Both Elvin Ayala and “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy have reached the point in their careers where they can no longer hide behind past accomplishments without facing each test the sport of boxing has to offer.
On Friday, March 30th, 2012 at Foxwoods Resort Casino’s MGM Grand Theater, Ayala and Lundy will put their belts – and reputations – on the line at “All In,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports and broadcasted live in front of a worldwide audience on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights.”
Ayala (24-5-1, 11 KOs), the New Haven, Conn., native currently ranked No. 16 in the World Boxing Council (WBC), will defend his WBC U.S. National Boxing Council (USNBC) middleweight title against Hector Camacho Jr. (53-4-1, 28 KOs), the son of former four-time world champion Hector “Macho” Camacho Sr., in the 10-round co-feature while Lundy (21-1-1, 11 KOs) – ranked No. 4 in the WBC – will defend his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) lightweight title against No. 11-ranked “Dangerous” Dannie Williams (21-1, 17 KOs), the NABF’s No. 1 contender, in the 10-round main event.
“‘All In’ is an appropriate title, because these two ring warriors are putting everything on the line and going all in on March 30th at the beautiful MGM Grand Theater,” Burchfield said. “This is what boxing, and network television, needs – two title-holders with everything to lose willing to face anyone at any given time.
“Elvin Ayala and Hank Lundy are two of the sport’s brightest stars, both on the path to championship glory, but Hector Camacho Jr. and Dannie Williams are coming to fight, promising to make this the must-see boxing event of the year.”
Ayala is looking to make a big splash in his 2012 debut after finishing 4-0 in 2011, including a win over former “Contender” reality television star Derrick Findley on July 29th to capture the WBC USNBC title. In addition to winning the belt, Ayala rose to No. 16 in the rankings, all just 12 months after suffering a first-round knockout loss to David Lemieux on national television.
Camacho Jr. is looking to derail Ayala’s path to a world-title bout. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native, who lives and trains in Orlando, Fla., bounced back from a 2010 loss to Lemieux – ironically by first-round knockout – by beating former title-contender Juan Astorga in February of 2011, but will be fighting for just the second time in 16 months when he faces Ayala in March.
Camacho Sr. won 79 bouts and four world titles in his remarkable 30-year career, which ended recently in June of 2010, just 10 days before his 48th birthday. Among his most notable bouts are his thrilling, split-decision win over Edwin Rosario to capture the vacant WBC light welterweight in 1986 and his split-decision win over Greg Haugen in 1991 to recapture the World Boxing Organization (WBO) light welterweight title. Camacho Sr. also beat Providence’s Vinny Paz in a WBO title defense in 1990 and sent “Sugar” Ray Leonard, then 41, into permanent retirement via fifth-round knockout in 1997.
Camacho Jr. is carving a similar niche as a fighter with a heavy workload; the 33-year-old southpaw began his professional career at 18 and has fought 58 times in just 15 years. In a rare showcase six years ago, Camacho Jr. and his father fought on the same card in Tucson, Ariz., with Camacho Jr. defeating Francisco Barra and Camacho Sr. beating Raul Munoz by unanimous decision. Camacho Jr. also beat Hartford’s Israel “Pito” Cardona for the vacant WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation light middleweight title in 1990, earning him a brief stay among the Top 10 fighters in the world, and also won the United States Boxing Organization (USBO) welterweight title in 2002 with a win over Arturo Urena. He had won nine consecutive bouts – three by knockout – prior to his loss to Lemieux in 2010.
The main event of “All In” features a highly-anticipated showdown between two heated rivals in the lightweight division. Williams recently caught Lundy’s attention in December when he threatened to “hurt” the Philadelphia native if the two were to face one another.
“This has to stop,” Lundy said in December. “I’ve proven myself time and time again on the road. Now y’all have to come to me. I went out to Chicago and knocked out the former world champ [David Diaz on Aug. 9]. What more do I have to do to get respect? So, if y’all aren’t coming to Philadelphia, Rhode Island, or Connecticut to fight ‘Hammerin’’ Hank, then we don’t have a fight. I’m tired of going into people’s backyards. It is what it is.”
Lundy has won three consecutive bouts since his first and only loss to John Molina Jr. in 2010. Among the victims were former two-time Venezuelan Olympian Patrick Lopez, whom Lundy beat for the then-vacant NABF title at Foxwoods in April in front of a worldwide audience on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights,” and the former world champion Diaz, whom he knocked out in Chicago in the 2011 season finale of “Friday Night Fights.”
Since 2010, Lundy has won five of six overall during a stretch that includes trips to Chicago, Memphis, Boston, Rhode Island, Montreal and Connecticut. The combined record of his opponents during that stretch is a remarkable 120-9-3. The first bout of that stretch was a split-decision win over Richard Abril, the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) world lightweight champion. March 30th will be Lundy’s sixth consecutive bout on ESPN.
Williams has been equally active since the start of 2010, winning nine consecutive bouts, including a first-round knockout win over Manuel Leyva, who was 18-2 at the time, in May for the vacant WBC Continental Americas lightweight title, and a fourth-round knockout win in August over Antonio Cervantes on the undercard of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” telecast in St. Louis.
Tickets for “All In” are $40.00, $65.00, and $125.00 (VIP ringside) and can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253/2254, or the Foxwoods box office at 800.200.2882, online at www.cesboxing.com or www.foxwoods.com. Doors open 6 p.m. with the first bout scheduled for 7. For more information on the undercard, stay tuned to www.cesboxing.com.
