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Paul Williams
vs. Nobuhiro Ishida, Tavoris Cloud vs. Gabriel Campillo &
Chris Arreola vs. Eric Molina On Feb. 18 From Corpus Christi
On Saturday, Feb. 18, Paul "The Punisher" Williams, Tavoris
"Thunder" Cloud and Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola will bring
their aggressive, knockout power and crowd-pleasing all-out
action style to the great fans and city of Corpus Christi,
Texas. The stacked fight card will emanate from the
9,200-seat American Bank Center Arena in an event presented
by Goossen Tutor Promotions. On the SHOWTIME Championship
Boxing world championship doubleheader (LIVE at 10 p.m.
ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast), the Williams vs. Nobuhiro
Ishida bout will be promoted in association with Golden Boy
Promotions and Canelo Promotions. The Cloud vs. Gabriel
Campillo bout will be promoted by Don King Productions in
association with Sampson Boxing, LLC. Arreola will battle
Eric Molina to headline the preliminary bouts on SHOWTIME
Extreme.
The fights from Corpus Christi -- which is a two-hour drive
from the Mexican border -- will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT, with
Arreola stepping into the ring at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are
priced at $25, $35, $50, $75, $100 and will available at the
American Bank Center box office and on Ticketmaster.com
starting Saturday, January 14 at 10 a.m. CT. VIP packages
are also available by calling (817) 296-4546.
The 30-year old Williams (40-2, 27 KOs), a southpaw from
Aiken, S.C., who twice held the WBO Welterweight
Championship and the interim Super Welterweight
Championship, will take on Japan's Nobuhiro Ishida (24-6-2,
9 KOs) in the scheduled 12-round junior middleweight main
event.
"The Punisher" takes on Ishida with his sights strictly on
re-establishing his reputation as "The World's Most Feared
Boxer." Fighting just three times in the past two years,
Williams is looking to stay busier and getting back to
dominant victories. Before sustaining a devastating
second-round knockout in a WBC World Middleweight
championship bout against Sergio Martinez in November 2010,
Williams was involved in one of the more unique victories in
boxing when Kermit Cintron took a nosedive through the ropes
and landed on the floor beneath the ring, declaring himself
unable to continue. After the Martinez bout, Williams took
on the challenge of Cuban Erislandy Lara back in July of
last year and earned what many considered a very
controversial decision win, despite the fact Williams threw
and connected with more punches than Lara.
In facing the 36-year old Ishida, Williams will be taking on
a dangerous veteran who, back in April of last year, handed
current WBC Continental Americas Super Welterweight Champion
James Kirkland his first defeat in 28 fights by knocking him
down three times en route to a first-round stoppage in Las
Vegas - his only fight on American soil to date. After his
KO loss to Ishida, Kirkland landed a November fight with
Alfredo Angulo, who had 17 knockouts in his 20 wins, and in
a slugfest, he stopped Angulo in the sixth round, making
Ishida's KO victory over Kirkland that much more impressive.
"I am happy to be getting back in the ring and honored to be
fighting on SHOWTIME and I know 2012 is going to be a good
year for me," Williams stated. "Just like in the gym,
sometimes you have good days and sometimes bad days. I had a
couple of bad days against Martinez and Lara, but I am much
more focused now and I intend to show everyone in Corpus
Christi.
"I know Ishida is a hungry fighter and a hungry fighter is a
most dangerous fighter. Lara fought over his head against me
and I am going to try not to let it happen again with
Ishida. I am looking to get some belts in 2012 at 154 and
160 pounds."
"I'm coming with every intention to win, but I'm not
underestimating my opponent," said Ishida. "I respect him,
but I fight for the welfare of my family. Obviously, after
winning this fight I'm looking for a shot at the world
title. I'm really excited to fight in the United States
again, so I will put it all on the line against Paul
Williams."
Tavoris "Thunder" Cloud (23-0, 19 KOs), of Tallahassee,
Fla., will be making the fourth defense of the IBF light
heavyweight title he won via 12-round unanimous decision
over former world champion Clinton Woods in August 2009. The
undefeated, 29-year-old then successfully defended his title
against Glen Johnson, Fulgencio Zuniga and Yusaf Mack.
Challenging him for the IBF belt is the very competent
33-year-old Spaniard from Madrid, Gabriel Campillo (28-3-1,
8 KOs). A former WBA light heavyweight world champion,
Campillo handed current world champion Beibut Shumenov the
only loss of his career - on his home soil in Kazakhstan, no
less. Now, in his second trip to America, he presents a
serious challenge to Cloud.
Arreola (34-2, 29 KOs), 30, from Riverside, Calif., remains
determined to become the first man of Mexican descent to win
a world heavyweight championship, having lost his first
opportunity to long-reigning WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko
back in 2009. Since experiencing his only other loss as a
pro to Tomasz Adamek in April 2010, "The Nightmare" has
dedicated himself to training and physical conditioning
while rattling off six consecutive wins, four by knockout,
weighing about 20 pounds less while doing so.
In his most recent outing back in November, Arreola traveled
to Leon, Guanajuato to make his highly anticipated Mexican
debut at the grand arena "El Domo" where he headlined an
event promoted by Goossen Tutor and Promociones Del Pueblo
and broadcast on Televisa. He stopped Raphael Butler in the
third round in front of over 7,000 rousing fans in
attendance.
"I am very excited about fighting on February 18 in Corpus
Christi and being on SHOWTIME Extreme," Arreola exclaimed.
"I remember seeing Fernando Vargas fighting in front of a
full house here and I believe I will bring that type of
excitement for these great fans. I am looking to build off a
positive 2011 when I showed that I could get my weight under
control and take my training and conditioning more
seriously. This will be the first fight of what I predict
will be a big and exciting 2012 for me and my career."
Standing directly in Arreola's path towards heavyweight
supremacy, is 29-year-old Eric Molina (18-1, 14 KOs). Having
tasted defeat in his professional debut, Molina and his camp
went back to the drawing board to make sure that it wouldn't
happen again. To this point he has been successful in that
regard, defeating all of his next 18 opponents, while
dispatching 14 of them by knockout.
"Six sluggers, three world champions, all in 'Triple Threat'
fights," said promoter Dan Goossen. "This will definitely be
SHOWTIME for the fans in attendance and the ones watching at
home".
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