The much touted Fight of the Night candidate on the June 13th “Finally” pay-per-view event, airing live (10 PM/ET-8 PM/MT) from Isleta Casino & Resort in Albuquerque, is the 10-round co-feature for the vacant International Female Boxers Association (IFBA) lightweight championship between WIBA featherweight champion Jeannine “G9” Garside (7-0-1, 3 KOs) and WIBA & IBA junior lightweight title-holder Chevelle “Fists of Steel” Hallback (26-5-2, 11 KOs). 

The Fresquez Productions, Inc.-promoted “Finally” will be produced and distributed by Integrated Sports for live viewing in the United States and Canada (10 PM/ET) on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, TVN, Shaw Communications, DirecTV and StarChoice for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. 

“‘Finally” features the greatest collection of women boxers on one show with all eight independently rated among the world’s top 3 by divisions, including five No. 1 rated females, battling in four world title bouts. The headliner matches the top two women boxers in the world today, Albuquerque favorite Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (21-1-2, 6 KOs), recognized as the No. 1 welterweight in the world, against the world’s No. 1 middleweight, Detroit icon Mary Jo Sanders (25-0, 8 KOs), in the 10-round main event for the vacant IFBA junior middleweight crown as well as universal pound-for-pound supremacy in female boxing. 

WIBA champion Garside, the world’s No. 1 rated featherweight from Ontario, agrees that her showdown against the No. 1 ranked lightweight, WIBA and IBA title-holder Hallback, of Tampa, could very well steal the “Finally” PPV show. “I’ve heard that and it’s because of what both of us bring to the table,” Jeannie explained. “When things get slow in a fight, I pump-up the pace to get the crowd into it. That’s my style; I feel the crowd and love to hear them. I’m so grateful to be part of the best women’s boxing card ever. Every single bout is exciting with eight women coming to fight. The passion in us makes our fights so exciting, especially on a show of this level taking women’s boxing to another level. I’ve sparred with Mary Jo. We’re close and I’m excited to be fighting on the same card as her.  

“I’ve known Chevelle since I turned pro and we both fought once on the same card. She is one of the best fighters out there. I believe I’ve been underestimated in the past, but she’s not going to underestimate me. We’re getting an opportunity to put a fire under the butts of everybody watching our fight. It has all of the makings of a great fight….the Fight of the Night!” 

Garside was a highly-decorated Canadian amateur boxer who started boxing after watching Christy Martin fight on a Mike Tyson undercard in1996, quickly developing into the 1998 & 1999 British Columbia champion and 1998 British Columbia Fighter of the Year. She earned a spot on the Canadian National Women’s Boxing Team and won a gold medal in the 2000 Canadian National Championships. 

Her boxing career suffered a set-back when she tore an ACL in her knee during a touch football game in 2000, which required reconstructive surgery, but a year later Jeannine reached the semifinals of the AIBA World Amateur Championships and she won her fourth straight national title in 2002. Garside finished her amateur career with a 40-5 record. She made her pro debut on December 4, 2004, taking a four-round decision from Heather Percival in Tacoma, Washington, captured the WIBA super bantamweight title in only her fourth pro fight, and the WIBA featherweight title in her seventh. 

In her fourth pro fight, the aggressive southpaw Garside easily won a 10-round decision (99-90, 98-90, 98-91) against Lisa Brown (12-1-2) for her WIBA super bantamweight crown. Last November, Jeannine added the WIBA featherweight title belt to her collection, dominating an exciting 10-round decision (100-87, 99-89, 98-90) against Laura Serrano (16-2-2). 

“When I won my first world title in only my fourth pro fight,” Garside remarked, “there were some naysayers. Now, though, I have credibility because they know I have the skill and talent of a true champion. My best experience was fighting Europeans in the amateurs, when I developed my ring generalship and mind set I need to fight. I’m proud of my amateur career, but most women don’t spend a lot of time as amateurs. Hopefully, women’s boxing will be added to the Olympics. and more women will get into amateur boxing.” 

Also on PPV, IBA junior featherweight champion Wendy Rodriguez (18-4, 3 KOs), of Los Angeles, takes on WIBF-GBU/WIBC minimumweight title-holder Hollie “Hot Stuff” Dunaway (21-6, 10 KOs), fighting out of Las Vegas by way of (Van Buren) Arkansas, in a 10-round vacant IBA strawweight title fight; WBC 2007 Fighter of the Year, WBC mininumweight champ Carina “La Reina” Moreno (11-1, 5 KOs), of Watsonville (CA), faces WIBA flyweight title-holder Eileen “The Hawaiian Mongoose” Olszewski (5-0-1), fighting out of New York City by way of Honolulu, in a 10-round title fight for the IFBA junior flyweight crown. All fights and fighters are subject to change. 

Tickets, priced at $50.00, $100.00, $150.00, $200.00, $350.00 and $500.00, go on sale March 18 at the Isleta Casino and Resort box office, www.tickets.com or at Fresquez Productions, Inc. (508.884.7484). For more information go to www.fresquezproductions.com or www.holmvssanders.com. Doors open at 5:30 PM/MT, first bout 7:00 PM/MT, first televised bout 8:00 PM/MT.
 

4-21-2008