The January 10 edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights will feature Junior Lightweight contender Yenifel “El Rayo” Vicente (25-1-2, 1 NC, 17 KOs) and Juan Antonio Rodriguez (24-4, 22 KOS) in the 8-round main event. Friday’s show from Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino in Tacoma, Wash., will air live at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Main Event:
Vicente, a Dominican Republic native, who resides in Miami, is coming off a June fourth-round TKO win over Jorge Diaz on Friday Night Fights. After the fight ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael wrote: “This was an all-action bout from the outset as the fighters exchanged clean punches in the opening round and got the crowd into it. After three blazing rounds of two-way action, Vicente nailed Diaz with a flush right uppercut and flattened him in the fourth. Vicente clipped him with a few more shots, including another right uppercut, before the referee stepped in to stop it at 2 minutes, 2 seconds.”
In his last outing, Mexico’s Rodriguez who will be making his U.S. debut, scored a November fourth-round TKO win over Javier Mercado.
Co-Feature:
Friday’s 10-round Junior Welterweight co-feature will pit former Lightweight title challenger Zahir “King” Raheem (34-3, 21 KOS) against “The Mongolian Mongoose” Bayan Jargal (17-4-3, 10 KOs). Atlanta’s Raheem is looking to continue his winning ways after a second-round TKO win over Tim Coleman, while Virginia’s Jargal, a native of Mongolia, will look to rebound from a third-round TKO loss to Chris Howard.
Additional Fight:
Friday’s card will include an additional six-round bout between undefeated Heavyweight Lateef Kayode (19-0, 15 KOs) and Jonte Willis (9-7-1, 3 KOs).
