The Golden Boy Live! series will bring an action-packed televised co-featured fight on Thursday, June 5 from The House of Blues in Boston, Mass. as rising heavyweight star Alexis Santos of Lawrence, Mass. takes on Daniel Martz of Clarksburg, WV. in an eight round battle which will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes.
“I know how important this fight is for my career,” explains Santos from his Lawrence home after a grueling workout with coach Sean Farley. “This is a co-feature on national TV against the best opponent I have ever faced. Plus, every real champ since the sixties has had the green WBC Belt; Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, the Klitschko’s, they’ve all been WBC champs. This is the title I want to bring back to Massachusetts!”
In addition to an exciting co-feature event, the stacked eight-bout card features several local fighters as well as up-and-coming stars. This is the second Fox Sports 1 show Golden Boy Promotions has co-promoted in Boston, working with Dropkick Murphys front man Ken Casey, who’s been in the boxing scene for four years now since signing welterweight contender Danny O’Connor.
“With Danny out pending elbow surgery, I decided to keep things going,” said Casey, returning home from a tour with the band.
“New England boxing fans have been great. We have sold out the House of Blues for the last two shows, packed the Boston Garden and brought huge crowds to the Electric Company in Philly and to Foxwoods. I’m enjoying promoting fights, have a great team around me and love giving local fighters an opportunity to fight in a bigger arena than small armory shows. These guys are being checked out by Golden Boy Promotions and this could be the chance of a lifetime for guys like Alexis Santos and some of the other local fighters.”
Continued Casey, “It’s important to me to give back to the local boxing community with these events but beyond that to give back to those in need and so we are going to donate all proceeds from the June 5th boxing event to the Walsh & Kennedy Memorial Fund.”
The Walsh & Kennedy Memorial Fund named after Lt. Edward Walsh and Firefighter Mike Kennedy, who were killed battling a fire on Beacon Street in Boston in March. Casey and the Dropkick Murphys’ charity operates the Claddagh Fund which supports numerous local charities for children, veterans and substance abuse treatment among other worthy causes.
Casey finished, “These were good men who not only dedicated their careers to helping others but were pillars of their community’s off-duty. We’re honored for the opportunity to help raise money in their names,” said Casey.
One of the best big men to emerge from New England since former Heavyweight World Champion John Ruiz, 24-year-old Alexis Santos (13-0, 11 KOs) looks to be on his way to big things in boxing’s glamour division. A professional since 2009, Santos has ended six of his knockout victories in a single round and with his power and determination he is ready for whoever steps up to fight him.
At 6-7 ½ and weighing in around 250 pounds, Clarksburg, West Virginia’s Daniel Martz (10-1, 7 KOs) lives up to his nickname “The Mountain.” A pro since 2012, Martz is a promising up and comer with veteran names on his victory list like Rubin Williams and Dante Craig and he plans on adding Santos to that list in June.
Among local fighters appearing on the card will be US Marine Corps combat veteran and undefeated middleweight Mark “Bazooka” DeLuca (9-0, 6 KOs) who puts his perfect record on the line against Providence, Rhode Island’s Richard Starnino (9-13-2, 2 KOs). DeLuca, one of Boston’s best professional prospects, is returning to his boxing career after a four-year-absence during his military service. Showing an exciting combination of boxing and power punching, DeLuca has been a fan favorite throughout his distinguished amateur career and into his budding pro career.
Quincy’s popular Chris Traietti (16-3, 12 KOs) will face veteran James Morrow (12-20-3, 5 KOs) of Lafayette, Indianain a six round cruiserweight bout. Traietti is on an impressive winning streak after a short sabbatical from boxing to finish college. Traietti is also a military veteran, currently a sergeant in the Air Force reserves.
Jose “The Stinger” Medina(18-14-1, 7 KOs), Traietti’s training partner, will face Cork, Ireland’s Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan(16-1, 10 KOs). Medina has fought nothing but tough fights his whole career and will be a hard challenge for the Irishman, who has strong ties to Boston. O’Sullivan is trained by Pachal “Packy” Collins, brother of former World Champion Stevie Collins and has fought in Boston twice, in shows promoted by Quincy’s Mark Porter, whose annual Marina Bay White Collar Shows have raised over $75,000 for cancer research.
A native of Dublin, Ireland who now makes his home in Los Angeles, 23-year-old Jamie “The Nuisance” Kavanagh (16-1-1, 7 KOs) hopes that 2014 is the year that begins his march to a world championship bout. Owner of wins over Ramon Valadez and Antonio Meza that established him as a fighter to watch, Kavanagh bounced back from the lone loss of his career against Daniel Ruiz with a near-shutout victory over Andres Navarro at the House of Blues in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day. Now, he’ll look to make it two for two in his new home away from home.
One of the most experienced fighters Kavanagh has ever met in the ring, Columbus, Ohio’s Michael “Cold Blood” Clark (44-10-1, 18 KOs) has no problem playing the spoiler on fight night this June. A former world title challenger and NABF champion, Clark’s mission is to come away with a big win over Kavanagh on June 5 that will open the door for him to make his way back up the world rankings.
Rounding out the card will be undefeated heavyweight Danny Kelly (5-0-1, 4 KOs) of Washington, DC who will also step up his competition against Pennsylvania’s Eric Newell, (7-2-2, 5 KOs) in a six-round non-televised bout. Also hailing from DC, former national amateur champion Lamont Roach (1-0), open the show against an opponent to be announced in a four round lightweight fight.
In the previously announced televised main event, fans will see what is sure to be a barn-burner with undefeated Emmanuel Gonzalez (14-0, 7 KOs) from The Bronx stepping up against Philly’s tough Tevin Farmer (15-4-1, 3 KOs) in a 10-round junior lightweight bout. Opening the televised portion of the card will be Ireland’s Jamie Kavanagh returning to make his second appearance in Boston against veteran lightweight Michael Clark in an 8-round lightweight showdown.
