Looking for a real fight? "ShoBox: The New Generation" will present yet another showdown when Mike "Machine Gun'' Oliver (17-0, seven KOs) defends his United States Boxing Association (USBA) junior featherweight title against Gary "Kid" Stark Jr. (18-0, eight KOs) in the main event Friday, Feb. 16, on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).
The co-feature will pit unbeaten Derek "Pooh'' Ennis (10-0-1, seven KOs) against Allen "The Dream Shatterer'' Conyers (10-2, eight KOs) in an eight-round junior middleweight scrap. The excellent DiBella Entertainment doubleheader will originate from the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla.
In typical "ShoBox" fashion, the excellent 12-round match between Stark Jr. and southpaw Oliver will represent the sternest challenge of each prospect's career. Both young men, known more for their boxing skills and talent than raw punching power, will make their SHOWTIME debuts.
"I have wanted to step up, so this will be a good fight for me," said Oliver, 27, of Hartford, Conn., who captured the USBA belt in his last start by easily and impressively outpointing Adam Carrera across 12 rounds on Oct, 28, 2006, in Uncasville, Conn.
"People seem to think I am just a boxer,'' Oliver continued. "But, I am not one-dimensional. I don't always do the same thing. I do a lot of switching up in the ring. I do not just box. I can bring the pressure if I need to. You get into the first round, see how it feels and take it from there."
Stark Jr. disagrees. "Oliver is going to rely on his speed a lot and try to box, but speed only gets you so far," said Stark, 27, who was born and raised in Brooklyn and now fights out of Staten Island, N.Y. "Oliver and I were in the amateurs together, so I know he has good skills. But, the guys I have fought are way tougher."
"You have got to have heart and a will to win. I train too hard to lose. I don't care how many times you hit me, I am not losing."
"I'm ready to get it on," said Ennis, who is trained by his father. "I had a lot of hard training. It's time to get it over with (and fight). I just let the fight come to me."
Ennis, who turned pro in August 2002 after a brief amateur career, boxed to a six-round draw against southpaw Maxwell Taylor in his outing before last on March 9, 2006. Ennis scored a knockdown in the third, but went down twice himself in the fourth.
"The only round Taylor won was the round he dropped me in," the switch-hitting Ennis said. "(But) this was a good fight for my career."
Conyers, of Bronx, N.Y., is the New York State welterweight champion. He captured the crown with a first-round TKO over six-foot-two southpaw Russell Jordan on Nov. 3, 2006.
The bout represented the second straight first-round TKO for the five-foot-11 inch, 30-year-old Conyers, and will be his fourth start since returning to the ring in February 2006 after an 18-month layoff.
An aggressive, offensive-minded sort, Conyers turned pro in January 2002, is managed by Gil Reyes and trained by Luis Olmo.
"For this fight, I've been working with Luis Collazo and Travis Simms, so I will be ready," said Conyers, who will step up a notch in weight. "The only thing I know about Ennis is his record and that he is shorter than me. I will probably just feel him out in the first round and see what type of fighter he is."
