MICHAEL PEREZ RETURNS TO SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE PICTURE WITH SD WIN OVER MARCELINO LOPEZ

LOS ANGELES (April 20, 2017) – Battling to stay in the super lightweight
championship hunt, *Michael “The Artist” Perez *(25-2-2, 11 KOs) of Newark,
NJ defeated tough Argentine *Marcelino “Nino” Lopez *(32-2-1, 17 KOs) by
controversial split decisionThursday night in the main event of *Golden Boy
Boxing on ESPN* from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Despite
Lopez knocking Perez down in the 8th, the judges awarded Perez the victory
in the 10-round fight with scores of 96-93, 97-92, 93-96.
“I won the fight for sure,” said Perez. “My plan was to go in and box him,
and work him with my jab. I knew I won, but know I could’ve been better if
I had more rest before. Next time I fight, I’m going to the best I can be.”
In the evenly matched 10-round co-main event *Rashidi “Speedy” Ellis* (18-0,
12 KOs) of Boston, MA kept his undefeated record intact and returned home
with his IBF North American Welterweight championship defeating Caguas,
Puerto Rico’s *John Karl Sosa*(13-3, 6 KOs) by majority decision. The
judges awarded Ellis the victory with scores of 95-95, 97-93, 97-93.
“In the fight, I worked on my jabs and punches the most,” said Ellis. “I’m
happy with the decision, but I know my opponent got to me in a lot of the
rounds. In the end, I gave it my all.”
“I was planning on going in to defeat him,” said Sosa. “My corner kept
telling me to move, and I listened. I felt the fight was much closer than
the judges scored it.”
Austin, Texas’ *Travell “Black Magic” Mazion* (11-0, 11 KOs) proudly — and
quickly — announced his return to boxing after a lengthy hiatus, landing a
devastating left hook body shot that knocked out opponent *Juan “Burbuja”
Jesus Rivera *(28-18, 18 KOs) at 2:36 of the first round of a super
welterweight contest that was scheduled for four to six rounds.
“I wasn’t going in for the knockout, I just wanted to get back in the ring
and box him,” said Mazion. “I’m happy the knockout came, and I’m excited to
be back.”
Returning to the fight game after a first-round loss last December, *Eddie
“E-boy” Gomez*(20-2, 11 KOs) of The Bronx, New York earned a unanimous
decision victory over *Dennis “The Menace” Dauti* (14-2, 7 KOs) in an
eight-round welterweight fight. The judges awarded Gomez the victory with
scores of 77-75, 77-75 and 79-73.
“I love fighting on the East Coast in front of all my family, friends and
fans,” said Gomez. “In boxing, there are always ups and downs, but I’m just
glad to be back and have the victory tonight.”
In his much anticipated return bout from his first defeat, *Vyacheslav
“Lionheart-Chingonskyy” Shabranskyy* (18-1, 15 KOs) of Los Angeles scored
knockdowns in each of the first two rounds against *Larry “Hitman”
Pryor* (10-15,
5 KOs), with the latter ending the fight at :54 seconds of the second round.
“Tonight, I was really excited to get in and fight,” said Shabranskyy. “I
went in to win and to show everyone Chingonskyy is back and better than
ever.”
Kicking off fight night, local Syracuse, New York fighter *Jimmy Garcia* (5-0,
3 KOs) retained his undefeated record, knocking out fellow light
heavyweight *Albert Tulley* (0-1) of Governor, New York with a punishing
body shot at the 1:46 mark of the first round.
“My plan was to go in there to box and win,” said Garica. “I did just that
by outboxing him whenever he went at me. Every time I hit him, I hit back
and it worked.”
*Perez vs. Lopez *was a 10-round super lightweight battle set for April 20
presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The event was sponsored by Tecate “*Born
BOLD*.” ESPN Deportes and ESPN2 transmitted the fights live from Turning
Stone Resort Casino.

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