The Ring of Honor is CES Boxing's way of recognizing the
contribution of various members of the boxing community

Promoter Jimmy Burchfield, president of Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc. (CES), established the CES Ring of Honor in 2005 in order to pay respect to inductees for their special accomplishments and contributions to New England boxing. Charter members include 5-time world champion Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Paz, former WBA and WBC welterweight title-holder Marlon “Magic Man” Starling, and 3-time The Ring Fighter of the Year (2001-2003) participant “Irish” Micky Ward. Other CES Ring of Honor members include former 3-time world champion “El Gallo” Jose Antonio Rivera, world light heavyweight contender “Iceman” John Scully, “Sucra” Ray Oliveira, famed Connecticut trainer Johnny Dukes, and 2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrious “Boo Boo” Andrade. The last inductee was the late, great Rocky Marciano.

“Pito” Cardona out of fight,
going in CES Ring of Honor



HARTFORD (June 4, 2008) – Hartford’s popular boxer Israel “Pito” Cardona injured his elbow, forcing him to withdraw from his scheduled June 13th fight against Jason Pires, but promoter Jimmy Burchfield has announced that Cardona will be inducted into the CES Ring of Honor during a special ceremony mid-way through the “Connecticut Conquest” pro boxing card at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

Promoter Jimmy Burchfield, president of Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc. (CES), established the CES Ring of Honor in 2005 in order to pay respect to inductees for their special accomplishments and contributions to New England boxing. Charter members include 5-time world champion Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Paz, former WBA and WBC welterweight title-holder Marlon “Magic Man” Starling, and 3-time The Ring Fighter of the Year (2001-2003) participant “Irish” Micky Ward. Other CES Ring of Honor members include former 3-time world champion “El Gallo” Jose Antonio Rivera, world light heavyweight contender “Iceman” John Scully, “Sucra” Ray Oliveira, famed Connecticut trainer Johnny Dukes, and 2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrious “Boo Boo” Andrade. The last inductee was the late, great Rocky Marciano.

“Connecticut Conquest,” promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc., (CES) will be taped live and air Saturday, June 14 at 8 PM/ET on CN8,The Comcast Network, as well as Friday, June 20 at 8 PM/ET on Cox Sports Television.

WBC World Youth featherweight champion Matt “Sharp Shooter” Remillard (11-0, 7 KOs), fighting out of nearby Manchester and recently named the NABF Top Prospect of the Year, headlines in his first title defense versus Mexican challenger Jose Magallon in the 10-round main event.

“He is one of the most exciting fighters in modern New England boxing history,” Burchfield spoke about Cardona. “Coming up, ‘Pito’ was a very entertaining television fighter. He has been a tremendous role model to Latinos in the Hartford area, He could also knockout an opponent at anytime, whether he was winning or losing. ‘Pito’ Cardona very much deserves to be in the CES Ring of Honor.”

Cardona (36-9, 28 KOs) most significant victory was a third-round stoppage of “Mighty” Ivan Robinson (23-1) for the USBA lightweight championship. In his previous bout, Robinson had lost the IBF welterweight belt to Philip Holiday and three fights after his loss to Cardona, Ivan beat Arturo “Thunder” Gatti for the first of two times in their 1998 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year.

“Pito,” who also captured the IBO super featherweight and light welterweight titles, as well as the NABF lightweight crown, lost his only major world title fight to undefeated Paul “The Pittsburgh Kid” Spadafora (26-0) won a 12-round decision for the vacant IBF lightweight championship.

“It’s a great honor to be inducted into the CES Ring of Honor and to be considered in the same class as great fighters like Vinny Paz, Jose Antonio Rivera, John Scully, Ray Oliveria and all of the others,” Cardona commented. I wish I was fighting but my left is my weapon and I injured my left elbow. I’m still going to have fun on June 13th and I’ll be supporting by CES teammates in my hometown. I go way back with Jimmy and I thank him for this honor. I hope all of my friends, family and fans will be there supporting me.”

CES INDUCTS ROCKY MARCIANO
INTO THE
CES RING OF HONOR

Oliveira Enters CES "Ring of Honor"!
February 1, 2008
Peter Mark Heintzelman

Former world title contender and New England fan favorite, "Sucra" Ray Oliveira (47-11-2, 22 KOs), of New Bedford, MA, was inducted into the "CES Ring of Honor" on Friday night, January 25, 2008, at the Fox Theatre located inside Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut during the fight evening's festivities.

While the Classic Entertainment and Sports event was dubbed, "The Champions of Tomorrow," promoter Jimmy Burchfield took time to honor his 39 year-old former champion Oliveira as he has reportedly retired from the sport with his induction into the "Ring of Honor."

Jimmy Burchfield, president of Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc. (CES), established the CES "Ring of Honor" in 2005 to pay respect to the inductees for their special accomplishments and contributions to New England boxing.

Charter members include five-time world champion Vinny "The Pazmanian Devil" Paz (50-10, 30 KOs), former WBA and WBC welterweight title-holder Marlon "Magic Man" Starling (45-6-1, 27 KOs), and three-time "The Ring" Fighter of the Year (2001-2003) participant "Irish" Micky Ward (38-13, 27 KOs). Other CES Ring of Honor members include former 3-time world champion "El Gallo" Jose Antonio Rivera (38-6-1, 24 KOs), world light heavyweight contender "Iceman" John Scully (38-11, 21 KOs), famed Connecticut trainer Johnny Dukes, and 2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrious "Boo Boo" Andrade.

CES's undefeated heavyweight contender, "Baby" Joe Mesi (36-0, 29 KOs) inducted Ray Oliveira in to the Ring of Honor, stating, "He has been a warrior inside the ring. He has always been a warrior outside the ring. He has always represented New England with class. He's been a class act inside the ring and outside the ring. It's my honor to induct "Sucra" Ray Oliveira into the Ring of Honor Hall of Fame."

Ring of Fire"Sucra" acknowledged the recognition of induction into the CES "Ring of Honor" by stating, "It's exciting, all throughout my career when I was an amateur, and I didn't want to go to the Olympics. I wanted to be a world champion, but it didn't mean much to me. What meant so much to me was getting the respect of my peers and being elected into something like this. Now that I am, I know what I did now with my career was worth it."

"I am retired now from boxing, and hopefully getting my own stable of boxers. Jimmy Burchfield is the man on the east coast. I love working with him, and couldn't have done it without him. I also believe I was his first world champion fighter who gained his belt under the banner of Jimmy and CES. It is a great honor for me to be inducted and I think Jimmy a whole lot," said Oliveira.

Oliveira concluded by saying, "I also want to thank my fans as they cheered for me whether I was winning or losing, because they knew I was always coming to fight, and they made me happy. I take this honor for my father, in recognition of him, and I want to thank the greatest person in the world, I want to thank me!"

"I think that Ray Oliveira was one of the best fighters that ever came out of New England," said Jimbo Isperduli, his long time corner man.

"By far, he holds a lot of records, the most punches ever thrown. He had the heart of a lion. I mean, the kid was just unbelievable. He was one of the most exciting fighters that ever came out of New England, and I think he deserves the recognition into the Ring of Honor tonight." stated Isperduli.

Ray Oliveira fought the likes of Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31 KOs), Vince Phillips (48-12-1, 34 KOs), and Vernon Forrest (40-2, 29 KOs) just to name a few. At various times during his fifteen years in the professional ranks, Oliveira held the IBU welterweight title, the NABF light welterweight title, the IBF Inter-Continental light welterweight title, and the New England lightweight title.

Oliveira also co-held CompuBox all-time records of 3,020 total punches thrown in a fight by "Sucra" and Zack Padilla (22-1-1, 14 KOs) on December 16, 1993, and 1,424 total punches thrown in a single round, between Oliveira and Vince Phillips on December 22, 2000 with both records having been set at Foxwoods Resort Casino. One thing was always for certain, that whenever "Sucra" Ray Oliveira stepped into a boxing ring, you knew you were going to get an exciting, entertaining, and action packed fight.

2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrious "Boo Boo" Andrade
Enters CES "Ring of Honor"




The Andrade Family stands with Olympic bound, Demetrius Andrade,
Rhode Island Congressman, Patrick Kennedy,
Cartoonist, Frank Galasso and President of CES, Jimmy Burchfield,
after being inducted into the CES Ring of Honor, August 10th, 2007.

Vinny Paz, Micky Ward, and Marlon Starling
Enter "CES Ring of Honor"

Vinny Paz, Micky Ward, Jimmy Burchfield and Marlon Starling.
Vinny "The Pazmanian Devil" Paz (50-10, 30 KOs), former WBA and WBC welterweight title-holder Marlon "Magic Man" Starling (45-6-1, 27 KOs), and three-time "The Ring" Fighter of the Year (2001-2003) participant "Irish" Micky Ward (38-13, 27 KOs)