Undefeated Featherweight Contender & Former Titlist on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights
Undefeated Featherweight southpaw Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (19-0, 14 KOs) will meet former Featherweight titlist Cristobal “Lacandon” Cruz (39-13-3, 23 KOs) July 6 in the 10-round main event on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra. Friday’s card, presented by Sampson Boxing and Greg Cohen Promotions, will air at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN3 from Las Vegas.
Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside for ESPN2 HD and ESPN3 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino describing the action, while studio host Bernardo Osuna will present all the latest boxing news and highlights. Alex Pombo and Delvin Rodriguez will call the fights for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights), with Leopoldo Gonzalez and Pablo Viruega in the studio.
ESPN2 and ESPN3 will look back at the best of Friday Night Fights for the month of June and will discuss Kelly Pavlik.
Main Event:
The Dominican Republic’s Fortuna, trained by Pablo Sarmiento (who also trains Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez), enters Friday’s fight following one of his career-best wins, a first-round knockout over previously undefeated Yaundale Evans.
After that fight, ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael wrote: “Fortuna is dynamic with tremendous power and speed. Fortuna has scored some highlight-reel knockouts in his young career and added another one with a crushing stoppage of Evans. Ninety seconds into the fight, Fortuna staggered Evans with a left hand to the head and then heavily floored him with another left hand to the head and a right hand on top of the head as he was falling to the mat. He trapped him on the ropes, tagged him with a few shots and then hammered him with another left hand to drop him again, this time face first, as [the] referee stepped in at 2 minutes, 2 seconds.”
Mexico’s Cruz brings a wealth of experience into the ring with him, having fought former and current titlists Orlando Salido, Luisito Espinosa and Jorge Solis. He will look to rebound from a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Juan Carlos Burgos.
Co-Feature:
Friday’s co-feature will pit undefeated Heavyweight Magomed “Mago” Abdusalamov (14-0, 14 KOs) against Maurice “Freight Train” Byarm (13-1-1, 9 KOs). Russia’s Abdusalamov, who has won all of his fights by knockout–10 in the first-round,– is coming off a fourth-round TKO win over previously undefeated Jason Pettaway. Washington D.C.’s Byarm will look to rebound from a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Bryant Jennings.
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JOSE “CHELO” GONZALEZ VS JOSEPH LARYEA IN SOLO BOXEO TECATE THIS SATURDAY, JULY 7
World contender Jose “Chelo” Gonzalez will fight against Joseph Laryea in the main event of the new edition of Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo Tecate this Saturday, July 7, at the Coliseo Antonio R. Barcelo in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, in a PR Best Boxing Promotions (PRBBP) presentation, in association with Top Rank.
“This Saturday we are going to bring a good show with the fight between Chelo Gonzalez and Laryea, unbeaten Glen Tapia and other seven bouts at the Coliseo Antonio R. Barcelo in Toa Baja, Chelo’s hometown”, promoter Ivan Rivera, PRBBP president, said. “This is another step for Chelo in his way to a world title chance”.
Chelo Gonzalez (19-0, 14 KOs), the #4 WBO ranked in the lightweights, will face Laryea (14-7, 11 KOs), a former world title challenger from Ghana, in a 135 pounds bout scheduled to 10 rounds. Gonzalez, who is also the WBO Latino champion, beat Hevinson Herrera last March 10 by an eight round TKO. While, Laryea, who lost in his only 2012 fight, was defeated by the WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns last year in a 130lbs WBO bout.
“These are the challenges I want in my career and in my way to fight for a world title. I’m in good shape and ready to fight”, Gonzalez said.
In a junior middleweight fight, New Jersey’s prospect Tapia (13-0, 7 KOs) will face Carlos Garcia (6-10-1, 6 KOs) scheduled to six rounds. Tapia, a Top Rank fighter, knocked out Manuel Guzman in three rounds last April 27 in Reading, Pennsylvania.
In an interesting fight, undefeated Rafael “El Pollo Blanco” Gonzalez (7-0, 6 KOs) and Andres “Pajita” Navarro (6-4-1, 4 KOs) will face in 135 pounds and in a bout scheduled to eight rounds.
Five more four round fights will complete the show. In the bantanweights, 2010 Youth Olympic Games gold medalist, Emmanuel Rodríguez (1-0, 1 KOs) will face debutant; in the welterweights Kenneth Díaz (5-0, 4 KOs) against Ramón Sánchez (3-11-1, 1 KOs); in the junior lightweights, José Santiago (2-1, 2 KOs) versus Fauris Capellán (3-1, 2 KOs); in the superflyweights Jonel Nieves (3-0, 2 KOs) against José Ruiz (0-1); in the junior middleweights Pablo de Jesús (1-0, 1 KOs) will face debutant José Carlos Morales.
Solo Boxeo Tecate on Telefutura is televised at 11:00 p.m. (ET).
Tickets for this card are availables at Ticketcenter, www.tcpr.com, 1 787 792-5000. Prices are $15, and $30.