At Las Vegas (ESPN2): Raymundo Beltran vs. Ji-Hoon Kim, 10 rounds,
lightweights; Jessie Magdaleno vs. Jonathan Arellano, 8 rounds, junior
featherweights; Felix Verdejo vs. Carlos Gonzalez, 4 rounds,
lightweights
Tonight at 10:00 pm EST on ESPN2, a special Thursday-night, off-season edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights goes live from the Mirage in Las Vegas, as Top Rank gears up its big boxing weekend in anticipation of Pacquiao-Marquez IV on Saturday night.
Raymundo Beltran will face Ji-Hoon Kim in the 12-round lightweight main event.
Beltran (26-6, 17 KO) has been on a solid run lately, winning his last fight over Hank Lundy on July 27, and losing very narrow, hard-fought decisions against unbeaten prospects Luis Ramos Jr and Sharif Bogere in a pair of other recent fights. The 31-year-old veteran has a chance to make a potential move toward a world title in the lightweight division right now, but he'll need a win to keep that hope alive.
Kim (24-7, 18 KO) is an ESPN2 favorite, a battling, power-punching Korean whose skills have improved over time. He's still a bit crude, but not nearly as much as he used to be, and he's become dangerous for more than just his bomb of a right hand. The 25-year-old Kim has won three straight, and looked better than ever beating Alisher Rahimov on May 25, his last fight. Kim threw 1,225 total punches in that fight, a 10-rounder, according to CompuBox.
Also featured on the card will be 21-year-old super bantamweight prospect Jesse Magdaleno (12-0, 9 KO), considered by some the more promising of the young Magdaleno brothers. He'll be facing Jonathan Arrellano (13-1-1, 3 KO), who lost his last fight against Roman Morales on September 21. Magdaleno-Arrellano is scheduled for eight rounds.
Raymundo Beltran will face Ji-Hoon Kim in the 12-round lightweight main event.
Beltran (26-6, 17 KO) has been on a solid run lately, winning his last fight over Hank Lundy on July 27, and losing very narrow, hard-fought decisions against unbeaten prospects Luis Ramos Jr and Sharif Bogere in a pair of other recent fights. The 31-year-old veteran has a chance to make a potential move toward a world title in the lightweight division right now, but he'll need a win to keep that hope alive.
Kim (24-7, 18 KO) is an ESPN2 favorite, a battling, power-punching Korean whose skills have improved over time. He's still a bit crude, but not nearly as much as he used to be, and he's become dangerous for more than just his bomb of a right hand. The 25-year-old Kim has won three straight, and looked better than ever beating Alisher Rahimov on May 25, his last fight. Kim threw 1,225 total punches in that fight, a 10-rounder, according to CompuBox.
Also featured on the card will be 21-year-old super bantamweight prospect Jesse Magdaleno (12-0, 9 KO), considered by some the more promising of the young Magdaleno brothers. He'll be facing Jonathan Arrellano (13-1-1, 3 KO), who lost his last fight against Roman Morales on September 21. Magdaleno-Arrellano is scheduled for eight rounds.
Nationally-televised professional boxing is returning to the Oneida
Indian Nation's Turning Stone Resort Casino Event Center in New York. On
January 25, 2013, ESPN Friday Night Fights will air a 12-round main
event featuring Russian pugilist Ruslan Provodnikov (22-1, 15 KOs)
defending his WBO Welterweight Intercontinental title against Jason "El
Nino" Pagara (30-2, 19 KOs) of the Phillipines.
The co-feature welterweight bout pits Tony "Lightning" Luis (15-0, 7
KOs) of Cornwall, Ontario against Miguel "Silky Smooth" Gonzalez (20-3,
15 KOs) of Cleveland.
Promoter Greg Cohen of Greg Cohen Promotions said in a press release, "We
are thrilled to be back at Turning Stone for the third time in four
months. Turning Stone’s commitment to hosting championship level
nationally-televised events has quickly made it a premier East Coast
venue for boxing. GCP and Banner Promotions promote shows all over the
world and Turning Stone is my favorite place to hold an event bar none.
January 25th will be another terrific night of boxing for the fans. You
definitely don't want to miss it!"
The undercard will be announced at a later date. But with Ruslan-El
Nino and Lighting-Silky Smooth on the card, you won't want to miss this.
