By Francisco Salazar
Two welterweights with a lot to prove will do battle in a crossroads bout.
Unbeaten Sadam Ali will fight Francisco Santana in a 10 round bout on April 25, promoter Gary Shaw told Boxingscene.com on Tuesday afternoon.
The bout will precede the 12 round bout between heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko and unbeaten Bryant Jennings, which will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Both bouts will air on HBO’s ‘World Championship Boxing’ telecast.
Santana, who is promoted by Gary Shaw, has found renewed his career within the last few years. He has won his last 11 bouts in a row since a decision loss at the hands of Jermell Charlo in October of 2011.
A resident of Santa Barbara, Calif., Santana scored an impressive win on June 6, winning a hard-fought 10 round unanimous decision over Eddie Gomez, who entered the bout unbeaten.
In his last bout on January 9, Santana scored a spectacular first round knockout over Kendal Mena, a bout that opened the 2015 season on ‘Friday Night Fights’ on ESPN2.
Ali (21-0, 13 KOs) scored his most impressive win of his career in his last fight on November 8. Ali dominated Luis Carlos Abregu during most of the bout, eventually stopping him in the ninth round.
The 26-year-old will have the home-field advantage on April 25 as he resides across the East River in Brooklyn. Ali, who has fought most of his bouts in the northeastern part of the United States, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
