"A great night of boxing!"

Gamboa comes back from a knockdown again to outclass Gonzalez

Solis and Lara impress at US debuts in Primm, Nevada

ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner was very pleased with the spectacular performance of his rising Cuban stars Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Erislandy Lara at the season premiere of ESPN's "Friday Night Fights" in front of 3,500 spectators at Terrible's Primm Valley Casino Resorts in Primm, Nevada.

"This was a great night of boxing", stated Öner. "I think we presented high quality fights and we had a great crowd who turned the arena into a madhouse. I am pretty sure that everybody goes home very happy tonight."

In the main event fast rising featherweight star Gamboa recovered from an early knockdown again to outclass experienced Roger "Speedy" Gonzalez taking home a 10th round tko-win. If referee Robert Byrd hadn't stopped the fight only 48 seconds before the final bell "El Ciclon" would have taken home a one-sided unanimous decision win after overwhelming his opponent with his well-known high-speed combinations.

"It's just fun to watch Yuri move in the ring", says promoter Öner. "With his aggressive style he is always in for a spectacular show. Some might say that he should have finished his opponent earlier but on the one hand it is very important for Gamboa to go 10 rounds on such a high level, on the other hand you got to give credit to Gonzalez for his heart and his chin. He took some good blows."

In the co-featured 10-round WBC international championship bout Odlanier Solis defended his title impressively stopping Kevin Burnett after 2:00 minutes of round 8.

"Many people came up to me after that bout and said that they regained a little faith in the heavyweight division", stated Öner. "And that is exactly what Solis stands for. Surely he can still lose a pound or two but there is no doubt that he got what it takes to become world champion. He is fast and powerful and can handle guys who are way taller than he is."

Solis was the more aggressive fighter surprising "Big Man" Burnett with fast attacks throughout the fight proving his enormous hand speed. One of those fierce combinations led to the stoppage by referee Jay Nady after the 2004 Olympic gold medallist and three time world amateur champion had stunned his opponent with a hard left hook.

The first TV bout of the night saw 2005 world amateur champion Erislandy Lara score a 1st round tko over Rodrigo Aguiar. Fired up by the enthusiastic mostly Cuban crowd Lara sent his opponent to the canvas at the end of the 1st forcing referee Joe Cortez to stop the bout with only 1 second left in the round.

"Everybody involved in this promotion did a fantastic job", says Öner. "We will definitely be back in Primm soon - maybe for Gamboa's first world championship bout."

"El Ciclon" Gamboa is set to face Elio Rojas for the WBC interim title this spring. The purse bid which was originally set for today has been postponed by the WBC because of the ARENA show in Primm.

Mahir Oral new WBC Mediterranean Champion

Kretschmann stops Zeller in two

Airich and Hide victorious as well

Rising middleweight star Mahir Oral added another victory and title to his record. The 28-year-old "Lion" scored an 8th round tko over Alexander Sipos to win the vacant WBC Mediterranean championship. Sipos started strong but Oral (WBC #7, WBA #9, WBO #12, IBF #14) took control in the later rounds forcing his opponent to give up after the 7th.

"Mahir showed a great performance", stated three-times WBC super middleweight champion Markus Beyer who attended the show as special ringside guest. "He is very talented, was extremely focused and did an excellent job against a very tough opponent."

Former two-times WBO heavyweight champion Herbie Hide had a hard time against Polish journeyman Lukasz Rusiewicz taking lots of very hard blows and forcing the "Dancing Destroyer" to a six-round unanimous decision win.

"I took this fight on very short notice because the main event had been cancelled due to an injury", explained Herbie after the fight. "Ahmet (Öner) asked me whether I could jump in to fill the gap and I did it because I am very grateful for what he did to bring me back to the top. Two years ago before I signed with ARENA I was down and out. Now I am at a top position again. I will fight in a Final Eliminator for the World cruiserweight championship. The "Dancing Destroyer" is back on track. I will be world champion again!"

Hot German heavyweight prospect Steffen Kretschmann (13-0, 12 kos) showed the best performance of his pro career so far stopping Marcel Zeller (21-3, 20 kos) in two rounds. After two knockdowns in the first and some very hard blows in the second referee Ernst Salzgeber stopped the fight at 44 seconds into the round.

"That was a great and important win", said Kretschmann. "Now I want to go on to become European champion. I hope that I will get a chance to fight for that title soon."

In another all German heavyweight clash Konstantin Airich took a close unanimous decision win after eight exciting rounds against veteran Alexander Jakob. Airich knocked down Jakob eventually breaking his opponent's leg (!) in the second. But Jakob fought back anyways and gave the "Sandman" a very hard time in the later rounds.

"This was a great night of boxing", stated ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner. "We saw exciting fights and great action in the ring. We want to thank the great fans in Cuxhaven for supporting our fighters. We will definitely come back for more shows next year."

Other results:
Middleweight - Mustafa Karagol decision win over Ivan Maslov after 4 rounds
Cruiserweight - Ivica Bacurin draw against Remigijus Ziausys after 6 rounds

On September 12th two of ARENA's hottest rising stars will take their next steps towards the top of the world. Heavyweight sensation "La Sombra" Odlanier Solis is looking to score his 11th win in his 11th pro-fight. The 2004 Olympic gold medallist and three-time world amateur champion is returning from a shoulder injury that prevented him from fighting since early June.

"I am fired up to get back into the ring", states Solis. "In professional sports injuries are part of the game. Still it is hard to sit and wait for the next fight when you know you could be out there kicking someone's a**..."

In the co-main event spectacular welterweight powerhouse "Mini-Tyson" Selcuk Aydin (15-0, 13 kos) will defend his WBC international championship belt.

The show will take place at the Kugelbake-Halle in Cuxhaven. Besides Solis and Aydin the show features German heavyweight prospect Steffen Kretschmann (10-0), former world amateur champion Erislandy Lara (1-0)  and many more. There will be nine fights in total.

The show will be broadcasted LIVE in Germany (DSF), Turkey (FOX), Spain and as Online-PPV on secondsout.tv.