On Saturday, May 13, promoter Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing, will present a night of world-class boxing, featuring several undefeated fighters risking their perfect records, at the Centro de Convenciones in Punta del Este, in his home country of Uruguay.
After the event’s weigh-in the night before, on Friday, May 12, Lewkowicz is also putting on a pair of very special seminars for South American officials and trainers.
Fighting in the May 13 10-round main event will be WBC #14-rated welterweight Cesar Miguel “La Joya” Barrionuevo (31-3-2, 21 KOs) of Catamarca, Argentina, taking on Oscar “El Estudiante” Meza (28-7, 23 KOs) of Sinaloa, México for the WBC Latino Welterweight Championship.
Barrionuevo knocked out Panama’s Azael Cosio in five rounds last year, as part of the WBC’s aborted welterweight tournament. He was supposed to move on to face then undefeated Sammy Vasquez, however Vasquez elected instead to Olympic Gold Medalist Felix Diaz and lost a unanimous decision. Despite the setback, Barrionuevo is still in line for an eventual elimination fight, or even a world title shot. While he waits, he is engaging in this intriguing title fight against the well-respected Meza.
In the eight-round co-main event, undefeated super featherweight Sergio “El Pamperito” Sain (12-0, 9 KOs) of La Pampa, Argentina will face also undefeated Matias Romero (13-0, 6 KOs) of Córdoba, Argentina.
In the main supporting bout, super bantamweight Eduardo “El Zurdito” Ramirez (19-0-2, 7 KOs) of Sinaloa, México, will face Alan Luques “El Lumbriz” Castillo (20-6, 9 KOs) of Córdoba, Argentina over eight rounds.
Also on the undercard is a six-round “all undefeated, all Argentina” battle between former Olympian and heavily decorated amateur Alberto “Beto” Palmetta (3-0, 1 KO) of Buenos Aires and Octavio Ezequiel “Dinamita” Segundo (6-0, 2 KOs) of Salta, Argentina.
In a six-round super featherweight brawl, Martin “El Guapo” Matamala (9-2, 2 KOs) of Neuquen, Argentina, will have his hands full against undefeated Abraham Nova
(5-0, 4 KOs) of Braintree, Massachusetts, via Puerto Rico. Also scheduled to appear is undefeated super welterweight Andres Vera (2-0, 2 KOs) of Uruguay against an opponent TBA.
The event will be televised in Uruguay on VTV, and in Argentina and around the world on TyC Sports.
The night before the fights, in the luxury Centro de Convenciones (one of the most modernized venues in all south America) Lewkowicz will host two simultaneous seminars featuring well-known boxing figures.
World-famous referee Steve Smoger will conduct one of the seminars for boxing officials throughout the country, as well as in Argentina and Brazil. At the same time, world-class trainer Hector Bermudez will be teaching South American trainers about proper hand-wrapping and cut administration techniques.
Lewkowicz, the only world-class promoter ever to come from Uruguay, says he’s excited about the Centro de Convenciones’ involvement in boxing and about the event itself.
“I expect this world-class facility to become the mecca of boxing in South America,” said Lewkowicz. “This is a tremendous show to be putting on at this wonderful location and I hope they will continue for a very long time. Every fight is very competitive and will be very entertaining.”