Mike Jones Fights Irving Garcia; Naba, Nabo Welterweight Titles on the Line July 9 in Atlantic City
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MIKE JONES FIGHTS IRVING GARCIA; NABA, NABO WELTERWEIGHT TITLES ON THE LINE JULY 9 IN ATLANTIC CITY Atlantic City, NJ—The Road To The World Title continues for welterweight contender Mike Jones, of Philadelphia, PA, as he puts his unbeaten record and his world ranking on the line in a scheduled 12-round contest against Irving Garcia, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, on Friday evening, July 9, in the ballroom at Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall. Also at stake will be Jones’ North American Boxing Association (NABA) and North American Boxing Organization (NABO) titles. The first of seven fights begins at 7.30 p.m. Jones, 27, is 21-0, 17 K0s, and he is ranked among the Top 10 welterweights by all four major world sanctioning bodies: No. 3 WBO; No. 5 WBA; No. 7 IBF; No. 7 WBC. Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Andre Berto are on Jones’ radar, but Garcia stands in the way. This will be Jones’ fifth consecutive fight in Atlantic City and his first as a headliner at Boardwalk Hall. He has victories over Lenin Arroyo, Raul Pinzon, Henry Bruseles (who had not lost since Mayweather beat him in 2005) and Hector Munoz in previous Atlantic City fights. “We are moving to a larger venue since the Jones-Bruseles fight sold out the ballroom at Bally’s last February,” said Hall-of-Fame promoter J Russell Peltz. “Ticket demand was high for that fight and we ran out of seats nine days before the match. We anticipate a high demand for tickets for this one, also.” Jones won the vacant NABA title Aug. 29, 2008, knocking out Juliano Ramos, a Brazilian living in Boca Raton, FL, at The Alhambra in South Philadelphia. He made successful defenses against Dairo Esalas, Arroyo, Pinzon, Bruseles and Munoz. He added the vacant NABO belt when he K0d Munoz in five rounds on April 17. A pro since 2005, Jones also has beaten Pito Cardona, Germaine Sanders, Gilbert Venegas and Luciano Perez. Garcia, 31, could be Jones’ toughest test. His 17-4-3 record includes eight knockouts and a controversial loss to world- rated Luis Carlos Abregu, of Salta, Argentina, in his last fight one year ago in Santa Ynez, CA. Garcia had Abregu down twice and the fight was even on the scorecards (28-28, 28-28, 27-29) when Abregu dropped him in the fourth round and the ref stopped the contest. Prior to the Abregu match, Garcia had earned a 10-round decision over Chris Smith, of New York. A pro since 1998, Garcia has a few souvenirs of his own: Puerto Rican Junior Middleweight Title; WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation welterweight title; WBC Latino welterweight belt. He is undefeated in five scheduled 12-round fights. This will be Jones’ first at that distance. Tickets priced at $50, $75 and $100 are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing Promotions (215-765-0922) and all Ticketmaster outlets (800-345-7000). They also can be purchased at Boardwalk Hall and online at www.peltzboxing.com and www.Ticketmaster.com..