SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – Rising light middleweight prospect Aaron Coley may need to consider a rise up in weight class after battling the scales on Friday in advance of his six-round main event showdown with Michael Alexander taking place at the Placer County Fair & Events Center in nearby Roseville Saturday night. The promising undefeated prospect headlines a six-bout professional card, which also boasts a full slate of amateur bouts and a performance by popular Bay Area-based songstress Davina Joy. Fighters for the professional portion of the bill weighed-in at the Hooters of Sacramento, a short drive from where the fights will take place.
Coley (7-0, 4 KOs) of Hayward, California will make the move up to the six-round distance for the first time in his career against the veteran gatekeeper Alexander (2-8-3) of Antioch, California. Coley was last in the ring back on July 20th in Roseville where he took a shutout four-round decision over a game Saul Benitez. The tough luck Alexander has an appeal pending regarding his seventh pro loss, which took place on June 1st. In that fight, against unbeaten Ricardo Pinell, Alexander was clearly hit by a shot after the bell which resulted in the stoppage.
Coley, who looked a bit gaunt in the face, made three trips to the scales overall. On his first try, Coley was two pounds over at 156. On his second, and official, attempt, Coley weighed 155-pounds. A final third try ended up with a 155 ½-pound read on the scales. In a mild defense of Coley’s troubles, two other fighters weighed in over on Friday, perhaps leading to a question of the accuracy of the old-fashioned scale which was used over the more commonly utilized digital scales. Alexander had an easier time, weighing-in at 152-pounds.
Aldwayne Simpson (4-0, 2 KOs) of Richmond, California by way of Kingston, Jamaica takes to the ring for the first time in 2013 against long tenured journeyman Luis Alfredo Lugo (13-19-1, 6 KOs) of Richmond by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico in a four-round light welterweight contest.
Simpson is a frequent sparring partner for Amir Khan when the former champion moves his camp to Hayward. Lugo has fought virtual who’s who of world champions and contenders. Upon moving to the United States, Lugo took on nine consecutive undefeated fighters from May 2008 to September 2009. In that stretch Lugo went the distance with eventual world champions Danny Garcia and Adrien Broner. Simpson weighed-in at 142-pounds. Lugo failed to make the contracted 143, scaling 144 ½-pounds. Lugo’s team had no interest in attempting to lose the weight either, deciding to forgo 20 percent of their purse for the extra poundage.
Local fan favorite John Abella (4-0-1, 2 KOs) of Sacramento returns to the ring against Christian Cartier (0-2) of Yuma, Arizona by way of Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico in a four-round featherweight bout.
In his last outing, Abella erased a headbutt-induced technical draw with a one-sided six-round decision in a rematch with Salvador Cifuentez this past April. Cartier has not shied away from tough competition, taking on unbeaten prospects in all of his pro bouts. Abella weighed-in at 127 ½-pounds, while Cartier made 128.
Making his return to the ring after a two-year absence, Miguel Lopez (2-1, 1 KO) of San Francisco, California will take on debuting Luis Cruz of Sacramento in a four-round light middleweight bout.
Lopez, who in his time away opened up the gym Boxing For Health across the Bay in Oakland, suffered his only pro loss in his last contest, but to a fighter in Brandon Adams that now has an 11-0 career mark. Cruz, who had very limited, if any, amateur experience, is a pupil of Horacio Barrera at Broadway Boxing in Sacramento. Cruz weighed-in at 149 ½-pounds. Lopez came in half a pound over at 152 ½-pounds, but was not given the opportunity to shed the extra weight due to his late arrival at yesterday’s weigh-in.
LaRon Mitchell, one of the top amateur heavyweights of the U.S. boxing system over the last couple of years, makes the second start of his pro career as he takes on tough journeyman Blue DeLong (0-4) of Glendale, Arizona in a four-round heavyweight bout.
Mitchell (1-0, 1 KO) was the runner-up at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and silver medalist at the 2012 USA Boxing National Championships when a shoulder injury prevented him from competing in the finals. DeLong is coming off of a tough assignment against still unbeaten Gerald Washington. Mitchell weighed 242 ½-pounds, while DeLong came in at 247.
Another local favorite making his return to Roseville will be Sacramento’s undefeated Alberto Torres, who will be taking on debuting Percy Peterson of Stockton, California in a four-round super featherweight bout.
Torres (3-0-1) dropped San Francisco, California’s Denis Madriz en route to a four-round unanimous decision victory in July. Peterson is a frequent sparring partner of up-and-coming pro Don Jose. Torres, more naturally a featherweight, came in at 131-pounds, while Peterson made 130 ½.
Former international amateur standout Adam Fiel (1-0, 1 KO) of Vacaville, California was slated to take on Christian Silva (2-3, 1 KO) of Sun Valley, California in a four-round super featherweight contest. Unfortunately, inflammation in one of his elbows forced Fiel out of the bout earlier in the week.
The card will open up with a slate of USA Boxing-sanctioned amateur contests featuring fighters some several of the top local gyms. Fighters for the amateur portion of the card will weigh-in the day of the fight at LA Boxing in Sacramento.
During intermission from the boxing action, between the third and fourth professional bouts, the ring will host a live musical performance by Northern California’s own Davina Joy.
Tickets for the event, promoted by O.P.P., will be available at the door.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter @MarioG280
