Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 11 p.m.
ET/PT on SHOWTIME
Buffalo Run Casino, Miami, Oklahoma
MIAMI, Okla.
(March
29, 2009) – Undefeated super middleweight Andre Dirrell
outclassed Derrick Findley and Harry Joe Yorgey
outfought Ronald Hearns in a battle of unbeaten junior
middleweights en route to impressive victories on a
special Saturday edition of ShoBox: The New Generation
on SHOWTIME.
Dirrell, of Flint,
Mich., who is ranked No. 1 in the World Boxing Organization
(WBO), No. 3 in the World Boxing Council (WBC) and No. 7 in
the International Boxing Federation (IBF), won by sixth-round
TKO to improve to 18-0 with 13 knockouts. Findley, of Gary,
Ind., who couldn’t answer the bell for the seventh, fell to
13-3 with 8 KOs.
Yorgey (22-0-1, 10
KOs), of Bridgeport, Pa., triumphed by ninth-round knockout.
In a terrific action fight, he registered three knockdowns,
the last coming at 2:59 of the ninth. Hearns, of Detroit,
scored one knockdown but suffered his first defeat. He is 21-1
with 17 KOs.
The doubleheader
took place at the Buffalo Run Casino and was promoted by
Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, and DiBella Entertainment.
It aired live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the
west coast).
Dirrell was making his fifth appearance on SHOWTIME – he’s
fought three times on ShoBox and twice on SHOWTIME
CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. He could not floor Findley, but he had
his way throughout.
After ending
Findley’s winning streak at seven, the six-foot-1, 25-year-old
Dirrell proclaimed himself ready for any boxer in the
168-pound division.
“I’ll fight any of
the champions right now,’’ the 2004 Olympic Games bronze
medalist for the United States said. “It doesn’t matter which
one. I’m greedy. I want all the belts.’’
Dirrell did the
vast majority of the belting Saturday as he made it look easy
against Findley, who accepted the assignment on short notice.
It was Dirrell’s sixth consecutive win inside the distance.
“It was target
practice all day, all the time’’ said Dirrell, who switched
from orthodox to southpaw several times. “Crazy as this might
sound, I actually wanted the fight to go 10 rounds just to get
in some work and to get more time to show off some of my
ability.
“But this isn’t
all about talent. It’s about hard work and dedication.’’
Yorgey, who knows
all about hard work and dedication, dropped Hearns in the
fourth, fifth and ninth rounds.
“I waited and
waited for a chance to fight on SHOWTIME so when I got the
call I said, ‘sure, let’s do it.’ ‘’ Yorgey said. “I’m a TV
fighter. My fights are always exciting. I knew after the
fourth round when I froze him with a body shot that I had him.
I can adapt to any fight. Tonight, I was the aggressor.’’
Entering the ninth
round, Yorgey was ahead on two of the scorecards (78-73 and
76-75) and behind on the other (76-75). After decking Hearns
the first time, Yorgey also went down in the fourth, but it
may have been more the result of a slip than from a clean
punch.
“He never hurt
me,’’ Yorgey said. “I felt great throughout. I usually don’t
look to load up with the right hand, but I knew the
opportunities were there. I told everybody I wasn’t just an
opponent and I was coming to win. I’ve always believed in
myself and that all the hard work I put in daily would pay
off.’’
Yorgey dedicated
the fight and the proceeds from a raffle that his family held
during the show to his friend and Hatfield, Pa. resident
Shannon Yoder, who has cancer.
Hearns, the
oldest son of legendary eight-time world champion Thomas
“Hit Man” Hearns, was making his fourth appearance on
ShoBox. He offered no excuses afterward.
“I’m obviously
very disappointed, but it’s just something that I have to
write off as a learning experience,’’ Hearns said. “I was
knocked down hard but I kept getting up. I never thought for a
second that I wasn’t going to get him and that I was not
without a chance. This is a very difficult moment, but I know
I will bounce back. Give me two or three more fights and I
would love to fight him again.’’
Nick Charles
called the action from ringside with Steve Farhood
serving as expert analyst. The executive producer of ShoBox
is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan
producing and Rick
Phillips directing.
Saturday’s bouts
will re-air this week as follows:
DAY
CHANNEL
Wednesday, April
1, 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME TOO
It
will be available ON DEMAND from Tuesday, March 31-April. 27.
Upcoming:
Next Saturday, April 4, on SHOWTIME (10:45 p.m. ET/PT), WBC
champion Timothy Bradley (23-0, 11 KOs) takes on his
WBO counterpart Kendall Holt (25-2, 13 KOs) in what
will be a hotly contested 140-pound world title unification
bout in the main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING at the
Bell Centre in Montreal. In the telecast’s opening match,
Librado Andrade (27-2, 21 KOs) will be opposed by
Vitali Tsypko (22-2, 12 KOs) in an IBF super middleweight
eliminator.
The highly anticipated debut of Strikeforce on SHOWTIME (10
p.m. ET/PT) takes place Saturday, April 11, live from the HP
Pavilion at San Jose, Calif. The five mixed martial arts
fights: Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz at
179 pounds, Josh Thomson defends his Strikeforce
lightweight title against Gilbert Melendez, Cris
Cyborg and Hitomi Akano clash in a women’s fight at
145 pounds, Scott Smith takes on Benji Radach at
185 pounds and unbeaten heavyweight Brett Rogers faces
“Abongo” Humphrey.
Six days later on Friday, April 17, ShoBox returns with
a clash between featherweight phenom Yuriorkis Gamboa
(13-0, 11 KOs) and Jose Rojas (25-6-1, 17 KOs) for the
interim WBA featherweight title. In the co-feature
at Buffalo Bills Casino at Primm, Nev., undefeated Selcuk
Aydin (17-0, 14 KOs) collides with Said Quali
(25-2, 17 KOs) in a welterweight bout. The telecast begins at
11 p.m. ET/PT.
An eagerly awaited WBC super middleweight title fight between
defending champion Carl Froch (24-0, 19 KOs) and former
undisputed middleweight titleholder Jermain Taylor
(28-2-1, 17 KOs) will highlight a tripleheader Saturday, April
25, on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT). In other fights at MGM
Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Conn., WBC 154-pound kingpin
Vernon Forrest
(41-3, 29 KOs) meets Jason LeHoullier (21-1-1, 8 KOs)
in a 10-round non–title fight and
Allan Green
(27-1, 19 KOs) will be opposed by Carlos De Leon Jr.
(21-2-2, 14 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight fight.
Two 10-round fights will be featured on ShoBox on
Friday, May 1. Luis
Carlos Abregu
(25-0, 21 KOs) will take on Irving Garcia (17-3, 8 KOs)
in a welterweight skirmish and Marvin Quintero (15-1,
12 KOs) battles Wes Ferguson (20-3-1, 6 KOs) in a
lightweight encounter. The ShoBox doubleheader at
Chumash Casino Resort at Santa Ynez, Calif., will air on
SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
For more information on SHOWTIME Sports, including
exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries,
complete telecast information and more, please go to the
SHOWTIME Sports website at
http://sports.sho.com.