One night before Samuel Peter defends his World Boxing Council (WBC) interim heavyweight title against Jameel McCline on SHOWTIME, talented, unbeaten Yonnhy Perez (13-0, 10 KOs) will collide with Alexander Fedorov (18-3-1, 10 KOs) in the 10-round main event on ShoBox: The New Generation (live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT delayed on the west coast.).
In the co-feature, former amateur champion and 2004 United States Olympian, Mickey Bey Jr. (8-0, five KOs), will face Castulo Gonzalez (9-3, three KOs) in an eight-round super featherweight bout.
Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, in association with Thompson Boxing Promotions, will present the doubleheader from Omega Products International in Corona, Calif.
Perez, a flashy bantamweight from Santa Fe Springs, Calif., by way of Cartagena, Colombia, is willing to fight any opponent to prove he is a legitimate prospect and future contender.
“Whatever comes toward me, I’m going to take,” Perez said. “I’ll challenge anybody. I’m supporting my family back home, so I know what I need to do.”
Perez, 28, takes a unique approach to training, especially for a promising prospect closing in on his first nationally televised fight on ShoBox.
“The fortunate thing with Perez is that he has so much experience in the ring, so we really don’t concentrate on sparring a lot,” said his trainer, Danny Zamora. “Most fighters spar a lot to get that ring experience, but Perez doesn’t. He just keeps himself in great shape. He is so calm in the ring.”
Perez, who has four opening-round knockouts, may have the look of a slugger, but he is not one-dimensional and can box, too.
“Perez has a lot of early knockouts, so it hasn’t really given us the chance to see everything that he has,” Zamora said.
A four-time Colombian national amateur champion, Perez was a star in his homeland before relocating to the U.S. and turning professional in 2005. Since going pro, he has registered more than one noteworthy victory, including wins over the more-experienced Oscar Andrade and Samuel Lopez.
Fedorov, 30, is a dangerous fighter with an even tougher temper. The former Russian Special Forces soldier and professional kickboxer is known for his aggressive, hard-punching style and gets irritated when his opponent is not willing to trade blows.
“Fedorov gets mad when his opponent holds him,” said Nelson Lopez, Fedorov’s trainer and manager. “He loses it. That’s why he lost his last fight. Bredahl didn’t want to let him go. Fedorov elbowed him one time and they disqualified him.”
The boxer-puncher serves as former World Boxing Association (WBA) interim flyweight and two-time International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight champion Mauricio Pastrana’s sparring partner, who is also managed by Lopez.
“I have learned so much from sparring with Mauricio and gained so much experience,” Fedorov said. “Perez has never fought anybody like me.
Bey earned a berth on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team but he could not compete after he came down with pneumonia in training camp before the squad departed for Greece.
A boxer-puncher who is ambidextrous but fights in a right-handed stance, Bey, 24, has flourished as a pro.
“I am exciting,” said Bey, of Cleveland, Ohio. “I still emphasize not getting hit, but I don’t let guys off the hook. I love getting knockouts, so I’m a good, crafty boxer with good defense.
“If I hurt a guy, you are not going to see me dancing around. If I hurt a guy, I want to finish him.”
Bey cannot afford to overlook Gonzalez, 29, who is known for leaving it all in the ring.
“Gonzalez is going to put pressure on you until you run out of gas, and then he’s going to take over,” said Alex Rivera, who trains Gonzalez and once coached former heavyweight champion John Ruiz. “But, he is a guy that adjusts to what the opponent brings. If he’s fighting a boxer, he boxes a little bit. If the opponent is going to brawl, he can also brawl.”
While Gonzalez, of Lynn, Mass., by way of Puerto San Jose Escuintla, Guatemala, has limited experience, he has gone up against some well-regarded fighters, including Priest Smalls, Dat Nguyen and Mike Oliver.
Play-by-play announcer Nick Charles and expert analyst and boxing historian Steve Farhood will call the action from ringside. The executive producer of ShoBox is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
For information on Showtime Sports Programming, including exclusive video, photos and news links on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and EliteXC mixed martial arts telecasts, please go www.SHO.com/sports.