Showtime's Bantamweight tournament to go ahead on Nov 6th or Dec 18th

Showtime, which scored a hit with its Super Six World Boxing Classic in the super middleweight division, is moving ahead with a four-man bantamweight tournament, representatives for the fighters involved told ESPN.com.

In one semifinal, titlist Yonnhy Perez (20-0-1, 14 KOs) and ex-titlist Joseph Agbeko (27-2, 22 KOs) will meet in a mandatory rematch of Perez's decision in their all-action slugfest last year. On the other side of the bracket, Abner Mares faces junior bantamweight champ Vic Darchinyan, who is moving up. Both fights will be on the same card -- Nov. 6 or Dec. 18 -- Gary Shaw, who promotes Darchinyan and co-promotes Perez, told ESPN.com.

The winners would fight in early 2011 with the losers also ticketed to meet in a third-place bout.

"I still need to meet with [Showtime's] Ken Hershman, but the fights will happen," Shaw said. "This a true fight fan's card."

There is no site yet, but Shaw said he thought it "feels like a West Coast card."

Shaw said he doubted there would be any issue wrapping it.

"I think we've all agreed. I will sign my name on behalf of Perez and Vic," he said. "Showtime is giving these little guys a chance of a lifetime. HBO isn't in the 118-pound division. If they don't sign, where are they going?"

Agbeko manager Vinny Scolpino said he was waiting for the paperwork, but intended to commit and Frank Espinoza, who manages Mares and Perez, said he and his fighters are anxious for it.

"We're in," said Espinoza, who added that Mares promoter Golden Boy is on board. "It's a no-brainer. I think it's a great opportunity, especially for the lower weight divisions. I'm all for it. I like what Showtime is coming up with and we're looking forward to it. The bantamweight division is hot. It would have been nice to have [unified titlist] Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire in, but the matchups we have are all good matchups."

Showtime hoped to do another Super Six, but Top Rank declined to involve Montiel and Donaire.

http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/notebook/_/id/5459504/becoming-best-light-heavyweight-piques-chad-dawson-interest

Once again Showtime and Ken Hershman show why they're the best network for boxing.

doo wop dooby doo doo wop doo waaaa dulang
blue days black nights doo waa dulang


hell ya AGBEKO VS PEREZ REMTCH

been wanting this since it happend a tournament happeneing is a added bonus

MAN AM I GLAD I CALLED THAT GUY!!!

anyone get the feeling we will be reliving James TOneys quote about how he is sorry to boxing fans he didnt beat Roy Jones because he would have fought all comers and not been a puss and ducked people

I get that feeling when looking at the route Darchinyan and Donaire have gone

I love these fights and the great thing is the losers will face off for third place

I LOVE SHOWTIME !!!!

Showtime has been kicking ass i remember when i was in that hotel last summer they had showtime and i loved how much boxing was on their regular programming as well as the good /great fights like Agbeko vs Darchinyan


good for Showtime

who woulda thought them getting out of the Mike Tyson PPV business would be such a gret thing

4 ALL ACTION FIGHTERS IN A TOURNAMENT

god this is great seriously all 4 are never boring this is such a win for the fans RIGHT WHEN BOXING WAS GETTING A LITTLE STALE

Showtime SAVES THE DAY

doo wap dooby doowap, doowah doolang
blue days black nights!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, it would be better if we got Donaire and Montiel in there (add another couple guys) and make it an 8 man. But when you have 4 top guys willing to fight with the winner's facing, you get good fights, and good money for the fighters.

Bird was on coke during this whole thread

Ali_1748 wrote:

I love these fights and the great thing is the losers will face off for third place

I LOVE SHOWTIME !!!!

+1

Keep it simple. Take the top 4 guys, let them face off, two seperate events to determine the best.

As much as I love the Super 6, it has taken far too long to play out for my taste...