Undefeated Super Lightweight Sonny Fredrickson had the proverbial “cup of coffee” with both ShoBox: The New Generation and Claressa Shields back in August 2017. On Friday, January 12 on Showtime Fredrickson sits down to eat.
Several details about Sonny “Pretty Boy” Fredrickson’s January 12 bout have to feel like déjà vu. The fact it’s taking place at Verona, New York’s Turning Stone Resort & Casino has to give the undefeated 6-foot 2-inch Super Lightweight boxer-puncher some much needed assurances.
Back in August Fredrickson (18-0, 12 KOs) was set to face another Salita Promotions power-punching prospect in Bakhtiyar Eyubov (13-0, 11 KOs) as the co-main event to Claressa Shields’ history-making title-winning performance against Nikki Adler. Despite the fight being an extremely intriguing matchup of explosive punchers, the fight never came to fruition – due to no fault of Fredrickson.
Fredrickson expressed his disappointment in the fight’s collapse to his friends, family and supporters via a brief heartfelt post on Facebook. His discouragement was brief as he returned to action November 11, traveling to Medellín, Colombia to convincingly dismantle hometown fighter Placido Ramirez – another undefeated prospect – via third-round knockout. He returned to Ohio with his first professional title – the WBA Fedebol belt.
Sonny Fredrickson connecting with one of his several uppercuts landed against Placido Ramirez. Photo taken from Fredrickson’s social media.
On December 12 life got even better for Fredrickson. Showtime and Salita Promotions’ Dmitriy Salita announced the Ohio native would be facing knockout specialist Shohjahon Ergashev (10-0, 10 KOs) in the opening bout for unified Super Middleweight champion Claresssa Shields’ highly-anticipated first title defense against former WBC Middleweight champion Tori Nelson (17-0-3, 2 KOs).
In addition to the Shields-Nelson 10-round Women’s championship bout, the event will also feature the U.S. debut of WBC/WBO Middleweight champion Christina Hammer (22-0, 10 KOs), as well as an exciting bout between Super Bantamweights Jesse Hernandez (10-1, 7 KOs) and Ernesto Garza (9-2, 5 KOs).
Fredrickson intends to fully capitalize on his second shot at a Showtime appearance. The WBA No. 8-ranked Super Lightweight checked in with the Pay Me No Mind podcast ahead of next week’s big assignment, and assured that he’s had a great camp. He also expressed his confidence that his long-time trainer Lamar Wright has him well-prepared for any southpaw, even one with touted punching power.
If you look at Ergashev’s past opponents, he hasn’t fought against anyone that talented, so I’m confident that I’ll stop him in his tracks.
In the 20-minute interview Fredrickson said that interactions with several of Ergashev’s fans on social media is the reason behind why he’s been a bit out of character recently, as he’s taken to social media a couple of times brazenly vowing to stop the Uzbekistan southpaw. He also shared the fact he has some doubts about the power of the 5-foot 10 1/2-inch puncher, and that he’s eager to see how Ergashev responds to seeing him still there when the fight reaches the third or fourth round.
In the final moments of the interview Fredrickson discusses his thoughts on his gym mate IBF Lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr’s January 20 title defense versus former champion Javier Fortuna, and offers some comments on a few other top-ranked fighters in the wide open 140-pound division.
By soundly defeating Ergashev in an impressive ShoBox performance, Fredrickson could realistically start facing the likes of Rances Barthelemy, Kiryl Relikh, or Regis Prograis. After all, Medillín was just a part of Fredrickson’s journey in boxing, not the final destination.
All photos taken from Sonny Fredrickson’s social media
