TACOMA, Wash. – Brian Halquist Productions will begin its 16th year of combative sports at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma in 2012. Halquist and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians have announced 11 dates – beginning with the 85th installment of the Battle at the Boat professional boxing series on Jan. 21 – in 2012.
The 11 dates feature five boxing and five mixed martial arts events, as well as the annual Guns N’ Hoses charity boxing show on Sept. 15, 2012. CageSport® MMA kicks off its 2012 season with CageSport® XVIII on Feb. 25, 2012.
Halquist started Brian Halquist Productions, Inc. in 1989 when he promoted heavyweight boxing contender Joe “The Boss” Hipp. Halquist teamed up with the Emerald Queen Casino on July 9, 1997 with the first of the Battle at the Boat boxing shows.
Originally planned to be just one show per year, the first event sold out, resulting in a standing room only crowd of more than 2,500 people. Another show was immediately scheduled and sold out. The show’s popularity grew, demanding multiple shows a year.
“We are very excited to continue our combative sports series at the Emerald Queen Casino,” said promoter Brian Halquist. “Our goal is to deliver world class shows to the Pacific Northwest. We are planning on having more title fights, more nationally televised events and bring the world’s best fighters to the Emerald Queen Casino. We have a few surprises in store for 2012. I know the boxing and MMA fans in the Northwest will be happy with our plans for the upcoming year.”
The Battle at the Boat is the longest-running tribal casino professional boxing series in the United States and has hosted several world title bouts, including Vernon Forest’s victory over Carlos Baldomir for the WBC Super Welterweight championship on July 28, 2007, Vic Darchinyan defeating Dmitri Kirillov by knockout for the IBF Super Flyweight title on Aug. 2, 2008 and most recently, Showtime’s World Bantamweight semifinals on Dec. 11, 2010 where Abner Mares captured the WBC belt with a victory over Darchinyan and Yonnhy Perez reclaimed the IBF crown with a victory over Joseph Agbeko.
The boxing series has garnered international exposure as events from the Emerald Queen Casino have been broadcast on Showtime, HBO, ESPN, ESPN2, Direct TV, Fox Sports Net, Telemundo, TeleFutura, Univision and Azteca.
In 2008 Brian Halquist Productions added MMA to its resume when it promoted StrikeForce at the Tacoma Dome. The event featured Bob Sapp, former UFC heavyweight champion Maurice Smith and multiple-kickboxing world champion Rick Roufus.
StrikeForce at the Dome proved to be a huge success, breaking the states gross gate receipts record and drawing 7,500 fans – the most for an MMA event in state history – and laid the foundation for CageSport®, which held its inaugural show at the Emerald Queen Casino on June 7, 2008.
In addition to professional boxing and CageSport® MMA, the Emerald Queen Casino hosts the annual Guns & Hoses, charity boxing event. The Puyallup Tribe’s casino also sponsors the Tacoma Golden Gloves, which are the second longest running Golden Gloves in the United States. Brian Halquist Productions also promotes Playboy Fight Night at the Playboy Mansion.
For more information please visit www.Halquistproductions.com.
TICKETS
Tickets are available at the Emerald Queen Casino box office 1-888-831-7655 and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Or online at www.ticketmaster.com
Get up to date information at: www.halquistproductions.com
Follow Battle at the Boat and CageSport® MMA on Facebook.
For more information contact event coordinator Marin McCauley at (253) 486-2141
2012 Emerald Queen Casino/Brian Halquist Production Combative Sports Dates
January 21, 2012 Battle at the Boat 85
February 25, 2012 Cage Sport XVIII
March 31, 2012 Battle at the Boat 86
April 28, 2012 Cage Sport XIV
June 2, 2012 Battle at the Boat 87
July 14, 2012 Cage Sport XX
August 28, 2012 Battle at the Boat 88
September 15, 2012 Guns N’ Hoses
September 29, 2012 Cage Sport XXI
November 3, 2012 Battle at the Boat 89
December 8, 2012 Cage Sport XXII
