There hasn’t been a boxing event at the Philly Metropolitan Opera House since 1939. This newly renovated Opera House is one beautiful site to see at the corner of Broad Street and Poplar Street.
On February 23rd Hard Hitting Promotions and Live Nation announced first in a series of boxing events at a press conference. Ring Announcer Mark Fratto introduced promoters and boxers to speak inside a small make shift ring on Wednesday.
“Philadelphia has a rich history of boxing, particularly here on North Broad Street, said Geoff Gordon, Regional President, Live Nation Philadelphia. “At the onset of the restoration of The Met, it has always been our intention to bring live professional boxing back to North Broad. We are fortunate to partner with Manny Rivera of Hard Hitting Promotions on our first in a series of live boxing extravaganzas for the Met.”
“We are extremely excited to partner with Live Nation and bring boxing back to North Broad Street,” said Rivera. “This series will be a fantastic opportunity to introduce many of the top fighters in our city and help them achieve their ultimate goal of winning a world title. The Met Philadelphia is exactly what Boxing has been yearning for in Philadelphia, and Live Nation is opening the doors to make it happen.”
The Main event will be two unbeaten young Philly boxers pitted against one another in an eight round bout. Jeremy “King” Cuevas is 11-0 with 8 ko’s and will be facing Steven Ortiz, 9-0 (3) in a lightweight match. Cuevas is trained by Tony Bersani at the Marion Anderson Rec Center in South Philly while Ortiz is trained by Raul “Chino” Rivas at TKO Fitness in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Liberia’s Sammy Teah, 15-2 (7), now out of Philly takes on Treseean Wiggins, 10-3 (6), at super lightweight match. Baltimore’s welterweight Malik “Ice Man” Hawkins, 13-0 (9), vs tba, Philly’s Branden “The Gift” Pizarro, 13-1 (6), takes on Travis Castellon, 16-3-1 (2), Ft Lauderdale, FL, at super lightweight. Gadwin “Abayarde” Rosa, 9-0 (7), of Ocala, FL, takes on Frank “Nitty” Trader, 11-2 (3), of Philly, at super featherweight. Christian Tapia, 7-0 (6), PR/Camden, NJ, vs tba at lightweight. Emanuel Rodriguez, 3-0 (0), PR/Newark, NJ taking on Jose Lopez, 0-0-1 (0), of New York, NY, at bantamweight. Benjamin “The Jewish Bulldog” Sinikin, 2-0 (1), of Philly, vs tba at light heavyweight. Tamar Israeli, 2-0 (2), of Tel Aviv, Israel vs tba at super featherweight.
Manny Rivera and Will Ruiz are promoter and matchmaker for Hard Hitting Promotions.