PHILADELPHIA (JANURY 18TH, 2010)—On Friday night, February 5th, USBA Jr. Middleweight champion, Derek “Pooh” Ennis will battle Edwin Vazquez in a special eight round Jr. Middleweight bout.
The fight will highlight a night of boxing promoted by Vernoca L. Michael and Blue Horizon Boxing Inc. as the world’s number-one boxing venue presents the annual “Valentine’s Day Special”
This bout was originally scheduled to take place on January 15th at The Arena in Philadelphia but was pushed back due to an ankle injury suffered by Ennis.
Ennis, 19-2-1 with twelve knockouts won the USBA Jr. Middleweight title with a tremendous back and forth brawl as he won a hard fought twelve round unanimous decision over Eromosele Albert on October 16th and The Legendary Blue Horizon.
Ennis and Albert exchanged hard combinations in close and the near-sellout crowd at The Legendary Blue Horizon was entertained as the fight was one of the best in Philadelphia in the past few years.
Ennis won by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in the bout for which most ringside observers thought could have gone either way.
That win catapulted Ennis into the world rankings as he is now ranked number-thirteen by the IBF.
The win over Albert was Ennis’ seventh straight victory and he holds win over Albert (22-3-1), John Mackey (11-3-2) and Troy Browning (20-2-1) in that streak.
This will be Ennis fourth appearance at The Legendary Blue Horizon (3-0, 2 KO’s) with his most recent bout being the classic fight with Albert.
Vazquez is a seventeen year veteran and has a record of 22-14-2 with eight knockouts.
The native of Santurce, Puerto Rico has been in with some of the biggest names in boxing as evidenced by a resume that includes fights with former world title challengers, Demetrius Hopkins, Antonio Diaz, former WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Ricardo Torres, Matthew Hatton, and former Undisputed Welterweight champion Zab Judah.
Vazquez won the WBA Fedecaribe Welterweight title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Jose Correa (13-1) on March 23, 2007 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Local fans may remember Vazquez last appearance in the area as he lost a razor thin unanimous decision to Eric Mitchell (20-4-1) on March 15, 2008 in Sewell, New Jersey in a bout that was for the IBC Continental-America’s title.
The fight was controversial as Vazquez was deducted a point in round three for a low blow. If not for that deduction the fight would have been a draw.
In an exciting eight round co-feature, Loren Myers of Fresno, California will square off against former world title challenger Israel “Pito” Cardona.
Myers quickly became a fan favorite at The Legendary Blue Horizon after his last outing on December 4th when he battled Gee Cullmer (16-1) to one of the most controversial draws in recent memory. It was a fight where most ringsiders thought Myers dominated and should have had his hand raised and the out of towner received a standing ovation from The Blue Horizon crowd.
Myers of Fresno, California has a record of 7-7-1 with two knockouts and is coming off that disputed draw on December 4th at The Legendary Blue Horizon.
Cardona of Hartford, Connecticut brings in a record of 36-10 with twenty-eight wins coming by knockouts.
Cardona is a seventeen year veteran and raced out to a record of 17-0 with thirteen knockouts before winning the IBO International Super Featherweight title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Jeff Mayweather. Cardona made two title defenses over Mike Capiello (29-4) and Steve Larrimore (24-17).
Cardona lost a split decision to former world champion Charles “The Natural” Murray (39-4) before winning the USBA Lightweight championship with a stunning third round stoppage over Ivan Robinson (23-1).
Cardona made two defenses of that crown before adding the NABF championship with a twelve round split decision over Golden Johnson (15-1-2).
After scoring a seventh round stoppage over Joel Perez (24-2-2), Cardona lost in his only world title shot when he dropped a twelve round unanimous decision to Paul Spadafora.
After that title bout, Cardona went 3-3 in his next six bout before a four year hiatus.
When Cardona returned from that break he scored two quick knockouts before four consecutive losses to top guys such as Juan Buendia (13-1); Mike Jones (11-0); Antonin Decarie (17-0) and his last bout a very close unanimous decision to Hector Camacho Jr. (48-3-1) on August 29 in Cleveland.
In an eight round Featherweight bout, top prospect Eric “The Outlaw” Hunter (11-1, 4 KO’s) of Philadelphia will take on an opponent to be named.
In a four round Heavyweight bout, Former World Jr. Amateur champion Joey Dewejko (1-0) will make his long awaited Philadelphia debut when he takes on Damon Clement (0-2) of Ohio in a four round bout.
In a four round Welterweight bout, Ronald Cruz (7-0, 4 KO’s) of Bethlehem, PA will take on an opponent to be named.
In a four round Heavyweight bout, Tim Johnson (4-1, 2 KO’s) of Philadelphia will take on Patrick Budd (2-1, 1 KO) of Dumfries, VA
John Bolden (1-0, 1 KO) of New York will battle Ricardo Johnson (1-0) of Cincinnati, OH in a four round Heavyweight affair.
In a four round Ladies Welterweight bout, Jackie Davis (3-0, 1 KO) of Philadelphia will take on debuting Tanya Martinez of Colorado Springs, CO
Undefeated Swedish Heavyweight, Andres Gustafson (3-0, 1 KO) of Norrkoping, Sweden will take on Levay King (0-1) in a four round bout.
Debuting Clemente Bethea of Philadelphia will take on Henry Northan (0-1) of Philadelphia in a Jr. Welterweight bout scheduled for four rounds.
Tickets are going fast for this exciting boxing event. The perfect pre-Valentine gift for your boxing enthusiast.
Ticket prices for this great night of boxing are $200 for Queen Seating, $125 for Presidential Seats, $65 for VIP Seating, $55 for Ringside Seating and $45 for General Admission Seating. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-763-0500 or through PayPal by clicking here. Doors open at 6:30 PM / First Bout begins at 7:30 P.M.
The Legendary Blue Horizon™
1314 North Broad Street in Philadelphia, PA
