Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell (27-1-1, 22 KOs) takes on Marco Antonio “El Veneno” Rubio (59-7-1, 51 KOs) in a super middleweight showdown on Sunday, September 6 from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas with televised coverage on CBS Sports beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
The co-main event of the evening will see bantamweight world champion Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12 KOs) face the exciting Tomoki “El Mexicanito” Kameda (31-1, 19 KOs) in a 12-round world title rematch of their May 9 CBS Sports fight that saw McDonnell survive a third round knockdown to win by the score of 114-113 on all three judges’ scorecards.
“I’m ready to get back in the ring and prove that I’m still one of the most dangerous men in the game,” said Dirrell. “Rubio is a tough guy but I’m coming to knock him out and eventually get my title back. ‘The Dog’ is coming to Texas looking to inflict some pain.”
“I’m very excited to face Anthony Dirrell on September 6,” said Rubio. “This is a tremendous opportunity for me and I’m going to leave it all in the ring. I promise a great fight for all the fans that come out in Texas.”
“I am delighted to be going back to the states and facing Kameda again,” said McDonnell. “The first fight was brilliant, he’s a class act and I wish that the first fight had gone on even longer. People wrote me off before the first one but I was always confident that I would beat him and I am even more confident that I will do it again. If I start well this time I think I will stop him.”
“This is the fight I wanted and I’m thankful to have the opportunity to rematch Jamie McDonnell,” said Kameda. “I thought that I won the first time, but this time I will leave no doubt. I can’t leave it up to the judges this time, my plan is to dominate.”
Dirrell has seen more adversity than most throughout his career as his time in boxing has been seriously jeopardized twice, first in December 2006 when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was sidelined for 20 months and again in May 2012 when he broke his lower left leg and left wrist in a motorcycle accident. The Flint, Michigan-native never let that hold him down as he kept winning fights and working his way up the professional ranks. In 2014 he won his first championship when he defeated defending champion Sakio Bika. He will be looking to impress as he takes on the tough and rugged Rubio on September 6.
The 35-year-old Rubio is one of the most experienced fighters around and will look to add another big name to his list of victims throughout his 16-year career. Rubio owns victories over David Lemieux, Carlos Baldomir, Jorge Cota and Rigoberto Alvarez across a career that has seen him challenge for world titles on three occasions. Born in Durango, Mexico, he will be fighting close to home when he enters the ring in Corpus Christi.
Yorkshire, United Kingdom’s McDonnell has been on a tear since 2008 with 18 consecutive wins. He became a bantamweight world champion with a victory over Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat and later successfully defended against Javier Nicolas Chacon before coming over to America and defeating Kameda in May. In that fight, McDonnell survived an early knockdown at the hands of Kameda and used his length and activity to earn the decision victory.
Kameda announced his arrival stateside after a vicious knockout over Pungluang Sor Singyu in July 2014 in Las Vegas. That knockout was Kameda’s second bantamweight title defense after he won the belt from Paulus Ambunda in 2013 after spending most of his career fighting in his native Japan and Mexico. The 24-year-old followed up his U.S. debut when he defeated Alejandro Hernandez in Chicago via split decision. He will look to prove that he should have been awarded the decision against Jamie McDonnell in their first fight on May 9 fight.
