CUBAN OLYMPIAN HEAVYWEIGHT TURNS PRO SEP. 20 IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Press Release: 2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrius Andrade will headline the 11th annual Fight To Educate on Thursday evening, September 20th at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire. [Editor's note: No opponent has been announced even though the bout is just three weeks away].
 
Andrade (17-0, 12 KOs), fighting out of Providence, will be headlining the Fight To Educate for the third consecutive year. Two years ago, the southpaw stopped Dave Johnson in the second round, and last year he battered Saul Duran (38-18-2, 31 KOs) around until he was unable to continue after three rounds. 
Andrade, a 2007 World amateur champion, has developed from hot prospect into a legitimate world title challenger since his Fight To Educate debut. 

2008 Cuban Olympian Roberto Alfonso will be making his pro debut on the show. Alfonso is a 6' 4", 220-pounder who defected to America from Cuba, where he was the 2007 & 2008 National Champion. The 25-year-old was a 2008 Cuban Olympian who captured gold medals at the 2008 AIBA World Cup and 2007 Pan-American Games.   Alfonso has amatuer wins over lost Oscar Rivaz (now 11-0 as apro) and Michael Hunter, Jr. in the Olympics to Vyacheslav Glazkov, who is now 11-0 as a pro.
 
Also scheduled to be in action Sept. 20th on the Fight To Educate card, will be three amateur bouts plus junior middleweight Chris Gilbert (4-0, 3 KOs), of Vermont.

Fight To Educate is a charity event that combines a love of sports with the vision of assisting children and seniors in need, who with fundraisers like this could be 'down for the count.' During the past 10 years, Fight To Educate has raised more than $500,000 in donations benefiting local New Hampshire non-profit organizations.

Proceeds from the 11th annual Fight To Educate will benefit SEE Science Center (www.see-sciencecenter.org), The Bobby Stephens Fund for Education (www.stepheneducationfund.com), and New Horizons for New Hampshire.
 
Tickets are available to purchase by going online at www.ticketmaster.com, calling Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000, or at the Verizon Wireless Arena Box Office or any Ticketmaster location.
 
Table tickets for a night of professional boxing and Black Tie dinner, as well as an auction and meet-and-greet with special boxing legends such as former world heavyweight champion James "Buster" Douglas, who in 1990 knocked out "Iron" Mike Tyson in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, as well as two of New England's all-time greatest boxers, "Irish" Micky Ward and John "The Quietman" Ruiz. Ward was a three-time participant in the Fight of the Year, and his life was portrayed in the award-winning movie, "The Fighter."  

The dinner starts at 5:30 PM/ET, doors for boxing open at 7:30 PM/ET with the first bout scheduled for 8 PM/ET.