On Thursday, April 4, DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing series returns to Roseland Ballroom in New York City with a stacked 10-bout card featuring an array of talent from top to bottom. As previously announced, the card will feature former WBA junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (29-2, 8KO’s), and top contenders Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle (16-1, 11KO’s), WBC #6-rated welterweight Ionut “Jo Jo” Dan Ion (30-2, 17KO’s) and Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (21-1, 4KO’s).
Foreman will square off against Gundrick King (18-9, 11KO’s) in a six-round junior middleweight matchup, while Del Valle, now training with Hall-of-Fame trainer Nacho Beristain, will see action against Andre Wilson (13-5, 11KO’s) in an eight-round featherweight contest.
Ion is set to meet Damian Frias (19-6-1, 10KO’s) in an eight-round welterweight showdown, while Bracero squares off against Pavel Miranda (19-9-1, 10KO’s) in an eight-round junior welterweight matchup.
The remainder of the card features some of the most promising young talent on the DBE roster, including undefeated prospects “The Notorious” Travis Peterkin (7-0, 4KO’s), Patrick “All” Day (2-0, 2KO’s) and Heather “The Heat” Hardy (4-0).
Also scheduled to see action on the card is undefeated Bryant “Peewee” Cruz (2-0, 2KO’s) and 50 Cent’s SMS Promotions’ Luis Olivares (1-0, 1KO) and Donte Strayhorn (pro debut).
The fight next Thursday will be Peterkin’s fourth consecutive bout at Roseland Ballroom since signing with DBE in late 2012. The former Golden Gloves champion and Brooklyn-native Peterkin has impressed in each outing and continues to improve each and every time he steps into the ring. With power in both hands and an aggressive come-forward style, Peterkin is quickly becoming one of the most talked about prospects on the NY boxing scene. The southpaw light heavyweight is scheduled to face Daniel Garcia (5-2-1, 3KO’s) in a six-round matchup.
The former #1-ranked US amateur Day has yet to see the second round as a professional, scoring two equally impressive first-round TKOs in his previous bouts, both in 2013. A native of Freeport, Long Island, the 20-year-old Day, like Peterkin, is truly one of the bright young stars on the DBE roster. Day is set to see action against Yosmani Abreu (3-6-1) in a four-round junior middleweight contest.
Each time the female bantamweight Hardy steps into the ring, it seems as though her fan base grows. Always sporting her Irish-native colors, the Brooklynite Hardy has improved and impressed from each bout to the next. Hardy is scheduled to take on Mikayla Nebel in a rematch of their bout from last August. In that bout, which was an absolute war and Hardy’s pro debut, Nebel scored a knockdown in the first round, with Hardy sweeping the next three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards to win a close unanimous decision. This will be the first time that both Hardy and Nebel fight in a bout scheduled for six rounds.
Cruz, a 2012 National Golden Gloves finalist, turned pro in December 2012, scoring a third-round TKO over Jonathan Caban. He followed up that performance with a fourth-round TKO over Pedro Andres in February and looks to do the same next Thursday. Cruz is set to square off against Antoine Knight (2-2, 1KO) in a four-round junior lightweight matchup.
