Undefeated super middleweight Lennox Allen suffered a rib injury in training and has been forced to pull out of his upcoming ESPN Friday Night Fights eight-round co-feature bout against Hungarian teenage phenom Norbert Nemesapati (14-0, 13KOs) next Friday in Fallon, NV.
In Allen’s place will be the heavy-handed Puerto Rican brawler Jason “El Monstruo” Escalera (14-2-1, 12KOs), fresh off of his decision victory over previously undefeated Naim Terbunja on July 18. The Star Boxing-promoted Escalera dropped Terbunja and the two went toe-to-toe in an action-packed six-round brawl with Escalera pulling out the split decision. Now that Escalera will be returning to the bright lights of ESPN, he knows what a tremendous opportunity this is for his career. The fight between Escalera and the undefeated Nemesapati is expected to be a barnburner between two come-forward knockout artists.
“I appreciate the opportunity from DiBella Entertainment and Star Boxing for giving me a chance to showcase my talents on ESPN. This is going to be a terrific fan-friendly fight as neither one of us takes a step backward inside the ring. Boxing fans won’t want to miss this matchup,” stated Escalera.
Headlining the card will be top-rated junior middleweight contender Willie Nelson (22-1-1, 13KOs) facing the hard-hitting Mexican Luis Grajeda (17-2-2, 13KOs) in the 10-round feature bout of the evening.
Opening up the card will be the highly anticipated pro-debut of China’s 2008 Olympic Games silver medalist Zhang Zhilei, in a four-round heavyweight special attraction.
