“May Day Mayhem: World Class Boxing in Dubai”

Lion Heart Boxing Production will bring world class live professional boxing to Dubai by producing a version of its acclaimed Thursday Night Fights series as ThursdayNight Fights UAE. The Inaugural event for Thursday Night Fights UAE will be held on May Day (May 1^st) hence the event subtitle “May Day Mayhem.”

Lion Heart has been involved as consultant in several Dubai boxing promotions butMay Day Mayhem will be the first live professional boxing event promoted by Lion Heart Boxing Promotions as lead promoter in Dubai and will feature former IBF Heavyweight Champion Francois Botha (born 28 September 1968, in Witbank,Mpumalanga), also known as Frans Botha and nicknamed “The White Buffalo,” aSouth African and perennial Heavyweight Contender.

Botha has had a very distinguished career as a heavyweight boxer, having fought several of the top world heavyweight champions of his time, including Mike Tyson,Shannon Briggs, Axel Schulz, Michael Moorer, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. Botha had a victory in 1995 against Germany’s Axel Schulz to win the IBF heavyweightChampionship, suffered a fifth round knockout to Mike Tyson, and had the famous fight with Shannon Briggs which ended in draw.  In addition to beating Axel Shultz for the IBF Title, Botha is a four-time world title challenger. Botha also has competed in numerous kickboxing and mixed martial arts events.  He will take on an opponent to be announced.

In the co-main Event, Brazilian Welterweight Champion, Former Number 2 ranked Contender and Floyd Mayweather, Sr. trained Antonio Mesquita will commence his comeback against Dubai based French fighter Nordine Arik (17-2). In addition to featuring top boxers from the international scene such as Frans ‘The White Buffalo’ Botha, Antonio Mesquita, Nordine Arik, and Heavyweight Prospect Martin Horak (3-1),  May Day Mayhem also will feature regional and local stars such as 2012 Fighter of the Year Mohammed Ali Bayat (4-0), Syrian Brawler Abdul Kabanni (3-2),Lebanese Amateur standout Rabih Fayad (1-0) and Emirati Muhmmed Alshbli (Debut).

Tickets will be available online and at all Virgin MENA stores, go on sale March 26, 2014, and are reasonably priced:  VIP Table of Ten with F&B, AED10,000; VIP Ringside, AED500; Ringside, AED400; Reserved Seating, AED300; General Admission Seated, AED200; and General Admission Standing     AED150.

The event will be held at The Emirates Golf Club’s “The Lawns” venue and will be televised as part of the Thursday Night Fights UAE television series.   The Lawns has a capacity of over 6,000 but will be configured to hold 2,000 seats for   May Day Mayhem.

Emirates Golf Club, host of the European Tour sanctioned Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, was the first all grass championship golf course in the Middle East when it opened in 1988.  Taking pride in its 36 holes of world-class golf, the club sports two of the city’s finest must-play courses, the Majlis and the Faldo Course, which is also the only 18 hole course in the region to offer night golf. Both courses combine the natural rolling desert terrain for a serious golfing test, while the signature clubhouse, remains the most eye-catching in the region.  The Majlis Course has been presented with numerous accolades over its 25 year history, the most recent of which were its 2012 ranking by Golf World magazine as one of the ‘Top 100 Golf Courses in the World’ and  its award for ‘Best Course Middle East’  in the Asian Golf Monthly Awards 2010 .

From the testing 18 hole Majlis and Faldo courses, to the equally challenging par 3, the Emirates Golf Club draws accomplished and casual golfers looking to improve their game.

‘The Emirates’ is so much more than a golf club, serving as the premier address for all things leisure. Its appeal is equally wide-ranging off course, with everything from fine dining to bar bites available alongside top-notch pool and gym facilities, tennis courts and a brand new spa.

Emirates Golf Club is conveniently located in the heart of ‘New Dubai’, easily accessible off Sheikh Zayed Road and opposite Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City, and not far from Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah. The Metro’s Nakheel station is directly located outside the main entrance, making the club within walking distance for leisure and restaurant guests during the cooler winter months.

Says, Edward Mendy, Lion Heart Boxing Promotions CFO,  “We see the potential of the UAE as the next Boxing Mecca and are excited to be early movers in the space. We are really encouraged by our continued development and incremental success in the promoting Boxing as a professional sport in UAE.  With May Day Mayhem andThursday Night Fights UAE, Lion Heart Boxing Productions not only plans to introduce the Thursday Night Fights series to Dubai, but also intends to develop the series into a major UAE sporting brand for worldwide television export. Further, we see ThursdayNight Fights UAE as an additional platform to facilitate the growth and further development of Arab boxers in general and Emiratis in particular.”

Thursday Night Fights UAE will be broadcasted live on Dubai Sports in the UAE and MENA Region, as well streamed lived worldwide on ESPN3. Additionally,Thursday Night Fights UAE will be rebroadcast on a delayed basis by Fox Sports in the MENA Region and via regional sports channels in the USA, which reach over 150 Million American cable homes. Lastly, Thursday Night Fights UAE will be syndicated regionally and in other markets, worldwide as feasible.

About Lion Heart Boxing Promotions (the Promoter)

Lion Heart Boxing Productions is a global Boxing Promoter and Sports Entertainment Company based in the U.S. The company was set up in 2001 for the sole purpose of providing top quality events with highest entertainment value and has promoted boxing events on four continents. The Company quickly earned a reputation as a producer of high quality fights and is well respected for its fair treatment of fighters and commitment to fighters’ rights.   Lion Heart Boxing Promotions is proud to be the first promoter to stage a live professional boxing event in Abu Dhabi history and the first and only non-UAE Company to successfully promote a professional boxing fight in the UAE to date.

About Thursday Night Fights

Thursday Night Fights is proven as the oldest continuous live professional boxing series with its genesis in the USA. The fight series was started in Anchorage in 1988 and Lion Heart Boxing Productions has been promoting its version of Thursday Night Fights since 2001.  Each year, from October to April, Thursday Night Fightsproduces 24 to 26 boxing shows with the highest entertainment at the Egan Center in Anchorage, Alaska with sellout crowds.  While Thursday Night Fights shows have been promoted in other cities, Thursday Night Fights’ long and uninterrupted production streak in Alaska dating to 1988 makes Thursday Night Fights the longest continuous boxing series in history.  Part of Thursday Night Fights already can be seen on national TV in the USA as The Alaskan Brawlers Reality Show, which debut January 9, 2013 on US cable network TruTV.