Houston's Toyota Center and
Televised on HBO's Boxing After Dark - September 6th!
July 10, 2008
LOS ANGELES, July 10 – Golden Boy Promotions
is bringing big time boxing back to Houston, Texas. On Saturday, September
6th, Houston’s own former Three Time World Champion, Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz
will face off against Australian warrior Michael “The Great” Katsidis in the
first boxing event at the Toyota Center in Houston. Diaz will be making his
Golden Boy Promotions debut as he returns to the ring in front of his
hometown crowd in what might prove to be his toughest test to date against
Katsidis, who like Diaz, will be with prepared to go to war for the win. The
event will be broadcast live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark.
In addition to the local-flavored main event,
Golden Boy Promotions is pleased to announce that Houston native and 2000
Olympic Silver Medalist Ricardo Rocky Juarez will meet former Junior
Lightweight World Champion Jorge “La Hiena” Barrios in the co-featured bout
of the HBO broadcast.
The doubleheader featuring Diaz vs. Katsidis, in a scheduled 10 round
lightweight main attraction and Juarez vs. Barrios, in a 10 round junior
lightweight co-feature bout, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and
sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, Amigo Energy and Dewalt Tools with Diaz vs.
Katsidis being presented in association with Northeast Promotions. The bouts
will air live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark beginning at 10:15 p.m. ET / PT,
9:15 p.m. CT. Doors for the evening’s event will open at 6:00 p.m.
Tickets for Diaz vs. Katsidis and Juarez vs. Barrios, priced at $200, $100,
$60, $40 and $25, go on sale Thursday, July 10 at 10 a.m. CT and are
available for purchase, online at www.ToyotaCenterTix.com, by phone at
1-866-4-HOU-TIX and select Houston area Randalls locations. Tickets will be
available at the Toyota Center Box Office starting Friday, July 11 at 9 a.m.
“If there’s ever been a fight almost guaranteed to provide all out action
from bell to bell, it’s this one,” said Oscar de la Hoya, President of
Golden Boy Promotions. “Diaz and Katsidis only know one direction – forward
– and when they meet in the center of the ring on September 6th, there are
going to be fireworks.”
“HBO’s Boxing After Dark series made its name on fights like Diaz-Katsidis,”
said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Marco Antonio
Barrera-Kennedy McKinney and Arturo Gatti-Wilson Rodriguez were just two of
the spectacular wars that aired on the series and I have no doubt that Diaz-Katsidis
will join those classics in the hearts of fans around the world.”
“We are thrilled to be hosting two of Houston’s finest boxers, Diaz and
Juarez, here in their hometown at Toyota Center,” said Doug Hall, General
Manager and Vice President Toyota Center. “We have been looking for the
right time and match up to present our first boxing event and the time has
come. Working with HBO and Golden Boy Promotions, this is sure to be an
amazing night.”
At just 24 years old, Houston native Juan Diaz (33-1, 17 KO’s) has done more
in his eight years in the pro game than most fighters achieve in a lifetime
and all while being enrolled as a full-time student at the University of
Houston. A stellar amateur who missed out on the 2000 Olympics because he
was too young to compete, Diaz instead turned pro in 2000 and tore through
the lightweight division with an aggressive style that garnered him a legion
of fans. In 2004, Diaz won the WBA Lightweight World Title with a 12 round
unanimous decision over Mongolian Lakva Sim. After five successful defenses,
Diaz added the WBO Lightweight belt to his trophy case with an eighth round
stoppage of Brazilian superstar Acelino Freitas in April of 2007. Six months
after the Freitas victory, Diaz stopped Julio Diaz in nine rounds to add the
IBF Lightweight World Title. Despite a close split decision loss to Nate
Campbell in his last bout on March 8th, he knows that with a win on
September 6th, he will be one step closer to adding a fourth World
Championship to his already impressive resume.
“Michael Katsidis is a great fighter and a former world champion,” said
Diaz. “I’m excited just to get back into the ring. I feel like I have
something to prove to my fans and team and on September 6th, I’m going to
win big and take the first step back to regaining my world title.”
An all-action warrior who has been favorably compared to former World
Champion Arturo Gatti for his brawling style in the ring, Michael Katsidis
(23-1, 20 KO’s) may hail from Toowoomba, Queensland, in Australia, but
United States fight fans have adopted the 27-year-old as one of their own
after a series of breathtaking wars that have made him must see TV. After
dominating the Australian scene, the 2000 Olympian took his show on the road
in 2007, winning the WBO Interim World Lightweight crown in England by
stopping Graham Earl and then defending it in the States with a thrilling 12
round decision win over Czar Amonsot. Both of those bouts were instant
classics featuring multiple knockdown, cuts and thrilling back and forth
action. His 2008 campaign began with another war filled with brutal
exchanges and multiple knockdowns when he lost his title to Ring Magazine
World Lightweight Champion Joel Casamayor in March in one of the most
exciting fights of the year thus far. Even with this impressive resume of
thrilling fights, most believe his bout with Diaz will surpass all his
previous bouts when it comes to action and excitement.
“I’ve been a fan of Juan Diaz for a while and I know he’s got no quit in
him; in fact, he’s just like me in a lot of ways,” said Katsidis. “But on
September 6th, all that respect will go out the window when we’re both
trying to knock each other out. It’s going to be an explosive fight all
right, but I’m bringing the dynamite.”
A 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist, Ricardo Rocky Juarez (27-4, 19 KO’s) has his
heart and hopes set on winning a world title. The dangerous and very
experienced fighter has been through extremely tough tests in the ring,
never backing down from anyone in four world title bouts including a
stunning upset loss to Humberto Soto for the WBC Interim Featherweight
Championship; coming up short in two close, controversial battles with the
legendary Marco Antonio Barrera; and a hard fought points loss to future
Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez. Having been so close to reaching his
goal, the Houston native is hungrier than ever for his first world
championship and knows that Barrios is a roadblock in his path that must be
removed if he is to reach his goal.
“I’m excited that this fight is finally going to happen and in my hometown,”
said Juarez. “I’ve been waiting for Barrios for a long time so I know he is
a dangerous and experienced fighter, but I also know I’ll be prepared to
stop him in front of all my Houston fans on September 6th.”
Former World Junior Lightweight Champion Jorge Barrios (47-3-1, 34 KO’s) of
Tigre, Argentina, is known for his warrior’s heart and never say die
attitude which was on full display in his 2003 war with Acelino Freitas
which featured round after round of furious, back and forth exchanges
including the classic eleventh round which won Ring Magazine’s Round of the
Year for 2003. “La Hiena” went on to win the WBO Junior Lightweight World
Title in April of 2005 with an exciting fourth-round TKO victory over
previously unbeaten WBO Champion Mike Anchondo. He successfully defended the
title twice, losing it via razor thin, split decision in another thrilling
bout to then and still undefeated Joan “Little Tyson” Guzman. After a series
of cancelled and delayed bouts following his third-round KO of Decho
Bankluaygym in his last bout in April of 2007, Barrios is ready to continue
his quest to regain his crown. He knows that he will have to get past an
equally title-hungry Juarez September 6th in order to get another title
shot.
“Rocky has never fought anyone like me and I’ll teach him a lesson in the
ring on September 6th,” said Barrios. “He will not be able to handle my size
and experience. I’m hungry for a win and I’ll be ready to lay it all on the
line that night.”
