World super featherweight contenders Humberto Soto of Mexico and Humberto Toledo of Ecuador have arrived in Chester, West Va. for their upcoming main event bout at the Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Soto, 40-5-2, 24 KOs, is a powerful force. He won a WBC eliminator, defeating Ivan Valle on the Hasim Rahman vs. Oleg Maskaev PPV card last summer. Soto is rated WBC #2. He faces Humberto Toledo, 26-2-2, 15 KOs, of Ecuador in a 12-round bout which will be televised on the VERSUS Network. Toledo is rated WBC #7.
In the opening televised bout on Thursday night heavyweight Joe Mesi, 33-0, 26 KOs, of Buffalo will take on George Linberger, 29-8-1, 25 KOs, of Cleveland. That fight is scheduled for 10 rounds.
Heavyweight Tommy Morrison, 38 and who has not boxed since 1996, is here but has not been officially cleared to box on Thursday night. He been training for months in Phoenix and has taken a number of medical tests. If Morrison gets approval from the West Virginia Athletic Commission, he is scheduled to box John Castle of Indianapolis in a four-round bout.
Morrison, 46-3-1 with 40 knockouts, has not boxed since 1996, when he stopped Marcus Rhode in one round in Chiba, Japan. Morrison is now trained by Jerry Cheatham.
The VERSUS televised bouts on Thursday will be Soto vs Toledo, 12 rounds, and Mesi vs. Linberger, 10 rounds. The fights will be held on Mountaineer property at The Harv, a large, tented structure which is about 500 yards from the hotel.
