Showtime planning a New Years Eve card

Quote :

With some unspent money remaining in Showtime's 2011 budget, it's use it or lose it, so the network is scheduling an unusual Dec. 31 "Showtime Championship Boxing" card.

"[We are] looking to fill the date and listening to offers," said Showtime's Gordon Hall, who is making the deals for the moment, in the wake of Ken Hershman's defection to rival HBO last week.

Promoters are pitching their wares with abandon, including:

• Dan Goossen and Lou DiBella are trying to put together a fight that would pit light heavyweight titlist Beibut Shumenov (12-1, 8 KOs) against former titlist Zsolt Erdei (33-0, 18 KOs) in a bout that would also serve to wipe away the lawsuit between Goossen and Shumenov.

The card could also potentially include the mandatory fight between junior featherweight titlist Rico Ramos (20-0, 11 KOs) and interim titlist Guillermo Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KOs). Top Rank, Rigondeaux's promoter, won the right to promote the bout at a purse bid, but likely will default. So it has given Goossen, Ramos' promoter, permission to try to find a spot for the fight.

• Don King is pitching a card on which light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud (23-0, 19 KOs) would defend his belt in the main event, with junior middleweight titlist Cornelius "K9" Bundrage (31-4, 18 KOs) defending in the opener. Both opponents would be determined.

• Promoter Artie Pelullo first tried to make a fight between middleweight titlist Dmitry Pirog of Russia and Montreal's David Lemieux. However, Yvon Michel, Lemieux's promoter, told ESPN.com his side isn't interested in that fight at this point, as Lemieux will first attempt to rebound later this year from his first defeat.

So now Pelullo has proposed a middleweight unification bout between Pirog (19-0, 15 KOs) and Australia's Daniel Geale (26-1, 15 KOs), which would give both titleholders the much-needed American exposure they desire.

Pelullo, Pirog's promoter, told ESPN.com that he made a deal with Gary Shaw, Geale's promoter, for the bout pending Showtime's acceptance.

"We've offered Showtime the unification fight," Pelullo said. "We're trying to sell a fight to Showtime like everyone else trying to sell them a fight. But Gary and I have a deal and the fighters want the fight, so we can do it if we can get Showtime on board."

For the opening bout, Pelullo said he is pitching a fight for former junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk, whom he co-promotes with Shaw, against an opponent of Showtime's choosing.

Whenever Dzinziruk (37-1, 23 KOs) fights, he won't defend his junior middleweight belt, because the WBO stripped him after he suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to withdraw from a Sept. 30 mandatory bout against Lukas Konecny.

"They said they stripped him because he was inactive," Pelullo said, "and our comment to the WBO was that he got injured and was ready, willing and able to defend in November."

Pelullo's ire is also directed at HBO, which he said failed to deliver a summer fight to Dzinziruk it was obligated to give him under the deal they had when he moved up to middleweight and challenged Sergio Martinez in March. Dzinziruk suffered an eighth-round knockout and returned to junior middleweight expecting to defend his title on HBO.

"We got stripped because HBO didn't deliver and didn't live up to its commitment," Pelullo said. "Then we had to make the mandatory fight and it was set for Sept. 30, and Sergiy got injured and the WBO stripped him."

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7130781/showtime-uncorks-new-year-eve-bash-boxing

I like the Cloud vs K-9 fight.

timthebim wrote:

I like the Cloud vs K-9 fight.

Cloud is a LHW, K9 is a Jr MW silly:tongue:

Im a K-9 fan and dont believe Cloud is so big he will just overpower K-9 so to me it will be a good fight.

timthebim wrote:

Im a K-9 fan and dont believe Cloud is so big he will just overpower K-9 so to me it will be a good fight.

Tim they ain't fighting, both will be on the card against different opponents.

Sorry. I kinda jumped the gun alittle. Story of my life.

timthebim wrote:

Sorry. I kinda jumped the gun alittle. Story of my life.

Haha no worries.