Boxcino 2015 Jr. Middleweight Tournament begins Friday
Participants in the Boxcino 2015 Jr. Middleweight Tournament (l to r) John Thompson, Simeon Hardy, Stanuslav Skorokhod, Brandon Adams, Alex Perez, Ricardo Pinell, Michael Moore and Vito Gasparyan.
Future Jr. Middleweight contenders step into the national spotlight when the popular single-elimination, boxing tournament, Boxcino 2015 makes its season debut tomorrow night, Friday, February 13, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.
Televised live on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, the four quarterfinal junior middleweight division bouts will produce four winners who will then make it into the championship round and its ultimate prize, the vacant NABA and NABO titles and a Top-10 world ranking by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Southern California was expected to have four boxers competing in this tournament: junior-middleweights Norwalk’s Brandon Adams (14-1, nine knockouts), Long Beach’s Cleotis Pendarvis (17-4-2, six KOs), Burbank’s Vardan Gasparyan (14-3-5, eight KOs) plus heavyweight Andrey Fedosov (25-3, 20 KOs) who resides in Hollywood.
At the weigh-ins on Thursday at the Mohegan Sun Hotel & Casino, Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis of Long Beach, CA failed to make weight.
After 64 fights as an amateur and laboring 11 years as a professional, Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis will be missing from this elite group. He was finally going to get his opportunity to shine on the world stage and now they’re saying the once ranked #7 by the IBF, Pendarvis failed to make weight. This is the same Pendarvis who sparred with the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Timothy Bradley. For shame. Being ready, on weight and in the proper shape to perform is a must in the Boxing World.
Pendarvis’ replacement, John “Apollo Kid” Thompson lost his last fight on January 17, 2014 in a co-main event on Showtime’s ShoBox to the undefeated Frank “Notorious” Galarza (15-0-2, 9 KOs) from Brooklyn, N. Y. Galarza knocked out Thompson in the second round.
Here are the weights from Thursday’s weigh-ins for those competing in the Boxcino 2015 Jr. Middleweight Quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun (catch weight 154 lbs.)
(l to r) Ricardo Pinell 154 lbs., John Thompson 154¼ lbs.
Ricardo Pinell 154 vs *John Thompson 154¼ – *Thompson replaces Cleotis Pendarvis who reportedly failed to make weight
(l to r) Stanyslav Skorokhod 153¾ vs Michael Moore 154¾
Stanyslav Skorokhod 153¾ vs Michael Moore 154¾
(l to r) Brandon Adams 155 lbs., Alex Perez 152.5 lbs.
Brandon Adams 155 (co-managed by Bobby D Philippis of San Diego) vs Alex Perez 152½
(l to r) Vito Gasparyan 155 lbs., Simeon Hardy 154¼ lbs.
Vito Gasparyan 155 vs Simeon Hardy 154¼
Additional boxers to appear on the show’s undercard
Eddie Caminero 157¼ vs Jimmy Williams 156¼
Khiary Gray-Pitts 164¼ vs Rodrigo Almeida 172½
Angel Martinez 132¼ vs Oscar Bonilla 133
Promoted by Banner Promotions and Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports (CES), the remaining tickets for this show are priced at $125, $65, $40 and $30, including facility fee and can be purchased via www.ticketmaster,com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at Ticketmaster outlets or in person at the Mohegan Sun Box Office.
(photo left) With the snow still on the ground, it can be extremely cold outside for a boxer visiting from Southern California. How cold? 15 degrees cold
Venue: The Mohegan Sun Casino is located at 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT 06382. On television: ESPN 2 (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on ESPN2), 1st Bell: 7:45 p.m. ET.
