Leon Margules and Luis DeCubas of Warriors Boxing and Javier Arce and Armando Garcia Chavez of Miami-based G&A Boxing Promotions proudly announce they have joined forces to sign a trio of promising fighters, James "Buddy" McGirt Jr., Juan Carlos Velasquez and Carlos Ivan Velasquez to co-promotional deals.
The trio will be making their debuts under the new promotional banner on Thursday, May 1, 2014, on the undercard of the "Noche de Combates" event, a special edition of ESPN Thursday Night Fights, at the iconic Hialeah Park in South Florida.
All three fighters' opponents are TBA.
In the night's 10-round, televised welterweight main event, Roberto "La Amenaza" Garcia (34-3, 22 KOs) of Weslaco, Texas, will face Victor "Mermelada" Cayo (32-4, 23 KOs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In the televised 10-round middleweight co-feature, undefeated Jonathan "Mantequilla" González (17-0-1, 14 KOs) of San Juan, Puerto Rico will put his near-perfect record on the line against an opponent to be determined.
Tickets for "Noche de Combates," are priced at $20, $35, $50 and $100 and are on sale now. They can be purchased at ticketforce.com, as well as hialeahpark.com, and also at the Hialeah Park Racing & Casino box office. For more information, call the special Boxing Hotline at 786-483-7444.
Super middleweight southpaw James "Buddy" McGirt Jr. (22-3-1, 11 KOs) is the son of former IBF Junior welterweight and WBC welterweight champion James "Buddy" McGirt, who also serves as his trainer. McGirt was once a staple on ESPN and Showtime, but hasn't fought since losing to top contender Edwin Rodriguez in 2010.
The group has also signed a pair of talented twin-brother featherweight contenders in Carlos Ivan "Twin Dream" Velasquez (16-1, 11 KOs) and Juan Carlos Velasquez (11-1, 5 KOs), from Catano, Puerto Rico, now living in Miami.
As amateurs, the Velasquez brothers had a combined total of 290 amateur wins. Carlos Ivan was a 2004 Olympian, whose only professional loss was to former world champion Rico Ramos last year, a fight in which he had Ramos on the deck. While Carlos Ivan is more of an aggressive puncher, brother Juan Carlos is well-known for his technical superiority. He suffered his lone professional loss via upset decision in 2009 and has been out of the ring since 2012.
"These guys haven't been active for various reasons, but they're all hungry and ready to do what they need to do to become top contenders and champions and so are we," said Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing. "This joining of forces will be great for all three of their careers and for Florida boxing as well."
I'm very happy and proud to be joining forces with AG and to have the opportunity to work with these three fighters," said Luis DeCubas of Warriors Boxing. "With our combined vision and commitment to them, they will all re-emerge as top contenders and eventually champions."
The undercard will also include an eight-round light heavyweight bout featuring knockout artist Yunieski Gonzalez (13-0, 13 KOs) of Havana, Cuba, who will put his perfect record on the line against Arpartado, Colombia's Jaison Palomeque (14-9-1, 9 KOs); and a six-round cruiserweight affair, featuring undefeated Cuban Vilier Quinonez (7-0, 4 KOs) of Havana taking on Edgar Perez (5-8, 3 KOs) of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In preliminary action, Cairo Egypt's Ahmed Elbiale (3-0, 3 KOs) will be featured in a light heavyweight four-rounder against an opponent still TBA; and in the four-round welterweight opener, Bogota, Colombia, via Hollywood, Florida's Jorge Quintero (1-1) will face Davie, Florida's pro debuting, and Florida 2012 Golden Gloves Champ, Jeff "Rambo" Souffrant.
Hialeah Park & Casino is located at 2200 E 4th Avenue in Hialeah, FL. On fight night, Thursday May 1, 2014, gates will open at 6:30 PM ET and the first fight will be at 7:00 PM ET. All bouts are subject to change.