Francisco Daniel Veron and Roiman Villa fight to establish themselves among the leading contenders in the world’s most competitive weight division when on November 21 they fight at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The junior middleweights have been matched over 10 rounds at the top of a ProBox TV Friday Night Fights promotion, aware that the landscape of the 154lbs division is likely again about to change.
The IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev is on course to defend his title against Josh Kelly on January 31, when Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou will fight to unify the WBO and WBA titles. That Sebastian Fundora is expected to defend his WBC title against Keith Thurman when he recovers from injury means that further opportunities are expected to emerge, and the Argentinian Olympian Veron or Colombia’s Villa can move into contention to seize them should they win.
“It was a training camp filled with hard work and a lot of studying of my opponent, because we know it’s going to be a tough fight, but winning will be a huge step forward for me,” said the 27-year-old Veron. “We know he has a powerful punch and tends to be aggressive, but I know I’m going to win because I can adapt to any type of opponent, and on top of that, I’m coming in very well prepared for this fight.
“Having the main event in a promotion as big as ProBoxTV makes me even more eager to get in the ring. I don’t feel any pressure at all because I’m a warrior and I’m going to put on a good show.”
Villa, 32, lost successive fights at welterweight to Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Ricardo Adan Salas Rodriguez before in January defeating Alexander Duran upon moving up in weight.
“Training went very well for me,” he said. “I am feeling much stronger and more comfortable at this new weight and I’m eager to show what I can do when I’m not so drained. Veron is an Olympian, and he likes to stay busy, but he can’t handle the pressure or the power I will be bringing. As soon as he slows down, he will be all mine.”
Their contest represents the latest of ProBox TV’s Contender Series, and will be proceeded by the 10-round welterweight match-up between Ruben Eduardo Aguilar and Luis Lopez, and two Future Stars Series fights scheduled for eight rounds, between the light heavyweights Dante Benjamin and Money Powell, and at junior lightweight between Francois Scarboro Jnr and Onyx Sanchez-Medina.
“We are bringing Francisco Veron back to ProBoxTV based on how phenomenal he looked dominating Vladimir Hernandez last July,” said ProBoxTV’s Garry Jonas, who is co-promoting alongside Sampson Lewkowicz. “Veron is a former Olympian seemingly on his way to becoming a threat to anyone in the 154lbs division, but Villa is a very dangerous puncher who was highly regarded before he ran into some weight-based setbacks a couple years ago.
“Aguilar is coming here to prove himself. He comes in with a big record, but now he’s getting a real test against Lopez and that will be a measuring stick of his true potential.
“A win for Aguilar will be a declaration he is for real. But Lopez is super tough, and things could definitely go the wrong way for him. We are going to find out if Aguilar is another Sampson Boxing find or if his 23-0-1 record was just built up against weaker opponents.”
