(APR 14) Philadelphia trained,
British Super Bantamweight Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston may still
be reeling from the American authorities decision to refuse her a
visa, so she can compete on the under card of Brian Cohen’s WBC
Americas Light Heavyweight Title fight in South Philadelphia on 9th
May 2009. However, her American training team, headed by former IBF
Cruiserweight World Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham; promoter Donna
Cohen of ABBCorp, Inc./Bionic Bull Enterprises and her sponsor P.U.G.
Athletic are all standing by her and working together on a solution.
Mike Gregory, P.U.G. Athletic’s
commercial manager, made it clear that P.U.G. would continue to
support Marianne as she is a strategic part of their plans to
launch the brand into the American sportswear market in 2009
when he said. “We’re not going to back out of our support for
Marianne. She is an extremely talented boxer and has been an
excellent ambassador for P.U.G. Athletic over the past eighteen
months. We are keen to continue our involvement in her career
for a long time to come.
We are in discussions with Team ‘USS’ Cunningham, who represent
and train Marianne in America, as well as the promoters of the
May 9th event in Philadelphia, ABBCorp, Inc. and Bionic Bull
Enterprises, on this matter. Marianne is contracted to them for
12 fights between now and the end of 2010, so hopefully between
us we will be able to sort the visa situation out.
If a quick solution isn’t available one alternative option we
are exploring, should a suitable opponent be found, Marianne
debuting in the UK, or even Europe, in order to secure the
ranking required to be eligible for a P1 Professional Athlete
visa, rather than the B1 she had applied for on advice from the
London Consulate.”
Marianne, who is still hopeful of competing next month in
Philadelphia, is currently training at Gleason’s Gym near Tower
Bridge, London. Should the visa problem be resolved before May,
Marianne’s professional debut will be on the under card of
Philadelphia’s Brian Cohen’s WBC Americas Light Heavyweight
title fight on May 9th 2009 at the South Philadelphia High
School. Promoter Donna Cohen is a big supporter of Women’s
boxing and every event she promotes includes at least one female
match-up.
For tickets and further details for the event at South
Philadelphia High School please contact: Donna Cohen
ABBCorp, Inc. & Bionic Bull Enterprise, Tel: 215 755 8155
