New Venue, Opponent for Moore

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Irish Voice Sport

New Venue, Opponent for Moore

May 23, 2008

By Declan O’Kelly

UNBEATEN light middleweight James Moore (15-0, 10 KOs) has had a change of opponent for his ESPN 2 debut fight on June 4. Out is Ishmail Arvin and in is Philadelphia’s Gabriel Rosado, (9-2, 6 KOs).

Arvin did not sign the contract on offer, and several other possible opponents, among them Allen Conyers, were considered before Rosado accepted the challenge to take on the Irishman in the scheduled eight round contest.

The venue for Moore’s TV debut was meant to be the Tropicana in Atlantic City. However, the casino is currently experiencing financial difficulties and the promotion will now take place at the Aviator Sports Arena in Brooklyn.

Moore is back in the U.S. after his two-week training camp in Sicily with Paulie Malignaggi, and plans to take full advantage of the national TV exposure.

“I am in fantastic shape right now and really looking forward to fighting on ESPN 2,” said the 30-year-old, who is finishing preparations at Gleason’s gym. “This is going to be my breakout year, so I plan on putting on a really good show on June 4.”

Rosado is a 22-year-old orthodox fighter from Philly who, at six feet tall, will have a slight height advantage over Moore. He has won his last three on the trot.

“King” Rosado has lost twice in his career and avenged one of those defeats by beating Joshua Onyango by TKO in round three at the Hammerstein Ballroom on April 16. Rosado’s last outing was a UD victory over Mustapha Johnson on May 9. For more information and tickets, call Gleason’s Gym at 718-797-2872 or promoter Tommy Gallagher at 917-774-3517.

June and July are shaping up to be busy months for U.S.-based Irish boxers, with light middleweight Henry Coyle (7-1, 7 KOs) eyeing up a fight in late June/early July.

Also, according to boxrec.com, middleweight Andy Lee (15-1, 12 KOs) will lace up his gloves again in Limerick on July 19. It will be the Limerick native’s first foray in the squared circle since his loss to Brian Vera on March 21 in Connecticut.

Efforts were made to lure Vera back for a rematch but the Texan turned down the overtures. Trainer/manager Emanuel Steward is looking elsewhere for Lee’s next opponent and will hope his 23-year-old charge can rebound well after his shock setback and rebuild confidence.

Middleweight John Duddy (24-0, 17 KOs) continues his preparations for his return in Boston on June 28. The Derry native will start sparring next week.

His manager Eddie McLoughlin told the Irish Voice that his man is enjoying working with new trainer Pat Burns and has been concentrating on conditioning up to now. Duddy’s opponent will be finalized after Memorial Day weekend, but it looks like Chicago’s Michael Walker (18-0-2) and Ohio’s Charles Howe (17-4-2) are the frontrunners to be in the opposite corner on the night.

The co-feature at the Castle will see Irish-Canadian middleweight Donald Orr (12-0) in action.

Finally, middleweight Matthew Macklin (21-2, 16 KOs), now trained by Buddy McGirt, will fight Philadelphia’s Willie Gibbs (20-3, 16 KOs) on July 12 at the National Stadium in Dublin.

It is the Birmingham-based Macklin’s second fight with McGirt, and Gibbs is another hard-punching experienced professional who will test him. The fight is on the same card as super bantamweight Bernard Dunne (24-1), who returns to the venue where he tasted his first defeat as a professional to Kiko Martinez last year.

Speaking of super bantamweights, Wayne McCullough (27-6) said he would have no problems fighting Rendall Munroe (15-1), the man who beat Martinez in March, after the new European champion was quoted as saying a fight with McCullough would interest him.

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