Tag Archives: Mike Tyson

Mendez to Defend His Junior Lightweight Title Against Rances Barthelemy

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It looks like the New Year will bring Argenis Mendez some Friday Night Fights…

The 27-year-old Dominican boxer, the reigning junior lightweight titlist, will defend his title against Rances Barthelemy on January 3 as the new season of ESPN2‘s Friday Night Fights kicks off with the first of 26 cards, said Warriors Boxing promoter Leon Margules.

Argenis Mendez

The Mendez-Barthelemy bout will take place at Minneapolis’ Target Center and feature an appearance by card co-promoter Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champion.

Mendez (21-2-1, 11 Kos) won the title in March by knocking out Juan Carlos Salgado in the fourth round.

In his first defense, Mendez retained the belt, escaping with a majority draw against Arash Usmanee on Aug. 23.

Barthelemy (19-0, 12 KOs), a 27-year-old Cuban defector living in Miami, knocked out Thailand’s Fahsai Sakkreerin in the second round in a June 21 title elimination fight to earn the mandatory title shot against Mendez.

“Iron Mike Productions is excited to be hosting the first ESPN Friday Night Fights show of 2014,” Iron Mike Productions chief executive Garry Jonas said. “We closed the 2013 ESPN Friday Night Fights season with an exciting championship fight [Mendez-Usmanee], and now we’re opening 2014 with an exciting championship fight.”

Margules, who promotes Barthelemy, won the purse bid for the fight in October, offering $51,000 as the only bidder. That bid entitles Mendez, as the titleholder, to 75 percent of the money ($38,250) with Barthelemy getting the remaining 25 percent ($12,750).

“This will be Rances Barthelemy, my fighter’s, first world title shot, and I’m very excited for him and his chances to bring the belt home,” Margules said.

Lopez Filling His Resume with Producing Credits

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Mario Lopez is beefing up his resume with more producing credits…

The 38-year-old Mexican American actor and Extra host has lined up a number of series projects as a producer.

Mario Lopez

Lopez, the host of MTV’s dance completion American’s Best Dance Crew, has a 10-episode commitment at MTV Tr3s for Golden Boys, a docu-series following some of the world’s top young Latino boxers. Lopez is executive producing with boxing star Oscar De La Hoya.

Lopez also has a series commitment for Conversations with Mario at Comcast’s Latin-driven channel NuVo. The series takes an in-depth look at some of the most influential Latino celebrities in the world.

At ABC Family, Lopez is the man behind Back To Badass, a pilot for a reality series that aims to take former star athletes back to the top of their game.

Lopez’s latest projects are in addition to the upcoming Mario Lopez And Courtney Mazza Wedding Special, a two-hour special for TLC chronicling the preparations leading to Lopez and Mazza’s December wedding.

In addition, Lopez is working in post on an untitled boxing documentary he’s producing and appearing in, along with Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington and others. And, Lopez’s Los Angeles radio show, On With Mario Lopez, has just gone national.