SHOBOX
on Showtime
Arnaoutis
vs.
Santa Cruz
Alvarez
vs.
Medina
February 18, 2005
Chumash Casino
Santa Barbara, California
11:00 PM ET/PT*
Line-up:
NABO Jr. Welterweight Title
Bout (12 Rds)
“Mighty”
Mike Arnaoutis
(12-0-1,
6 KOs) vs.
Roberto
Santa Cruz (11-2,
2 KOs)
Welterweight Bout (8 Rds)
Shamone
Alvarez (10-0,
7 KOs) vs. Jose
“El Macho” Medina (11-2,
9 KOs)
__________________________________
NEW YORK - Since his “ShoBox: The New Generation” debut
last year, “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis has
shown that
charisma, style and speed can captivate an audience and confuse an
opponent. The World
Boxing
Organization (WBO) No. 6/ International Boxing Federation (IBF) No. 14
140-pound contender will
make his
fourth SHOWTIME and “ShoBox” appearances when he defends his NABO Jr.
Welterweight title
against
Roberto Santa Cruz Feb. 18, 2005, in what many are expecting to be a
12-round war. In the eight-
round
co-feature from Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif., undefeated
Shamone Alvarez will mix
it up with
Jose “El Macho” Medina in a battle of welterweights.
SHOWTIME
will televise the Gary Shaw Productions doubleheader at 11 p.m. ET/PT
(tape delayed on west
coast).
The telecast represents the 57th in the popular “ShoBox” series, which
debuted on SHOWTIME in
July 2001.
Arnaoutis
(12-0-1, six KOs), of Athens, Greece, will make his fourth SHOWTIME
appearance in only six
months. In
his SHOWTIME debut on Aug. 5, 2004, from Hollywood, Fla., the undefeated
fighter landed his
jab
effectively against Juan Urango and left the crowd chanting his
name during a 12-round contest for the
vacant
North American Boxing Organization (NABO) junior welterweight crown. The
judges scored the
exciting
contest a majority draw, 115-113 for Urango and 114-114 (twice).
"Everybody
thought I was out of my mind for taking the Urango fight," Arnaoutis said.
"They thought Urango
was going
to blow me away. I guess they were wrong.”
In his
next SHOWTIME appearance, Arnaoutis floored Jesse Feliciano three
times in the initial three
minutes to
capture the vacant NABO junior welterweight title with an opening-round
knockout on Oct. 22,
2004, in
Santa Ynez.
Once again
displaying his power on SHOWTIME, Arnaoutis dropped Juaquin Gallardo
twice en route to a
third-round TKO on Dec. 17, 2004, in Santa Ynez. “Mighty Mike” belted his
opponent in the second round
with a
quick double left jab, followed by a combination. At 2:40 of the third
round, Arnaoutis dropped Gallardo
with a
punishing left cross, prompting the referee to stop the contest.
“I love to
fight and put on a show,” Arnaoutis said. “I see it as an incredible
opportunity to fight on
SHOWTIME
so consistently. It is a big opportunity to display my skills on national
television and to move
forward
and up the ladder. I am not going to let this pass me by.”
Santa Cruz
(11-2, 2 KOs), of Los Angeles, turned pro on April 12, 2001, and tallied a
second-round TKO over
Joe
Shedarowicz. After dropping two out of his next three fights, Santa
Cruz has won his last nine fights
including
a six-round unanimous decision over Ricardo Barragan on Feb. 17,
2002, in Las Vegas. In his
last
outing, the Los Angeles native registered an eight-round unanimous
decision over Sergio Macias in
Burbank,
Calif., May 8, 2003.
Alvarez
(10-0, seven KOs), of Atlantic City, N.J., scored a first-round knockout
over previously undefeated
Mohammed Kayongo (11-0-1) in his SHOWTIME debut, Nov. 19, 2004 in
Detroit. Alvarez came out firing
from the
opening bell. At the 2:30 mark of the first round, he connected with a jab
and then a cross to the
chin to
send Kayongo face first into the mat.
“To be on
national television, and to win like I did, I could not ask for anything
better,” Alvarez said. “This next
fight on
SHOWTIME will be just as spectacular.”
Alvarez
made his professional boxing debut on July 19, 2002, and scored a
first-round knockout over Steve
Evans
in Reading, Pa. The undefeated fighter has dedicated his life to helping
children. When he is not
boxing,
Alvarez works as a counselor for the Youth Advocate Program. He talks to
the children, helps them
with their
problems and makes sure they do their homework.
Medina (11-2, nine KOs) of Philadelphia by way of Caugas, Puerto Rico,
celebrated his son Joshua's sixth
birthday
Sept. 11, 2004, with a second-round TKO over Juan Cintron in
Philadelphia.
"It means
a lot to fight on Sept. 11,” said Medina, originally of Puerto Rico, but a
resident of Philadelphia. "I
dedicated
that bout to all the fallen heroes at Ground Zero."
A relative
new comer to boxing, Medina made his pro debut at age 26 on March 22,
2002, and knocked out
Octavise
Harrison in the third round from Philadelphia.
Nick
Charles will call the action from ringside, with Steve Farhood
serving as expert analyst. The executive
producer
of the telecast is Gordon Hall, with Richard Gaughan
producing.
For
information on “ShoBox: The New Generation” and SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP
BOXING telecasts,
including
complete fighter bios, records, related stories and more, please go the
SHOWTIME website at
http://www.sho.com/boxing.
*Tape
Delayed on the West Coast
-
Press Release issued by Showtime's Shobox (with a little editing from us -
color, highlights).
(2/14/05)
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