The much-anticipated Canadian showdown between undefeated World Boxing Association (“WBA”) No. 11-rated Logan Cotton McGuinness and former world title challenger Benoit Gaudet will headline a rivalry show, presented by Hennessy Sports in association with Interbox and United Promotions, on Saturday night, October 22 at The Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
The pair of Canadian combatants has been on a collision course for nearly two years, since the younger McGuinness established himself as a legitimate national prospect. The stacked McGuinness-Gaudet card features many of the leading prospects in Canada.
“We’re thrilled that the McGuinness-Gaudet fight is finally happening,” promoter Adam Harris (Hennessy Sports) said. “We’ve worked very hard to put Logan and Gaudet in the ring together because Canadian fight fans have been clamoring for this match-up. Without question, we know that this is the stiffest test of Logan career to date, as well as a boxing fans dream match between a skilled boxer and pressure fighter. It’s going to be a great fight.”
McGuinness (15-0-1, 7 KOs), fighting out of Orangeville, Ontario, is a hot prospect who has been the North American Boxing Association (“NABA”) Lightweight Champion for the past 13 months, but the Irish-Canadian will abdicate his belt in order to challenge Gaudet for the vacant NABA super featherweight title.
The 31-year-old Gaudet (24-2, 10 KOs), of Quebec, owned the NABA super featherweight crown in 2007-2008, and is a past Canadian lightweight champion. In 2009, Gaudet was stopped by defending champion Humberto Soto in their World Boxing Council (“WBC”) super featherweight championship match, which was the co-feature on the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton mega-fight card..
Unbeaten Columbian welterweight Samuel Vargas (7-0-1, 1 KO), fighting out of Mississauga, Ontario, faces outspoken Montreal favorite Ahmad Cheikho (6-3-2, 5 KOs) in the 8/10-round co-feature. The relentless, pressuring Vargas has been inactive since February due to an injury and recovery, while Cheikho finds himself in a crossroads fight.
In a six-round bout, former Canadian amateur standout Ibrahim “Firearm” Kamal (4-0, 4 KOs) plans to continue his perfect pro streak against TBA, while a pair of Ontario lightweights – Jeremy Abbott (2-2, 1 KO) and Harrison McBain (3-3-1) – throw-down in an expected 4/6 round war.
Also fighting on the undercard in four-round bouts are Ontario fighters Dillon Carmen(1-0), a heavyweight prospect, light middleweight Brandon “Bad Boy” Cook(2-00, 1 KO), and super featherweight Natasha Spence (2-0-1, 2 KOs). All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets, starting at $30.00, may be purchased at the Hersey Centre Box Office, or through Ticketmaster at 416.872.5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
