BOSTON (April 27, 2005) – First-year boxing promoter NER Promotions has strengthened its growing stable of fighters by signing four veteran South American boxers – WBO No. 5 rated welterweight Newton Villareal (23-3, 19 KOs), super flyweight Ilido Julio (32-6-1, 29 KOs), Ecuadorian Olympian junior middleweight Luis Hernandez (12-2, 6 KOs) and lightweight Jefferson Rodriguez (19-6, 18 KOs).
The aforementioned signings come on the heels of NER announcements regarding promotional deals for a pair of lightweights, two-time Venezuelan Olympian Patriz “El Elegante” Lopez (2-0, 2 KOs) and Juan “Golo” Gomez-Trinidad (23-4, 16 KOs), the cousin of Felix “Tito” Trinidad.
“We wanted to start with a stable combining proven pro fighters and promising prospects,” NER president Rick Brutti explained. “This is just the beginning of what we envision as a strong stable capable of producing champions in the not too distant future. We plan on showcasing all of the fighters we’ve signed so far on our next few shows.”Villareal, 33, is a world-rated Columbian fighter riding a six-fight win streak. The former IBO light welterweight champion’s most significant victories have been against (67-19-3) Victor Hugo Paz (TKO4) and (19-5-1) Edwin Vasquez (DEC12).
Julio, a 34-year-old Columbia-native, captured the IBO super flyweight title in 1998 with a third-round knockout of (15-3) Pedro Rincon Miranda.In NER Promotions’ first pro show February 25 in Lowell (MA), Hernandez stopped (12-4) Robert Kamya in sensational fashion via a second-round knockout. Luis was the lone representative of Ecuador to compete in the 2000 Olympic Games in Atlanta. His only losses as a pro were to unbeaten opponents (17-0-1) Christopher Smith and (22-0) Paul Williams. Rodriguez, 28, is a former member of the Columbian National Boxing Team.