New York, NY (October 27, 2013) – For the last two months, Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson was contacted by a representative of Vermont’s Chris Gilbert about a fight in the Big Apple.
Melson was aware that Gilbert, an unbeaten power puncher, would be a tough opponent, but had no doubt that he’d emerge victorious. After a number of back and forth conversations with Team Gilbert, both sides agreed to make the match for December 4 in the main event of a DiBella Entertainment card at BB King Blues Club.
Unfortunately for Melson, 12-1-1 (4 KO’s), a bout with Gilbert is on hold after a different member of his team revealed the shocking truth.
“I reached out to a gentleman named Mel who turns out to be Gilbert’s real manager, and he notified me that Chris never agreed to the fight and his team never spoke about it,” stated the frustrated Melson. “I was also made aware that the Bill O’Brien, who contacted me many times and agreed to the bout on behalf of Gilbert, was not authorized to do so. Mel said they’re not interested in facing me and are looking at other options.
While the charitable and humble Melson holds absolutely no ills against Gilbert, he’s understandably upset over the situation.
“This is extremely frustrating because I was highly anticipating this fight with Gilbert. In fairness, he never agreed to the fight and neither did his actual manager, so I’m not going to accuse them of ducking me. Hopefully we can make this fight in the future. It’s a shame that somebody like O’Brien overstepped his boundaries and caused problems for multiple parties. I do not know why O’Brien would stay on me weekly over Facebook about fighting Chris when he is not affiliated with Gilbert’s manager, but initially stated he was Gilbert’s manager. As of right now, Gilbert as an opponent is off. I am still hoping his team changes their mind and puts their fighter against me in the near future.”
Melson’s opponent for the eight round main event will be announced shortly.
Tickets starting at $55 are available on Teamfighttowalk.com, and they are selling extremely fast. Following the bout, Melson will once again donate his entire fight purse to Justadollarplease.org in support of bringing trials to the United States that could help cure chronic Spinal Cord Injuries. It was recently released in the nation-wide media that this clinical trial we are raising funds for to bring here to the U.S. has resulted in 15 out of 20 patients walking enrolled in the study in China who were paralyzed an average of 7 years. Unfortunately, there still is not enough money to carry the trial out in the US.
In association with the 501 (C) 3 nonprofit Justadollarplease.org, Melson and his best friend Christan Zaccagnino created Team Fight to Walk, whose mission is to raise awareness within the boxing community as well as the entire nation about the importance of bringing Clinical Trials to the United States to help cure Spinal Cord Injuries. Team Fight to Walk is comprised of Melson, Zaccagnino, former Rutgers football player/ESPY honoree Eric LeGrand, two-time cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, WBA junior middleweight titlist Austin “No Doubt” Trout, title contender DeAndre “The Bull” Latimore, Edgar “El Chamaco” Santana, Sonya Lamonakis, Hector “Machito” Camacho Jr., 2008 US Olympians Demetrius “Boo” Andrade and Shawn Estrada along with prospects Sid “The Messenger” El Harrak, Jeff “TNT” Spencer, Denis “Da Momma’s Boy” Douglin, Will “Power” Rosinsky, Floriano “Italiano” Pagliara, Danny “Little Mac” McDermott, Vinny “The Lion” O’Brien, Ahmed “Prince of Egypt” Samir and Delen “Sniper” Parsley.
For more information or to make a donation, go to teamfighttowalk.com or Justadollarplease.org. All specific questions about the nature of the Clinical Trial to cure Spinal Cord Injury can be sent to [email protected].
