Local favorites and Top-10 contenders GLEN “Jersey Boy” TAPIA and “Irish” SEANIE MONAGHAN will headline an action-packed boxing card to be televised live on truTV at 10 p.m. ET – on Friday, May 8 from Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Tapia, who hails from nearby Passaic, will defend his NABO junior middleweight title against one-time world title challenger MICHEL SORO of France. Monaghan, the undefeated World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental light heavyweight champion from Long Beach, NY, will risk his undefeated record, title and No. 3 world rating when he battles 2000 Olympian CLEITON CONCEIÇÃO from Brazil. The four warriors boast a combined record of 91-8-3 (61 KOs) and a winning ratio of 89%, with over two-thirds of their victories by way of knockout.
Promoted by Top Rank®, tickets to the Tapia vs. Soro / Monaghan vs. Conceição boxing event will go on sale This Friday! April 10, beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. Tickets are available at $105, $60, $40 and $25, plus applicable taxes and fees, and may be purchased online at www.Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets may also be purchased at Prudential Center’s box office beginning Monday, April 13, at 11:00 a.m. ET.
“It will be great to be in New Jersey fighting in front of my hometown fans,” said Tapia. “Freddie Roach and I have been working very hard in training camp to make May 8 a knockout of a homecoming.”
“I am very excited to fight at Prudential Center and live on tru-TV,” said Monaghan. “I am defending my title and I am delighted to fight at a great venue where my army of fans can come support me. I want to fight for a world title this year so watch me bring it on May 8 and show the world why I really deserve a world title shot.”
“Prudential Center is known as ‘The Rock’ and we expect this crowd to be just that – ROCKING,” said Carl Moretti, Vice President of Top Rank. “Fan favorites Glen Tapia and Seanie Monaghan as well as a host of undercard prospects including local rising star Julian Rodriguez, from Hasbrouck Heights, will make the feeling at The Rock like a Devils-Rangers game.”
Trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach and co-managed by Pat Lynch, Tapia (23-1, 15 KOs) enters this fight with six of his last seven victories coming by way of stoppage, including his last three. World-rated No. 6 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO), Tapia returns to the ring on the heels of his biggest professional victory, a third-round knockout of former Australian junior middleweight and middleweight champion Daniel Dawson to claim the vacant NABO junior middleweight title.
The fight took place on March 7 in Macau, China, and the sellout crowd made up mostly of Chinese boxing fans joyously chanted “Jersey Boy! Jersey Boy!” as the referee raised his hand. It was the second time he hard-hitting Tapia had reigned as the NABO junior middleweight champion. Tapia first claimed the title in 2013 when he upset the previously undefeated contender Abie Han via an eighth-round TKO.
Soro (25-1-1, 15 KO), a native of Abidjan, Ivory Coast who now fights out of Villeurbanne, Rhône, France, enters this fight riding a three-year, eight-bout unbeaten streak with his last three victories coming by way of knockout, including two this year.
Boasting two-fisted power and experience against quality opposition, Soro is a former French and WBO European junior middleweight champion. The only blemish on his record was a 12-round decision loss to International Boxing Organization (IBO) junior middleweight world champion Zaurbek Baysangurov in 2012, though he did knock the defending champion down in the second round and staggered him in the fifth.
One of the top boxing gate attractions in his native New York, Monaghan (23-0, 15 KOs) will be making his 2015 debut. He captured the WBC Continental Americas light heavyweight title in 2012 via an eighth-round TKO of Romaro Johnson. He has successfully defended the title four times during his three-year reign and has won five of his last six bouts by way of knockout. Monaghan is currently world-rated No. 3 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and No. 6 by the WBC and the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
Conceição (20-6-2, 16 KOs), of São Paulo, Brazil, has scored his last five victories by way of knockout. His strong amateur background included being a member of the 2000 Brazilian Olympic team as well as being a two-time Brazilian National Champion. In his last fight, on February 20, Conceição scored a first-round knockout of Nei De Lima.
