt to rebound from a tough
loss in a title bout in April. Durrell Richardson (6-0)
of Youngstown will return to the ring after a nine-month
layoff. Robbie Strauss (2-2) of Bridgeville will make his
Mountaineer debut with trainer and former Steeler Craig
Wolfley in his corner. In a female bout, Leslee “Long
Play” Perella (2-1) will try to avenge her lone defeat
when she takes on Shakira Witherspoon, cousin of former
World Heavyweight Champion, “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon.
The fight will be held at Mountaineer’s Grande Ballroom
with the undercard to get underway at 7:30 p.m. Tickets
are $120 – Platinum; $60 – Gold; $20 –
Reserved and can be obtained through any Ticketmaster location
or on site at Mountaineer at the Downtown Speakeasy Roarin’
20’s Department.
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