Undefeated Junior Welterweights Raymond “Tito” Serrano (18-0, 8 KOs) and Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield (15-0-1, 9 KOs) will meet in the 10-round main event May 18 on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra. Friday’s show will air at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN3 from Albany, N.Y. The card is presented by Star Boxing.
Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside for ESPN2 HD and ESPN3 at the Times Union Center describing the action, while studio host Bernardo Osuna will present the latest boxing news and highlights. On ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights), Alex Pombo and Delvin Rodriguez will call the fights with Leopoldo Gonzalez and Pablo Viruega in the studio.
Both shows will include Osuna’s interview earlier this week with Manny Pacquiao. Both shows will also discuss the U.S. Olympic boxing team as it prepares for the 2012 Summer Games in London. ESPN Deportes will discuss U.S. Olympic boxer Jose Ramirez and female boxer Marlen Esparza. Esparza of Texas, moved to the third round at the women’s world boxing championships Sunday.
Main Event:
California’s Mayfield is trained by Virgil Hunter, who also trains Super Middleweight champion Andre Ward, and enters Friday’s fight having defeated former Junior Lightweight titlist Steve Forbes. Mayfield won a 10-round decision over two-time Venezuelan Olympian Patrick Lopez in his last fight.
Serrano of Philadelphia is coming off a February 10-round decision win over Kenny Abril.
“I’ve seen a few of Mayfield’s fights,” Serrano said. “I think both of us are going to try to see who lands first. I think he’s going to come out strong, but I’ve got a good game plan. I’m ready to go to war.”
Co-Feature:
Undefeated Middleweight Jason “Monstruo” Escalera (12-0, 11 KOs) will meet Nick “The Machine Gun” Brinson (9-1-1, 5 KOs) in the co-feature. Both fighters are coming off wins over Marcus Brooks–New Jersey’s Escalera with a fourth-round TKO and New York’s Brinson with an eight-round decision.
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