By Keith Idec
Antoine Douglas intends to show viewers in this “ShoBox” main event the talent he was mostly unable to display in his “ShoBox” majority draw with Michel Soro nearly a year ago.
The undefeated Douglas faced France’s Soro at a contracted catch weight of 157 pounds last July 25 in Verona, N.Y., because the televised fight provided great exposure. The Burke, Virginia native weighed in at 155½ pounds for that 10-rounder, the lowest he has weighed for any of his professional fights, and Douglas is certain that cost him when he didn’t have much energy during the second half of that difficult fight.
The 22-year-old prospect expects to look much more impressive against Hungary’s Istvan Szili in their 10-round middleweight match Friday night, the main event of a “ShoBox: The New Generation” quadrupleheader from Sands Bethlehem in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (Showtime; 10 p.m. ET/PT). The 32-year-old Szili is undefeated (18-0-2, 8 KOs), but is not considered as complete a boxer as Soro (27-1-1, 17 KOs), who has stopped junior middleweight contender Glen Tapia (23-2, 15 KOs) since settling for a draw with Douglas (17-0-1, 11 KOs).
“This will allow me to show people that I’m at that level, where I’m able to compete with top guys,” Douglas told BoxingScene.com. “He’s undefeated. He’s a good fighter, a strong fighter, also. He’s older, so I’m guessing he’s more seasoned. I want to show the people that I’m not a cupcake, that I belong at the top.”
Vito Mielnicki – whose company, GH3 Promotions, represents Douglas – has seen a transformation in Douglas since Soro gave him trouble.
“I think Antoine Douglas, after this fight, is going to go to the next level,” Mielnicki said. “He’s going to be on [Showtime] Championship [Boxing] or HBO. We don’t know where, but we know something’s going to fall into place. He’s going to be put high in the rankings. It’s time for Antoine to come out. It’s his coming out party. He’s graduating [Friday] night.
“He has matured so much in the last year. He’s the fastest-moving fighter in the world, not just in this country. Who fights almost 20 fights in [2½] years? That’s what Antoine Douglas has done and he just turned 22. He’s going to be around for a long time, that kid. He’s special.”
The “ShoBox” broadcast Friday night also will include a 10-round middleweight bout between Derrick Webster (19-0, 10 KOs), of Glassboro, N.J., and Russia’s Arif Magomedov (15-0, 9 KOs) and 10-round bantamweight bout that’ll pit San Antonio’s Adam Lopez (12-0, 6 KOs) against the Dominican Republic’s Eliezer Aquino (17-0-1, 11 KOs). The four-fight telecast will start with super middleweight prospect Jerry Odom (13-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC), of Washington, D.C., in an eight-rounder against Samuel Clarkson (14-3, 8 KOs), of Cedar Hill, Texas.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.