By Francisco Salazar
Henry 'Hank' Lundy has not fought since December and looking to fight some of the better fighters at 135 or 140 pounds.
Then again, he has yearned to fight in his hometown of Philadelphia.
Longtime promoter Russell Peltz was more than happy to kill two birds with one stone.
Lundy will fight Daniel Evangelista tonight in an eight-round stay-busy fight at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. The fight will headline a nine-bout 'Peltz Boxing' card that will also feature area talent, including top welterweight prospect Jaron Ennis.
Lundy (27-6-1, with 13 knockouts) last fought on Dec. 30, winning a one-sided 12 round decision over prospect John Delperdang in Cincinnati. It was his first fight since Feb. 27 of last year, when he was stopped by Terence Crawford.
The 33-year-old Lundy required knee surgery after the Crawford fight before resuming his career last summer, eventually training and preparing for the Delperdang fight.
With a big fight now in the immediate horizon, Lundy wanted to stay busy. Russell Peltz, with over 40 years of promoting in the Philadelphia area, was happy to oblige.
“This will be Hank’s first fight in Philadelphia in almost eight years,” Peltz told Boxingscene.com Thursday night. “Hank has approached us over the last two-three years about fighting in Philadelphia. To my knowledge, he does not have a big fight lined up so we were happy to put him on our show.
Lundy is promoted by Jimmy Burchfield, Sr.
Tonight’s fight is meant for Lundy to stay busy, but Peltz always does his best to put on quality fight cards in the Philadelphia area.
“Hank wants to perform for his family and friends, but I still want to put on good shows. I know Daniel Evangelista is coming to fight. He’s coming to win. It should still be a good fight for the fans.”
The hard-hitting Evangelista (20-7-2, with 16 KOs) has lost once in his last five bouts after losing consecutive bouts to Joel Montes de Oca, Argenis Mendez, and Casey Ramos.
Jaron Ennis (11-0, with 9 KOs) of Philadelphia is a top prospect who has impressed with power and an improving skill-set. The 19-year-old will face veteran Wilfredo Acuna (16-20, with 6 KOs) in a six round welterweight bout.
Junior middleweight Isaiah Wise (4-1, with 3 KOs) faces Mark Daniels (3-0, with 1 KO) in a six round bout.
Unbeaten cruiserweight Arvin Varmall Jr. (10-0, with 8 KOs) and Juan Reyna (6-6-1, with 2 KOs) square off in a six round bout.
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.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing