The Jan. 31 edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights will feature undefeated Light Heavyweight contender Blake “Il Capo” Caparello (18-0-1, 6 KOs) and Elvir “The Kosovo Kid” Muriqi (40-5, 24 KOs) in the 10-round main event. Friday’s show, from the Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange N.J., will take place Super Bowl weekend and is less than 20 miles from MetLife Stadium, site of Super Bowl XLVIII.
The show will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2, and the card is promoted by Dibella Entertainment.
Main Event:
Australia’s Caparello, who will be making his U.S. debut, scored a 12-round unanimous decision win over Allan Green in his last outing, while Muriqi, who hails from N.Y., is looking to continue his winning ways following an eight-round majority decision win over Paul Vasquez.
“I’m a boxer-mover. I like to use angles, long punches and quick hands,” Caparello said. “Elvir (Muriqi) is a strong, solid fighter. We’ve had a good look at him. He’s the type, if we want to make an impression, we have to beat him good. That’s our plan.”
“When you fight a lefty, you can never look great but as long as I win, that’s what matters,” Muriqi said. “I’m pretty good with lefties and think I’m going to surprise a lot of people.”
Co-Feature:
Friday’s eight-round co-feature will pit undefeated Featherweight Luis “KO King” Rosa (15-0, 7 KOs) against Jorge Diaz (17-2, 10 KOs). Connecticut’s Rosa is coming off a third-round TKO win over Andre Wilson, while New Jersey’s Diaz is looking to rebound from a fourth-round TKO loss to Yenifel Vicente.
Additional Fight:
Friday’s show will open with an additional eight-round bout between undefeated Welterweight Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (19-0, 11KOs) and Tim Witherspoon Jr. (10-3-1, 2KOs), son of former Heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon.
Former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs will be Atlas’ sparring partner in this week’s “Fight Plan” segment during which Atlas will illustrate what Friday’s headliners will need to do to win.
