1/08/06 - article by Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
Broussard set for Feb. 4 IBU title showdown
Lafayette's "Bad" Chad Broussard didn't have to wait too long to realize a dream.
Broussard won the International Boxing Union's Intercontinental welterweight title last
June at Blackham Coliseum, and said at the time he wanted to fight for a world title in his hometown.
Eight months later, he'll get that opportunity as part of a professional boxing card scheduled for
Feb. 4 at Blackham and staged by Lafayette's Culotta Promotions.
Broussard (53-4, 39 KO's) will face Homer Gibbins (43-13, 30 KO's) of Riverdale, Ga., in a
12-round bout for the IBU's vacant crown. That will be the main event on a card that will
include as many as seven bouts.
Also slated to take part is Scott's Bobby "The Bayou Bomber" Aucoin (15-0-1), who meets
Antonio Young (8-10-2) of Meridian, Miss., in an eight-round light welterweight bout as
the co-main event.
Other local fighters scheduled are Blake "The Candyman" Prevost (7-0-1) of Lawtell against
Martin Verdin (9-6-1) of Dulac in a six-round light heavyweight bout, junior welterweight
Jeremy Duplechain (5-1) of Church Point and unbeaten women's featherweight Kasha "The
Fighting Marine" Chamblin (6-0). Opponents for Duplechain and Chamblin in four-round bouts
are to be announced
Also on the card is New Roads' Zane Marks (10-2) in a four-round middleweight affair, and
Houston's 6-foot-8, 270-pound Skip Scott, a former pro kickboxer, in a four-round heavyweight pro debut.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. card are available through TicketMaster outlets, either by phone at
262-8686 or at
www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Cajundome box office from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Broussard, 11-1 since coming back from a layoff of over five years, won a unanimous decision over
Danny Reyes last June to win the IBU Intercontinental title. Since then he has added three wins
all by knockout, including a third-round TKO title-defense victory over Corey Alarcon at
Marksville's Paragon Casino on Nov. 26.
Holders of IBU Intercontinental titles get a mandatory world title fight after two defenses,
but Broussard's timetable was accelerated since the retirement of IBU welterweight
champion Ray Oliveira.
"This is what I've been hoping and praying for all my life," said Broussard, who began his pro
career in 1989 and did not fight from 1997 until early 2003. "I don't think I can lose at home.
I promise the fans will see me wearing a world title belt around my waist on Feb. 4. I don't
care who's in the opposite corner."
Chamblin, ranked fifth in the U.S. and 13th in the world by the WIBA in the women's super
bantamweight class, we will be making her first appearance since being selected as one of
the participants for the upcoming "Eye of the Tigress" reality television series. Her Feb.
4 bout is expected to be part of that series scheduled for the fall.
Originally published January 8, 2006 |
