Ex-Champ Jessie James Leija Forms New Promotional Company

Texas boxing legend and former world champion Jesse James Leija has teamed with long time San Antonio businessman Mike Battah to form a new local boxing promotional company with two upcoming area dates.

Known as Jesse James Leija/Mike Battah Promotions, their premier event, “Top Rank Live” will bow on Saturday, March 31st at the beautiful, state of the art Illusions Theatre at the Alamodome.

Presented in association with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Incorporated, full details on the action packed card and ticket information will be announced shortly.

The second event will take place on Cinco De Mayo, Saturday, May 5th at Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio. In addition to a full live card of sensational fights, fans will also enjoy the opportunity to watch world championship boxing from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with the Floyd Mayweather/Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez/”Sugar” Shane Mosley fights broadcast live on the Cowboys Dancehall’s numerous big screens and TV’s located inside the venue.

Cowboys Dancehall is located at 3030 Northeast Loop 410, San Antonio, Texas, 78218. Additional information will be announced shortly for the May 5th event.

The San Antonio born and bred Leija fought in front of massive local crowds throughout his career including his career-defining win over Azumah Nelson on July 11, 1998 at the Alamodome.

“Having fought in San Antonio and lived here my whole life, I can truly attest to the greatness of this city as a fight town. I’ve wanted to promote since I retired in 2005 and the opportunity with Mike who I’ve known for years is perfect,” said Leija.

“Our plan is to promote events every two months and fill the void here in San Antonio for a true local promotional company. The fan interest and media support have always been very high in San Antonio for boxing, they just had over 15,000 for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s fight last month and the amateur program here is very successful.”

Said Battah, “I can only echo Jesse’s words. I have a strong passion for boxing and a common goal to build the sport in San Antonio. Boxing fans in San Antonio can count on us for consistent dates of world-class professional boxing kicking off with our first two events.

Along with Leija and Battah, long time boxing executive Chris Middendorf is handling many of the day-to-day activities for the company.