Classic Entertainment and Sports

Classic Entertainment & Sports is a combat sports promotional firm started by Jimmy Burchfield Sr. in the town of North Providence, Rhode Island.
CES began as a professional boxing promotional firm, but has since expanded to included a mixed martial arts division, which debuted in September 2010 at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
CES currently has 22 professional boxers on its roster, including reigning North American Boxing Federation (NABF) lightweight champion Hank Lundy of Philadelphia, reigning World Boxing Council U.S. National Boxing Council (WBC USNBC) middleweight champion Elvin Ayala of New Haven, Connecticut, and undefeated Polish heavyweight Mariusz Wach of North Bergen, New Jersey, the reigning WBC International heavyweight champion.
Other boxers on the roster include: Vladine Biosse, Angel Camacho Jr., Thomas Falowo, Jose Torres, Alex Amparo, Rick Dawson, Maceo Crowder, Joe Smith Jr., Edwin Soto, Brian Macy, Johnathan Vazquez, Jesse Barboza, Joey Spina, Kevin Cobbs, Benny Costantino, Josh Crespo, Christian Lao, Richard Gingras, and Michelle Vincent. Former fighters include: five-time world champion Vinny Paz, Peter Manfredo Jr., Matt Godfrey, Jason Estrada, Matt Remillard, Jamie Clampitt, Aaron Williams, Gary Balletto, Joe Mesi, Ray Oliveira and James McGirt Jr.
CES also has five mixed martial arts fighters on its roster: Todd Chattelle, former Ultimate Fighting Championships contender Alex Karalexis, Saul Almeida, Scott Rehm and the late Doug Bolanes Jr.
Venues
CES has promoted shows at venues throughout the world, most notably at Mohegan Sun Casino, Twin River Casino, and Foxwoods Resort Casino. In 2010, CES also co-promoted a show at the Omni New Daisy Theater in Memphis, Tennessee, which was televised on ESPN as part of the network's Friday Night Fights series. Lundy defeated Tyrese Hendrix by unanimous decision to capture the vacant North American Boxing Organization (NABO) lightweight title. CES has also promoted shows at the Dunkin Donuts Center and the Rhode Island Convention Center in addition to Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Recent success
In 2011, CES successfully promoted and/or co-promoted six boxing events. On April 1, Lundy defeated former Venezuelan Olympian Patrick Lopez to capture the then-vacant NABF lightweight title on ESPN's Friday Night Fights telecast in front of a capacity crowd at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
On July 29, Wach knocked out Kevin McBride, the last man to defeat Mike Tyson, to capture the WBC International heavyweight title at Mohegan Sun Casino. Later that year, CES brought professional boxing back to Rhode Island for the first time in 11 months on October 7 at Twin River Casino. Biosse fought to a draw against John Mackey in the main event.
CES kicked off 2012 by announcing the launch of its Thursday Night Fight Series at Twin River Casino, which begins March 22. CES will also return to ESPN on March 30 from the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino when Lundy defends his title against Dannie Williams of St. Louis, Missouri. Ayala will defend his title against Hector Camacho Jr. in the co-feature; the vacant NABF middleweight title will also be on the line.
Mixed martial arts division
On September 17, 2010, CES officially launched its long-awaited mixed martial arts division, promoting the first mixed martial arts show in the history of Rhode Island at the Twin River Casino. Mike Campbell of Providence, Rhode Island faced Magno Almeida in the main event. The event drew a sold-out crowd at Twin River and established CES as a major player in the mixed martial arts division.
All told, CES promoted three mixed martial arts events in 2012, including a show at Foxwoods Resort Casino, but officially burst onto the scene as a dominant force in the northeast in 2011.
On February 25, 2011, CES MMA kicked off its season with Chattelle defeating former The Ultimate Fighter reality television series participant Woody Weatherby at Twin River Casino, launching a successful year for Chattelle in which he finished 4-0 overall and earned Fighter of the Year and Comeback Fighter of the Year honors by the Boston Herald.
April 8 featured a knockout victory for former King of the Cage contender Tony Hervey against Campbell. Chattelle also won that night, defeating Jeff "The Wolfman" Nader, who has also competed for Reality Fighting and the Bellator Fighting Championships, the latter which have been featured on MTV2.
Karalexis made his CES MMA debut on June 10 in a controversial loss to Tiawan Howard at Twin River.
On September 9, CES returned to Twin River Casino for the third time in 2011 as locals Chattelle, Rehm, Greg Rebello of Providence, Rhode Island and professional lacrosse player John Ortolani of the Major League Lacrosse champion Boston Cannons each earned victories.
The 2011 season ended with CES MMA hosting its first title fight at Twin River. Chattelle defeated former professional bodybuilder Brett Oteri to capture CES' inaugural middleweight championship. The show also featured Campbell's second victory of the year, a second-round knockout win over Jeff Anderson.
CES signed five fighters in 2011 and also earned top honors in the Boston Herald as New England's No. 1 mixed martial arts promotion. The Boston Herald also honored Patrick Sullivan as New England's best matchmaker.
The mixed martial arts division made its 2012 debut at Twin River on February 3 with a standing-room only crowd to watch former Ultimate Fighting Championships contender Josh Hendricks defeat Josh Diekmann in the second half of the show's heavyweight co-main event. The show also featured a special ceremony honoring recently-retired Ultimate Fighting Championships veteran Jorge Rivera of Framingham, Massachusetts.
CES MMA will return to Twin River Casino on April 13 when Chattelle defends his title against former Ultimate Fighting Championships welterweight John Howard of Boston, Massachusetts.
Other ventures
CES also ventured into the entertainment industry in 2011, launching its entertainment division on August 19 with a concert billed as the "Summer Classic," paying homage to the local musical acts who performed at Burchfield's Classic Restaurant, a staple in North Providence for more than two decades. Held at Twin River Casino, the show featured Anthony Crocenzi, Steve Anthony and Persuasion, Steve Palumbo, Vinnie Ames, Richie Gomes and Brother 2 Brother, Mike Dutra, Reminisce and Angela Bacari. Former National Hockey League player Lyndon Byers was the master of ceremonies.
CES will host another entertainment event in the summer of 2012.
In 2011, Burchfield also launched the Cornerman Club, an exclusive online promotion offering fans special rates on tickets and continuous updates of live events. Later this year, CES will revive its defunct online radio podcast, Ringside, hosted by Sullivan and CES publicist Michael Parente, a former writer for Patriots Football Weekly, the official newspaper of the New England Patriots.

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