PITTSBURGH (March 26, 2022) – Gionta Management will present the first women’s world boxing championship match in Western Pennsylvania history this Saturday night (March 30) as Mary Casamassa battles Olivia Gerula in the 10-round main event for the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) Super Middleweight World title at Steamfitters 449 Union Hall in Harmony, Pennsylvania.
“Brawl at the Hall,” presented by Gionta Management, will be streamed live on www.CombatSportsNow.com for $19.99.
“I’m excited to hold a fight of this magnitude here in Pittsburgh for the first time,” promoter Derek Gionta said. “Female boxing is gaining popularity and there are a number of phenomenal female fighters out there to thank for that.
“Olivia Gerula is battle tested and she recently went eight rounds with a very solid boxer, Olivia Curry. Mary will be at her best and we expect the same from Olivia.”
Casamassa (4-0, 1 KO), a 24-year-old southpaw from Pittsburgh, plans to join Jill Emery as the only female world boxing champions in Pittsburgh’s rich boxing history. Emery captured the International Boxing Association (IBA) Welterweight World Championship on June 12, 2008, with a dominant 10-round decision over Angelica Martinez at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“I am very excited to be headlining this card, and I am looking forward to the challenge of fighting someone with as much experience as Olivia,” Casamassa commented. “It’s a great opportunity for me and I can’t wait.”
Gerula (19-20-3, 3 KOs) is a veteran Canadian boxer who is a former World Boxing Council Super Featherweight World Champion. She has fought in nine world championship matches and her opponents’ list is a virtual Who’s Who of women’s boxing: Amanda Serrano, Mia. St. John, Kathy Collins, Jaime Clampitt, Jennifer Han, Maureen Shea, and Jelena Mrdjenovich, who Gerula defeated to capture her world title.
“Training camp is running smoothly,” Gerula noted. “I am focused on fighting a southpaw for the first time in my 26+ years. I’m so excited for this fight. I moved from Winnipeg to Las Vegas in 2020 with the singular goal of winning my next World Title – March 30th is THE DAY! All talk aside, I will let my hands do the talking from the first bell to the very last.”
Past WIBA world champions include Laila Ali, Holly Holm, Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, Ann Wolfe, Sumya Anani, Chevelle Hallback, Melida Cooper, Jeannine Garside and Mary Jo Sanders.
In the co-featured event, Pittsburgh’s unbeaten, popular super middleweight “Pretty” Richie Cantolina (7-0-1, 3 KOs) faces Jonathan Ryan Burrs (4-8-1, 1 KO) in a six-round bout.
Another undefeated local fighter, Aliquippa (PA) super welterweight Paul Palombo (6-0, 1 KO), throws-down with Devonte Jones (3-1, 3 KOs) in a six-rounder.
Also scheduled to fight on the undercard in four-round bouts is West Virginia super middleweight Tyler Aincough (2-1, 1 KO) vs. TBD, Pittsburgh featherweight Michaelangelo Turner (0-5) vs. Tyquan Johnson (0-1), and Ambridge. PA junior middleweight Tre Craycraft (6-0, 1 KO) vs. TBD.
Card subject to change.
Priced at $50.00 (general admission), $75.00 (reserved) and $125.00 (ringside), tickets are available to purchase online at www.eventbrite.com (“Brawl at the Hall”) or by calling 1.412.759.0407.
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