Olympians, boxing champions, TV personalitiesand fans are set to pack the Grand Theatre of Reno’s Grand Sierra ResortSaturday, July 3 for a night of high-powered, live boxing to commemorate the“Fight of the Century.”
The fights – featuring Super Middleweight Joey Gilbert, undefeated Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales and former Jr. flyweight champion Ulises Solís, among others – are part of a three-day, Fourth of July weekend celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the fight that pitted Jack Johnson, the nation’s first African-American World Champion, against Jim Jeffries, a man known as“The Great White Hope.”
The racially charged 1910 Johnson-Jeffries bout is widely recognized as oneof the most important sporting events of all time.
The boxing notables scheduled to attend the fights, which will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net, or other events during the three-day weekend, including a Johnson-Jeffries Centennial gala and Al Bernstein Boxing Partyare:
· Andre Ward – Current WBA super middleweight champion, 2004 Olympic goldmedalist.
· Emanuel Steward – Hall of Fame boxing trainer and HBO boxingcommentator/analyst.
· Al Bernstein – Current commentator for Showtime boxing, celebrating his30th year in boxing media.
· Bruce Trampler – Hall of Fame matchmaker. Matchmaker for Top Rank Boxing.
· Raul Marquez – Former Jr. middleweight world champion.
· Jesse Brinkley – No. 2 super middleweight title contender.
Organizers are hopeful that former lightweight world champion Ray “BoomBoom” Mancini will also attend the weekend’s events.
“We’re honored to have some of boxing’s great fighters and experts come tocelebrate the legacy of the Johnson-Jeffries bout,” said Terry Lane, CEO ofLet’s Get It On Promotions. “It’s appropriate that some of boxing’s greatnames come to Reno to commemorate the bout that changed the sport theylove.”
