Joshua Pagan. Picture courtesy of MLive.com
James Pagan has a brand new opponent in his sights.
The unbeaten light-weight prospect will now face gatekeeper Haskell Rhodes on October 18, promoter Dmitriy Salita confirmed. The ten-round bout will happen on the Coca-Cola Music Corridor in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Salita additionally introduced middleweight prospect Da’Velle Smith can even be a part of the ‘Large Time Boxing USA’ card. Each fights will stream dwell on DAZN (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).
Pagan (10-0, 4 knockouts) was initially scheduled to face Canada’s Trevor Thonson in a compelling conflict of unbeaten lightweights. Thonson reportedly confronted journey points that pressured him to withdraw from the battle.
The DAZN headliner will mark Pagan’s first scheduled 10-round battle of his younger professional profession. The 24-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan native has already thrived versus above-average opposition.
Pagan defeated Roger Hilley by unanimous resolution in his final bout on Might 23. Each Pagan and Hilley entered the battle unbeaten. Pagan’s return to the ring was delayed after he suffered a deep minimize over his left eye from an unintentional conflict of heads within the opening spherical.
In his earlier battle final October 21, Pagan defeated Braulio Rodriguez over six one-sided rounds. He additionally has a win over one other unbeaten fighter, Ronnell Burnett, a stoppage victory final June 3.
Rhodes (31-6-1, 16 KOs), initially from Oklahoma Metropolis and now resides in Las Vegas, final fought on August 31. The 36-year-old veteran knocked out Jonathan Perez within the opening spherical for the fourth win in his final six begins.
Among the many two defeats over that interval was a one-sided resolution loss to unbeaten Floyd Schofield on July 8 of final 12 months.
Smith (9-0, 7 KOs) is coming off a knockout win in his final bout September 12. The 24-year previous Taylor, Mich. product stopping Esau Herrera de la Cruz within the third spherical. He has stopped 4 of his final 5 opponents.
Each Pagan and Smith are promoted by Salita and managed by Aaron Samson.
Within the co-main occasion, unbeaten mild heavyweight Juan Carrillo (12-0, 9 KOs) of Barranquilla, Colombia will sq. off towards Gilbert Castillo Rivera (25-5-1, 9 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in a 10-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has coated boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He may be reached at [email protected]
