On Friday, May 4, the night before the biggest boxing event of 2012, Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions will get things started in style at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with a five-fight card featuring a talented array of fighters looking to steal the show from Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto before their Saturday mega-fight.
In the 10 round main event, which will be televised by Fox Sports Net and Fox Deportes in English and Spanish respectively, former World Champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (42-4, 35 KO’s) battles Juarez’ Eduardo “El Chucky” Lazcano (24-2, 11 KO’s) for the vacant WBC USNBC Super Featherweight Title.
In the televised co-feature, longtime contender and Las Vegas favorite Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith (22-5, 10 KO’s) returns to the ring to face Albany, New York’s Ayi Bruce (21-6, 13 KO’s) in a 10 round junior middleweight contest.
De Leon vs. Lazcano and Smith vs. Bruce are presented by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and DeWalt Tools. The Fox Sports Net and Fox Deportes bilingual simulcast, which will be available in over 50 million homes, will air live at 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.
The action in the ring won’t be all that will heat up viewers’ televisions as the two hour broadcast is set to include exclusive behind the scenes footage of the build-up to Mayweather vs. Cotto as well as special guests who will give their take on the action at The Joint as well as their predictions for the May 5 pay per view mega-fight.
Tickets, priced at $100, $60, $30, $25, along with a limited number of VIP suite seats priced at $125, may be purchased at the Hard Rock Hotel Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
In undercard action…
Orlando’s Daquan Arnett (2-0, 1 KO) is a former amateur standout making a solid name for himself as a professional, and he’ll attempt to win his third straight fight in a four round junior middleweight battle against Phoenix’ Jose Martell (2-1, 2 KO’s). One of Puerto Rico’s finest prospects will take to the ring the night before island icon Miguel Cotto faces Mayweather, when Caguas lightweight Jeffrey Fontanez(5-0, 5 KO’s) battles Las Vegas’ Rocco Espinoza(3-4) in a four round fight.
Opening the show is a women’s featherweight clash scheduled for eight rounds featuring one of Las Vegas’ fistic favorites in former World Champion Jessica Rakoczy (31-3, 11 KO’s) who returns to the ring for the first time since 2009 to face Denver’s Brittany Cruz (8-5-1, 1 KO).