Press Release: First-year boxing promoter NER Promotions has
strengthened its growing stable of fighters by signing four veteran South American boxers – Colombian welterweight Newton Villareal (23-3), Colombian super flyweight Ilido Julio (32-6-1), Ecuadorian Olympian junior middleweight Luis Hernandez (12-2) and Colombian lightweight Jefferson Rodriguez (19-6) [Editor's note: Villareal is rated #5 by the WBO, but that rating, like the one handed to WBO #2 junior welterweight Ricardo Torres is completely bogus and unjustified. The WBO actually has the gall to rate Villareal ahead of Cory Spinks and Torres ahead of Floyd Mayweather].

The aforementioned signings come on the heels of NER announcements regarding promotional deals for a pair of lightweights, two-time Venezuelan Olympian Patriz “El Elegante” Lopez (2-0) and Juan “Golo” Gomez-Trinidad (23-4), the cousin of Felix “Tito” Trinidad.

“We wanted to start with a stable combining proven pro fighters and promising prospects,” NER president Rick Brutti explained. “This is just the beginning of what we envision as a strong stable capable of producing champions in the not too distant future. We plan on showcasing all of the fighters we’ve signed so far on our next few shows.”

Villareal, 33, is a world-rated Columbian fighter riding a six-fight win streak. His most significant victories have been against (67-19-3) Victor Hugo Paz (TKO4) and (19-5-1) Edwin Vasquez (DEC12). Julio, a 34-year-old Columbia-native, captured a minor super flyweight title  in 1998 with a third-round knockout of (15-3) Pedro Rincon Miranda. In NER Promotions’ first pro show February 25 in Lowell (MA), Hernandez stopped (12-4) Robert Kamya in sensational fashion via a second-round knockout. Luis was the lone representative of Ecuador to compete in the 2000 Olympic Games in Atlanta. His only losses as a pro were to unbeaten opponents (17-0-1) Christopher Smith and (22-0) Paul Williams. Rodriguez, 28, is a former member of the Columbian National Boxing Team.

NER Promotions is a division of New England Ringside whose interests also include a popular twice weekly radio show emanating in Boston, informative web site, monthly magazine, and Fightography (sells classic boxing pictures). For more information about New England Ringside go on line to  www.newenglandringside.com.