Having missed out on a big fight in May due to an untimely foot injury, undefeated light heavyweight Angel Camacho Jr. is back to put his record on the line against another challenger.
The Providence native Camacho (15-0, 5 KOs) returns Friday, July 15th, 2016 to defend his Universal Boxing Federation (UBF) International and New England Light Heavyweight Titles in a 10-round bout against Willimantic, Conn., vet Kevin Cobbs (10-2, 4 KOs), headlining CES Boxing’s stacked summer fight card at Twin River Casino.
The Camacho-Cobbs main event is one of three title fights July 15th; Cranston, R.I., super lightweight Nick DeLomba (9-1, 2 KOs) makes the first defense of his New England Title in a six-round bout against Oscar Bonilla (3-1-2) of Bridgeport, Conn.; and Thomas Falowo (14-3, 8 KOs) of Pawtucket, R.I., the reigning New England Middleweight Champion, returns to Twin River for the first time in more than two years and puts his belt on the line in an eight-round rematch against Jersey City, N.J., slugger Chris Chatman (13-5-1, 5 KOs), who beat Falowo at Twin River in 2013.
July 15th also features the return of newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) Female Middleweight World Champion Kali Reis (9-5-1), who captured the belt in April in New Zealand, plus lightweight Jamaine Ortiz (1-0, 1 KO) and middleweight Kendrick Ball Jr. (1-0, 1 KO), both from Worcester, Mass.
In a four-round junior middleweight attraction featuring two undefeated New England fighters, Ray Oliviera Jr. (4-0, 1 KO) of New Bedford, Mass., battles Worcester’s Andy Gonzalez (2-0, 2 KOs).
A fight nearly three years in the making, the Camacho-Cobbs main event features two of New England’s top light heavyweights. Camacho, 32, overcame a three-year layoff — the second of his career — between 2011 and 2014 to win three critical fights and capture two belts in a 10-month span, starting with a win over Paul Gonsalves in November of 2014 and culminating in an eighth-round stoppage of Rich Gingras in September to capture Gingras’ N.E. title and the vacant UBF crown.
Camacho was scheduled to face Rhode Island icon Peter Manfredo Jr. on May 13th, but was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury. Manfredo, who came out of retirement following his own three-year layoff, went on to fight to a draw against Providence’s Vladine Biosse in what may be the final bout of Manfredo’s storied career.
In Cobbs, Camacho faces another tall task. The 6-foot-2, 32-year-old light heavyweight rose to prominence in 2012, winning his first six pro fights and four in a row under the guidance of CES Boxing before an upset to Tylon Burris later that year. Cobbs fought just once over the next year and a half, but returned strong in 2014 with three consecutive wins before challenging unbeaten Mexican sensation David Benavidez in California in January.
The Chatman-Falowo co-feature could steal the show. The two fought eight hard rounds in July of 2013, exchanging knockdowns in the fourth round. Chatman won by unanimous decision, 77-75 on all three scorecards, and will make his seventh appearance at Twin River, a Rhode Island fan favorite since his back-and-forth war with former Olympian and world champion Demetrius Andrade in 2009. Chatman is 4-2 lifetime at Twin River, including wins over former The Contender reality television star Grady Brewer and a thrilling, 10-round unanimous decision win over Biosse last July.
Falowo, making his first Rhode Island appearance since June of 2014, is coming off back-to-back wins over Maine’s Russell Lamour, both by unanimous decision. Falowo captured the vacant N.E. title in the rematch in November. The Pawtucket native debuted for CES Boxing in 2010 with wins in his first six bouts before suffering one of only three career losses by split decision to Samuel Clarkson in 2012.
DeLomba’s first title defense comes just two months after capturing the vacant belt with a dynamic win over Worcester’s previously unbeaten Freddy Sanchez in May. The fight was DeLomba’s first since September while Bonilla moves up in weight to 140 pounds and steps back in the ring for the time since May of 2015.
Reis returns three months after defeating Maricela Cornejo by split decision to win the WBC Title in New Zealand, her third world title to go along with her UBF and International Boxing Association (IBA) championships. The fearless Providence native has now won back-to-back fights, including a first-round knockout win over Victoria Cisneros at her Rhode Island homecoming in February for the UBF crown.
Ball and Ortiz return in separate four-round bouts following impressive knockout wins of their own in May. Ball flattened Providence’s Tunde Odumosu at 1:39 of the opening round of their super middleweight bout while Ortiz stopped Maine’s Josh Parker at the 3:00 mark of the first round of their scheduled four-round super lightweight bout.
