East Orange, New Jersey, may be better known as the hometown of music artists like Lauryn Hill and Naughty by Nature than it is for its boxing culture, but Rajon Chance is hoping to change that.

Chance, a junior featherweight, will headline in his hometown on April 26 in a ten-round fight against Orlando Perez Zapata. The fight will headline a Star Boxing card live from East Orange Campus High School, where Chance was once a student.

For Chance, fighting in his hometown was the logical next pit stop before he makes his move to contender.

“Why not make a great homecoming in East Orange?” said the 24-year-old Chance, 8-1-1 (6 KOs). “Terence Crawford fought in his hometown of Omaha, and now he has the respect of his city and the world. There’s nothing like fighting in your home city to show that you still have love for where you came from.”

The fight has been more than a year in the making. Chance was first scheduled to fight Perez, 13-0 (9 KOs), of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on a card in Las Vegas in October of 2023. The fight fell out the week of the bout due to an unspecified issue with Perez. Instead Chance sat out the rest of 2023 and returned to the ring in April 2024, suffering his first defeat by split decision against Travon Lawson. 

Chance disputes the decision but says he learned valuable lessons from it.

“It wasn’t a loss; I got robbed,” said Chance, who has trained alongside world champions Shakur Stevenson and Crawford. “Me getting robbed in that, me going through that depression stage, me going through all that, it really woke up a different kind of beast. It made me never want to feel that feeling again. It made me not want to play with nobody, always put on great shows and go for the kill when it’s there.”

As Chance aimed to rebuild, he reached out to his manager, Gabriel Blinder, of Critical Sports and Entertainment, who discussed the card with Star Boxing before taking the project to East Orange Mayor Ted Green.

“East Orange has a proud tradition of producing elite athletes, and Rajon Chance is a shining example of that legacy,” said Green in a Star Boxing press release. “We are thrilled to partner with Star Boxing to bring this event to our city and to give our community the opportunity to witness one of their own in action on a major stage.”

Perez, 34, will be fighting for the first time in the United States. In his most recent fight, in April 2023, Perez won a unanimous decision over Leonard Sanchez, who entered the fight with a record of 7-0. Chance says he’s seen a bit of video on Perez, saying he’s a “fast, slick” fighter.

Says Chance’s promoter Joe DeGuardia: “We believe it is an interesting fight and are working on making it for a regional title.”

Chance has added motivation heading into this fight. His younger brother, the 18-year-old amateur standout Emmanuel Chance, recently signed a promotional deal with Top Rank, and his professional debut is set for March 29 in Las Vegas on the undercard of Mikaela Mayer vs Sandy Ryan II.

Chance says that his hard road through the pros has equipped him with experience that he can pass on to his younger brother.

“It also motivated me to be a better big brother in terms of knowing what could happen and the stuff that he’s gonna go through as far as the career, the clout chasing,” Chance said. “It made me more want to be a protector of family.

“It makes me proud, but also helps me become more of a man because I have to lead by example and be a better man than I was before.”

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.