Benavidez to Headline July 26 Solo Boxeo Tecate Card
Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank
PHOENIX — June 20, 2014 — IRON BOY PROMOTIONS, in conjunction with Top Rank Boxing, returns to the Celebrity Theatre July 26th for Iron Boy 14. Valley prodigy JOSE BENAVIDEZ, JR. headlines the Solo Boxeo Tecate card, which will be broadcast on UNIMAS, with two-time Mexican Olympian OSCAR VALDEZ in the co-main event bout.
Fighting in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, for the first time since 2011, Benavidez (20-0 14KO) is coming off a May victory over Gary, Indiana’s Angel Hernandez in Fresno. Hernandez was down three times in the fight, which ended in a wide unanimous decision in Benavidez’s favor.
He will be fighting for the vacant NABF Welterweight Youth title.
“I’m very excited to fight in my hometown, and I’m especially excited about fighting for the NABF Welterweight Youth Title,” said Benavidez. “It was great that my May fight was broadcast for the fans at home on Solo Boxeo Tecate, and now they’ll get a chance to see me live. We’re preparing for and expecting a tough fight.”
Nogales, Sonora’s Oscar Valdez (11-0, 11KO) co-headlines the show. Valdez is coming off a successful first defense of his NABF Super Lightweight Youth title on May 17th on the undercard of Marquez-Alvarado. “I’m excited to be fighting in Arizona, so close to my hometown of Nogales. I want to give the fans a great show and I’m pumped about showing everyone why I’m tomorrow’s next big star,” said Valdez.
The only two-time Mexican Olympian boxer in history, Valdez broke several records during the course of his amateur career and is widely considered to be one of the best prospects in the world.
In a bout that has Arizona boxing fans buzzing, Joey “Boxer” Ruelas (8-0 3KO) faces the also undefeated Andrew “Hurricane” Hernandez (6-0-1-1 1KO) in a six round contest at 168 lbs. Both fighters hail from the Valley of the Sun.
Rounding out the card are Francisco De Vaca, who is trained by Oscar De La Hoya’s former trainer Roberto Alcazar, Cameron Dunkin-signed prospect Alexis Zazueta (2-0, 2KO), and Emmanuel Nieves, who will be making his long-awaited professional debut.
“We have worked hard to put on consistent, high quality shows here in Phoenix. This is our thirteenth consecutive show at Celebrity Theatre, and we’re thrilled to be working with Top Rank Boxing,” said Iron Boy Promotions President Roberto Vargas. We have wanted to have [ Benavidez] Junior headline a show of ours for a long time, and we’re excited to work with
Top Rank to bring both he and Oscar Valdez to Arizona’s boxing fans.”
The Official Weigh-in for Iron Boy 14 will be at Crescent Crown in Mesa, Arizona at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 25th.
Tickets for the event may be purchased at WWW.IRON-BOY.COM or at the Celebrity Theatre Box Office and are priced at $65, $50 and $30. Doors open at 5 p.m. on July 26th, and first bell is at 6 p.m.
