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HBO Boxing After Dark: Sept. 1 -- Golovkin vs. Proksa; Sept. 29 -- Rodriguez vs. Escalera
By April MacIntyre Aug 2, 2012, 15:59 GMT
Grzegorz Proksa, image courtesy of HBO After Dark
Boxing fans are in for an awesome September 2012 courtesy of HBO:
HBO’s hit late-night boxing franchise wraps up its summer season with an all-action doubleheader when they bring fighters Gennady Golovkin versus Grzegorz Proksa and Sergiy Dzinziruk versus Jonathan Gonzales to HBO After Dark on Saturday, September. 1 at 9:45 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT), from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY.
From HBO
The team of Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
In a scheduled 12-round middleweight title bout, Gennady Golovkin (23-0, 20 KOs) of Stuttgart, Germany, puts his belt on the line against top-tier contender Grzegorz Proksa (28-1, 21 KOs) of Redhill, Surrey, United Kingdom, with both fighters making their HBO debuts.
Fresh off a third-round knockout of Makoto Fuchigami in May, the undefeated Golovkin, 30, has never been knocked down as an amateur or pro. He recorded resounding amateur victories over such talents as Lucian Bute and Andy Lee, and was a silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics for his native Kazakhstan. Golovkin’s last ten fights have ended in knockouts, and no opponent has gone the distance with him since 2008.
After losing for the first time as a pro in March to Kerry Hope, Proksa, 27, has rebounded nicely with back-to-back victories, including an eighth-round knockout of Hope in their July rematch, and is currently the European middleweight titleholder.
The opening bout is a 12-round, 154-pound showdown of touted fighters Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-1, 24 KOs) from Hamburg, Germany, and undefeated rising star Jonathan Gonzalez (15-0, 13 KOs) of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Making his second appearance on HBO, the 36-year-old Dzinziruk is returning to the super welterweight division after moving up in weight and suffering his first loss to middleweight lineal champion Sergio Martinez.
After starting his career with an astounding 13 consecutive knockouts, the 23-year-old Gonzalez has shown stamina to match his power, recently going the distance for back-to-back unanimous decision victories.
OtherHBO playdates: Sept. 2 (8:15 a.m.) and 3 (12:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Sept. 2 (4:15 p.m.) and 4 (midnight)
HBO’s action-packed tripleheader also showcases fighters Edwin Rodriguez versus Jason Escalera and Luis Del Valle versus Vic Darchinyan and Zsolt Erdei versus Isaac Chilemba onscreen Saturday September 29 at 9:30 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT), from the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Conn.
The team of Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. will be ringside for the event, whichwill be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
In a scheduled 12-round super middleweight showdown, Edwin Rodriguez (21-0, 14KOs) of Worcester, Mass., takes on Jason Escalera (13-0-1, 12 KOs) of Hoboken, NJ. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez has been dominant since starting his professional career at age 22 in 2008.
He made his HBO debut in March, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Donovan George. Known for his brute force, Escalera will be making his HBO debut, having knocked out six of his last seven opponents within the first four rounds. Despite his height and reach advantages, Rodriguez will have his hands full with Escalera.
In the second bout of the evening, Luis Del Valle (16-0, 11 KOs) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, squares off against veteran brawler Vic Darchinyan (37-5-1, 27KOs) of South Wales, Australia, in a scheduled ten-round junior featherweight bout.
Del Valle has taken significant steps up in competition recently, most notably handing Christopher Martin his second loss in March by a unanimous decision victory. Looking to rebound from consecutive losses, the Armenian-born Darchinyan will rely on his greater experience.
Opening the night, Zsolt Erdei (33-0, 18 KOs) of Budapest, Hungary, takes on Isaac Chilemba (19-1-1, 9 KOs) of Johannesburg, South Africa, in a scheduled ten-round light heavyweight bout.
A bronze medalist at the 2000 Olympics and former titlist in two weight classes, Erdei is fresh off a knockout victory over Brian Mitchell in March and hopes to reestablish his dominance in the division. Originally from Malawi, Chilemba scored a unanimous decision victory over Edison Miranda in February.
OtherHBO playdate: Sept. 30 (9:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdate: Sept. 30 (4:00 p.m.)
Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/hboboxing.
All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.
The executive producer of HBO BOXING AFTER DARK is Rick Bernstein; producer, Thomas Odelfelt; director, Mike Sheehan.
