Tonight at the Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida, ESPN holds its first Friday Night Fights event of the year, showcasing a battle of unbeatens between Rances Barthelemy and Arash Usmanee, and a co-feature between Jonathan Gonzalez and Derek Ennis. The weigh-ins for the card were held yesterday, and Gonzalez, who made a fool of himself last year by showing up ridiculously overweight for an HBO fight, was on point, while his opponent was the one over the mark.
12-Round IBF #2 Elimination Main Event
Rances Barthelemy 128.25 vs. Arash Usmanee 128.75
Jonathan Gonzalez 152.75 vs. Derek Ennis 161 (contract weigh 154)
Radivoje Kalajdzic 180 vs. Grover Young 189.25
Roberto J. Acevedo 166.75 vs. Francisco Rios Gil 165.75
Hairon Socarras 122 vs. Josh Bowles 121.75
Keith Tapia 204 vs. Rafael Valenzula 198
Yuri Ramanau 138.25 vs. Jeremy Bryan 140
the two televised bouts will be a 12-round elimination bout for the IBF’s #2 position at super featherweight between Miami-based Cuban Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy (17-0, 11 KOs) and undefeated Afghani-Canadian Arash Usmanee (20-0, 10 KOs) and a 10-round junior middleweight punch-out between Puerto Rican slugger Jonathan “Mantequilla” Gonzalez (15-0-1, 13 KOs) and Philadelphia’s Derek “Pooh” Ennis (23-3-1, 13 KOs).
In support will be a host of competitive match-ups between local and international contenders, topped by a 10-round light welterweight attraction between Yuri Ramanau (22-2, 14 KOs) Minsk, Belarus and Jeremy Bryan (15-2, 7 KOs) of Paterson, New Jersey.
In a four-round heavyweight battle between undefeated hopefuls, Keith Tapia (5-0, 4 KOs) of New York, New York, will take on Rafael Valenzuela (6-0) of Agua Prieta, Mexico.
Also featured that night will be a six-round middleweight battle, as Bayamón, Puerto Rico’s Roberto J. Acevedo (6-0, 4 KOs) takes on Francisco Rios Gil (17-17, 12 KOs) of Sonora, Mexico .
In a four-round featherweight scrap between undefeated prospects, Miami, Florida’s Hairon Socarras (5-0-1, 4 KOs) will face Josh Bowles (6-0, 1 KO) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
And in a six-round light heavyweight battle, Zenica, Bosnia’s Radivoje Kalajdzic (8-0, 6 KOs) will take on Grover Young (6-7-1, 3 KOs) of Memphis.
Promoters: Warriors Boxing and Bad Dog Productions in association with the Magic City Casino
Tickets are on sale now on the Magic City Casino website www.magiccitycasino.com as well as in person at the Magic City Players Club. They are priced at $100, $75, $50 and $35.
