Undefeated middleweight prospect Michael “The Brazilian Rocky” Oliveira will make his Canadian boxing debut this Saturday night (Feb. 11) on an explosive card, presented by United Promotions in association with Hennessy Sports, at Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
The exciting 21-year-old Oliveira (16-0, 12 KOs), rated No. 14 by the World Boxing Council (“WBC”), will fight Sergei “Baltic King” Melis (18-7, 7 KOs) in an eight-round Special Middleweight Attraction.
Oliveira, a Brazilian native who was raised in lives in Miami, was supposed to make his Canadian debut back on December 17 in Quebec City, but he was forced to withdraw from fighting on that show due to a stomach virus, high fever, and dehydration.
Melis is a battled-tested veteran fighter from Estonia who has been in the ring with the likes of World Boxing Organization (“WBO”) middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog.
“We’re looking forward to showcasing Michael to a large Brazilian community in Canada,” said Michael’s father and promoter, Carlos Oliveira (president of MO Productions). “We’re expecting a very warm welcome from Brazilians there who have already started purchasing VIP packages.”
Oliveira’s last fight was impressive win on ShoBox last November in El Paso (TX), in which he defeated veteran Xavier “The X-Man” Tolliver (23-8, 15 KOs) by way of an eight-round disqualification that was on the verge of stoppage.
Michael is a two-time defending Brazilian International Press Award’s Athlete of the Year (2009 and 2010) and a strong candidate for 2011 honors (vote at http://www.pressaward.com/votacao/).
Saturday’s entertaining event is headlined by unbeaten welterweight Samuel Vargas (8-0-1, 2 KOs), a native of Colombia living in Mississauga, against former Canadian light welterweight champion Manolis Plaitis (17-1-1, 8 KOs), of Quebec, in a 10-rounder for the vacant Canadian welterweight title. The popular Vargas is coming off of the 2011 Canadian Fight of the Year, in which he battled Quebec arch-rival Ahmad Cheikho, who was unable to continue fighting after five of the scheduled 10 rounds last October.
The six-round co-feature finds local fan-favorite Brandon “Bad Boy” Cook (4-0, 2 KOs), taking on upset-minded middleweight Chris Aucoin (4-5-1).
“We’re thrilled to be adding Michael Oliveira to an already exciting card that will air on Rogers Television,” co-promoter Adam Harris (Hennessy Sports) commented. “We are expecting a good turnout from the many Brazilians living in the Greater Toronto area.”
Also fighting on the undercard is unbeaten Kitchener cruiserweight prospect Denton Daley (4-0, 2 KOs) versus former Mexican National Boxing Team invader Benito “El Asesio” Quiroz (6-1, 6 KOs) in a six-round bout, as well as pro-debuting Hamilton lightweight Steve Wilcox vs. TBA in a four-round bout.
Whitby super middleweight Phil “The Assassin” Rose (3-1-1, 3 KOs) will be in action vs. Coteau-du-Lac’s cagey Francis Lafreniere (1-2-1, 1 KOs), along with undefeated Toronto prospect Ibrahim “Firearm” Kamal (6-0, 5 KOs) vs. Danish lightweight Tommi Schmidt (6-4, 3 KOs).
Tickets, priced at $30.00 and $50.00, are available at the Hersey Centre Box Office, through Ticketmaster at 855.985.5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
