Undefeated 140-Pound Prospects Malik Hawkins and Darwin Price Square off Plus Unbeaten Angelo Leo Meets Cesar Juarez in Super Bantamweight Title Eliminator in Live Streaming Undercard Fights Saturday, December 28 on Showtime Championship Boxing Countdown
Unbeaten Cruiserweight Prospect Viddal Riley To Also Appear on Live Stream As Full Undercard Announced For Gervonta Davis vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa World Championship Event From State Farm Arena In Atlanta
NEW YORK (December 19, 2019) – SHOWTIME Sports will live stream three bouts as part of an exciting night of undercard action on Saturday, December 28 from the award-winning State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The special holiday presentation is headlined by two-time Super Featherweight Champion Gervonta Davis, who is moving up in weight to take on former unified world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa for the vacant WBA Lightweight Title in a Premier Boxing Champions event.
A pair of ShoBox: The New Generation alums will fight in separate bouts on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING COUNTDOWN as undefeated rising prospect Malik Hawkins faces off against unbeaten Darwin Price in a 10-round super lightweight fight, while undefeated Angelo Leo squares off against Cesar Juarez in an IBF and WBO Super Bantamweight Title Eliminator. The streaming portion of the night also features cruiserweight prospect Viddal Riley from London in a four-round fight against Cincinnati’s Muhammad Abdullah. Riley is widely recognized as the trainer for YouTube star KSI.
The digital offering begins live at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page leading into the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
The event is headlined by boxing’s hottest attraction in the undefeated Baltimore native Davis taking on the veteran Gamboa and will feature a co-main event pitting WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal against two-division champion Badou Jack. In the telecast opener, former world champion Jose “Bolivita” Uzcategui will return to battle Lionell Thompson in a 10-round super middleweight fight.
Ray Flores will call the live undercard play-by-play action on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING COUNTDOWN from ringside alongside Hall of Fame analyst Steve Farhood.
Tickets for the event, which is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, GTD Promotions and TGB Promotions, are on sale and available through Ticketmaster.com.
In SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP COUNTDOWN streaming coverage, Davis’ stablemate and up-and-coming prospect Hawkins (17-0, 10 KOs) will face the toughest test of his career as he looks to make a statement in one of boxing’s hottest division at 140 pounds. The 23-year-old Hawkins fought on the Davis vs. Ricardo Nunez undercard July 27 at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore as he scored an eight-round unanimous decision against Jonathan Steele. In his last fight, Hawkins knocked out All Rivera in Las Vegas in September. Currently trained by Calvin Ford and Kenny Ellis, Hawkins was 93-8 in the amateurs, which included tournament titles at the State Golden Gloves and Regional Golden Gloves. In April of 2017, Hawkins made his nationally televised debut on ShoBox at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., as he scored a dominating second-round TKO of previously undefeated Carlos Soto.
The 30-year-old Price (16-0, 9 KOs) lives and trains in Houston and has scored three knockouts in 2019, including most recently stopping Breidis Prescott in October in a headlining appearance in his hometown. A pro since 2013, Price did not fight in 2018 as he was forced to the sidelines for 15 months after suffering a patellar tendon injury in training. Prior to that, he had won eight fights between 2015 and 2017, including impressive victories over then unbeaten Semajay Thomas and Javontae Starks. A standout track and field runner at Grambling State University prior to his pro boxing career, Price can put himself closer to world title contention by turning away the rising prospect Hawkins.
Leo (18-0, 8 KOs) is another ShoBox alum who will be featured on the live stream as he takes on former world title challenger Cesar Juarez (25-7, 19 KOs) in a 12-round IBF and WBO Super Bantamweight Title Eliminator. The Mayweather Promotions prospect Leo went wire-to-wire in an impressive and dominating 10-round unanimous decision victory over Neil John Tabanao in April in the ShoBox main event at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. The veteran Juarez is from Mexico City and turned pro in 2010. He lost WBO world titles fights on two occasions, first against Nonito Donaire in 2015 in Puerto Rico and then against Issac Dogboe in 2018 in South Africa. Both Leo and Juarez are ranked in the top 10 by the IBF at 122 pounds.
Recognized widely as the trainer for YouTube star KSI, cruiserweight prospect Riley (3-0, 2 KOs) will put his undefeated record on the line against Abdullah(4-1-1, 2 KOs) in a four-round cruiserweight bout. The 22-year-old Riley represented England at the European Junior Boxing Championships in Russia in 2013. As an amateur, Riley won eight national championships and had a record of 41-8 (19 KOs). He recorded knockouts in his first two pro fights and notched a four-round unanimous decision in his third pro bout.
The stacked lineup of non-televised attractions includes light heavyweight contender Ahmed Elbiali (18-1, 16 KOs) in a 10-round bout against veteran Bryan Vera (26-15, 16 KOs), once-beaten contender Ladarius Miller (20-1, 6 KOs) in a 10-round super lightweight duel against Mexico’s Miguel Zamudio (44-15-1, 27 KOs) and Washington D.C.’s Kareem Martin (13-2-1, 4 KOs) taking on Russia’s Petros Ananyan (14-1-2, 7 KOs) in an eight-round super lightweight affair.
Also entering the ring is undefeated Baltimore-native Malik Warren (2-0, 2 KOs) in a four-round super featherweight duel against Macon, Georgia’s Trayvion Butts (3-0, 2 KOs) and unbeaten lightweight Jackson Martinez (18-0, 6 KOs) from the Dominican Republic squaring off against Mexico’s Yardley Cruz (26-14, 16 KOs) for an eight-round affair
Rounding out the lineup are Atlanta native and super featherweight prospect DeMichael Harris taking on Amonie Sanders in a four-round fight and the pro debut of Baltimore’s Mia Ellis in a four-round super lightweight battle against North Carolina’s Khadijah Sanders.
