MELISSA BAILEY Photo
“Bad” Chad Dawson at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall in 2012.
Three expert boxers with New Haven roots will be in the ring on Saturday night at the upcoming CES pro-amateur event at Foxwoods Casino.
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Jimmy Butcherfield Sr. at Monday’s promotional presser
The fighters for Saturday include three-time world champion Chad Dawson, Featherweight Tramine Williams, and female flyweight debut Marisa Messer-Belenchia. A press conference was held outside City Hall on Monday to promote the event.
Along with the three New Haven boxers, Hartford’s Jose Rivera was present at the press conference, meeting with Mayor Toni Harp and excited fans.
Harp said these boxers serve as “more evidence of New Haven’s excellence.”
“I am proud of every New Haven resident who goes on to become accomplished in his or her chosen field.”
The mayor, who’s facing a tough reelection challenge this year, added, “Over the winter I began taking boxing lessons, and I will tell you it’s harder than it looks!”
Mayor Harp with Butcherfield and Marisa Messer-Belenchia.
CES CEO Jimmy Butcherfield Sr, presented Harp with world championship boxing gloves from New Haven and Classic Entertainment in Sports and a replica of the World Boxing Council (WBC) belt for her office.
“New Haven will come alive in the boxing and mixed martial arts community,” Butcherfield predicted.
Tickets for the event ran from $47-$157 but are now completely sold out.
“Bad” Chad Dawson will face Charlotte, N.C., southpaw Quinton Rankin in the eight-round main event for his first fight in two years. Dawson began boxing at the age of 8t and took after his father, Rick Dawson, who was a boxing prize fighter in South Carolina.
Chad Dawson.
Crystal Dawson said every time she watches her husband fight “I’m so nervous my stomach churns.” She said two of her sons are interested in boxing and began training at Chad Dawson’s gym in North Haven. One of his four sons, Royal Tiger, wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and dreams of becoming a heavyweight champion.
Dawson said he doesn’t have any pre-match superstitions or rituals except for being with his family before every fight.
Dawson, who turns 37 next month, has been fighting professionally for over 20 years, said he eventually plans “to go for another world title.” Click here to read about how he regained the world title in 2012.
Belanchia will make her professional debut facing off against Delaney Owens of Clearwater, Florida. She started intensive mixed martial arts training just over seven years ago and holds a record of 3 – 0 in MMA. During this time, Belenchia was an amateur boxer for years and felt she was “putting in enough time and effort to focus on boxing professionally.”
Belenchia trains six days a week with between two and three sessions daily. Each session is two and a half hours long. Belenchia maintains a healthy diet with “plenty of meat and vegetables.”
“I started training at a time when there weren’t many women boxing,” Belenchia said. She now wants to “keep going as far as possible” with her boxing career.