PHILADELPHIA (July 31, 2019) — Former super featherweight world champion Jason Sosa won’t have to travel far for his next assignment. The native of Camden, New Jersey, will make the short drive to Philadelphia to face veteran Haskell Lydell Rhodes in a 10-round super featherweight bout Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Liacouras Center.
Sosa-Rhodes will be the co-feature to the Carl Frampton-Emmanuel Dominguez featherweight clash and will stream live on ESPN+, the leading multi-sport streaming service, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
The undercard will stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
“I was supposed to fight July 19 against Erick De Leon, but he got injured. That doesn’t matter now. I’m ready for Rhodes,” Sosa said. “I couldn’t care less as long as my team prepares me to fight that person I’m scheduled to fight. That’s all I care about.”
“I’m going to show everyone watching on ESPN+ and all the great boxing enthusiasts in Philly that Haskell Lydell Rhodes is a top fighter,” Rhodes said. “Jason Sosa is a former world champion, and that has motivated me to show what I’m made of.
“Yes, this is short notice, but I’m an old-school guy. I’m in the gym every day.”
Sosa (22-3-4, 15 KOs) was the sport’s “Cinderella Man” of 2016, as he knocked out WBA world super featherweight champion Javier Fortuna in the 11th round of an all-action bout. Later that year, he defended the title in Monte Carlo with a unanimous decision over Stephen Smith. Back-to-back defeats to Vasiliy Lomachenko and Yuriorkis Gamboa halted Sosa’s momentum, but he has won two in a row, most recently grinding out a 10-round unanimous decision over Moises Delgadillo on Jan. 18 in Verona, New York. Rhodes (27-3-1, 13 KOs), who is now based in Las Vegas, is an eight-year pro who has never been stopped in 31 professional bouts. An Oklahoma native, Rhodes is 4-1 since an 0-2-1 skid that included competitive decision losses to Sergey Lipinets and Edner Cherry.
The following bouts are scheduled for the undercard stream:
- The long-awaited professional debut of two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez will come against Adan Gonzales (4-2-2, 2 KOs) in a four-round featherweight bout.
- South Philadelphia-born heavyweight puncher Sonny “The Bronco” Conto (3-0, 3 KOs) will take on Guillermo Del Rio (2-2-1, 2 KOs) in a four-rounder. Conto was one of Tyson Fury’s chief sparring partners for Fury’s June 15 bout against Tom Schwarz. Conto stopped Daniel Infante in two rounds on the Fury-Schwarz card in Las Vegas.
- Middleweight sensation Edgar Berlanga (11-0, 11 KOs), who has 11 straight first-round knockouts to begin his career, will face an opponent to be named in an eight-rounder.
- Donald Smith (9-0, 6 KOs), a 5-foot-11 southpaw featherweight from Philadelphia, will look to notch his second victory of the year against Abdur-Raheem Abdullah (3-2, 0 KOs) in a six-rounder.
- Paul “The Punisher” Kroll (4-0, 4 KOs) will look to thrill the hometown fans versus fellow unbeaten Shinard Bunch (2-0, 2 KOs) in a six-round super welterweight bout. Kroll, who turned pro last August, has three first-round knockouts on his ledger.
- Jeremy “Magic Hands” Adorno (1-0, 0 KOs) will fight the upset-minded Fernando Robles (2-1, 0 KOs) in a four-round super bantamweight bout.
For more information, visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook:facebook.com/trboxing; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Peltz Boxing and Queensberry Promotions, tickets priced at $100, $55 and $35 (not including applicable fees) are on sale now and can be purchased at the Liacouras Center Box Office and www.liacourascenter.com, or by calling Peltz Boxing at 215-765-0922.
Use the hashtags #FramptonDominguez and #SosaRhodes to join the conversation on social media.
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