Hitz Boxing’s Yakubu “Black Mamba” Amidu and Donatas Bondas to participate in BOXCINO Championship

(PHILADELPHIA, PA JANUARY 30, 2014)– Banner Promotions and ESPN’s Friday Night Fight’s will team up this February to showcase a tournament that will develop boxing’s newest stars. The 2014 Boxcino Championships will be a single-elimination, two weight class tournament that will feature eight fighters in both the lightweight and middleweight divisions.

The tournament will consist of five shows, to include a preliminary round, semifinals and finals in each division and will take place throughout the ESPN Friday Night Fights season. The inaugural event will take place on February 21 at the Edgewater Casino in Laughlin, Nevada.

Each preliminary round will feature four, 6-round bouts. The winners will move on to the semifinals, which will be 8-round bouts. The finals of both the lightweights and middleweights will be contested at 10 rounds each.

A “most valuable boxer” will be voted by the fans and will be given a specially designed ring.

“We are looking forward to showcasing this tournament on Friday Night Fights and Noche de Combates,” said Brian Kweder, ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions. “It will give fans the opportunity to see some of the best up-and-coming fighters in the sport and follow them throughout the Friday Night Fights and Noche de Combates season. ESPN did a similar tournament back in 1997, which was won by future four-time world champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas. We hope to find another diamond in the rough like we did that year.”

“This will be one of the most unique tournaments that boxing has seen in a long time,” said Banner Promotions CEO Arthur Pelullo.

“We are excited at the concept and we believe that new stars will be born. The fans will watch these fighters grow and the fighters know that a great performance will make them a major player in the sport.”

Lightweight Division:
Yakubu Amidu: Los Angeles (22-4-1, 18 KOs)
Fernando Carcamo: Ciudad Obregon, Mexico (15-5-0, 12 KOs)
Miguel González: Cleveland (22-3-0, 16 KOs)
Miguel Angel Mendoza: Aguascalientes, Mexico (21-2-2, 21 KOs)
Samuel Neequaye: Accra, Ghana (21-0-0, 15 KOs)
Fedor Papazov: Russia (14-0-0, 9 KOs)
Petr Petrov: Madrid, Spain (32-4-2, 15 KOs)
Chris Rudd: Covington, Tennessee (12-1-0, 8 KOs)

Middleweight Division:
Brandon Adams: San Diego, California (12-0-0, 7 KOs)
Sena Agbeko: Accra, Ghana (15-0-0, 15 KOs)
Donatas Bondorovas: Chicago (18-4-1, 6 KOs)
Daniel Edouard: West Palm Beach, Florida (23-4-2, 12 KOs)
Cerresso Fort: St. Paul, Minnesota (17-2-1, 11 KOs)
Raymond Gatica: Austin, Texas (13-1-0, 7 KOs)
Willie Monroe, Jr.: Rochester, New York (15-1-0, 6 KOs)
Vitalii Kopylenko: Kiev, Ukraine (22-0-0, 12 KOs)

TV Schedule:
Fri, Feb. 21
9 p.m.
Lightweight Quarterfinal Round
Edgewater Casino,
Laughlin, Nev.
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN

Fri, Feb. 28
9 p.m.
Middleweight Quarterfinal Round
Horseshoe Casino Hammond, Hammond, Ind.
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN

Fri, Mar. 28
9 p.m.
Lightweight Semifinal Round
4 Bears Casino,
New Town, N.D.
ESPN, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN

Fri, Apr. 18
9 p.m.
Middleweight Semifinal Round
Turning Stone Casino,
Verona N.Y.
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN

Fri, May 23
9 p.m.
Lightweight & Middleweight Final Round
Turning Stone Casino,
Verona N.Y.
ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN