02/11/2011

Kathy Duva, CEO Main Events - ''We are marking another beginning and it relates back to a really long time ago. We used to have fights in a place in Totowa NJ called Ice World. It was a hockey rink, and as a matter of fact, there was a new hockey team that used to practice there called the Devils. We started putting fights on there in about 1979, and in 1980 ESPN came in and started broadcasting some of the fights. That was kind of how our business started. My late husband Dan became the promoter and I learned how to be a publicist there. We sold 3,000 tickets to each fight. For a few years it turned into a true phenomenon in boxing.''

''When I was doing the research about the Ice World days I pulled up the records on Boxrec, and I was amazed at how many of the newcomers who boxed in Ice World actually turned into champions and stars. The reason we're talking about all this, is because for the first time we are going to be putting a fight card in Prudential Center's AmeriHealth Pavilion. It's the place where the Devils practice. Coincidentally, Jeff Vanderbeek, the owner of the Devils, told me when I first met him that he was a youth coach. He used to come to Ice World and coach (hockey) teams when he was just getting his start as well. There are a lot of wonderful parallels here.''

''If young fighters have to wait for big shows with 10 - 20,000 fans in attendance, they're not going to get to fight very often. This (AmeriHealth Pavilion) is going to be our incubator: our lab where we're going to build up talent; and give guys the kind of fights they need to develop; and become great pros; and not get rushed into fights they're not ready for; not get put in with stiffs who are going to fall down when they breathe on them. It's simply going to be a place where we can put guys in the kind of fights that they need to learn and grow, and develop as pros so that they can become champions, the way the list of champions from Ice World did. This venue gives us the opportunity to do that.''

Lou Esa, Vinny O'Brien's trainer - ''I used to fight back in the day of Ice World. I used to fight out of Miami for the Dundee's back then and I used to come up here because I'm from NJ and I fought a few times in the area. Ice World did a lot for us. You got your chance, you were in front of so many people and then when ESPN came in it was off the hook. You were actually in the back vomiting; scared to death, but you did the right thing when you came out. It was really a lot of fun. Now Kathy Duva is doing the same thing. She's going to take it to the next level and do the same thing in this new venue. They shortened the venue so we don't have to sell 15 to 20,000 seats. We can have shows every couple months and these kids can get fights and they can be seen by the people and be built up, and they can go places. These kids deserve it, they're working hard.''

The fight promoted by Main Events and Super Judah Promotions will take place on March 5th at Prudential Center's AmeriHealth Pavilion, Newark, NJ. Doors open at 7:30pm; first fight 8:00pm. Tickets priced at $253 Ringside, $103 Reserved seating on floor, $88 General Admission in Bleachers and $53 GA Standing Room on floor. Tickets on sale 2/5, available at Prudential Center Box Office, by calling TicketMaster at 800-745-3000 or www.Prucenter.com