York's Academy of Combative Arts has two fighters in the upcoming Pain on Penn Street II in Reading on Dec.4:
Josh Kessler vs Don Cioffi
Jon Tuxford vs Michael Alessi
The event is being held at the Sovereign Center, 700 Penn Street, in downtown Reading. Doors open at 7 p.m.
In their last fights, both at CPWC III, Kessler won with an Americana over Rob Hailey and Tuxford Lost by TKO to Mike Stoltzfus.
Mark Jovich on
Long time Boxing Promoter Marshall Kauffman of Reading Pennsylvania will be hosting the first true large scale Hybrid Boxing/MMA Event Dec 4th at the Reading Sovereign Center http://www.sovereigncenter.com/ . The Sovereign Center is one of the biggest venues in Central Pennsylvania.
The card will feature 8 Professional Boxing and 8 MMA bouts.
Marshall has a great love for the Combative Sports and wants to bring the very best events to Reading, Pennsylvania.
He is a gracious man that donates to numerous children and youth organizations in support of the less fortunate.
He uses no gimmicks or slick advertising,just solid events with solid people around him. He is man of character and has a passion for the sport.
Marshal is no fly by night promoter,he has beening promoting events for over 15 years.
I will take charge of the MMA portion of the events while Marshall handles the boxing.
We are committed to bring the best of both sports to the competitors and fans.
If your are interested in participating your assisting in these events please contact myself.
I have attached the flyers for our first event together.
Mark P. Jovich
Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge
www.warriorchallenge.info
Promoter
717-250-8841
Just a reminder about this event. I blogged about it recently, after having spoken with one of the promoters. The bottom line is this - a lot of guys on the Internet are complaining about the name and concept of the event, but when you get down to it, these are fights sanctioned by the state, so everything should be above-board and professional. A fight is a fight, as Royce Gracie said. Check back here next week for results.
Just talked with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pa. State Athletic Commission. He confirmed that tonight's 9th Street Slaughter event at Club 1402 in Reading has been postponed. The event was being promoted by longtime boxing promoter Marshall Kauffman, with MMAinPA.com's Joe Cunliffe doing the matchmaking.
"Just didn't get enough bouts together," was what Sirb said when I asked why the event wasn't happening.
Although I don't believe there is a minimum number of bouts per event required in PA., I know each event in the state has to have at least two professional fights and the rest can be amateur. So far this year, I don't think there's been an event this year with less than maybe eight fights, although I think that was due to a couple of them being canceled at the last minute.
Sirb said that Kauffman had told him he wanted to hold the event in Reading the first weekend in December.
Kauffman was "disappointed" at the show's postponement. "He's never really canceled anything" in his long career as a promoter, Sirb said.
Previously, Kauffman and Cunliffe collaborated on the May 30 hybrid boxing/MMA event in Reading, Pain on Penn Street.
from mmainpa.com:
King's Promotions presents 9th St. Slaughter this Friday, September 25, at Club 1402 in Reading. The anticipated 12 fight Pro/Am card will feature mixed martial artists from some of Pennsylvania's most active and recognized teams.
"We're excited to see MMA return to Reading and for the opportunity to bring back fighters from our successful Pain On Penn Street amateur event held in May," said Matchmaker Joseph Cunliffe, "including the professional debut of Tony Williams" fighting out of The Cage MMA Academy in Temple. Jim Bova, fighting out of Anthracite Combat Club in Schuylkill Haven, will headline the card.
A couple months ago, I blogged about a promotion that was planning an MMA event in Reading called "Crime and Punishment: Cops vs. Cons" and said I would reserve my judgment until after I spoke with its promoters, Ryan Kerwin and Raymond Gokool. Well, I spoke with Kerwin earlier tonight.
My first stop, however, was a call to Greg Sirb, executive director for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission on Wednesday.
I asked Sirb what he thought of the event, was it going to be real cops taking on real cons inside a cage?
"That's just blowing smoke up your ass," he said. Sirb said that "not even one" of the fighters on the card is a real cop or real con. "It's marketing. There's no cops, there's no convicts. I have the freakin' line-up. Do you think I would let that go on?"
My next call, today, was to Kerwin, who said that yes, the title of the event is a bit of marketing to set himself apart from the other MMA events popping up all over the state. But contrary to what Sirb said, the fighters - at least those on the main card - are all cops or cons. "This isn't a joke," he said.
Middleweight bouts
Cop - Lamont Lister
vs
Con - Matt Masterson
Cop - Taylor Sensabaugh
vs
Con - John Bryant
Welterweight bouts
Cop - Chris Kennedy
vs
Con - Marcus Ajian
Lightweight bouts
Cop - Brian Smiley
vs
Con - Shannon Green
Featherweight bouts
Cop - Johnny Torres
vs
Con - Gabriel Greenberg
Yeah ... I'll say this: I'm going to reserve my judgment until I talk with promoters Ryan Kerwin and Raymond Gokool. Maybe this is a tongue-in-cheek thing, just trying to create characters, like pro wrestling. You know, give the crowd heels to boo and babyfaces to cheer (or maybe the opposite). Still, if they were going to do that, they could just make up names for teams like The Straight-Shooters vs. The Scofflaws, or something like that. If they're really glorifying actual police officers and criminals fighting, then I have a problem with it. I'm a cops reporter here at the Daily Record, and while officers are not perfect, I have a deep respect for what they do. On the other hand, everybody's an adult here, so if you're a fighter, it's your choice where to fight, and if you're a potential spectator, you can either buy a ticket or not. Either way, I'll keep you updated.
From its Web site, here's who the promotion has signed:
Tom Sauer (cop) vs. Kevin Jordan (con)
Lamont Lister (cop) vs. Mike Bogner (con)
Taylor Sensabaugh (cop) vs. TBA (con)
TBA (cop) vs. Rick Casarez
TBA (cop) vs. Anthony Morrison (con)
I meant to say I had a short conversation with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission earlier today.
Greg was at the Penn on Pain Street, er, I mean, the Pain on Penn Street event Saturday in Reading and said it was a "good show." The event was a half-boxing, half-MMA affair, featuring six MMA bouts.
The event drew 1,600 attendees at the Sovereign Center, Sirb said.
For Sirb, it's on to the next show, which occurs June 11 at The Blue Horizon.
from mmainpa.com:
Over 2000 were in attendance last night to catch the non-stop action when King's Promotions presented Pain On Penn Street at the Sovereign Center in Reading. The first time Boxing/MMA event offered fans five Professional Boxing and six Amateur Mixed Martial Arts fights. The MMA results are in:
Pat Paulo (3-1-1) win over Matt Nieves (2-4-0) via Unanimous Decision (30-27 three judges)
Kevin Mullen (1-0) win over Thomas Peck (0-1) via arm bar at 1:42 of round one
Demetrius Lindsey (1-0) win over Jeremiah Gaffney (4-1) via Split Decision (29-28,30-27,29-28)
Nat Hasara (4-0) win over Eric Steppe (3-1) via rear naked choke at 0:42 of round three
Ben Grove (3-1-0) win over Mike Serrano (1-4-0) via Unanimous Decision
Tony Williams (3-2-0) win over Jim Gerner (1-1-0) via TKO at 1:19 of round one
According to MMA in PA, the card for tonight's Pain on Penn Street has changed and it appears as though Lewis "The Beast" Rumsey and Justin Inch are off the card.
here's the latest information from the Web site, run by co-promoter of the event, Joe Cunliffe:
135: Pat Paulo (2-1) of Anthracite Combat Club vs. Matt Nieves (2-3) of Quiet Storm (The Cage).
205: Kevin Mullen (0-0) of Team Triple Threat vs. Thomas Peck (0-0) of Team MMA in Honeybrook.
265: Jeremiah Gaffney (4-0) of Team MMA in Schuylkill Haven vs. Demetrius Lindsey (0-0) of Northern Fist Southern Cross.
145: Nat Hasara (3-0) of Anthracite vs. Eric Steppe (3-0) of Vicious MMA.
145: Ben Grove (2-1) of LionHeart Fighters vs. Mike Serrano (1-3) of Team MMA in Lancaster.
165: Jim Gerner (1-0) of Anthracite vs. Tony Williams (2-2) of Quiet Storm.
I called up Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, this afternoon, with several questions on my mind:
- The UFC traditionally has weigh-ins the day before their events. A by-product of this is that fighters are able to "diet-down" i.e., come in as shredded as they can, hit the maximum weight allowed in their weight class on the mark, and then gain back 10-15 pounds of water weight before their respective fights.
As you probably know, the UFC has announced that UFC 101 will be held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia on Aug. 8. I asked Sirb - because as I understand it, the state athlectic commission has same day weigh-ins - what would be done in the UFC's case.
"We're going to be discussing that over the next week or two," he said, referring to the himself and the state athletic commission.
On MMA in Pennsylvania in general, Sirb said things are ging great, with no major problems after several shows. Iron Will Fighting, an event that was held in Johnstown recently, drew 3,400 attendees. Respect is Earned's first event, held in Oaks (just outside Philly) had 1,200 spectators, Sirb said.
The next event, this weekend in Reading, Pain on Penn Street, is an MMA-boxing event. When Ia sked what he thought of hybrid events, Sirb said, "We'll see, it might work." I said asked him if he thought, as others have said, that boxing is trying to bring itself up by catching on to MMA's popularity, he said, "Not at all, I think they can both coexist."
Tom and I talk Pain on Penn Street, UFC 98 and the Super Hulk tournament.
My headline was wrong - it had said, Pain on Penn Street is this Saturday. Not true, according to the event poster, it's next Sat., 5/30. D'oh!
mmainpa.com has the fight card for Saturday's event in Reading:
King's Promotions presents Pain On Penn Street at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, May 30. Doors open at 5:30 PM, fights start at 6:30 PM. Tickets are priced at $65.00, $50.00, $35.00 and $25.00 and can be purchased at the Sovereign Center Box Office (700 Penn Street) or at www.ticketmaster.com (1.800.745.3000). Card subject to change and approval of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.
There's some names on the card you might be familiar with from the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge, like Eric Steppe and Lewis Rumsey. Rumsey, known as "The Beast", is sponsored by New Cumberland-based fightwear company Tattoo Fightwear. In addition, Steve Bentz's Russian Combat Academy has tough lightweight Justin Inch on the card.
from adcombat.com:
Submitted by:Joseph Cunliffe
KING'S PROMOTIONS PRESENTS
PAIN ON PENN STREET
MMA/BOXING EVENT
SOVEREIGN CENTER • READING, PA
SATURDAY MAY 30, 2009
FIRST 500 TICKETS SOLD: BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE
READING, PA -- King's Promotions brings for the first time to the Reading area, an amateur mixed martial arts/professional boxing card to be held at the Sovereign Center on Saturday May 30th.
In a special promotion, the first 500 tickets sold will be buy one, get one free of equal value.
"Times are tough right now for everyone," stated Marshall Kauffman, head of King's Promotions. "We are offering this special deal to make it easier for boxing and MMA fans to enjoy a night out and as a way of saying thanks to everyone who has supported us in our previous events."
