Shobox
on Showtime
Mora
vs. Quinonez
July
1, 2004
Palace
Indian Gaming Center
Lemoore,
California
11
PM ET/PT*
Line-up:
Lightweight
Bout (10 Rds)
Adrian
Mora (11-0, 7 KOs) vs. Steve Quinonez (28-7-1, 9 KOs)
Middleweight
Bout (8 Rds)
Irving
Garcia (9-1, 5 KOs)
vs. George Armenta (11-3,
10 KOs)
_______________________________
NEW YORK (June 22, 2004) - Although Adrian Mora is
unbeaten and untested, the crowd-pleasing,
promising
lightweight prospect also is one victory away from gaining instant
notoriety.
"All
fights are important, but my next one on SHOWTIME definitely is the
biggest of my career," said Mora
(11-0,
7 KOs). The Denver native will take on former North American Boxing
Federation (NABF) and
FECARBOX
lightweight champion Steve Quinonez (28-7-1, 9 KOs) in the 10-round
main event Thursday,
July
1, on "ShoBox: The New
Generation" at 11 p.m. ET/PT.*
"To
look good and win a fight against a solid veteran in front of a national
television audience on SHOWTIME
will
do more for my career than anything I have done. This is a giant step up
in class for me, and I know it
will
be my toughest fight. I look forward to the challenge.''
In
the co-feature from the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, Calif.,
former Puerto Rican 154-Pound
Champion
Irving Garcia (9-1, 5 KOs) will oppose George Armenta (11-3, 10
KOs) in an eight-round
middleweight
bout. Goossen Tutor Promotions will stage the doubleheader. The telecast
represents the 46th
in
the popular "ShoBox" series, which debuted on SHOWTIME in July
2001.
Mora
grew up in a family of fighters.
"Boxing
is in my blood," he said. "Although my dad was against it, I
just had a desire to box.''
During
an excellent amateur career, Mora compiled a 62-8 record, earned a silver
medal at the 2000 Western
Trials.
He turned pro at age 22 with a fourth-round TKO over Arthur Medina
on Oct. 29, 2000.
"I
love the pro game," said Mora, who has not come close to losing.
"It is much more my style. If you take
your
time and control the tempo, you will do well.''
One
of the major keys to his fight against Quinonez is whether Mora can
dictate the pace.
"This
is going to be a great fight," said Mora, who will make his first
start since stopping Richard Gonzalez
in
the second round on Nov. 21, 2003. "Quinonez is a great fighter and
needs a win badly. ''Quinonez, of
Desert
Hot Springs, Calif., has captured five out of his past six contests.
Following a five-bout winning
streak,
Quinonez lost a disputed 12-round split decision to Michael Clark
in his most recent outing on May
4,
2003. A southpaw with excellent skills and movement, Quinonez fell short
in his first and only NABF title
defense
by the scores 116-112 and 113-115 twice.
The
fight was even on two of three judges' card entering the 11th round, but
Quinonez weakened slightly in
the
final two rounds.
"I
paid the price for coming back too soon," said Quinonez, who had
captured the NABF 135-pound crown
just
five weeks earlier with a hard-fought 12-round decision over Antonio
Ramirez. "I should have taken
more
time off between fights because I just could not be myself in the ring. I
had no movement. I usually get
stronger
as the fight progresses.''
Quinonez
has had plenty of time to rest and think in the 14 months since his
uncharacteristic performance
against
Clark.
"If
I stick and move, then I will be fine," Quinonez said. "But, it
seems I always make fights tougher on
myself
by slugging and going to war. I am 33 years old, and I do not have time to
sit around anymore. I need
to
make something happen and show everyone I have a lot left.''
Quinonez,
who possesses a huge edge in experience over Mora, has fought some
excellent boxers in his
career.
Among them are Diego Corrales, Mickey Ward, Jose Luis
Castillo and Lovemore Ndou.
"Mora's
camp probably feels that they are catching me at the right time,"
Quinonez said. "They are making a
big
mistake. I have fought back from adversity before, and I will do so again
July 1.''
Garcia,
of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, went 55-6 in the amateurs and was a former
Puerto Rican national
champion
before turning pro at age 19 on July 23, 1998.
An
up-and-coming youngster with terrific overall ability, Garcia captured the
Puerto Rican 154-pound title by
scoring
a ninth-round TKO over Melvin Cardona on Aug. 17, 2001.
After
fighting exclusively out his homeland for his initial seven starts, Garcia
made his United States debut
on
May 18, 2002, in Las Vegas.
The
bout against Armenta will represent his fourth U.S. appearance and first
since suffering his lone loss on
a
10-round split decision to another Garcia, Julio "The Cuban
Lover," in a highly competitive match on Jan.
21,
2003.
Irving
Garcia was the more accurate fighter, landing 284 of 695 total punches (41
percent), including 117 of
307
jabs and 167 of 388 power punches. However, it was not quite enough and
the judges scored the
contest
in Julio's favor, 95-94 twice and 93-96.
Armenta,
of Silver Springs, Md., has won five straight bouts by knockout. In his
most noteworthy
performance,
he registered a fourth-round TKO over U.S. Olympian Dante Craig on
March 11, 2004.
"Craig
had good skills," Armenta said. "So, I made sure I trained hard.
My power hurt him and enabled me to
knock
him out. The victory really helped my career."
A
powerful puncher with either hand, Armenta turned pro on June 6, 2000, and
tallied a second-round TKO
over
Matthew Hill, in Rosedale, Md. In his last start, Armenta knocked
out Horace Cooper in the fifth
round
on April 3, 2004.
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.
*Tape
delayed on the West Coast
-
Press Release issued by Showtime's Shobox (with a little editing from us -
color, highlights).
Card
subject to change
(6/23/04)
|