This Friday night at the Stadium Holiday Inn in Philadelphia, King’s Promotions presents a night of boxing headlined by a 10-round bout between Frankie De Alba (15-1-2, 5 KO’s) and Bernardo Gomez Uribe (14-3, 10 KO’s).
In one of the 8-round co-features, Steve Upsher Chambers (24-4-1, 6 KO’s) returns to the city where he cut his teeth as a professional to take on Alejandro Rodriguez (24-16-1, 14 KO’s) in a Jr. Welterweight bout.
Chambers, who came originally to Philadelphia with former Heavyweight title challenger, “Fast” Eddie Chambers, fought 23 times and the famed Blue Horizon in Philadelphia and will be making his first start in the City of Brotherly Love in almost 6 years.
“I have been training hard and working on opening my new gym with (Lightweight contender) Rod Salka,” said Upsher.
“I am on weight already and I feel good. We will be fighting at 142 pounds.”
Upsher is ready to show the fans how far his abilities have grown since he turned pro in Philadelphia in 2003 when he was just 18 years old.
“I am happy to be coming back to Philadelphia. I want to show people how far I have come and see the improvement that I have made as a fighter.”
Despite losing his three bouts to the likes of former world champions Luis Collazo and Andre Berto as well as then-undefeated prospect Eddie Gomez, Upsher was competitive in all those bouts and grew tremendously from those experiences.
“It showed that I can compete against that level of fighter. Plus everyone of those guys was bigger than me. I am a natural 140 pounder and can make 135 if the right opportunity presented itself.”
Chambers went back to his native Pittsburgh to train in neighboring city Coal Center, PA.
“My mind is set on winning a world title at 140 pounds. After the three losses, I cant afford any missteps. People see about the losses. I know I have the ability to be a world champion and on May 29 that will start to show.”
On the veteran opponent, Rodriguez, Upsher said, “I know he is tough and from Mexico. I will look at a little film before the fight and go from there. I really don’t worry about what he will do. He should worry about me. This fight is redemption for me. It’s a start and then I would like to right all of the losses. But first I am looking for a dominant performance on Friday then I want to end all doubts.”
In 6-round bouts:
Farah Ennis (21-2, 12 KO’s) of Philadelphia will fight Michael Gbenga (20-19, 20 KO’s) of Accra, Ghana in a Super Middleweight bout.
Former U.S. Olympian, Raynell Williams (7-0, 4 KO’s) of Cleveland, OH will take on an opponent to be named in a Lightweight bout.
Welterweight Miguel Cruz (8-0, 7 KO’s) of Lake Mary, FL battles Juan Rodriguez (6-2-1, 5 KO’s) of Haymarket, VA..
Samuel Figueroa (7-0, 4 KO’s) of Ansco, PR will fight Jose Valderrama (4-9, 3 KO’s) of Arecibo, PR in a Welterweight bout.
Brandon Bennett (18-1, 7 KO’s) of Cincinnati, OH will square off with Rondale Hubbert (10-1-1, 6 KO’s) of Minneapolis, MN in a Lightweight bout.
Demond Nicholson (12-1, 12 KO’s) of Laurel, MD will battle German Perez (11-1, 3 KO’s) in a Middleweight bout.
Leo Hall (5-0, 5 KO’s) of Detroit, MI will risk his perfect mark against Lawrence Blakey (2-3, 1 KO) of Pennsylvania in a Light Heavyweight affair.
Caleb Plant (6-0, 5 KO’s) of Ashland City, TN will fight Jason Zabokrtsky (3-1, 3 KO’s) of Kansas in a Middleweight bout.
Rounding out the card in a 4-round bout will be Christopher Brooker (2-0, 2 KO’s) of Philadelphia fighting pro debuting Santario Martin of Gainesville, FL in a Super Middleweight bout.
