Fight Night at SteelStacks Coming to Musikfest Cafe

Professional boxing is coming to the Musikfest Café.

ArtsQuest announced Wednesday that it will host the first Fight Night at SteelStacks on Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m.

The night’s main event will have the grandson of Easton’s own former heavyweight champion, Larry Holmes—Jeffrey Dorsey Holmes—stepping into the ring against fellow Eastonian Marquis Pierce.

The champ will also be on hand for the proceedings along with onetime nemesis Gerry Cooney, who lost to Holmes in a much-ballyhooed 13-round title fight in 1982.

A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $100 each and include a photograph and autograph session with Holmes and Cooney prior to the event, as well as a dinner buffet and a private area in the Café’s balcony to watch the ring action.

The rest of the tickets to Fight Night at SteelStacks will range in price from $25 to $60. The $60 tickets are reserved ringside seats that will also provide an opportunity to meet Holmes and Cooney.

Tickets, which will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, will be available at www.artsquest.org and 610-332-3378.

The seven-fight card will also include the professional debut of Catrina Lentini of Allentown, who is trying to become the first ranked professional female fighter from the Lehigh Valley.

The Sands Casino Resort brought the first professional boxing to Bethlehem in about 25 years in 2011 and had at least one successful fight night at the Event Center since. Boxing at the Sands’ neighbors at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks is brand new.

“We see it as a way to bring a new audience to the Café and let them see all that is going on at SteelStacks and South Bethlehem,” said Mark Demko, an ArtsQuest spokesman.

To set up for boxing at the Café, the stage will be removed and a boxing ring will be set up in the middle of the room, Demko said. Ringside seats will be set up around the ring’s perimeter and standing room will be available around the chairs in the rest of the Café’s main floor.

“Fight Night at SteelStacks will showcase local boxers who were handpicked and trained to become top-ranked fighters recognized nationally and worldwide,” said boxing promoter Jay Newman, who is the presenter of Fight Night at SteelStacks.

“Designed to be a guys night out, this evening will include some very talented fighters, as well as great food and the opportunity to meet two legendary boxers in Holmes and Cooney. Our goal is to bring back boxing with an atmosphere that appeals to the fans, and then bring them back for more.”