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Ismael Villarreal Shoulders Responsibilities In and Out of the Ring
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(Bronx, New York) - Sixty thousand community college students participate in athletic competition, according to the NCAA. Another 400,000 compete if you include four-year college students. Only two percent will ever become professional athletes.
Twenty-year-old Bronx native Ismael Villarreal (1-0) has already beaten those odds. The two-time New York Golden Gloves champion won his first bout as a professional boxer in November in his debut at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Villarreal returns to the big stage again at The Garden on Saturday, March 3 on the non-televised undercard of Sergey Kovalev vs. Igor Mikhalkin in a four-round junior middleweight bout against Anthony Woods (1-5) of Douglasville, Georgia.
"I never thought I was going to return (to Madison Square Garden) that quick," said Villarreal. "It's pretty cool, and I get to fight in my hometown, so I like it."
Villarreal remains in New York between fights in order to balance his full-time training schedule and full-time course load at Brooklyn Community College. He is a physical education major, studying subjects including biology and education, with the goal of becoming a teacher. "You've always got to have a backup plan. Anything can happen... I can't drop school."
Villarreal competed as an amateur while attending Belmont Preparatory High School, founded in the Bronx in 2002 for academically talented students throughout the community. Many of his teachers there became boxing fans, and Villarreal expects to see many of them for his second fight at Madison Square Garden. "They've always been supportive," said Villarreal.
His community college classmates and instructors aren't as aware of Villarreal's second full-time job as a professional boxer: "Sometimes they find me on the internet. I would have told them, but I don't want to interrupt class saying 'hey, I'm a boxer!'"
Juggling the demands of training and his school obligations makes time management critically important for Villarreal. "I have to go every day, my only day off is Friday. I still have to focus on running, on homework, on the gym. It's tough but I'll make it through," said Villarreal.
Villarreal says the real exhaustion is mental more than physical. "When I go to school and I'm boxing, it's definitely hard. Some can do it, some can't ... Sometimes it's hard to manage... no one can say it's easy, it's a challenge."
But Villarreal has discovered the value of discipline, and he says it benefits him in multiple ways. "I've always been disciplined when it comes to schoolwork. If anything, I become more disciplined with boxing from the schoolwork," explained Villarreal.
For his upcoming fight, Villarreal is dropping from middleweight to junior middleweight (154 pounds). He says he's working on being more active and throwing more punches, especially working to the body. Villarreal's plan for 2018 is to stay active in the ring. But he also understands at this stage of his career, "sometimes you get tired of waiting, but patience is important ... I know everything will pay off in the future."
About March 3: The Saturday, March 3 main event between Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev and Igor Mikhalkin is a 12-round match-up for the WBO Light Heavyweight World Title at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The co-main event features WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Dmitry Bivol versus Sullivan Barrera in a 12-round title fight. Tickets range from $50 to $300 and are available at TicketMaster.com and the Madison Square Garden box office. The event is promoted by Main Events, Krusher Promotions and World of Boxing in association with EC Box Promotions and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® at 10:05 p.m. ET/PT.
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Plenty of fire and fury at 60th annual Grammy Awards
By KRISTIN M. HALL AP
Just as the Hollywood award shows this year have been dominated by the Time’s Up movement, the 60th annual Grammy Awards became a platform for artists to address sexual harassment and abuse, but also President Donald Trump, immigration and gun violence.
Artists arrived on the red carpet with white roses to show support for female equality, but others skewered Trump or criticized his administration’s treatment of immigrants with the Statue of Liberty serving as a backdrop. Kendrick Lamar opened the show with a gun-rattling performance while country stars mourned victims of the country’s largest mass shooting.
These are the top moments of Sunday’s Grammy Awards:
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FIRE AND FURY
The Grammy Awards didn’t hold back in a pre-recorded skit aimed at President Trump, which featured a surprise appearance by Hillary Clinton and others reading embarrassing passages from the Trump tell-all “Fire And Fury.”
The skit featured musicians such as John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg and DJ Khaled reading portions of the book as an audition for the audio book. Rapper Cardi B added her own opinion after reading about Trump’s regular routines, saying “This is how he lives his life?” But it was Clinton’s appearance that gathered the loudest applause from the crowd at Madison Square Garden.
Predictably it was a hot topic on Twitter soon after, prompting United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley to post that the segment was “trash.”
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NOT JUST HOLLYWOOD
Janelle Monae pointed her finger at the music industry’s role and responsibility following a wave of sexual harassment and abuse scandals that have rocked Hollywood.
“It’s not just going in Hollywood,” Monae announced during the show. “It’s not just going on in Washington. It’s right here in our industry as well.”
Kesha delivered the most powerful performance of her career as she sang “Praying,” backed by a chorus of women in white, with her emotions raw on her face and in her voice.
The pop singer, who has accused her former producer Dr. Luke of raping and drugging her, sang directly to overcoming an abusive relationship and finding forgiveness. (Dr. Luke has denied her accusations.) At the end, the women embraced Kesha in a group hug.
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ACTS OF VIOLENCE
The Grammys opened the show with a mix of rap, rock and comedy featuring Kendrick Lamar, U2 and Dave Chappelle. Lamar has a history at the Grammys of combining performance art and music, which he did again with an army of marching camouflaged dancers in front of the images of the American flag.
Lamar performed “XXX” with Bono and The Edge, with Chappelle adding moments of levity, while the screen declared “This is a satire by Kendrick Lamar.” But he ended the performance as the sound of gun shots filled the air behind his rapid fire rapping and his backup dancers fell to the floor one by one.
Later on in the Grammy show, three country artists gathered in a solemn tribute to victims of a mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival and a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in England.
Seated in front of names of victims, the stoic Eric Church seemed to struggle behind his sunglasses to get through a performance of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,” along with Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne.
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A COUNTRY OF DREAMERS
Singer Camila Cabello, a Cuban-Mexican immigrant brought to the United States as a child, spoke about the American dream in a thinly veiled reference to the Trump administration’s policies on immigration.
“This country was built by dreamers for dreamers,” said Cabello, a likely reference to the group of young immigrants protected under the Obama-era program that was canceled by Trump last year.
After a reading of the poem that is etched into the base of the Statue of Liberty, Irish rock band U2 used the iconic image as a backdrop for a pre-recorded performance of “Get Out of Your Own Way” from a barge in the Hudson River.
Even Sting’s performance of his 1987 song “Englishman in New York,” seemed a bit more on the nose as the country deals with reforming immigration laws.
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DANCER DUET
Elton John and Miley Cyrus had one of the most talked-about moments at the 2018 Grammy awards with a powerhouse rendition of John’s ballad “Tiny Dancer.”
John’s 1972 single never won a Grammy, but is now considered a classic.
John began the song, sitting a piano topped with a white rose, symbol of the “Time’s Up” movement. Cyrus, in a flowing red Zac Posen gown, joined in to give the song a country tinge.
The duet drew praise on social media, with former “Dawson’s Creek” star James Van Der Beek Tweeting “bravo” to Cyrus.
Last week, 70-year-old John announced details of a three-year world tour that he says will be his last.
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MUSICAL REWIND
It may have been the 60th anniversary of the Grammy Awards, but Bruno Mars brought the show back to the ’90s with a colorful performance of his song “Finesse.”
Mars was the big winner of the night with six awards and beating out leading nominee Jay-Z. Together with rapper Cardi B, the performance was musical and cultural homage to new jack swing, “In Living Color” and Mars’ brand of funk and R&B.
Cardi B kept up with Mars and his band’s killer dance moves, while showing off her own flamboyant skills on the mic.
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BACK TO BROADWAY
The Grammy Awards returned to New York City for the first time in more than a decade with a nod to the city’s rich history of musical theater.
Tony Award winners Ben Platt and Patti LuPone delivered impressive tributes to composers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Leonard Bernstein.
LuPone returned to her iconic performance from “Evita” with a symphony backing her on “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,” proving she is among Broadway’s greatest singers.
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Online:
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For full coverage of awards season, visit: https://apnews.com/tag/AwardsSeason
All meetings with an (*) indicate a public meeting
Monday, February 5th, 2018
Emergency Preparedness, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 9:30 a.m.
*Board of Alders-Democratic Caucus, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3. 5:45 p.m.; Public Information Caucus, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 6:30 p.m.; Full Board Meeting, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Aldermanic Chamber
7:00 p.m., (203) 946-6483.
Tuesday, February 6th, 2018
Arts, Culture & Tourism, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 2, 2:00 p.m.
(203) 946-7172
Solar Youth Inc., New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3, 3:00 p.m.
(203) 387-4189
*Board of Alders, Human Services Committee, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium
Aldermanic Chamber, 6:00 p.m., (203) 946-4876
Wednesday, February 7th, 2018
Solar Youth Inc., New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 2, 3:00 p.m.
(203) 387-4189
Project Fresh Start, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 3:30 p.m.
(203) 946-7821
*Environmental Advisory Council, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3
5:15 p.m.
*Commission on Equal Opportunities, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1
6:00 p.m., (203) 946-7686
*Board of Alders, Youth Services Committee, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium
Aldermanic Chamber, 6:00 p.m., (203) 946-4876
Thursday, February 8th, 2018
Solar Youth Inc., New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 2, 3:00 p.m.
(203) 387-4189
*Homeless Advisory Commission, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3
6:00 p.m.
Friday, February 9th, 2018
Solar Youth Inc., New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3, 3:00 p.m.
(203) 387-4189
Monday, February 12th, 2018
Emergency Preparedness, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 9:30 a.m.
Solar Youth Inc., New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 3:00 p.m.
(203) 387-4189
*Commission on Disabilities, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 2, 5:15 p.m.
*Board of Alders, Finance Committee, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium
Aldermanic Chamber, 6:00 p.m., (203) 946-6045
*Elm City Cycling, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3, 6:00 p.m.
*NH Bicycle Club, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 7:00 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Will Paul
MASSACHUSETTS HEAVYWEIGHT TYLER King is stepping on two week's notice to face Virginia's Keith Bell on the main card of "CES MMA 41" at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., on Friday, Jan. 27th, 2017. The fight will air live as part of AXS TV's telecast beginning at 9 p.m. ET. King replaces Juliano Coutinho, who suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw from the card. King has won his last three fights and is predicting a fourth consecutive win next Friday following a heated exchange with Bell on social media nearly four months ago.
-- Some fighters get unnerved when they find out their opponent is injured within two weeks of fight night. Not Keith Bell.
"I was relieved," Bell said. "I went from fighting a stud to a bum."
Originally scheduled to face Juliano Coutinho on the televised main card of "CES MMA 41" next Friday at Twin River Casino, the Newport News, Va., native will now fight Massachusetts vet Tyler King in hopes of squashing a beef that began four months ago on -- where else? -- social media with a heated keyboard exchange between the two heavyweights.
The King-Bell bout is one of seven on the AXS TV portion of "CES MMA 41." Showtime is 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 27th, 2017 with the main card scheduled for 9.
Tickets for "CES MMA 41" are priced at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesboxing.com, www.twinriver.com, www.ticketmaster.com or www.cagetix.com/ces by phone at 401-724-2253/2254 or at the Twin River Casino Players Club. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
The war of words between King and Bell (6-8, 4 KOs) began innocently enough on a congratulatory Instagram post by CES MMA in honor of heavyweight Pat Walsh, who had just scored a big win at "CES MMA 38." Bell inquired about fighting Walsh on the next card, but King intervened, claiming he'd take down Walsh and several other noteworthy heavyweights before adding Bell "isn't invited" because "I don't beat up fighters with under .500 records," a knock on Bell's 6-8 mark.
The grenade launched by King set off a day's worth of digs from both sides, but next Friday's fight truly didn't materialize until Coutinho was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. When presented with the opportunity to settle the argument in the cage instead of online, both sides happily obliged.
"I don't even care about the opponent, but he opened his mouth, so he can get hurt," said King, who has won three in a row and last fought at Bellator 163 in November in a rematch against regional rival Josh Diekmann.
"I wanted to get another fight in. CES was in a rough spot with [Coutinho] falling out and they've been good to me, so I figured I'd return the favor. I don't stop training. I'm constantly just working on everything to get better. I went from a relaxed state of mind to, 'OK, we're going to war in 18 days. Let's do it.'"
Aside from their mutual disdain for one another, the only thing Bell and King have in common is they both fought Providence heavyweight Greg Rebello, who is also featured on the "CES MMA 41" main card. Nine months before he fought Rebello himself, Bell made the trip up north to help Rebello prepare for his fight against King in June of 2015.
"They told me to just put pressure on Greg and not really do anything else or have any skill," Bell quipped. "That's what I did to prepare Rebello for Tyler."
Rebello won the fight by third-round knockout and also stopped Bell in the opening round of their scheduled three-round bout last March. Since then, King has won his last three by submission, including the win over Diekmann -- his second win over the Connecticut native -- a victory against Eric Bedard in the rubber match of their epic trilogy and a win over Lorenzo Hood, whom Bell called "the biggest bust in MMA history."
"For him to say I fight bums, on January 27th, he's going to be woken up and not understand why he lost to a 'bum,'" Bell said. "I never talk like this, but he just brings it out of me. That's not going to change how the fight will go. His talking does nothing. At the end of the day, they will lock the cage door behind both of us. After all of that talking, then what?
"I've always been respectful. I've never been 'that guy.' I just don't think Tyler has any respect or he's just that punch-drunk and doesn't know any better, but he will know in [nine] days."
"I don't take easy fights," King countered. "If anything, this is a gift for CES. 'You want me to put this bum out of his misery? Sure, I'll do you a favor.'
"I do all my due diligence. I watch my film," King continued. "I saw the fight between him and Greg. He is not tough. He tapped to strikes. If you tap to strike, you are a bitch. There's no two ways about it. He can crack, I'll give him that, but he has nothing else. I have so many more tools in my toolbox. If he messes up once, he's in for a rude awakening."
King presents a much different challenge for Bell than Coutinho, whom Bell says is an all-around better fighter than King because of his expertise in the ground game. Next Friday's fight will be Bell's third with CES MMA. Each of his last 10 fights, win or lose, have ended in the first round.
"I'm at the point in my career where I'm only going to fight the toughest guys around," Bell said. "CES has given me a lot of opportunities where they normally wouldn't have to. I'm not a ticket-seller. I'm not from there. The only thing I offer them is they know I come to fight and they know I'll fight my ass off. It would mean a lot to me to win one for those guys for giving me the opportunities they've given me."
Bell has spent more time in recent months improving his cardio and his boxing. King remains unimpressed. The North Attleboro native and former NFL offensive lineman is in the midst of his longest win streak since 2013 and is confident he'll make it four in a row next Friday despite stepping to the plate on just two week's notice.
"In my last three fights, I've showed off some dynamic skills," King said. "It shows that any holes in my game have been filled in adequately. We just keep adding new wrinkles, new cracks, new holds, new submissions. With that being said, we're going to put on a display.
"I like to fight guys in the cage for money. This is my passion. I was up at 6 a.m. [yesterday] teaching Jiu-Jitsu, then strength and conditioning. Then I did some film work, took a nap, took on some more clients, taught some more classes. You know where I am right now? I'm driving down 93 South going to Connors MMA to do some sparring, then some more strength and conditioning, then I'm going home to sleep my life away and then tomorrow morning I'll do it over again. You know why? Because I'm ready for this."
The main event of "CES MMA 41" features reigning CES MMA Featherweight World Champion Matt Bessette (20-7, 5 KOs) of Stafford, Conn., defending his title against Missouri native Kevin Croom in a five-round. Rebello (20-7, 12 KOs) returns to face Minnesota's Danyelle Williams (8-4-1, 5 KOs) in a three-round bout. Also in the heavyweight division, Walsh (8-2, 3 KOs), a Stoughton, Mass., native, battles New Hampshire's Kevin Haley (6-3, 2 KOs) in an intriguing regional showdown.
The main card also features a flyweight bout between undefeated New Britain, Conn., vet Carlos Candelario (4-0, 1 KO) and fellow unbeaten Miguel Restrepo (4-0, 2 KOs) of Queens, N.Y., plus a bantamweight battle between Kody Nordby (7-4) of Woonsocket, R.I., and Illinois vet David Garcia (4-1, 2 KOs).
Nordby looks to continue his climb back to the top of the division following his loss to Andre Soukhamthath against the dangerous Garcia, who recently handed Rico DiSciullo his first career loss in September via submission at "CES MMA 38." Candelario makes his fourth appearance with CES MMA and first since "CES MMA 36" in June when submitted Roosevelt Archie via guillotine in the opening round of a scheduled three-round bout.
Fresh off his comeback win at "CES MMA 40" in November, East Providence, R.I., bantamweight Dinis Paiva (8-6, 5 KOs) faces Findlay, Ohio, vet Jordan Espinosa (8-4, 1 KO). Paiva ended a 13-month layoff in his last bout with a first-round knockout win over Zane Behrend and returns to the network television stage for the first time since his loss to Nordby in October of 2015.
Espinosa last appeared with CES MMA in 2014, but has since won five of his last six, including a victory over Rafael de Freitas at Legacy Fighting Championships 36.
The six-fight preliminary card includes a female flyweight bout between Bourne, Mass., native Sarah Click (1-1) and newcomer Maria Rivera of Framingham, Mass., plus a bantamweight bout between unbeaten Kris Moutinho (2-0) of Milford, Mass., and Fredericktown, Ohio, native Jason Rine (0-1). Fellow Ohio native Raymond Yanez (4-8, 1 KO) of Columbus battles Milford's Richie Santiago (2-0) and lightweight Connor Barry (2-0) of Stoughton faces New Jersey's Travis Foster (0-2).
In the flyweight division, David Baxter (3-1, 1 KO) of Bellingham, Mass., battles Pawtucket, R.I., vet Dan Cormier (4-6, 1 KO) and Quincy, Mass., light heavyweight Mike Rodriguez returns in a separate three-round bout.
Visit www.cesmma.com, www.twitter.com/cesmma or www.facebook.com/cesmma for more information, or follow CES MMA on Instagram at @CESMMA.
-- CES --
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Take a look at the improbable comeback by the Atlanta Hawks, who came back down 26 to win the game in overtime!Best of Atlanta's HUGE Comeback vs Cavs | Down 26 pts to Start the 4th Quarter
RIVERFEST
Annual Celebration of the Quinnipiac River and the Historic Fair Haven Waterfront
New Haven, CT, May 15, 2017: The Chatham Square Neighborhood Association, working in collaboration with Fair Haven businesses and nonprofits, is offering a weekend of fun for all ages.
On Saturday May 20 from 11am-4pm the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association will present Quinnipiac Riverfest at Quinnipiac Marina, 309. The rain date is Sunday, May 21. Event Sponsors include Brewery Square Apartments, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, The Mary Wade Home, the Urban Specialist at Real Living Realtors, Denali Outdoors, The Quinnipiac Watershed Association and Wine 101 of Hamden.
Featuring: Live Music and dancing with Carlos y Su Momento Musical, Four Barrel Billy, the Bregamos Drummers and the Sweet Sixteen Dancers
Tasting: Black Hog Brewery and Spiked Seltzer
Food: Anastasio's Boat House Café, Green Wave and Moon Rocks Gourmet Cookies
Canoeing: Quinnipiac River Watershed Association
For kids: Arts, Crafts & Educational Activities and Face Painting by Face painting by Art plus Studio
NEW this year: the Front Street Dash - 1 mile race at 11am
Attendees will also be able to purchase seedlings, plants, hanging baskets & more from students at the Sound School of New Haven
The Chatham Square Neighborhood Association is an all-volunteer group of Fair Haven residents, businesses and nonprofits working to restore a sense of community and pride to our neighborhood. For more event information and updates visit:www.QuinnipiacRiverfest.com
Maxwell, Mary J. Blige Announce U.S. Dates for King and Queen of Hearts Tour
You're definitely the Queen of your sport!!
Watch Serena Take The Throne
The Terminator
Photo Credits: David Spagolo/Main Events
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Totowa, NJ: Main Events added another middleweight to their stable, which already includes former WBA World Champion Challenger Curtis "Showtime" Stevens (27-5, 20 KOs) and current top five prospect Arif "The Predator" Magomedov (17-0, 10 KOs), with the signing of "The Terminator" Virgilijus Stapulionis (17-3-1, 13 KOs*).
The 29-year old from Pasvalys, Lithuania started his career in 2005 a perfect 6-0 (3 KOs) before suffering his first defeat against the then-undefeated Thomas Troelenberg, who came into the fight with 17 wins. The Terminator would go on to redeem himself by winning his next four bouts, including a win over former ranked contender Richard Williams.
Shortly after that bout, Virgilijus would experience the first of two controversial losses in his career, against previously unbeaten and current ranked super welterweight Predrag Radosevic. The bout took place in his opponent's backyard of Montenegro and was halted in the ninth round after a cut above the eye of Virgilijus became a factor. The bout went to the scorecards, which awarded Radosevic the win in what many believed to be the wrong decision.
Virgilijus would face controversy again when he traveled to the backyard of Patrick Mendy of the United Kingdom. Stapulionis did what he had to do throughout the fight in order to secure the decision win. However, Mendy, the hometown favorite, would pick up the decision in a bout that many observers believe should have gone the other way.
The Terminator made his US debut in December of last year at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California with a second round stoppage against Cesar Vila. Earlier this year he appeared on the Kovalev-Pascal II undercard in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he earned a second round stoppage against Hungarian Laszlo Fazekas.
Stapulionis said, "I am so excited to be signed with Main Events. I want to be a champion and this is the next step to help me achieve that goal. I want to thank my team and my manager, Egis Klimas."
Virgilijus is managed by Egis Klimas who also manages WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev. Egis said, "I am so happy to bring The Terminator to the United States and to work with Main Events to make him a star. We hope to make him a force in the middleweight division."
Main Events' CEO, Kathy Duva, added, "We are very excited to work with Virgilijus. He is more than willing to fight in his opponents' backyards. He has suffered some controversial losses, but also had his bigger wins in enemy territory. A fighter who has faced that level of adversity and is still willing to be a road warrior is exactly the kind of fighter I want to promote."
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CES photos by Will Paul
Gray issues stern warning to challenger Sippio-Cook in advance of Sept. 18th UBF title bout
WORCESTER, Mass. (Aug. 27th, 2015) – Austin, Tex., junior middleweight Kenton Sippio-Cook thinks Khiary Gray should’ve done his homework before agreeing to fight him Friday, Sept. 18th, 2015 at Twin River Casino.
“Somebody in Khiary’s team either got lazy with their work in finding an opponent, or really just doesn’t care about Khiary,” Sippio-Cook said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Gray (8-0, 6 KOs), speaking publicly for the first time at Wednesday’s press conference at Rocky’s Sports Bar in his hometown of Worcester, Mass., insists this is no last-minute cram session as he prepares to lock horns with Sippio-Cook (6-2, 4 KOs) for the vacant Universal Boxing Federation (UBF) Northeast Junior Middleweight Title in the six-round co-feature of “Mayhem,” presented by CES Boxing.
“I don’t care what he says. He’s going to feel a left hook, body, or head. After that, he’s just going out,” Gray said. “I’m excited for it. I’ve been waiting for it.”
This will be Gray’s first six-round fight, whereas Sippio-Cook has boxed six full rounds three times already and recently went the distance with Wes Capper in a scheduled eight-round bout in May. While Gray has been incredibly in 2015, having already fought five times, none of those fights went past the first round as Gray knocked out each opponent, raising questions as to whether or not he’ll have the stamina to fight six full rounds, if it lasts that long.
Gray, however, insists it’s no issue, referencing his second pro fight last September in which he boxed four full rounds with the game Sergio Cabrera, a fight he won unanimously on the scorecards.
“I could’ve went six or eight rounds,” Gray said. “I’ve sparred 10, 13 rounds before. This is going to be no different.”
This fight also represents Gray’s toughest opponent to date. Though he’s coming off a pair of losses, the 24-year-old Sippio-Cook has stepped up the level of competition in recent fights; his last three opponents have a combined 22-3 record.
The showdown between Gray and Sippio-Cook is one of two title fights on the card, which also includes the 10-round main event between Rhode Islanders Rich Gingras (15-4-1, 9 KOs) of Lincoln, the reigning New England Light Heavyweight champion, and unbeaten challenger Angel Camacho Jr. (14-0, 4 KOs) of Providence.
Tickets for “Mayhem” are priced at $40.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and available for purchase online at www.cesboxing.com or www.twinriver.com, by phone at 401-724-2253/2254 or at the Twin River Players Club. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
The undercard features several new faces, highlighted by Stoughton, Mass., junior welterweight Travis Demko (3-0, 1 KO), who makes his Rhode Island debut against Mohamed Allam (1-0) of Holyoke, Mass., followed by Worcester junior middleweight Andy Gonzalez (1-0, 1 KO), who battles 6-foot-4 southpaw Antonio Allen of Philadelphia in Allen’s debut. Both are four-round bouts.
New London, Conn., heavyweight and Peter Manfredo Sr. protégé Cassius Chaney (3-0, 2 KOs), a former two-time amateur national champion, and Bronx, N.Y., light heavyweight “Fly” Mike Marshall (1-0, 1 KO), also make their Rhode Island and Twin River debuts in separate four-round bouts.
Cranston, R.I., junior middleweight Jon Smith (2-0, 1 KO) ends a two-year layoff in a four-round bout against Rodrigo Almeida (1-2) of Woburn, Mass., and Framingham, Mass., junior welterweight Julio Perez (1-0) returns to face newcomer Pedro Martinez Jr. of Mooresville, N.C., in a four-round bout.
For more information on “Mayhem” visit www.cesboxing.com, follow @CESBOXING on Twitter and Instagram and “like” the official CES Facebook fan page
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ELM CITY SOFTBALL LEAGUE WEEKEND REPORT- 8 - 23 - 15
more https://soundcloud.com/beautifulone/elm-city-softball-league-weekend-report-8-23-15/recommended
Other HBO playdates: March 21 (1:40 p.m., 5:15 a.m.), 22 (11:00 p.m.), 24 (4:30 p.m.), 26 (1:30 a.m.), 27 (11:45 a.m.) and 30 (9:50 a.m., 6:00 p.m.), and April 2 (1:10 p.m.) and 7 (10:05 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: March 17 (8:00 p.m.), 23 (2:00 p.m., 12:45 a.m.) and 28 (10:05 a.m., 10:00 p.m.), and April 1 (5:30 p.m., 2:15 a.m.), 3 (3:20 p.m.) and 9 (11:15 a.m.)
The show will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO® and HBO On Demand®.
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I'm sending a budget to Congress to kick off an important, and often difficult, process of deciding how our government should use taxpayer dollars.
Most years, this debate goes on behind closed doors in Washington, with too much input from special interests and lobbyists.
I think that should change. I know you're someone who cares deeply about where we go as a nation.
That's why OFA is asking people like you to make your voice heard in this debate -- will you join in?
Making budgets is something everyone does -- they're the truest measure of our priorities.
As Vice President Biden likes to say, "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value."
I started the conversation during the State of Union by proposing ways to expand economic opportunity for the middle class, and make critical investments in infrastructure and education.
The budget I'm presenting today lays out exactly what else we can do to keep our families strong -- ways to make paychecks go further, raise wages, and create good jobs here at home. I'm also proposing that we re-evaluate how we make spending cuts -- because they shouldn't be made blindly across the board, as they have been in years past.
I suspect that some members of Congress will have their own ideas about what our priorities should be.
So do you.
This directly affects your life -- you need to have a say in it. This can't be a conversation that happens only in the halls of the Capitol.
OFA was founded to make sure the voices of ordinary Americans are heard in Washington.
That's why I hope you'll be part of this, with OFA or in any way you can -- say you will today:
http://my.barackobama.com/Have-a-Say-In-This-Debate
Thanks,
Barack Obama