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Undefeated Michael Oliveira
Making Canadian Debut Saturday Night In Mississauga
Undefeated middleweight prospect Michael "The Brazilian
Rocky" Oliveira will make his Canadian boxing debut this
Saturday night (Feb. 11) on an explosive card, presented by
United Promotions in association with Hennessy Sports, at
Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
The exciting 21-year-old Oliveira (16-0, 12 KOs), rated No.
14 by the World Boxing Council ("WBC"), will fight Sergei
"Baltic King" Melis (18-7, 7 KOs) in an eight-round Special
Middleweight Attraction.
Oliveira, a Brazilian native who was raised in lives in
Miami, was supposed to make his Canadian debut back on
December 17 in Quebec City, but he was forced to withdraw
from fighting on that show due to a stomach virus, high
fever, and dehydration.
Melis is a battled-tested veteran fighter from Estonia who
has been in the ring with the likes of World Boxing
Organization ("WBO") middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog.
"We're looking forward to showcasing Michael to a large
Brazilian community in Canada," said Michael's father and
promoter, Carlos Oliveira (president of MO Productions).
"We're expecting a very warm welcome from Brazilians there
who have already started purchasing VIP packages."
Oliveira's last fight was impressive win on ShoBox last
November in El Paso (TX), in which he defeated veteran
Xavier "The X-Man" Tolliver (23-8, 15 KOs) by way of an
eight-round disqualification that was on the verge of
stoppage.
Michael is a two-time defending Brazilian International
Press Award's Athlete of the Year (2009 and 2010) and a
strong candidate for 2011 honors (vote at http://www.pressaward.com/votacao/).
Saturday's entertaining event is headlined by unbeaten
welterweight Samuel Vargas (8-0-1, 2 KOs), a native of
Colombia living in Mississauga, against former Canadian
light welterweight champion Manolis Plaitis (17-1-1, 8 KOs),
of Quebec, in a 10-rounder for the vacant Canadian
welterweight title. The popular Vargas is coming off of the
2011 Canadian Fight of the Year, in which he battled Quebec
arch-rival Ahmad Cheikho, who was unable to continue
fighting after five of the scheduled 10 rounds last October.
The six-round co-feature finds local fan-favorite Brandon
"Bad Boy" Cook (4-0, 2 KOs), taking on upset-minded
middleweight Chris Aucoin (4-5-1).
"We're thrilled to be adding Michael Oliveira to an already
exciting card that will air on Rogers Television,"
co-promoter Adam Harris (Hennessy Sports) commented. "We are
expecting a good turnout from the many Brazilians living in
the Greater Toronto area."
Also fighting on the undercard is unbeaten Kitchener
cruiserweight prospect Denton Daley (4-0, 2 KOs) versus
former Mexican National Boxing Team invader Benito "El
Asesio" Quiroz (6-1, 6 KOs) in a six-round bout, as well as
pro-debuting Hamilton lightweight Steve Wilcox vs. TBA in a
four-round bout.
Whitby super middleweight Phil "The Assassin" Rose (3-1-1, 3
KOs) will be in action vs. Coteau-du-Lac's cagey Francis
Lafreniere (1-2-1, 1 KOs), along with undefeated Toronto
prospect Ibrahim "Firearm" Kamal (6-0, 5 KOs) vs. Danish
lightweight Tommi Schmidt (6-4, 3 KOs).
Tickets, priced at $30.00 and $50.00, are available at the
Hersey Centre Box Office, through Ticketmaster at
855.985.5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
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