Main Events Gambles Big

Main Events Gambles Big
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
March 23, 2012

Immediately following this Saturday’s telecast of the NCAA men’s basketball regional finals will be the second round of Main Events' NBC Sports “Fight Night” aired simultaneously with a solid HBO doubleheader.

Despite this, both NBC and Main Events nurse high hopes as their card, featuring former two-division champion Zab Judah against the unbeaten Vernon Paris in an intriguing junior welterweight scrap, capitalizes on both the former’s star power and the sports fanaticism of a captive audience.

“What we are trying to take advantage of is two things -- Zab's name recognition and being right after the quarter-finals of the NCAA Tournament,” explained Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, who spoke with TQBR earlier this month.

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Vicente Escobedo Makes Quick Work of Lonnie Smith

Vicente Escobedo Makes Quick Work of Lonnie Smith
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
March 3, 2012

WOODLAND, Calif. -- Saturday night, from the Woodland Community Senior Center, 2004 U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo fought in his hometown for the first time in his 28-bout career, as he met Lonnie Smith of Las Vegas in the ten-round main event of TeleFutura's Solo Boxeo.

Escobedo made it a successful homecoming, dismantling Smith in the 1st round, dropping him three times before the fight was waved off.

Escobedo (24-3, 14 KOs) came into the fight at 129 pounds, which marks the lightest he had ever weighed for a fight in his run as a professional. It marked his second fight in a row in the junior lightweight division, where Escobedo hoped to bring new life to his career after previous failed attempts at breaking through at the world level in the lightweight division.

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Lonnie Smith: See You at the Crossroads

Lonnie Smith: See You at the Crossroads
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
March 2, 2012

On a weekend devoid of a marquee matchup, Lonnie Smith has an opportunity to steal the spotlight as he meets fellow junior lightweight and former U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo in a 10-round crossroads bout in the latter’s hometown of Woodland, Calif. The fight, scheduled for Saturday, (Smith's 25th birthday), will be aired on TeleFutura's Solo Boxeo.

 Though Wladimir Klitschko is slated to defend his two alphabet straps earlier that day against former cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormeck, the preservation of his titles seems predetermined; Mormeck, pushing 40, is five years senior to and nearly a foot shorter than the reigning heavyweight king.

 That the weekend's most competitive card – on paper, anyway – will air on Solo Boxeo is surprising. Since Golden Boy Promotions and Telefutura announced their partnership in April 2010, the matchmaking has been lukewarm at best.

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