LAS VEGAS (January 13, 2005) – Guilty Boxing, Inc. and Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc. (CES) have joined forces, it was jointly announced today by Nick Rattenni, president of Guilty Boxing, and CES president Jimmy Burchfield. CES and Burchfield will run the East Coast operations of Guilty Boxing and coordinate all of the cards Guilty Boxing promotes in that area. Jimmy Montoya will continue to run the West Coast booking operations for Guilty Boxing.
“The opportunity to join forces with Jimmy was just too great to pass up,” Rattenni said. “I’ve known Jimmy for many years and have great admiration for him and what his company has accomplished. This association will provide all boxers involved with both Guilty and CES the ability to reach their full potential. Boxing fans, both the casual and most passionate, will be the biggest beneficiary from this association because it gives us the vehicle to bring boxing back to the glory days when it was the most watched sport in the world.
“This association is a winning situation for all involved -- CES, Guilty, the boxers and, most important, the boxing fan, both those who watch on television and those who attend live cards.”
Guilty Boxing has been the most frequent provider of nationally and internationally televised professional boxing cards in Las Vegas for almost five years. It also presents cards of similar caliber in California, Arizona and Mexico. “It’s an honor and pleasure to be associated with Guilty Boxing,” Burchfield remarked. “This association is the start of a great working relationship. Nick and I are both old school; we’re very much alike, perfectionists whose word is golden. For many years I’ve wanted to do something like this and I couldn’t do it with a better man than Nick or better company than Guilty Boxing.
“Fighters from both of our companies will receive television exposure on a more regular basis. We’re building champions and this relationship will accelerate the careers of all the Guilty and CES fighters. Together we’re going to make a huge impact in pro boxing.”
“Being able to showcase our boxers in New England and Mid-Atlantic states is going to be a boost in terms of exposure not only for fighters, but for Guilty as well,” Rattenni added.
Guilty Boxing is expanding its already impressive stable of boxers, now featuring has approximately 80 fighters under contract, including former World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation featherweight champion Manuel “Mantecas” Medina (64-14, 30 KOs), reigning NABF super featherweight title-holder; IBF No. 1 rated welterweight Cosme Rivera (28-7-2, 20 KOs), No. 2 WBC strawweight Omar “Lobito” Soto, No. 2 WBC, No. 7 WBO and No. 8 IBF Featherweight Humberto Soto (35-5-2, 20 KOs); world-class fighters Jose Luis “Chelin” Cruz (31-0-2, 26 KOs) and Omar “Lobito” Soto (13-2-1, 10 KOs).
“I welcome the opportunity to have these and other talented Guilty boxers featured on East Coast cards,” Burchfield commented, “as well as our gifted boxers fighting on West Coast shows. I believe Guilty and CES fighters compliment each other, strengthening our united stable from heavyweight to strawweight.”
Burchfield recently was honored for promoting the “ESPN2 Fight of the Year” for the second year in a row (Pemberton-Sheika I & II). The “Captain” of Team XES had been former five-time world champion Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Paz, who retired last year with 50 career victories. Today CES promotes world-class performers such as IBU, NABC and NABF super middleweight champion Scott “The Sandman” Pemberton (29-3-1, 24 KOs), rated No. 1 by the WBC as well as No. 10 by the IBF and No. 3 by the World Boxing Organization; undefeated WBC Youth middleweight title-holder “Bad” Chad Dawson (16-0, 11 KOs), No. 14 ranked challenger in the WBC; NABF lightweight champion Michael “Cold Blood” Clark (33-2, 15 KOs), No. 1 contender in the WBC, No. 4 in the WBA and IBF; heavyweight prospect Jason “Big Six” Estrada (1-0), 2004 U.S. Olympian; decorated cruiserweight Matt Godfrey (6-0, 4 KOs) and former 5-time champion “Sucra” Ray Oliveira.
About Guilty Boxing: Guilty Boxing, Inc. and Guilty Productions, Inc. were founded by Nick Rattenni to create a full-service boxing and production operation, located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Guilty Boxing and Guilty Productions provide a truly unique combination of promotion, production, sales and marketing professionals that are all dedicated to brining real competition back to boxing.
About CES: Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc., founded in 1992 by Jimmy Burchfield, is a full-service boxing operation, located in Providence, Rhode Island. CES specializes in world-class boxing promotions, marketing and consulting. Its staff of 15 professionals has more than 100 combined years of valuable working experience in professional boxing.
