Gradovich to defend against Velez on Crawford – Beltran card

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, IBF Featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich will defend his title against Jayson Velez on November 29 as part of the Terence Crawford – Ray Beltran undercard in in Omaha, Nebraska.

“It’s a real good fight, I think,” said Gradovich’s promoter Bob Arum. “Gradovich and this kid Velez both come to fight. It’s hard for me to pick a winner. If you had to pick a winner I guess you’d have to go with Gradovich based on his experience.”

“It’s two guys who aren’t big sluggers who fight like they are big sluggers, which always makes for a great action fight,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said.

“Velez has given a good account of himself and he’s Miguel Cotto’s fighter, so we moved him into the title fight with Gradovich,” Arum said. “Velez, Miguel and [Cotto adviser] Gaby [Peñagaricano] are ecstatic to get the fight and we’re happy to put it on.”