By Francisco Salazar
Super middleweight Boyd Melson will face Courtney Pennington in an eight round bout tonight at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
The Melson-Pennington bout is the new main event of the DiBella Promotions card. The original main event between unbeaten junior featherweight Luis Rosa and Ryosuke Iwasa was scratched when Rosa came in two pounds over the 122-pound limit.
Melson (15-1-1, 4 KOs) has not fought since May 8, when he defeated Mike Ruiz by decision over 10 rounds. He retired after the fight, but returned to the ring to bring awareness to the rise of heroin addiction around the New York City area.
Melson, an Army Reserve captain, has been known to donate his purses for worthy causes. Melson will donate tonight's purse to 'Big Vision,' a non-profit foundation that assists those fighting addiction to narcotics.
Pennington (8-4-1, 4 KOs) has only won once in his last six fights after winning his first seven fights as a pro.
In the eight round co-feature, Alexis Santos (16-1, 14 KOs), who has won his last three fights, faces Jesse Barboza (11-2-1, 7 KOs) in a clash of Massachusetts heavyweights.
Junior middleweight Radzhab Butaev (3-0, 3 KOs) squares off against Gabor Gorbics (22-3, 13 KOs) in a 10 round bout for the vacant NABF title.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
