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“The Nigerian Nightmare” Leads Friday Night Fights Bill On April 28
Dino Duva is pleased to announce that granite fisted heavyweight slugger Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter will return to action on Friday night, April 28, as he headlines a 1-2-3 punch of Duva Boxing heavyweights live at the Mohegan Sun. ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights will televise the action.
Peter, 25-1 (21 KOs), will tangle with Detroit’s 7-foot-tall Julius Long (14-7, 12 KO’s) in a 12-round main event battle for his NABF heavyweight championship. In addition, the evening will also feature surging heavyweight contender Brian “The Beast” Minto, 23-1 (14 KOs), who will face Billy Zumbrun (19-6-1, 11 KO’s) of Ogden, Utah, in an eight-round scrap, and “The New Italian Stallion” Mike Marrone, 13-0 (10 KOs), the Vero Beach brawler coming off an ESPN2-televised thriller in his last fight, will take on Ohio’s Dan Whetzel (7-5-1, 4 KO’s).
The April 28 appearance will be the always-exciting Peter’s second since suffering a debatable heavyweight title elimination loss to former WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko last September and his first with new trainer Jesse Reid. Reid is expected to help bring the 25 year old wrecking machine to the next level as a pugilist.
Rated in the top four or five of nearly every world sanctioning body, Peter will be looking to continue carving a path of destruction to the heavyweight title when he squares off against Long. He intends to challenge any champion who comes out on top after the heavyweight title fights this spring. Peter is universally recognized as the future of the heavyweight division and its most exciting slugger.
Since scoring an eye-opening PPV-televised stoppage over rival Vinny Maddalone last September, the vastly improved Minto has appeared twice, logging stoppages over Forrest Neal and Troy Weida. “The Beast” sits poised on the doorstep of another high-profile fight and will be looking to make a statement against Zumbrun.
Undefeated 20-year-old boxer/puncher Mike Marrone introduced himself to the boxing world just two weeks ago, as he fought a heart-stopping knockdown, drag-out war against more experienced Zack Page in his television debut. Marrone had Page down twice and seemingly out when a lucky punch dropped him and forced him to hang on for dear life to survive. Marrone showed tons of heart in that appearance and won over a lot of fans with his exciting and heavy-handed style.
The exciting undercard will also include world class prospects Joe McCreedy of Lowell, Mass (4-0, 4 KO’s), Patricio Lopez, formerly of Venezuela and now out of Londonderry, NH (5-0, 5 KO’s), Lajuan Simon of Philadelphia (13-0, 8 KO’s), and Raymond Biggs, Jr. , a two-time New York Golden Gloves champion of Brooklyn (3-0 3 KO’s).
“Mohegan Sun is a terrific place for boxing and we’re very happy to be returning,” said Duva. “We have three of the best heavyweight prospects in the world for the fans that night, each in different stages of their promising careers. It’s just a matter of time before Samuel Peter takes his first championship, while Brian Minto is sitting on the cusp of a breakthrough performance on the world stage. Mike Marrone is just starting to carve out his identity as a blood-and-guts TV favorite, and the fans are responding quickly. It’s going to be a great night and we’re happy to be putting on a show of this quality with Mohegan Sun.”
Tickets for the event are priced at $75, $40 and $25, and are available through the Mohegan Sun box office, and Ticketmaster. Customers may log on to ticketmaster.com, call any ticketmaster phone number or visit any Ticketmaster outlet.
