The ten-round Marshall – Pierre bout will headline a Halloween weekend event featuring fighters from New York’s Capital Region, the Hudson Valley and beyond. Albany’s Marshall, who has faced such champions as Ronald “Winky” Wright, Kassim Ouma and Fernando Vargas, has challenged for both the WBC and WBA light middleweight belts. Originally from Haiti, Pierre is a talented prospect trained by Kevin Rooney at the Cus D’Amato Catskill Boxing Club.
In a six-round co-feature, Miller will face tough ring veteran Harold Rodriguez (6-15, 2 KOs, Taunton, Mass.) in his return to the ring after participating in the fight ranked second in ESPN2/”Friday Night Fights’ “Top Five Fights” of 2005 against power-puncher Vinny Maddalone (23-3, 18 KOs, Flushing, N.Y.). Wilcox, in his second fight as a heavyweight after contending at cruiserweight, will face a veteran of 60 pro fights, Dennis McKinney (27-33-1, 13 KOs. Columbia, S.C.).
In four-round undercard bouts, Highland, N.Y. junior welterweight Hervey Medina (4-0-1, 1 KO) will face Marco Mayorga (0-1, Ecuador) and Syracuse, N.Y. natives Damian Rinaldi – who will face Eduardo Torres (1-3, 1 KO, Puerto Rico) – and Ron Lewis – who will face Richard Pearson (0-0, Patterson, NJ) – will make their pro debuts. Albany native Wayland Willingham (7-0, 4 KOs, Atlanta, Ga.) will face an opponent to be announced.
The Capital District Military Family Support Group, a grass-roots organization that educates and supports local military families and the community about the needs of families facing deployment and re-integration, will join Pugnacious Promotions and help acknowledge the contribution of the 101st Calvary, who just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq three weeks ago. The support group will receive 100% of the proceeds of three raffles held at the boxing event. The prizes are 1) a one-year membership at event sponsor Gold’s Gym, 2) six months of lessons at the Delmar School of Aikido and 3) a complimentary dinner with heavyweight Shannon Miller at the Arlington House in West Sand Lake, NY.
Sponsors of the event include Budweiser, Ruch Distributors, The Swyer Companies, Tioga Downs, Gold’s Gym, Capital District OTB and Nat Sherman Cigars.
Tickets are on sale at the Armory box office, (518) 694-7160, or through Ticketmaster by phone (518-476-1000), at any outlet or online. General Admission tickets are $20; Reserved, $30; Ringside, $75 and first two rows, $100. Corporate tables are also available for groups of 10, with additional services.
PRESS RELEASE: On October 28, 2005, Pugnacious Promotions will present a professional boxing card at the Washington Avenue Armory with an Upstate New York flavor, including a headline match-up between Tony Marshall (37-12-5, 13 KOs, Albany, NY) and prospect Lenord “The Haitian Sensation” Pierre (17-1, 12 KOs, Catskill, N.Y.) and featuring heavyweights Shannon Miller (11-1, 6 KOs, Troy, N.Y.) and Gary Wilcox (19-3-1, 6 KOs, Saratoga Springs, NY) in separate bouts.
