(DEC 21) New York, NY-
DiBella Entertainment (DBE) has signed newly crowned IBF World
Female Junior Welterweight Champion “Merciless” Mary McGee
(26-3, 14 KOs), of Gary, IN, to an exclusive promotional
contract. McGee joins the strongest group of female boxing
talent under any promotional banner.
The 33-year-old McGee won the
vacant world title on Thursday, December 5, with a 10th-round
knockout of Ana Laura Esteche in a featured bout on DBE’s
Broadway Boxing Annual Holiday Event at Terminal 5 in Manhattan
and live on UFC FIGHT PASS®, the world’s leading digital
subscription service for combat sports. After dropping former
unified world champion Esteche in round eight, McGee finished
her off with a barrage of power punches 30 seconds into the 10th
and final frame, becoming the first to stop her Argentinean foe.
McGee will make her first title
defense on Saturday, February 8, 2020, against Deanha “Silencer”
Hobbs at the Hammond Civic Center, in Hammond, IN. Hobbs (8-1, 5
KOs), of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is a former WBO Asia
Pacific Super Featherweight titlist and Australian Super
Lightweight and Super Welterweight titlist. Her lone loss came
to Christina Linardatou, challenging for the WBO Super
Lightweight world championship.
“I am beyond excited to be
promoted by Lou. He’s a loving, caring and understanding man. In
this day and age, that is extremely rare,” said McGee. “I am
grateful that all my hard work over the years has finally been
recognized by a promoter of his magnitude and I’m excited to see
what lies ahead.”
Continued McGee manager Brian Cohen, “Lou DiBella is a
visionary. He was promoting women’s boxing before it was the
cool thing to do. He understands the sport and, when you speak
to him, he doesn’t just know one or two female boxers, he knows
them all. I couldn’t ask for a better promoter to work with than
Lou DiBella.”
“Mary McGee is a talented boxer who has perseverance and
realized her dream of winning a world title. She is also a
dedicated single mom, fighting for a better life for her son. I
look forward to working with her and manager Brian Cohen to keep
Mary active and to secure lucrative matchups in the future,”
said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “Her first
defense of her IBF title, on February 8, versus Australia’s
Deanha Hobbs, will begin what promises to be a big 2020 for
Mary.”
Included among the female fighters in the DBE stable are
seven-division world champion and current WBO Featherweight
World Champion Amanda Serrano, WBA Super Middleweight World
Champion Alicia Napoleon-Espinosa, WBA Super Welterweight World
Champion Hanna Gabriels, Interim WBA Super Welterweight World
Champion Raquel Miller, former Featherweight World Champion
Heather Hardy, former Junior Welterweight World Champion
Christina Linardatou, world title challengers Abril Vidal and
Shelly Vincent, and featherweight contender Tiara Brown.