ETCHES CLOSING IN ON MIDDLEWEIGHT RIVALS

SHEFFIELD puncher Adam Etches says he's hot on the heels of domestic middleweight rivals Billy Joe Saunders and John Ryder.

Saunders squares off with unbeaten Irishman Gary O'Sullivan next month before defending his British crown against Ryder at the Copper Box Arena in September.

And Etches, 22, feels he'll be in a position to challenge the winner at some point around the end of the year.

"I don't think I'm far from one of those two at all," he said. "I'd take them if they were offered now, but I know it's about getting into the right position first.

"I think once I've boxed on this dinner show (July 19) I'll have two more fights and then be looking at the British title sometime around Christmas or maybe early 2014.

"I'm ready now and my manager, Richard Poxon, will tell you how much I pester him about it, but I know it's his job to slow me down and get me the fights at the right time.

"At the moment everything is going fine and I'm pleased with my progress. That last belt I won has got me up in the IBF rankings and it's just about making the fights that'll get me a shot."

The Yorkshireman, 12-0 (10 KOs), added: "My ultimate goal is to win a world title and to get to that stage I'll have to beat the likes of Saunders and Ryder anyway. You can't get that far without stepping up to the plate and proving yourself at British level first."

Adam returns to action on Friday July 19 when he faces as yet to be confirmed opponent at the Double Tree by Hilton hotel in Sheffield. The show is being held in support of the Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity and Cavendish Cancer Care and is already a sold out.

Lewkowicz Returns to Uruguay with World Championship Boxing Event

On Saturday, July 20, 2013, promoter Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing will make his triumphant return to his homeland of Uruguay, South America, for a night of world championship boxing at Estadio "8 de Junio" in the City of Paysandu.

The exciting event will be headlined by a 10-round WBA female lightweight Championship bout between defending champion Cecilia "La Reina" Comunales (10-1, 6 KOs) of Paysandu, Uruguay, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic's Marisol "Sondora" Reyes (11-6-1, 5 KOs).

This will be the second defense for beautiful 24-year-old Comunales, a national hero in Uruguay and major celebrity. This will be the second world title challenge for the 33-year-old Reyes, who lost a bid in 2012 to Dahiana Santana. She has won four straight since then.

Also scheduled that night is 10-round super featherweight battle between WBA and IBF #15-rated contender Israel "Cachito" Perez (25-2-1, 14 KOs) of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and respected veteran Francisco "El Ahogado" Lorenzo (39-11, 17 KOs) of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.

On the undercard, WBC #6 and IBF #13 super flyweight Javier "Chispita" Chacon (18-1, 4 KOs) of Las Heras, Argentina, will appear, as will Dominican light welterweight Victor Abreu (3-0, 1 KO) against Pozo del Molle, Argentina's Jose Carlos "Puro" Paz (4-1, 2 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

In the opening bout, Las Vegas featherweight Rocco Santomauro (9-0) will return from injury to fight for the first time in Uruguay, proudly flying the flag of his father's Uruguayan ancestry.

Sampson Lewkowicz wishes to congratulate new Commission Cubap for his appointment as head of professional and amateur boxing in the entire country. "I am proud to be the first licensed promoter to work with the Commissioner and I congratulate him for his rightful ascension to the top spot in Uruguayan boxing."

Atlantic City, NJ—Former super bantamweight world-title challenger Teon Kennedy, of Philadelphia, PA, now campaigning as a junior lightweight, makes his second start in three months when he boxes Joselito Collado, of Jamaica, Queens, NY, in the scheduled 10-round main event on Saturday evening, Aug. 24, in the Grand Ballroom at Bally’s Atlantic City.

The Kennedy-Collado contest tops a seven-fight card which will be streamed live on the internet by www.gofightlive.tv .  First fight is 7.30 p.m.

Kennedy (left), 26, ended a one-year layoff June 1 at Bally’s when he scored a unanimous 10-round decision over Carlos Vinan, of Newark, NJ.

The Vinan fight was Kennedy’s first since June 9, 2012, when he was stopped in five rounds by Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux for the latter’s WBA super bantamweight world title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.

Kennedy had been struggling with the 122-pound super bantamweight limit for months and decided to skip the featherweight division (126 pounds) and fight as a junior lightweight (130).

A pro since 2007, Kennedy has a 18-7-2 record with seven knockouts. 

Kennedy won the vacant USBA super bantamweight title in 2009 when he stopped Francisco Rodriguez, of Chicago, in 10 rounds at the legendary Blue Horizon in Philadelphia.  He added the vacant NABA 122-pound belt in 2010, knocking out Alex Becerra, of Mexico, also in 10 rounds, at Bally’s Atlantic City.

His biggest win came in 2011 when he scored a pair of knockdowns and a 12-round decision over previously unbeaten Jorge Diaz, of New Brunswick, NJ, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Collado (right), 30, is originally from the Dominican Republic, where he turned pro late in 2006.  He was idle in 2007, then moved his base of operations to New York in 2008 and has compiled an overall record of 13-2, 3 K0s.

The only men to beat Collado, by decision, were Casey Ramos, of Austin, TX, who was 14-0 at the time, and Jerry Belmontes, of Corpus Christi, TX, who was 16-0.  Collado had Ramos down in the third round of their fight in 2011.

Collado has beaten Rafael Lora, of Irvington, NJ, and Andres Ledesma, of Miami, FL.

Junior middleweight prospect DeCarlo Perez, of Atlantic City, NJ, goes against Jamar Freeman, of Wilson, NC, in the scheduled eight-round semifinal.

Perez, 22, is 10-2-1, 4 K0s.  He has been improving rapidly, winning his last four over Lenwood Dozier, of Glen Burnie, MD; Shamone Alvarez, of Atlantic City; Dante Moore, of Cleveland, OH; Julius Kennedy, of Windsor Mill, MD.

Freeman, 28, is 9-1-2, 5 K0s.  He has lost only once, a questionable 10th-round knockout loss to unbeaten Samuel Rogers, of the Virgin Islands.

Five preliminary fights complete the card.