Ring City USA on NBCSN thread
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Jermaine Franklin vs. Stephan Shaw - Undercard Information
BY RANDOM HITS
Published Tue Apr 13, 2021, 01:08 PM EDT
Ring City USA today announced the entire loaded undercard for its Thursday, April 22 event from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y, the first professional fight card to take place in the state since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Five professional fights including top prospects and four amateur bouts featuring West Point cadets will highlight the undercard, which will be available around the world on Twitch.
The previously announced main card, which begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on NBC Sports Network, will be headlined by a heavyweight clash between undefeated contenders Jermaine Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs) and Stephan Shaw (14-0, 10 KOs). The Armed Forces Network Europe and Pacific will also make the broadcast available to U.S. Forces serving overseas on AFN TV.
In the main event on Twitch, Kazakhstan’s Bobirzhan Mominov (12-0, 8 KOs) will face the most difficult test of his professional career when he takes on Angel Ruiz (16-1, 12 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico in a welterweight fight scheduled for eight rounds. Now fighting out of California, the unbeaten 29-year-old prospect notched two impressive decision wins in 2020 as he continues his ascension to contender status. Standing in his way is the hungry 23-year-old Ruiz, who is trained by Manny Robles out of Southern California and returns to the ring after a nearly 18-month layoff following his first professional loss in 2019.
In the chief support bout on the Twitch undercard, 25-year-old Christian Mbilli (17-0, 16 KOs) will return to take on rugged ring veteran Jesus Antonio Gutierrez (27-4-2, 14 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico in a super middleweight fight scheduled for eight rounds. Mbilli, who hails from France, has flashed impressive power over his four-year professional career with a near perfect knockout ratio. In his only other fight in the U.S., he faced Humberto Gutierrez Ochoa in 2019 and went to the scorecards for the only time as a pro. The 26-year-old Gutierrez enters the fight riding a two-fight KO streak and has proven his status as a warrior against top opposition such as world title challengers Gabriel Rosado and Steven Butler.
Highlighted on the Twitch undercard is undefeated phenom Jalan Walker (8-0, 7 KOs) who will battle Angel Antonio Contreras (11-4-1, 7 KOs) in a super bantamweight fight scheduled for six rounds. Walker turned pro at 17 years old in 2019 and collected five first-round knockouts to start his career. As the highly touted prospect continues to develop, he will be in with a sturdy, experienced fighter in 26-year-old Contreras of Mexico.
Rounding out the Twitch undercard, undefeated prospect Daniel Bailey (3-0, 2 KOs) faces Luis Alvarado (1-2) in a four-round junior lightweight fight, while David Blyumkin will make his professional debut against Michael Honesto (0-1). Bailey was a decorated amateur with more than 100 fights while serving for the U.S. Army.
It was announced last week that the co-main event of the evening (NBCSN, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) is a women’s featherweight world title bout between WBA World Champion Jelena Mrdjenovich (41-10-2, 19 KOs) of Edmonton, Canada, and world ranked contender Erika Cruz Hernandez (12-1-0, 3 KOs) of Mexico City, Mexico, scheduled for ten rounds. Also featured on the NBC Sports Network main card is a highly anticipated clash between top undefeated junior welterweight prospects Juan Pablo ‘El Pivi’ Romero (13-0, 9 KOs) of Villa del Carbon, Mexico and Jonathan ‘Thunder’ Navarro (17-0, 9 KOs) of East Los Angeles, Calif.
Jermaine Franklin Tests Positive For COVID-19, Out of Shaw Ring City Clash
BY DAN RAFAEL
Published Sun Apr 18, 2021, 08:03 PM EDT
Heavyweight up-and-comer Jermaine Franklin has tested positive for Covid-19, forcing him out of a meaningful fight with fellow unbeaten American Stephan Shaw, sources with knowledge of the situation told BoxingScene on Sunday.
The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Franklin and 6-4, 240-pound Shaw were due to meet in the 10-round main event of the Ring City USA card on NBC Sports Net on Thursday (9 p.m. ET) at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
Franklin received a positive test and was eventually retested and that one also came back positive for the coronavirus, according to the sources.
Organizers are seeking a late replacement to face Shaw but even if an acceptable opponent is not found on such notice the card will still go ahead as planned, sources said.
Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs), 27, of Saginaw, Michigan, taking on Shaw (14-0, 10 KOs), 28, of St. Louis, was a rare matchup of unbeaten rising American heavyweights both stepping up their level of opposition.
If a new opponent is not found to face Shaw, the co-feature will move up to the main event position. That fight will see WBA women’s featherweight world titlist Jelena Mrjdenovich (41-10-2, 19 KOs), 38, of Edmonton, Canada, defend her belt against southpaw Erika Cruz Hernandez (12-1-0, 3 KOs), 30, of Mexico, in the co-feature.
There has also been a change to the opening bout. Junior welterweight Jonathan Navarro (17-0, 9 KOs), 24, of East Los Angeles, who is trained by Robert Garcia, was supposed to end a 17-month layoff and face Juan Pablo Romero (13-0, 9 KOs), 31, of Mexico, in the 10-rounder. However, Navarro has suffered a torn biceps and is out of the fight, a source said. Instead, Romero will face Denier Berrio (22-2-1, 13 KOs), of Colombia, according to a source.
Berrio, who has won two fights in a row, will be fighting in the U.S. for the first time. All of his previous bouts have taken place either in Colombia or Russia.
It’s the second recent fight Navarro has lost out on. Besides having to pull out of Thursday’s bout due to an injury, he had been scheduled to fight Mexico’s Pablo Cesar Cano (33-7-1, 23 KOs) in a 12-rounder on the DAZN undercard of Golden Boy Promotions’ Vergil Ortiz Jr.-Maurice Hooker undercard on March 20. But that fight was canceled when Cano was forced to withdraw on short notice due to a non-Covid-19 illness.
The card will be the first professional boxing show held at the U.S. Military Academy, which is well known for its amateur program. It will also be the first boxing event held in New York since heavyweight Robert Helenius upset Adam Kownacki in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card on March 7, 2020 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Dan Rafael was ESPN.com's senior boxing writer for fifteen years, and covered the sport for five years at USA Today. He was the 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism.
choc_cardigan
Squad
Why are they at west point
this first fight is rough man lol..one cat is loading up roundhouses like its going out of style
different scenery lolWhy are they at west point
and now dude's gassed lol
berrio had his best round of the fight yet
throwing these hands now in the final round
berrio needs every second..he should be throwing man lol....romero def got this on the cards
choc_cardigan
Squad
Thsts why first boxing match in NY
man dude just landed a mean low blow...sheesh he loaded up
hear that shook ones playing in the background
they are throwing heat at each other
the commentary between porter and herring is good stuff