Press Release: By DAZN And Most Valuable Promotions- ORLANDO, FL – February 2, 2024 – Tonight, Most Valuable Promotions’ (MVP) 20-year old phenom H2O Sylve (11-0, 9 KOs) showed the world why he is the hottest prospect in boxing, winning the WBC Youth World Championship over Estivan “Tunny” Falcao (13-3, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision (100-89, 99-90 x2) in the headlining bout of Most Valuable Prospects V, presented by CELSIUS Live Fit. Essential Energy, live globally on DAZN. Sylve came out paying homage to the most famous H2O fan, The Waterboy, Bobby Boucher, and went a full 10 rounds for the first time in his career with a dominating performance over the more experienced Falcao. Falcao came out strong, but could not match the power and agility of Sylve who landed multiple impressive combinations, ultimately finishing a stunning quick combo with a powerful right cross that dropped Falcao late in the tenth round. Sylve, who recently became a father, celebrated in the ring with his family and newborn son. After the fight, an exhilarated Sylve spoke to Sibley Scoles in-ring sharing the discipline and hard work in camp that got him through ten rounds for the first time in his young career.
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| Credit: Joseph Correa/Most Valuable Promotions |
In the co-main event, Orestes “El Tsunami” Velazquez (8-1, 7 KOs) faced Julian “Quiet Storm” Smith (8-2, 5 KOs) for a highly-anticipated super lightweight WBA International Title fight over ten rounds. Smith came into the fight with relentless vigor, knocking down Velazquez in the first round with a vicious left-right combo. What followed was a relentless display of combos from Smith, as Quiet Storm turned the Tsunami into a drizzle with three more knockdowns, including a pair in the ninth round. Throughout the last rounds, Smith displayed his energy and confidence, taunting Velazquez with a shimmy and flashing peek-a-boo between punches. Following Smith’s fourth knockdown of Velazquez, El Tsunami’s corner declared him unable to continue, leading to a TKO win for Smith. Smith, a deaf Chicago Golden Gloves champion and three-time Most Valuable Prospects fighter, put his all into the fight, and was overcome with emotion after the fight, falling to his knees in the ring when the decision was declared, becoming the newest WBA International champion. Following the fight, Smith thanked God, shared his hard work in camp, and encouraged others like him to take up boxing. “A deaf person CAN make it happen,” he declared, before sharing a touching moment with his mother in the ring as they celebrated his victory.
Ahead of Sylve vs. Falcao and Velazquez vs. Smith, Most Valuable Prospects V showcased two additional thrilling main card bouts between the lightweight undefeated Florida natives Benigno Aguilar (11-0-1, 4 KOs) and Corey Marksman (8-0-1, 6 KOs) and welterweight Maricela Cornejo (18-6, 7 KOs) took on Kandi Wyatt (11-6, 3 KOs).
Benigno “Tony” Aguilar (11-0-1, 4 KOs) again illustrated why he is a Most Valuable Prospects fan favorite, leveraging his relentless power over six rounds vs. Corey “2Smoove” Marksman (8-0-1, 6 KOs) in the unofficial “Battle for Florida.” The 24-year-old Crescent City native Aguilar proudly represented his Mexican heritage and showed off his explosive power in the ring, while Marksman matched the energy and met Aguilar’s challenge with aggression and power as the pair’s ferocious barrage of punches consistently brought the raucous crowd to its feet. Aguilar, promoted by boxing legend Christy Martin, and Marksman fittingly fought to a split draw (56-58, 58-56, 57-57).
In a post-fight interview, Aguilar thanked the crowd for their support and wished his sister a happy birthday. He further expressed his appreciation for the Most Valuable Prospects platform, and claimed he is still the rightful King of Florida, noting his intent to run it back with Marksman to claim a win. Marksman agreed he and Aguilar should fight again, and asserted that he will be the King of Florida.
Mike Leanardi, Director of Boxing for Most Valuable Promotions, also took to the ring following the decision to announce a potential April 26, 2024 rematch for Aguilar and Marksman in order to decide the true King of Florida once and for all.
Opening the main card, Maricela “La Diva” Cornejo (18-6, 7 KOs) took on Kandi “Krush” Wyatt (11-6, 3 KOs) in an 8 round welterweight bout, with the two former title contenders each demonstrating their skill and power in the ring in a back and forth bout with Cornejo earning a unanimous decision win (79-73, 78-74 x2) over Wyatt. Cornejo fought for just the second time at welterweight following her last middleweight title fight against Claressa Shields in June of 2023, in which she took Shields the distance on short notice before a disappointing UD loss. After the bout, Cornejo reiterated her championship aspirations at welterweight and called out Jessica McCaskill and Natasha Jonas for her potential next fight.
In the headlining bout of the preliminary rounds, Dainier “The Fear” Pero (6-0, 4 KOs) went toe to toe with the more experienced Joe Jones (14-10, 10 KOs). The bout proved to be the battle of the heavyweights as the two powerhitters hammered at each other. Ultimately, Pero’s determination won out, earning the Cuba native and former Olympian a second-round TKO over Jones in another promising showing from the 24-year-old prospect. Jaz “Animal” Artiga (12-0-1, 5 KOs) came out swinging with a relentless flurry of punches, securing a dominating win by TKO over former two-time IBF world minimumweight champion Nancy “Chatita” Franco (19-19, 5 KOs) at just 1:19 in the first round, continuing the hard-hitting Tampa super flyweight’s win streak. Following the victory, Artiga spoke to ringside reporter Sibley Scoles to reiterate her intent to give Tampa a world championship title in 2024.
Also on the preliminary card, super lightweight Jorge Carlos (6-0, 5 KOs) beat Quinterius “Madman” Chappell (3-1, 3 KOs) by unanimous decision (40-36 x3). The 18-year-old Alex “Alley Cat” Gueche (4-0, 4 KOs) returned to Most Valuable Prospects for a ferocious super flyweight onslaught vs. Osmar Rodriguez (5-3, 1 KO), earning Gueche his latest professional victory by third round TKO. The opening lightweight battle between Luis “Popeye” Lebron (20-5-1, 13 KOs) vs. Giovanni “Baby Face” Gutierrez (11-7-1, 6 KOs) ended with a TKO victory by Lebron in the second round.
The Most Valuable Prospects series is produced and promoted by MVP with Boxlab Promotions serving as the official licensed promoter and is distributed globally by DAZN. The fifth event in the series continued the commitment from MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian to highlight the world’s best up-and-coming boxing talent. All events within Most Valuable Prospects will take place on Friday nights in 2024. CELSIUS Live Fit Essential Energy, maker of lifestyle energy drink, is the exclusive energy drink sponsor of Most Valuable Promotions and the Most Valuable Prospects series.
For more information, follow on Twitter via @MostVPromotions and @DAZNBoxing or on Instagram via @MostValuablePromotions and @DAZNBoxing.
About Most Valuable Promotions (MVP)
Most Valuable Promotions was founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian in 2021. With the mission to provide more creative control to fighters, MVP works to identify, grow, and maximize return for its own events and talent partners. One year into its inception, MVP was nominated as one of the prestigious Sports Breakthroughs of the Year in 2022 by Sports Business Journal. MVP has produced Jake Paul’s last five global pay-per-view events, including the recent Paul vs. Diaz match. The promotion company also signed one of the most decorated Hispanic athletes of all time, Amanda Serrano in its first year. Serrano and MVP made history in April of 2022 when Serrano went head to head with Katie Taylor, marking the first female fight to headline at Madison Square Garden, recently earning a nomination for Event of The Year by Sports Business Journal. Co-founder Nakisa Bidarian was an executive producer of the historic Triller Presents Mike Tyson v. Roy Jones Jr., which was the 8th most bought pay-per-view event in history.
About DAZN
DAZN is a leading digital sports platform in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Japan, Canada, US and the UK. Its wide range of exclusive content includes top-flight football from the world’s most popular competitions – Bundesliga, English Premier League, J.League, LaLiga, Serie A, and the UEFA Champions League, in addition to the biggest sports from around the world - Formula 1, NFL, NBA, MotoGP and the UFC.
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Material Courtesy of DAZN/ Photo Courtesy of: Joseph Correa/ Most Valuable Promotions Used with permission.
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