NEW YORK, NY (April 12, 2022) – This Friday, April 15, celebrity chef and boxing enthusiast Chris Santos will join DiBella Entertainment’s commentary team at Detroit’s Garden Theater for the 116th edition of the long-running Broadway Boxing series. He will call the action alongside noted boxing journalist Corey Erdman, New York Yankees reporter Justin Shackil and Dan Canobbio, of Jomboy Media. The event, promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Lee Baxter Promotions, presented by Nissan of Queens, will be streamed live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS®, the world’s leading streaming service for combat sports, starting at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT.
“I couldn’t be more excited to make my on-air commentary debut for the sport that has been my passion for over 40 years. From sitting on my grandfather’s lap watching Larry Holmes vs. Ken Norton, to becoming hooked on Marvin Hagler, to spending 15 years at Gleason’s Gym, to Wild Card Gym where I currently train under the watchful eye of Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach and Marvin Somodio, to being featured in Ring Magazine, my journey through boxing has been magical,” said Chris Santos, Co-Founder and Executive Chef of Beauty & Essex. “To be able to put all these years of experience as a student of the sport to use ringside is truly a dream come true and I can’t thank Lou DiBella and the entire DiBella Entertainment team enough for giving me this opportunity, and I can’t wait for April 15. See you at the fights.”
Headlining the card will be heavyweight knockout artist Mike Balogun (18-0, 14 KOs), of Upper Marlboro, MD, facing Mexican Sergio Ramirez Marin (20-7, 12 KOs), from Tijuana. Coming off of the impressive first-round knockout of Trey Lippe Morrison in December, the athletic Balogun is a former college football standout who started for the legendary Oklahoma Sooners before playing in the NFL for three years. Popular Detroit bantamweight Ja’Rico O’Quinn (14-1-1, 8 KOs) battles Filipino Jobert Alvarez (20-2-2, 7 KOs), from Renton, WA, in the co-feature.
The televised undercard also includes unbeaten super featherweight Joshafat Ortiz (9-0, 5 KOs), of Reading, PA, squaring off against Derrick Murray (15-4, 5 KOs), of Saint Louis, MO, and heavyweight prospect Michael Pirotton-Bamogo (5-0, 2 KOs), of Liege, Belgium, making his US debut against fellow undefeated Jonathan Gruber (3-0, 2 KOs), of Fall River, MA. Featherweight Sean Brewer (2-0, 1 KO), of Henderson, NV, will take on Floridian Dominique Williams on the off-TV undercard.
Tickets, which start at $65.00, are on sale now through Eventbrite HERE. The Garden Theater is located at 3929 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201. Doors will open on the night of the event at 6:30pm ET, with the first bell at 7:00pm ET.
Chef Chris Santos has over 25 years of experience as an executive chef in New
York City’s hottest restaurants as well as his expansions on the West Coast. He is the
Co-Founder and Executive Chef of Beauty & Essex Restaurants in the Lower East Side, at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, and in Hollywood, CA. He oversees the menu development and culinary operations of all three properties with more locations in the works.
Santos released his first cookbook in 2017 to critical acclaim, titled, “SHARE – Delicious and Surprising Recipes to Pass Around Your Table”. In addition to his three restaurants, he has been a series regular and sitting judge on Food Network’s hit series “Chopped” since its debut in 2008, and is a two-time “Chopped” champion himself. Santos has also been featured on NBC’s TODAY Show, CBS’s Early Show, The Martha Stewart Show, and The Rachael Ray Show, among many others.
