2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade will headline the 11th annual Fight To Educate on Thursday evening, September 20 at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Fight To Educate, presented in part this year by Absolute Broadcasting WGAM, The Game, is a unique charity event that combines a love of sports with the vision of assisting children and seniors in need, who with fundraisers like this could be ‘down for the count.’ During the past 10 years, Fight To Educate has raised more than $500,000 in donations benefiting local New Hampshire non-profit organizations.
Andrade (17-0, 12 KOs), fighting out of Providence, will be headlining the Fight To Educate for the third consecutive year. Two years ago, the stylish southpaw stopped Dave Johnson in the second round, and last year he battered two-time world title challenger Saul “Baby” Duran (38-18-2, 31 KOs) around until he was unable to continue after three rounds.
Andrade, a 2007 World amateur champion, has developed from hot prospect into a legitimate world title challenger since his Fight To Educate debut. Co-promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Banner Promotions, Andrade is ranked among the top 13 junior middleweights in the world by all four major boxing organizations: International Boxing Federation (IBF) #4, World Boxing Organization (WBO) #5, World Boxing Council (WBC) #10 and World Boxing Association (WBA) #13.
Other prize fighters scheduled to be in action Sept. 20 on the Fight To Educate card, which will also feature three top New England amateur boxers, are unbeaten junior middleweight Chris Gilbert (4-0, 3 KOs), of Windsor (VT), along with heavyweight Roberto Alfonso in his pro debut. Alfonso is a 6′ 4″, 220-pounder who defected to America from Cuba, where he was the 2007 & 2008 National Champion. The 25-year-old was a 2008 Cuban Olympian who captured gold medals at the 2008 AIBA World Cup and 2007 Pan-American Games.
Names of opponents and the amateur boxers will soon be announced. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Proceeds from the 11th annual Fight To Educate will benefit SEE Science Center (www.see-sciencecenter.org), The Bobby Stephens Fund for Education (www.stepheneducationfund.com), and New Horizons for New Hampshire.
Tickets, priced at $50.00 and $25.00 (general admission), are available to purchase by going online at www.ticketmaster.com, calling Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000, or at the Verizon Wireless Arena Box Office or any Ticketmaster location.
Table tickets for a night of professional boxing and Black Tie dinner, as well as an auction and meet-and-greet with special boxing legends such as former world heavyweight champion James “Buster” Douglas, who in 1990 knocked out “Iron” Mike Tyson in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, as well as two of New England’s all-time greatest boxers, “Irish” Micky Ward and John “The Quietman” Ruiz. Ward was a three-time participant in the Fight of the Year, as well as the World Boxing Union junior welterweight champion, whose life was portrayed in the award-winning movie, “The Fighter.” Two-time WBA heavyweight champion Ruiz is the first and only world heavyweight champion of Latino heritage. Call Stephen Singer at 603.669.4100 for more details about this special opportunity.
The dinner starts at 5:30 PM/ET, doors for boxing open at 7:30 PM/ET with the first bout scheduled for 8 PM/ET.
Go online to www.fight2educate.com or www.verizonwirelessarena.com for additional information.
