ESPN’s Boxcino 2015 Tournament with modifications
On Friday evening, February 20, 2015, it will be the heavyweights taking center stage in the Banner Promotions’ Boxcino 2015 Tournament from the Turning Stone Resort Casino in upstate New York – four exciting bouts to air on ESPN.
On Friday evening at the Turning Stone Resort Casino, the Boxcino 2015 tournament resumes with the four quarterfinal bouts in the Heavyweight Division. If you’re not attending the show, it will be televised live on ESPN’s Friday Night fights beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
Just as Showtime’s ShoBox the Super Six Super Middleweight Tournament had their last minute changes, ESPN and Banner Promotions have had to make similar adjustments to their tournament lineup.
If you had selected Cleotis Pendarvis to defeat Ricardo Pinell in the Banner Promotions’ Pick the Winners Contest in their opening round of the Jr. Middleweight quarterfinals staged Friday, February 13, 2015, you were one of the lucky ones because Pendarvis’ last minute replacement, John Thompson, came through with an unanimous decision victory.
A similar problem occurred this week for the Heavyweight quarterfinals of Friday, February 20, 2015. For those of you who had selected the 22 year-old Mario Heredia (9-1-0, 7 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico to defeat Lenroy “TNT” Thomas in his opening round match, you now have to rely on Jason Estrada to come through for you. Estrada replaced Heredia after Heredia failed to pass his MRI test on Monday, February 16.
With Jason “Big Six” Estrada as your replacement, you might not feel as confident as before. In Estrada’s last fight, July 26, 2014, he lost a mixed decision to one of his fellow Boxcino competitors – Steve Vukosa. Estrada, a former U.S. Olympian, also has several gaps in his career.
What we do know? Estrada (20-5-0, 6 KOs) is from Providence, Rhode Island. As a member of the 2004 United States Olympic team, he lost in the semifinal round to a Cuban Super Heavyweight. After that loss, he turned professional and had several solid wins over people like James Northey (11-1), Lance Whitaker (32-4), Moultrie Witherspoon (14-1) and Derek Bryant (20-4-1). Three of his five losses came to Tomas Adamek, Alexander Povetkin and Steve Vukosa which indicates he has only a slim chance of ever becoming a top contender.
Here we see the smaller, much lighter Tomas Adamek (r) out working Jason Estrada (l) in their clash on February 6, 2010. Adamek won handily by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113 to secure an unanimous decision.
His inactivity, his height (he’s 6’1″ tall), the five losses and his lack of knockouts (he has only 6 KOs in 25 fights) make him quite iffy in regard to going all the way in this tournament. Estrada will be facing the 29 year-old 6’2½” Jamaican southpaw Lenroy “TNT” Thomas (18-3-0, 9 KOs) who lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Below is a statistical breakdown of the 8 competitors:
Oldest combatant: Steve “The Gentle Giant” Vukosa (10-0, 4 KOs) of Quincy, Massachusetts is 37 years-old. His first opponent in the tournament is the 27 year-old, 6’4” southpaw, Donovan Dennis of Davenport, Iowa (10-1, 8 KOs)
Youngest competitor: 26 year-old Ed Fountain (10-0, 4 KOs) from St. Louis, Missouri who will be going up against the tallest competitor 6’7½, 27 year-old Razvan Cojanu (12-1, 7 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada by way of Romania.
Most fights: the 28 year-old Andrey Fedosov (25-3, 20 KOs) of Hollywood, CA by way of Shuya, Russia who stands 6-foot 1 inch tall. He’s a 223 pound banger who turned pro in 2003 when he was just 17.
Least number of fights: Vukosa, Ed Fountain and Nate Heaven, all of whom have 10 bouts.
Most rounds: Jason Estrada – 177 rounds
Least number of rounds: Nathanael “Nat” Heaven of Ocala, Florida (9-1, 7 KOs) who will be facing Andrey Fedosov (25-3, 20 KOs). Heaven has only fought 23 rounds.
Most KOs: Fedosov is credited with 20 knockouts
Winning percentage: Vukosa and Fountain – 100%
KO percentage: Fedosov has stopped his opponents at a rate of 71.4 % of the time.
Total Record of the eight eight boxers: 114 wins – 14 losses with 65 wins by knockout.
Wise guy selections for Friday’s heavyweight matches: Steve “The Gentle Giant” Vukosa over Donovan Dennis, Razvan Cojanu over Ed Fountain, Andrey Fedosov over Nat Heaven and Jason “Big Six” Estrada over Lenroy “TNT” Thomas.
Weigh-ins for this show will take place Thursday, February 19 at 5 p.m. in the Resort’s Cypress Room.
Tickets for the February 20th ESPN Friday Night Fights Show at Turning Stone are on sale now at the Turning Stone box office, in person or by calling 315.361.7469, or online at Ticketmaster. Tickets are $60 for ringside seats, $35, $25, and can be subject to additional fees.
The host of Friday’s show, the Oneida Indian Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino continues to distinguish itself as a premier destination for professional sporting events, including nationally-televised boxing matches and PGA-level golf. The February 20th show will mark Turning Stone’s 14th nationally televised boxing event in less than two years, helping establish the resort as a Mecca for televised fights. Boxing legends Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have promoted televised fight cards at the resort within the last year and Turning Stone has hosted televised boxing events on ESPN, Showtime, HBO, and NBC in the last two years. Located in Upstate New York, the four-season resort offers world-class entertainment and gaming, prestigious restaurants, luxury spa facilities, and award-winning accommodations.
