Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez in Los Angeles to formally announce June title fight

Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico and Sergio Martinez of Argentina on Wednesday will play host to a Los Angeles-area news conference to formally announce their middleweight title fight slated for June 7 at Madison Square Garden in New York City (on HBO pay-per-view).

Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs), who is 33, has won titles in the junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions. If he takes Martinez’s middleweight belt, Cotto becomes the first Puerto Rican to win titles in four weight classes.

Martinez, 39, is 51.2-2 with 28 knockouts.

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Johnny Tapia’s heartbreaking saga too unfold in ‘Tapia’ at Los Angeles Film Festival

If you have been fascinated by the life and times of the late world champion Johnny Tapia, you might want to know that “Tapia,” a documentary about just that, will premiere Saturday in competition in the Los Angeles Film Festival at the Regal Cinemas at L.A. Live. (There will be an additional screening June 19).

The rights to the documentary that will take a look at Tapia’s hard life that ended in May 2012 at the age of 45, belong to promoter Lou DiBella and entertainment mogul Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. For one, Tapia was only 8 when partially witnessed the violent murder of his mother. The film will explore, among other things, the eventual drug addiction of Tapia, as well as his fine boxing career.

“I was drawn to the intensity of this project,” Jackson said. “His story resonated with me because like Tapia, I, too, lost my mother to violence and grew up with limited means. It’s a heartfelt story and it was important for me to get involved with bringing this to a broader audience.”

Said DiBella: “I’m thrilled to join 50 in acquiring this riveting documentary. This is not a boxing film, but a film about tragedy, triumph, demons and redemption.”

The documentary features Tapia in his own words and interviews with trainer Freddie Roach, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and Tapia’s wife, Teresa.

Tapia compiled a record of 59-5-2 with 30 knockouts and won titles in three weight classes.

 

 

 

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Brooklyn matchmaker Johnny Bos dead at 61; had congestive heart failure

Johnny Bos, a Brooklyn matchmaker who had a hand in developing the careers of Mike Tyson and Gerry Cooney, died Saturday at the age of 61 at his home in Clearwater, Fla., the New York Daily News reported; he had been suffering from congestive heart failure.

Bos was described in the newspaper as “a towering figure with bleach-blond hair and faux fur coats.”

Promoter Lou DiBella, also of Brooklyn, could not say enough about him.

“It’s the passing of an era,” DiBella told the New York Daily News. “He was a Damon Runyonesque character. Johnny Bos touched a lot of guys. You can go through a laundry list of fighters who have ties to Johnny Bos, a lot of whom also forgot about him and left him in the rear view mirror once they made it.

“But Johnny was a legend. He was like one of the giant characters of the sport. He loved the fighters and he loved boxing and for a time, he was the biggest character and ambassador of the sport in New York.”

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