Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Ray Leonard Bet on Fireworks

Famed pugilists Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Ray Leonard have made a “friendly” bet on two bouts between fighters from their respective camps, making the September 15 “Fireworks” boxing event, featuring Juan Manuel Marquez against Rocky Juarez in the main event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and live on pay-per-view, that much more explosive.

Click for larger image © Tommy Baynard Contender Photographer

In the first bout, and opening the pay-per-view telecast that evening, Francisco “Panchito” Bojado will represent De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. His opponent Steve Forbes, will represent the Leonard-hosted ‘The Contender’ Series, as runner-up from Contender Season Two. In the other bout, Golden Boy pugilist and former junior middleweight champion Kassim “The Dream” Ouma will battle Contender first season winner Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora. The winners of the bouts will decide the winner of the bet between De La Hoya and Leonard with both decorated fighters agreeing that the loser will provide ring card girl duties between the first and second round of the main event. If it’s a draw with one bout a piece for each side, De La Hoya and Leonard will share ring card duties.

“Ray wanted to bet me that his guys will beat my guys, and I’m extremely confident that he will be the one embarrassing himself as a ring card girl on September 15, I know Bojado and Ouma will win because I never make a bet I can’t win,” said Oscar de la Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions.

“I can’t think of a better way to top off a night of “Fireworks” than by seeing Oscar climb into the ring during the Marquez vs. Juarez fight dressed as a ring card girl. I know I’m not the only one who wants to see that,” said Sugar Ray Leonard, Contender Series Host.

In addition to the bragging-rights bet, and as part of the relationship between the two companies to help promote the September 15 fight card and the start of the Contender Series third season, De La Hoya and the four fighters will join Leonard during a special appearance during the Tuesday, September 11 episode of the third season of The Contender which starts tonight and can be seen on ESPN Tuesday nights at 10:00 PM EST and 7:00 PM PST. In return, Leonard will travel to Las Vegas for fight week and work as a part of the broadcast team for the September 15 show.

“Fireworks” features four televised fights headlined by the WBC World Super Featherweight Championship bout between current champion Juan Manuel Marquez and 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Rocky Juarez. The evening also includes a middleweight showdown between former World Champion Kassim “The Dream” Ouma and ‘The Contender’ season one winner Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora, a battle for the IBF World Featherweight Title between Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Martin Honorio and a super lightweight battle pitting former Olympian Francisco “Panchito” Bojado against former World Champion and ‘The Contender’ season two runner-up Steve Forbes.

“Fireworks”, a night of world-class professional boxing, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Romanza Productions and Tournament of Contenders and sponsored by Tecate, Rock Star Energy Drink and Southwest Airlines. For more information please visit www.goldenboypromotions.com.

Tickets for this unforgettable night of boxing, priced at $300, $200, $100 and $50, are on sale now at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office. Tickets are sold at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s stores and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

The “Fireworks” pay-per-view telecast featuring Marquez vs. Juarez, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $44.95, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 61 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your Marquez vs. Juarez fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.