The Tribune

’By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MEACHER ‘Pain’ Major feels a good home showdown is exactly what he needs to revitalise his young professional boxing career.

Since his last fight here on December 15, 2012, Major suffered his second consecutive loss and now he’s back home from his training site in Buffalo, New York, waiting to get in a fight before the year is over.

Tommy Stubbs, general manager of Button’s Formal Wear, will provide that opportunity by helping to revive the sport by putting on a show that will have Major matched against Roger Rosa of Brazil in the six-round main event.

The show, dubbed “Pain & Glory,” is scheduled for Friday, December 13 in the Rainforest Theatre of the Wyndham Nassau Resort, Cable Beach starting at 6pm. Buttons is putting on the show along with the Strikers Boxing Club, headed by Ronn and Arlene Rodgers. Bahamasair is the official airline for the event.

“It’s like a dream come true for me because I love the sport of boxing so much and I definitely like fighting on home soil with the fight fans, who have been so loyal to me, whether I win or I lose,” said Major, who will fighting home for the first time since he stopped Jeff Schuyler with a fourth round technical knockout on February 4, 2012 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

“People have always been asking me when am I going to fight home again. I know there are a lot of Bahamians who have never seen me fight and so come December 13, they will get a chance to see me at the peak of my career. I just want to take it to the next level here at home.”

Major, 32, is hoping to snap his two fight losing streak in his last two matches. His last bout was a year ago when he suffered a second round technical knockout to Jose Felix Jr at the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas.

“I’ve never lost two matches back-to-back, but I believe that God let things like this happen for a reason and I told Mr Knowles that I don’t know the reason right then, but this is the reason. Had I won the last fight, this day would have never happened.”

Major, who now resides in Buffalo, New York, said the two losses definitely set his career back, but being at home, he intends to take advantage of the training he is accustomed to receiving from Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Knowles. They work out at the Strikers Boxing Club in the Golden Gates Shopping Centre.

“I’m just so glad that I don’t have to go to Buffalo, New York for this fight because it’s snowing,” Knowles said. “But he will be ready for the fight. We will do what is necessary to get him ready.”

Major will go into the fight with a 20-6-1 win-loss-draw record with 17 knockouts.

Rosa, 28, is 5-4-1. The resident of Oviedo, Florida, is also coming off two straight losses in his three fights this year. His last appearance in the ring was on August 17 when he lost a unanimous decision to Ivan Najera at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas.

In the co-main event, two American welterweights Mike Sawyer and Alex Perez are slated to square off in a four-rounder.

Plans are also in the making for a women’s pro fight on the undercard.

So far, Yolaine Lindelauf, a former contender for the European flyweight title and a two-time Belgium kick boxing champion, has already signed on. She’s just waiting on confirmation from her opponent.

On the amateur side, kicking off the show at 8pm, boxers from the Strikers Boxing Club and Champion Amateur Boxing Club are all set to tangle.

Also during the night, three persons are expected to be honoured - two for their contribution to boxing. The other will be DC Pratt, the Bahamian kickboxer, who recently won a US title.

For Stubbs, who has sponsored a number of other sporting events including baseball and softball, said this is a challenge for him, but he’s up for the task ahead of him.

“I take risks. It’s a business, but I believe we can pull this off because the Bahamian public is very discriminating when it comes to the quality of events. If it’s done properly, we will get their support,” he said.

“So we are hoping that as a young team, we will get the support. We have some quality matches and so we hope that the public will come out and see what we have to offer. It’s going to be a challenge, but we are up to it.”

As their first venture, Stubbs said the Bahamas Boxing Commission wanted the promotional group to be a little more cautious with the show and so they have taken the advice to limit the amount of pro fights scheduled.

“But we have already started to get calls from boxers overseas who just want to fight on the card for very little or even put up their own funding. For example, Mike Sawyer and Alex Perez are putting their own purse together because they love the idea of fighting in the Bahamas.”

Stubbs, however, said once they get past this show, they intend to continue the promotion by adding some of the other professional fighters here like Taureano ‘Reno’ Johnson and Wilson Theophile who are eager to fight each other. There’s also the possibility of getting Jermaine ‘Choo Choo’ Mackey to prepare to fight Johnson in what could be a Bahamas title fight.

Ronn Rodgers, former amateur boxer turned trainer/coach, said when he was approached by Stubbs, he thought it was a win-win situation knowing the calibre of promotions he has done with Buttons Formal Wear Bridal Show over the years.

“As a new company starting out, we need those connections. Boxing is new to him, but we are working closely with him and getting everything else done in the sport.”

With Strikers Boxing Club and Buttons Formal Wear teaming up, Rodgers said they intend to put on a show that will be remembered for a long time.

“If you see how we have set up our gym professionally, we intend to take that same concept to the arena,” he said. “We will have all of the boxers who come out to box to be able to entertain the fans from start to finish. It’s going to be a good shoe. You don’t want to miss it. It’s going to be very explosive.”

Ray Minus Jr, who has been involved in so many of the pro cards put on here either as a competitor, coach or organiser, said he’s delighted to assist the promotional team in pulling this one off.

“Now that we have a company who is excited and have the support behind it, we now can help these young people in the sport,” Minus Jr said. “The amateur boxing is one aspect of it. But if you can not get opportunities for the pros, then it is a full stop because it is a discouragement for the amateurs when they get involved in it.”