In a small packed conference on the second floor of the Wilshire Grand Hotel in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, Bob Arum of Top Rank along with Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions announced the new boxing series “Solo Boxeo” which will be televised by Azteca America. Although the frequency of the episodes or the actual night they will be broadcast have not been finalized according to Top Rank CEO Arum, the first fight card has been scheduled for Friday February 6th between fan friendly welterweight Jesus Soto-Karass (22-3-3, 16 KOs) and Carson Jones (18-6-1, 10 KOs) in a ten fight. The telecast will be held at the Maywood Community Center in Maywood, CA.
“I am happy that I am part of the first show for Top Rank and Azteca America. I think a lot of people know me and they know what I can do. You are looking at a future world champion,” Soto-Karass declared. Since undisputed super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan was seating near the podium, Soto-Karass took the time to give his prediction.
“Since our fight is one night before Arce-Darchinyan, we are leaving them with a big responsibility because I am going to give a great fight and I think that Arce is going to knock him out.”
“I am proud for the opportunity and I speak for my partner, Raul Marquez. I know that it is going to be a great series and we will have a lot of fun,” stated Adrian Garcia Marquez, the play by play commentator for the series as he referenced the former super welterweight champion Marquez as the color analyst. Lupe Contreras will be the ring announcer.
“Boxing is the number one rated show in Mexico. It beats soccer and even telenovelas,” Arum stated with a chuckle which drew a laugh from the assembled crowd.
“This year is going to interesting. We are going to have fights in full arenas versus small settings. We will be having fights from Mexico and the U.S.,” Beltran said. “We are going to have title fights as well as many fights that the U.S. audience will not have been able to see if it wasn’t for the series.”
Azteca America is broadcast on 65 stations nationally in the United States by Direct TV and the Dish Network. The agreement is for one year and twenty five shows.