On Friday, Sept. 12th, 2014, light heavyweights Rich Gingras and Joey McCreedy will square off in the main event at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.
Fresh off his knockout win over Jamie Velazquez in June for the then-vacant New England title, Lincoln’s Gingras (14-4-1, 9 KOs) will meet McCreedy (15-7-2, 6 KOs), the pride of Lowell, Mass., . The fight is scheduled for eight rounds and will headline a stacked card also showcasing one of the most feared fighters in women’s boxing along with New England’s new blood, three young fighters recently added to the CES roster in their first show all under the same roof.
“This card is unique because we’re featuring both the present and future of New England boxing,” CES president Jimmy Burchfield Sr. said. “This is a treat for the true fight fan. You can’t get something like this anywhere else.”
Gingras-McCreedy is a fight fan’s dream, two pure punchers willing to trade blows in the center of the ring. It’s the matchup fans in New England have wanted to see for quite some time, especially after Gingras won the N.E. title in convincing fashion with a knockout win over Velazquez.
It’s also a crossroads fight of sorts of McCreedy, who is coming off a tough loss to unbeaten super middleweight prospect Sean Monaghan in Las Vegas. Since knocking out Eddie Caminero in 2009, McCreedy has been in search of a signature win, but has fallen short several times under the bright lights. This will be his latest, and perhaps last, opportunity to turn the corner and rise to the top of his weight class among New England’s elite.
“There aren’t two more well-respected, hard-hitting fighters in this region than Gingras and McCreedy,” Burchfield said. “They don’t run from a challenge. They’ll fight anybody. Our fans tell us what they want to see and we make it happen. This is one of those times where everything falls into place and you have a main event that will leave the fans wishing there were more rounds when it’s all over.”
The undercard of “Title For Title” is a glimpse into the future of New England boxing, featuring the return of Worcester, Mass., junior middleweight Khiary Gray-Pitts (1-0, 1 KO), who signed with CES following his amateur finale in May and won his pro debut a week later at Twin River with a third-round knockout over On’rey Towns.
“We intend to make him a world champion,” Burchfield said. “He has that killer instinct.”
Also featured on the undercard are two more of CES’ newest protégés, junior middleweight Ray Oliveira Jr. and lightweight Scott Sullivan, both from Fall River, Mass. Oliveira Jr. is the son of former New England standout “Sucra” Ray Oliveira, a two-time world title challenger who now trains both fighters.
“At CES, we build champions. We’ve been doing this for more than three decades, and no one in this region does it better than we do,” Burchfield said. “To have these three young fighters on this card is a preview of things to come, and it’s only going to get better. The sky’s the limit for each of them.”
Not to be outdone by the future of New England boxing, New England’s present will also be on full display Sept. 12th, including the unbeaten New London, Conn., native Shelito Vincent (12-0, 1 KO), the reigning Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) International super bantamweight champion looking to add another title to her resume before the end of the year. Vincent is currently ranked No. 5 in the World Boxing Council (WBC).
Cranston, R.I., welterweight Nick DeLomba (4-0), will also return to Twin River on Sept. 12 fresh off signing a new promotional agreement with CES, while Italian-American cruiserweight Antonio Mignella (3-0, 3 KOs), nicknamed “Little Rocky,” and Warwick, R.I., super middleweight Zack Christy make their Twin River debuts.
Born in Providence, Mignella trains and fights out Louisiana, where he made his pro debut in March. A former member of the U.S. Air Force, Christy was deployed overseas nine times before leaving to purse his boxing career. He trains and lives out of St. Petersburg, Fla., and was born in Warwick, R.I. He and Mignella will fight on the undercard in separate four-round bouts.
