Bantamweight Carlos Carlson (18-1, 12 KOs) will find himself in a somewhat familiar situation on Friday night. Carlson, who is ranked as the No. 11 bantamweight by the WBC, is defending his WBC Latino Championship against fellow Mexican Pedro Melo (13-8-2, 4 KOs) from the Omega Products Outdoor Arena in Corona, Calif.
The 25-year-old Carlson won the belt over a year ago against savvy veteran Javier Gallo. He followed that up with a gritty title defense against Jose Cen Torres. For half the fight, Carlson battled through a nasty cut over his right eye caused by an accidental clash of heads. He pulled out a majority decision win and now gets to defend his championship once more.
“It’s an honor to defend the WBC Latino title again,” said Carlson, who signed with Thompson Boxing nearly two years ago. “It will be a difficult process because Melo has strong skills and can take a punch, but I’ve trained the right way and I’m prepared to take home another win.”
Due to high ticket demand, Thompson Boxing has added a new general admission section at $40 per ticket. Fans can purchase on the day of the event at the entrance of the arena starting at 5:30 p.m. PT. The venue is located at 1681 California Ave., Corona, CA 92881.
In Melo, Carlson faces an opponent that began his career as a bantamweight, but has since moved up a division, where boxers are typically bigger and stronger.
“I’ve fought at 122 before, my last fight was at 126,” Carlson said. Indeed, Carlson shined at featherweight. He fought in June on Spanish language broadcast station UniMas, where he knocked out Heriberto Delgado in the fourth round. Now back at his more natural weight, Carlson expects to deliver another outstanding performance.
“I take every fight seriously,” Carlson said. “Every fight is a world championship fight for me.”
In the highly anticipated co-feature, undefeated heavyweight LaRon Mitchell (8-0, 8 KOs) of San Francisco squares off against Curtis Lee Tate (7-6, 6 KOs) of Memphis, Tenn. in a fight scheduled for six rounds.
