STEVENSON-GEORGE SAVED; SHIFTS FROM SHOWTIME TO ESPN2

Press Release: On Friday, August 17th, at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, ESPN2's Friday Night Fights season finale will feature a twelve-round super middleweight main event of Chicago's Don “Da Bomb” George (22-2-1, 19 KOs) against Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (18-1, 15 KOs), originally from Haiti. In Stevenson's adopted home of Canada, the event will be presented on PPV at Canal Indigo and Bell TV. The bout, originally a co-feature on a now-scrapped Canadian show, will be an IBF eliminator. In the co-feature, Chicago’s hard luck contender Carlos Molina (19-5-2, 6 KOs) returns from one of the most controversial fights of 2012 to take on Miami’s Damian Frias (19-4-1, 10 KOs).
 
The Stevenson vs. George fight was originally scheduled to take place as the co-main event of the Tavoris Cloud/Jean Pascal card on August 11st. However, an injury to Pascal forced that event’s cancellation and created the opportunity to move the fight to the Buffalo Run and ESPN2. 
 
“Sometimes there is an actual silver lining in the sport of boxing. When the original Friday Night Fights August 17 card fell apart due to injuries, it was through the collective efforts of Leon Margules, Yvon Michel, Luis DeCubas, Tony Holden and ESPN that we were able to quickly mobilize efforts and present Friday Night Fights fans with a spectacular season finale,” said Doug Loughrey, Programming Director of Boxing at ESPN. “This is a prime example of promoters, fighters, managers and ESPN working together to service the boxing fan.”
 
According to the 34-year-old southpaw Stevenson’s trainer Emanuel Steward, the fight is a “can’t miss” barn burner. “I know George. He was in Detroit at Andy Lee's training camp in June. He is young, extremely strong, and dedicated. One thing for sure it will be bombs away in this fight, as Adonis is also a strong homerun hitter. This is the kind a fight all boxing fans are delighted to watch, and my prediction is there will be a knockout for sure. Don’t miss it!”
 
Stevenson, of course, is happy with the sudden turnaround “I was very disappointed of the postponement from August 11. I was gearing myself for some time in September but, as soon as my promoter and my manager told me about August 17, the adrenaline started flowing again. I am anxious to qualify as the No. 1 contender to fight the IBF champion Carl Froch. I know George will be ready for a war and this is what he will have. I can knock him out in Montreal, in his hometown of Chicago, and in Oklahoma as well."
 
27-year-old George had a two-fight KO streak going before losing to boxing Edwin Rodriguez via ten-round decision last March.
 
“I thought I’d have to wait till the end of September and that would have been brutal, so I’m glad all the promoters and ESPN got together to make this happen,” said George. “It’s a great opportunity for both of us.”
 
George says the reason he has wanted this fight so bad has nothing to do with seeing weakness in Stevenson. “I don’t necessarily see a flaw in him. I’m just confident in myself. Stylistically, I like this fight. He’s not going to run. He’s a puncher too, so I’m just going to go out there and fight my fight and I know I can win.”
 
The 29-year-old Molina was last seen in March in a battle against Texas slugger James Kirkland. Winning the fight handily, Molina was knocked down in round ten. A mix-up between cornermen and commission officials led to one of Molina’s cornermen entering the ring prematurely. This opened the door for the oft-criticized Texas Commission to disqualify Molina in one of the most inexplicable and controversial calls of the year.
 
Before that, Molina has suffered controversial outcomes in fights he deserved to win against top contenders Erislandy Lara and Mike Alvarado, as well as in two highly debatable fights against now-world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
 
The 35-year-old Frias, a Cuban now living in Miami, is a talented fighter who didn’t even start boxing until age 25. Despite having worked with renowned trainers such as Orlando Cuellar and John David Jackson, Frias had been plagued by inactivity throughout his career. Since 2011, however, he has four ring appearances and was last seen stopping 22-1-1 Henry Crawford in nine rounds.


"I want to thank Doug Loughrey from ESPN, who had the vision of bringing this great fight to his network, as well as Leon Margules, the promoter of Don George, who was extremely cooperative making this happen," said Stevenson's promoter, Yvon Michel (GYM). "I also have a great deal of respect for Adonis Stevenson and Don George, who both have never hesitated to jump on this opportunity, showing the kind of confidence they both have. For us, it is a great opportunity to show the world that Adonis “Superman” Stevenson is for real. He will prove without any doubt that he is not a 'homer' and can perform on any platform on the planet.”
 
Leon Margules, event co-promoter and President of Warriors Boxing, echoed Michel’s sentiments. “Doug Loughrey was the driving force behind bringing this fight to ESPN and once the leather starts flying in this terrific fight, it’ll be him ESPN boxing fans can thank. I feel tremendous pride that we were all able to get together and make this happen.”