Top undefeated prospects Robert Easter Jr. and Jamel Herring will enter the ring in separate bouts on Saturday, October 3 live at 8 p.m. ET from U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. In the main event, Adrien “The Problem” Broner (30-2, 22 KOs)will take on Khabib “The Hawk” Allakhverdiev (19-1, 9 KOs). In the co-main event, IBF Junior Lightweight titlist Jose “The Sniper” Pedraza (20-0, 12 KOs) defends his title against veteran Edner “Cherry Bomb” Cherry (34-6-2, 19 KOs).
Easter Jr. (15-0, 12 KOs) and Herring (13-0, 8 KOs) will look to remain undefeated when they face former world champion Miguel Acosta (29-8, 23 KOs) and former African champion Yakubu “Black Mamba” Amidu (19-7-2, 19 KOs), respectively, in 10-round lightweight fights.
Another pair of undefeated local prospects will appear on the undercard action: Jamontay “Quiet Assassin” Clark (6-0, 3 KOs) faces Romon Barber (5-9, 4 KOs) in a six-round welterweight bout and Raynell Williams (9-0, 5 KOs) competes in an eight- round lightweight affair against an opponent to be announced.
Rounding out the action is 32-year-old heavyweight Danny Calhoun (5-1 3 KOs) out of Chicago taking on 24-year-old Toledo-native Calvin Pritchard (2-6-3) in a six-round contest, 27-year-old Cincinnati-born Aaron Hollis (3-0, 2 KOs) facing 27-year-old DeWayne Wisdom (6-25-1, 3 KOs) out of Indianapolis in six rounds of featherweight action and 29-year-old Mel “Black Diamond” Crossty (7-0-1, 1 KO) out of Cincinnati going up against 25-year-old Cleveland-born Thomas Mattice (3-0, 3 KOs) in a 6/8 round lightweight attraction.
An accomplished amateur who was a 2012 U.S. Olympic alternate, the 24-year-old Easter Jr. will be seeking his fourth victory of 2015 after picking up knockouts over Osumanu Akaba, Miguel Mendoza and Alejandro Rodriguez. Unbeaten since turning pro in 2012, the Toldeo, Ohio-born prospect faces a tough challenge in 30-year-old Amidu. Born in Ghana, Amidu, who trains in Los Angeles, will be fighting for the third time this year.
The 29-year-old Herring represented the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games after winning the U.S. National Amateur title the same year. Fighting out of Cincinnati, Herring hopes for a fourth straight victory in 2015 after beating Hector Velazquez, Ariel Vasquez and Hector Marengo. He faces the toughest opponent of his pro career when he steps up against the 37-year-old Acosta. Born in Venezuela and fighting out of Philadelphia, Acosta won a world title and defended it against previously unbeaten fighters Paulus Moses and Armando Cordoba.
Another talented young fighter to come out of Cincinnati in recent years, Clark cites Aaron Pryor as one of his boxing idols. The slick 20-year-old recently completed his first six-round bout with a unanimous decision over Jonathan Garcia in May and stopped Marco Reyes in September. He returns in his hometown against the 33-year-old Barber out of Wichita, Kansas.
Fighting out of Cleveland, the 2008 U.S. Olympian Williams has been busy in 2015, picking up four victories including two by stoppage. The 26-year-old fights at U.S. Bank Arena for the second time in his career on October 3 and will look to make it a perfect 10 victories in a row to start his career.
