FNF Features The Battle Of The Junior Welterweights In Valentine’s Day Broadcast

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates presented by Corona Extra features a battle of the Junior Welterweights this week.

Undefeated Junior Welterweight Chris Algieri (18 – 0, 8 KOs) will face off against Emanuel “Tranzforma” Taylor (17 – 1, 12 KOs) in the night’s ten-round main event.  The fight will be broadcast live from the Paramount Theater in Huntington, N.Y. at 9pm ET on ESPN2 and online at ESPN Deportes+ and WatchESPN.  ESPN Deportes will air the fight in tape delay at 10:30pm ET.  This week’s card is promoted by Star Boxing.

Algieri, a Huntington, N.Y. native is the hometown favorite.  He comes into this week’s fight looking to add another notch to his “Win” column.  He won his last fight with a seventh-round TKO over Wilfredo Acuna.  He had nothing but good things to say of Taylor in a recent interview, and that he was looking forward to tomorrow’s fight because of how evenly matched the pair is.  “I think Emanuel Taylor is a good fighter. He’s a tough kid, he’s hungry, just like myself,” he said.  “I think it’s going to be a great night, especially for me. He’s (Taylor) a sharp guy, he’s a high-percentage puncher, but I’m a much busier fighter. It’s a good matchup, especially for the fans.”

Taylor comes into this week’s fight also looking to keep his winning ways going.  He has won his last three fights.  That streak includes an eighth-round TKO victory over Victor Cayo in his most recent fight.  Where Algieri was complimentary of Taylor in his comments, Taylor was far more self-assured in his comments about this week’s bout.  “I’ve seen a couple of videos of Algieri. He’s in shape, throws a lot of punches and stays busy,” he said.  “This is a step-up fight for him and it’s not going to be good for him. Stay tuned to the fight. It’s going to be a real good show.”

Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside with all the action live on ESPN2.  Todd Grisham will join them live from the ESPN Studios with all of the latest boxing news and reports.  Delvin Rodriguez and Pablo Viruega will have the call for ESPN ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes+.  Leopoldo Gonzales and Claudia Trejos will be live in studio.  Bernardo Osuna will have live interviews and reports for both networks.

Before the night’s big fight, fans will be treated to an eight-round co-feature that will pit another pair of Junior Welterweights against one another.  Issouf “Volcano” Kinda (16 – 1, 6 KOs) will face Jeremy “Hollywood” Bryan in the fight in question.  Both fighters come into this week’s fight very hungry for a win.  Kinda suffered a sixth-round technical decision loss to Chris Howard in his most recent match.  Bryan fell to Amir Imam in his most recent match courtesy of a second-round TKO.

Next week on Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra and Noche de Combates presented by Corona Extra, the Boxcino 2014 tournament kicks off.  The tournament is sponsored by 1800 Tequila and presented by Banner Promotions.  The Boxcino Tournament schedule is available below.

Upcoming Schedule:

 

Date	Time (ET)	Main Event	Location	Networks
Fri, Feb. 21	9 p.m.	Boxcino 2014 Lightweight Quarterfinals: six-rounds each Chris Rudd (12-1, 8 KOs) vs. Yakubu Amidu (22-4-1, 18 KOs) Petr Petrov (32-4-2, 15 KOs) vs. Fedor Papazov (14-0, 9 KOs) Miguel Gonzalez (22-3, 16 KOs) vs. Miguel Angel Mendoza (21-2-2, 21 KOs) Fernando Carcamo (15-5, 12 KOs) vs. Samuel Neequaye (21-0, 15 KOs)	Edgewater Casino, Laughlin, NV	ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN
Fri, Feb 28	9 p.m.	Boxcino 2014 Middleweight Quarterfinals: six-rounds each Donatas Bondorovas (18-4-1, 6 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe, Jr. (15-1, 6 KOs) Cerresso Fort (17-2-1, 11 KOs) vs. Vitalii Kopylenko (22-0, 12 KOs) Brandon Adams (12-0, 7 KOs) vs. Daniel Edouard (23-4-2, 12 KOs) Raymond Gatica (13-1, 7 KOs) vs. Sena Agbeko (15-0, 15 KOs)	Harrah’s Horseshoe, Hammond, Ind.	ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN
Fri, Mar. 7	9 p.m.	Rustam Nugaev (26-6-1, 16 KOs) vs. Marvin Quintero (25-4, 21 KOs) — 10-rounds, Lightweights	Pala Casino, Pala, Calif.	ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN
Fri, Mar. 21	9 p.m.	Vanes Martirosyan (33-1-1, 21 KOs) vs. TBD — 10-rounds, Junior Middleweights	Morongo Casino, Cabazon, Calif.	ESPN2, ESPN Deportes+, WatchESPN

 

More information on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra and ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates presented by Corona Extra is available online at http://www.facebook.com/espn.fnf, http://twitter.com/ESPNFNF, http://twitter.com/espnboxeo, and http://twitter.com/espnboxing.  To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

Former Title Contenders Headline FNF This Week

Courtesy: ESPN

This week’s edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights will be headlined by a pair of former title contenders facing off against each other.  Former Junior Middleweight and Welterweight title challenger Delvin Rodriguez (27 – 6 – 3, 15 KOs) will face off against former Welterweight title challenger Freddy “El Riel” Hernandez (30 – 4, 1 ND, 20 KOs) in the 10-round Junior Middleweight main event.  The main event fight will air live from the Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, CT at 10pm ET.  It will air on ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, and WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app. 

Rodriguez, a CT native, will be the hometown favorite.  If his name rings a bell, it should.  Rodriguez also serves as a boxing analyst for ESPN Deportes.  Friday’s fight will be his sixteenth appearance in the ring on Friday Night Fights.  His record speaks for itself.  His 2011 fight against Pawel Wolak was named the year’s “Fight of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association of America.”  A later ten-round unanimous decision win over Wolak gave Rodriguez a shot at defending titlist Austin Trout.  The ten-round fight was broadcast live on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.  It ended in a draw.  He claimed a win in his most recent fight this past February.  He defeated George Tahdooahnippah with a sixth-round TKO.  He also has wins against Mike Arnaoutis, Shamone Alvarez, and Oscar Diaz.

Rodriguez’s opponent, Freddy “El Riel” Hernandez, comes into tomorrow’s fight with quite the record, too.  Hernandez challenged former titlist Andre Berto for his WBC Welterweight title in 2010.  He holds wins over former world titlists Luis Callazo (W10) Mike Anchondo (WTKO4), and DeMarcus Corley (KO5).  He comes into tomorrow’s fight looking to rebound after losing his most recent match this past January to 2008 Olympian Demetrius Andrade.  Hernandez lost the fight in a ten-round unanimous decision.

Hernandez’s advisor Nigel Burns commented on what Hernandez needs in order to add another notch to his “W” column.  “He (Hernandez) needs to get a ‘W’ now to get some more opportunities, and he’s fighting a guy who’s going to give him that opportunity,”, he said.  “That’s not a knock on Rodriguez, but Rodriguez is more of a fighter than a boxer. I think it should be a good fight. Rodriguez is a good fighter and has fought some good people, and I expect him to actually stand in the pocket and trade with us.”

Friday’s main event will be preceded by a ten-round co-feature pitting the undefeated Junior Welterweight Issouf “Volcano” Kinda (16 – 0, 6 KOs)  against Chris “Hurricane” Howard ( 15 – 2 – 1, 7 KOs)  Kinda comes into tomorrow’s bout fresh on the heels of a second-round KO win over Javier Loya in his most recent fight.  Howard comes into tomorrow’s fight after taking an upset third-round TKO win over Bayan Jargal. 

Before all of this, ESPN2 and WatchESPN will air a pair of specials leading up to the night’s fights.  They will air The Best KOs of Friday Night Fights at 9pm ET and Mike Tyson’s Greatest Hits at 9:30pm ET. 

Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will both be on hand to call all the action from ringside, while Todd Grisham will have all the latest boxing news and more from the ESPN studios.  Pablo Viruega and Leopoldo Gonzalez will call all the action for ESPN Deportes with Claudia Trejos live in studio.  Bernardo Osuna will have live interviews and reports for ESPN2 HD and ESPN Deportes.

To keep up with the latest FNF news and more, “Like” the FNF Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/espn.fnf.  Fans can also follow all the latest from the show on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ESPNFNF and http://twitter.com/ESPNBoxeo.  Fans can score the match live at home thanks to the “Live Friday Night Fights Facebook voting app. 

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.