This Friday night, August 28 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, DC, Brandon Bennett (19-1, 8 KO’s) will square off with former title challenger Jonathan Maicelo (21-2, 12 KO’s) in a Lightweight bout scheduled for 10-rounds.
Maicelo of Callao, Peru, but now resides in North Bergen, New Jersey is just seven months removed from challenging Darleys Perez for the Interim WBA Lightweight title. The loss in that fight had made Maicelo even hungrier and he looks for a big effort on Friday night to put him right back in contention for a world title.
“Training has gone great and I am super motivated,” said Maicelo.
He knows he will be fighting a tough guy in Bennett and has praise for the Cincinnati native.
“I respect every fighter. I have seen a few of his fights in tape and he is a good fighter from what I see. With that being said, I am better the fighter and on Friday, I will prove that.”
Maicelo fought a good fight against Perez but came up just short. He is taking the positives of that experience which will be a big factor in the fight on Friday night.
“Even though I lost to Perez, I took it as a big learning experience. I learned a lot and Friday, It will show. I was just in camp with Danny Garcia and I been super motivated.”
Maicelo isn’t a fighter who wants to be protected and babied to get back to contention, he wants to earn it by fighting top quality opposition.
“Fighting a guy like Bennett are the fights that I want. I want to show that I can beat guys with good records. I imagine that he feels the same way. I am sure he knows that I am no pushover and that he is in for a tough fight.”
The 32 year-old is steadfast that being in a hard 12-round title fight will make all the difference on Friday.
“I feel that I have all the experience. I have fought the tougher guys. I been at the world class level and that will be the difference. I just want to tell all my fans from Peru and here that I will give 100 %. It has nothing to do with Bennett but Friday night, I will be victorious.”
