“Sharp Shooter” Remillard now a moving target

“Champions of Tomorrow” Friday night at Foxwoods Resort Casino

One sure sign of respect in boxing is when a fighter calls out a potential opponent in the media. It’s rare for a boxer with only 11 pro fights to be such a target, especially one coming off of a 15-month inactive stretch due to an injury, but that’s exactly where Manchester favorite Matt “Sharp Shooter” Remillard (11-0, 7 KOs) finds himself.

Remillard is preparing for Friday night’s (Jan. 25) 10-round title bout against WBC Youth featherweight champion Manuel Perez (11-3, 2 KOs) in the co-main event on “Champions of Tomorrow,” promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc., at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Remillard has been out of the ring since suffering a wrist injury, twice requiring surgery, after he won the WBC Youth super featherweight (September 23, 2006) that Matt was unable to defend and relinquished because of his aforementioned injury.

Perez’ first lost was in 2006 to Rashiem Jefferson, who is now 15-0-1 (6 KOs) and reportedly has been in Denver sparring with Perez, who surprisingly chose to defend his title belt on the road. According to an Internet report, Jefferson claims that he has been trying to fight Remillard for quite some time but Matt hadn’t accepted, and that Rashiem was familiar with Remillard and would give Perez a great look at Matt’s style.

“If he (Jefferson) has been calling me out,” Remillard responded, “I don’t know who he was supposedly contacting. I’ve been out of action for 15 months. If he had called my promoter, Jimmy Burchfield, we’d probably be fighting him for his title (USNBC) this Friday night. I saw Jefferson around in the amateurs. He’s a respectable fighter, but for him to call me out and talk like I’m nobody, well, that’s a slap in my face.

“He’s helping Perez but I couldn’t care less. Jefferson doesn’t fight anything like me and if they think he can imitate me, they’re both in for a big surprise. I’m just focused on Perez right now. I’ve had the best training camp of my career preparing to fight him. Jefferson sounds like a clown.”

Jefferson and his manager plan on accompanying Team Perez to Foxwoods. “I hope they have tickets,” Remillard’s promoter, Jimmy Burchfield, remarked. “They’ve never contacted me about fighting Matt or for anything else. After Matt beats Perez we can talk about Jefferson possibly being next on Matt’s dance card.”
2004 U.S. Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada (10-1, 2 KOs) squares-off against former world heavyweight title challenger Charles Shufford (20-7, 9 KOs) in the other 10-round, co-main event on “Champions of Tomorrow.”

Two other Connecticut fighters will be in action. Hartford light welterweight Addy Irizarry (3-1, 2 KOs), a corrections officer at a Connecticut prison, faces Tonya Gallegos (4-6, 2 KOs), while recent University of Connecticut graduate Brian Macy, a poker card dealer at Foxwoods who is from Ledyard, makes his pro debut versus super middleweight Pete Guthy (1-1-1, 1 KO).

Unbeaten cruiserweight prodigy and 9-time U.S. amateur champion, Aaron Williams (15-0-1, 11 KOs), battles former world kickboxing champ Manu Ntoh (17-13-1, 10 KOs) in an eight-round match.
New England fans have waited quite a few years for Friday’s light heavyweight showdown between Iraqi War-veteran Chris Traietti (7-0, 4 KOs) and “Irish” Joey McCreedy (5-1, 4 KOs) in a six-round bout. Throwback middleweights Richard “Bobo” Starnino (8-2-1, 1 KO), of Providence, and New Bedford’s Eric Pinarreta (1-1, 1 KO) bring an old-fashioned border war brawl into the ring for their four-rounder.

Also on the undercard in four-round bouts are undefeated Rhode Island super middleweight Angel Camacho, Jr. (8-0, 4 KOs) versus Terrence “TJ” Jones (10-10, 6 KOs) and unbeaten Brockton super middleweight Manuel Antonio Lopes (4-0, 1 KO) meets John “The Baptist” Michael Terry. All bouts and fighters are subject to change.

Former world title contender “Sucra” Ray Oliveira will be inducted into the CES Ring of Honor in a ceremony during the “Champions of Tomorrow.” Unbeaten heavyweight contender “Baby” Joe Mesi (36-0, 29 KOs), promoted by CES, will make a special presentation to Oliveira.

“Champions of Tomorrow” will be taped live and air on Saturday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. on CN8 and will also stream online at www.CN8.tv. Following the broadcast, the show will be available ON DEMAND to Comcast Digital Cable customers for at least one week. “Champions of Tomorrow” will also air on Cox Sports Television on February 1 at 8:30 p.m.

Tickets for “Champions of Tomorrow” are priced at $40.00, $65.00 (Silver), $100.00 (Gold) and $150.00 (Jimmy’s Platinum Club). Two VIP Presidential Suites are also available (call CES for details as well as sponsorship opportunities). To purchase tickets or for additional information contact CES (1.401.724.2253/2254 – www.cesboxing.com) or Foxwoods (1.800.200.2882/www.foxwoods.com). Doors open at 6 PM/ET, first bout at 7 PM/ET.