Fringe contender Toka Kahn Clary looks to continue his winning streak tonight against Mexico’s Dennis Contreras.
The eight-round bout will take place at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Clary weighed in at 128 pounds. Contreras weighed 129 pounds.
Clary (27-2, 18 knockouts), who is originally from West Africa country of Liberia and now resides in Providence, Rhode Island, defeated Irvin Gonzalez by unanimous decision in his last bout on August 29.
The 27-year-old has won his last two bouts since losing by unanimous decision to then-unbeaten Kid Galahad in October 2018.
The hard-hitting Contreras (21-10-1, 19 KOs), who resides in the boxing hotbed of Guadalajara, Mexico, last fought on May 25, notching a majority-decision win over previously-unbeaten Fernando Garcia. The win snapped a five-bout winless streak, including losses to Emanuel Navarrete and Carlos Ornelas.
Despite the spread of the coronavirus in the Northeast, promoter Jimmy Burchfield anticipates a sellout crowd tonight.
"This is going to be a tremendous event,” said promoter Jimmy Burchfield. "Every fighter will be tested, including our headliner, Toka Kahn Clary. There are regional rivalries up and down the roster. There’s nothing better than a Thursday night out to start your weekend.”
Unbeaten Lamont Powell (5-0, 1 KO) of Providence will square off against Guadalajara’s Carlos Huerta (6-5-2, 3 KOs) in a six-round junior middleweight bout. Huerta is winless in his last four bouts.
Welterweight Marcus Bates (7-3, 5 KOs) of Taunton, Massachusetts will face Roque Zapata (6-3-5) in a six-round bout. Zapata, who is originally from Panama and now resides in Culpepper, Virginia, only has one victory in his last four bouts.
In a clash of welterweights who reside in Massachusetts, Ray Oliveira, Jr. (8-3, 1 KO) will square off against Derrick Whitney, Jr. (6-1-1 1 ND) in a six-round bout.
CES Boxing, which is run by Burchfield, will promote the card.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene 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. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing