A compelling match
between middleweights Jill Emery and Cristy “Code Red” Nickel
has been added to the already exciting and competitive Fox
Sports Net’s Best Damn Championship Fight Night Period card,
headlined by a pair of International Female Boxers Association
(IFBA) world championship bouts, on Thursday, June 12 at
Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Best Damn Championship
Fight Night Period, presented by Cappiello Boxing in
association with Hollybrook Regency, Inc., features IFBA World
junior featherweight champion Lisa “Bad News” Brown (14-3-3, 4
KOs) defending her crown against Alicia “Slick” Ashley (14-7-1,
1 KO) in the 10-round main event, plus Russian invader
Anastasia Toktaulova (12-8, 2 KOs) challenging IFBA World
flyweight champion Elena “Baby Doll” Reid (19-4-5, 5 KOs) in
the 10-round co-feature.
Emery (8-2, 3 KOs) and
Nickel (7-6, 4 KOs) have a lot in common, including historic
roles played in fights overseas. Both are college graduates
from middle class backgrounds and physical training instructors
who live in New York City. Jill works and trains at the famed
Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, where Cristy often spars, yet,
they’ve never met in person.
Pittsburgh-native Emery, a
graduate of Bucknell University, is a 3-time US Nationals
champion, who also captured top honors four years in the New
York Daily News Golden Gloves Championship, won a gold medal in
the 2004 Women’s World Boxing Tournament, and was named 2004
USA Boxing’s Female Athlete of the Year. As a pro, Jill was the
winner of the first women’s pro fight in Ireland last June by
eight-round decision versus Angel McKenzie in a shutout
performance, winning all eight rounds on the scorecard.
Nickel was born in
California but raised on a farm in Northern Idaho. The U. of
Memphis graduate was one of only six Americans fighters invited
to fight in 2005 on a card in Beijing, China.
Cristy was contacted in 2006 by producers of MTV’s hit reality
show “MADE,” who were searching for a boxing coach to turn a
lazy high school quitter into a hard-hitting boxer in only six
weeks. Nickel auditioned with coaches from all over the country
and after an intense and lengthy screening process, she was
offered the position, and the episode was chosen as the season
premier, continuing to re-run to date in more than 60
countries. The success of the show afforded Cristy an
opportunity to move to New York City, where she started her own
business as a personal trainer and boxing coach at “Peak
Performance,” New York’s exclusive private training facility
for the stars, including her personal clients such as Katie
Couric.
Trinidad and Tobago-born
Brown, a three-time world champion now fighting out of Toronto,
Canada, takes on three-time world champion Ashley, who is from
Jamaica and living in Westbury, New York. Las Vegas-based Reid
fights former European super flyweight and bantamweight
champion Toktaulova, representing Moscow.
On the undercard, Las
Vegas unbeaten star Melinda Cooper (18-0, 10 KOs) starts her
comeback after nearly 18 months of inactivity versus knockout
specialist Donna “Nature Girl” Biggers (19-7-1, 16 KOs), of
Shelby, North Carolina, in a special six-round junior
featherweight bout. Junior featherweight contender Jeri Stizes
(14-7-1, 6 KOs), of Springfield, Missouri, faces tough Ela “Bam
Bam” Nunez (6-3, 2 KOs), fighting out of Jamestown, New York,
in another highly competitive six-rounder.
Tickets are priced at $10.00, $25.00 and
$40.00 and on sale at the Mohegan Sun box office or online at
www.mohegansun.com.
Go to
www.ifba.com for more information. The undercard will start
a 7 PM/ET, followed by the first of three scheduled televised
bouts beginning at 8 PM/ET.
5-8-2008 38 |
