Peter Manfredo Jr. and Matt Remillard headline title bouts on January 29th
World-class professional boxing will be coming live to Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, January 29th at 7:30pm as TKO Boxing Promotions, in association with Mohegan Sun, presents two North American title bouts featuring long-time New England fan favorites Peter “The Pride of Providence” Manfredo Jr. and Matt “The Sharp Shooter” Remillard.
Tickets are $75.00, $45.00 and $30.00 and are on sale now at the Mohegan Sun Box Office and through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster customers may log on to ticketmaster.com; call Ticketmaster’s national toll free Charge By Phone number 1.800.745.3000; or visit any Ticketmaster outlet.
Headlining the January 29th event, Peter Manfredo Jr. will face off against Matt “The Predator” Vanda in the ten-round main event for the NABF Super Middleweight Title.
The twenty-nine year-old Manfredo, 33-6-0 (18 KOs), is coming off a brutal first-round stoppage of veteran Ronald Weaver on November 5th in Cockeysville, Maryland. Earlier in 2009, Manfredo stopped Walid Smichet with a devastating knockout in the seventh round on April 18th at the Casino Montréal in Quebec, Canada.
In addition to his second place finish in the premiere season of NBC’s The Contender, Manfredo has faced world-class competition throughout his career, with many of his biggest wins coming in the New England area.
Since 2005, Manfredo has defeated Scott Pemberton, Joey Spina, Ted Muller, David Banks, Shane Benfield and Donny McCrary in bouts which have taken place near his hometown of Providence.
A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, 31 year-old Vanda brings a record of 42-9-0 with 22 knockouts into the battle with Manfredo. Known as “The Predator,” Vanda’s first big win of his career came on June 24, 2005, when he won a twelve-round decision over former world champion Yory Boy Campas.
In 2008, Vanda battled Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. twice, losing a hotly-disputed split decision in Sonora, Mexico on July 12th and losing a hard fought decision in Las Vegas on November 1st.
Vanda has won three in a row in 2009 against veterans Tocker Pudwill, Ted Muller and Phil Williams, all in bouts which have taken place in Minnesota.
The co-feature on January 29th is a featherweight showdown between Hartford’s Matt “The Sharp Shooter” Remillard and Dominican Rafael Lora in a ten round battle for the NABF Featherweight Title. The bout is a rematch of their action-packed September 19th bout, won by Remillard in a controversial fourth round stoppage, which Lora hotly disputed.
Twenty-three year-old Remillard, amongst the most promising prospects in boxing, has amassed an undefeated record of 20-0-0 (11 KOs), since turning professional in 2005. He went 4-0 in 2009, most recently winning a unanimous decision over veteran Marty Robbins on December 19th.
Now based in Irvington, New Jersey, Lora, 11-1-0 (5 KOs), was undefeated prior to the first bout with Remillard and is focused on revenge.
The undercard is headlined by sensational lightweight prospect Francisco “The Phenom” Contreras. A native of the Dominican Republic, 25 year-old Contreras burst onto the boxing scene in this country with a sensational first-round knockout of Gustavo Mejia on June 18th. He finished with four big wins in 2009, the last a dominating unanimous decision over veteran Marteze Logan on December 19th.
In a special attraction bout, hard hitting fan favorite, Adelita Irizarry makes her return to Mohegan Sun in a six round welterweight bout. A native of Hartford, Irizarry, 6-3-0 (2 KOs), won a four-round unanimous decision over Yvonne Reis on August 29, 2008 in her last bout at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Also making his return to the ring is popular junior lightweight newcomer Joseph “Chip” Perez. Twenty-three year-old Perez won his pro debut on September 19th with a terrific four-round unanimous decision over Juan Zuniga. In his most recent bout Perez, 2-0-0 (1KO), stopped Lewis Crews on December 19th.
Rounding out the card will be undefeated Russian lightweight prospect Adam Sargysan, 13-0-0 (8 KOs), Canadian junior lightweight Arash Usmanee, 4-0-0 (2 KOs) and the pro debut of outstanding amateur prospect, junior welterweight Michael Finney of Smith Station, Alabama.
Mohegan Sun Arena is ranked the 4th best venue by Billboard Magazine and was the 2008 recipient of a Country Music Award for “Casino of The Year.” For more information on concerts and other great events at Mohegan Sun, visit mohegansun.com. For information on this week’s schedule, call the Entertainment and Special Events hotline at 1.888.226.7711, ext. 27163.