Twenty-year-old junior lightweight prospect Toka Kahn-Clary, fighting out of Providence by way of Liberia, has been added to next Thursday evening’s (Sept. 20) 11th annual Fight To Educate Pro-Am boxing card at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.
Anothger Providence fighter, undefeated junior middleweight contender Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (17-0, 12 KOs), a 2008 U.S. Olympian, will be the headliner for the third consecutive year. Co-promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Banner Promotions, Andrade takes on Alexis “Hurricane” Hlores (16-4-2, 12 KOs), who has fought top 5 world-ranked James Kirkland, in the scheduled 10-round main event.
The 24-year-old Andrade, who was the AIBA World amateur champion in 2007, is currently world rated No. 4 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 5 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO), as well as No. 10 by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and No. 15 by the World Boxing Association (WBA).
Kahn (2-0, 2 KOs), promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank, made his pro debut on June 29 in Providence, stopping Jonathan Caban in the second round. He followed that up with a opening round knockout of Jamil Winfield in their August 18 fight in Atlantic City.
Undefeated junior middleweight Chris Gilbert (4-0, 3 KOs), of Windsor (VT), meets upset specialist Antonio Chaves Fernandez (2-7), of Brockton (MA) by way of the U.S. Virgin Islands, in the six-round co-feature. This past weekend Fernandez upset previously unbeaten Irish National amateur champion Michael McLaughlin in Boston. Gilbert vs. Fernendez could easily steal the show because of the aggressive styles of both fighters.
Three amateur matches are also on tap featuring Claremont (NH) middleweight Neiko Clow, Vermont State Golden Gloves Champion and New England Golden Gloves finalist, vs. TBA; West Forks (ME) light welterweight Brandon Berry, another Vermont Golden Gloves Champion, vs. Rhode Island State Golden Gloves Champion Tevin Aleau, of Providence (RI); 90-pound boxer Thomas Blumenfield, National Junior Olympics Champion from Claremont (NH), vs. TBA.
Fight To Educate, presented this year in part by Absolute Broadcasting WGAM, The Game, is a unique charity event that combines a love of sports with the vision of assisting children and seniors in need, who with fundraisers like this could be ‘down for the count.’ During the past 10 years, Fight To Educate has raised more than $500,000 in donations benefiting local New Hampshire non-profit organizations.
