"Traveling from country to country isn’t part of our strategy," Cueller explained the Team Oliveira travel agency, "but that’s what has been presented to us. We’re winning and getting calls from all over the place to fight. Carlos (Oliveira, Michael’s father/promoter) works on deals and we fight. We’re all having fun traveling and it’s been a great learning experience. Brazilians live all over the world and Michael is creating an international fan-base.
"Fighting on the road is often easier than at home with friends and family around because calls keep coming and there are other distractions. Fighting away from home means far less distractions and all of us are able to focus better. Michael’s very polite and accommodating but fighting at home does take away from some of his focus. When he’s away, everything is about fighting."
Michael is a two-time defending Brazilian International Press Award’s Athlete of the Year (2009 and 2010) and a strong candidate for 2011 honors against the likes of UFC star Anderson Silva.
Saturday’s show in Mississauga is headlined by unbeaten welterweight Samuel Vargas (8-0-1, 2 KOs), a native of Colombia living in Mississauga, versus former Canadian light welterweight champion Manolis Plaitis (17-1-1, 8 KOs), of Quebec, in a 10-rounder for the vacant Canadian welterweight title. The popular Vargas is coming off of the 2011 Canadian Fight of the Year, in which he battled Quebec arch-rival Ahmad Cheikho, who was unable to continue fighting after five of the scheduled 10 rounds last October.
Local fan-favorite Brandon "Bad Boy" Cook (4-0, 2 KOs) faces upset-minded middleweight Chris Aucoin (4-5-1) in the six-round co-feature.
Also fighting on the undercard is unbeaten Kitchener cruiserweight prospect Denton Daley (4-0, 2 KOs) versus former Mexican National Boxing Team invader Benito "El Asesio" Quiroz (6-1, 6 KOs) in a six-round bout, as well as pro-debuting Hamilton lightweight Steve Wilcox vs. TBA in a four-round bout.
Whitby super middleweight Phil "The Assassin" Rose (3-1-1, 3 KOs) will be in action vs. Coteau-du-Lac’s cagey Francis Lafreniere (1-2-1, 1 KOs), along with undefeated Toronto prospect Ibrahim "Firearm" Kamal (6-0, 5 KOs) vs. Danish lightweight Tommi Schmidt (6-4, 3 KOs).
Tickets, priced at $30.00 and $50.00, are available at the Hersey Centre Box Office, through Ticketmaster at 855.985.5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
Go on line at www.UnitedPromotions.ca for more information about the Feb. 11 show.
For more information about Oliveira, visit his website at www.MichaelOliveira.com.
