Van Heerden-Ayala Tops 5/13 Charity Event in Hollywood
May 13, 2015 • 1:10 AM ET
By Francisco Salazar
Welterweight contender Chris Van Heerden of South Africa will fight Ramon Ayala tonight., headlining
the 6th annual
Big Fighters, Big Cause
event inside the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland in Hollywood, Calif.
Van Heerden (22-1-1, 11 KOs) was scheduled to fight Frankie Gavin on May 9, but Gavin pulled out of the fight in order to challenge Kell Brook for the WBA title on May 30.
In his last bout on January 9, Van Heerden, who is trained by Freddie Roach, won a 10 round split decision over Chris McCalla. He has won his last eight bouts in a row since his lone defeat at the hands of Nikola Stevanovic in May of 2010.
Ayala (23-3-1, 11 KOs) has not fought since being knocked out at the hands of Omar Figueroa in March of 2012.
The Tlaxcala, Mexico resident had won five bouts in a row prior to the loss to Figueroa.
Heavyweight Natu Visinia (10-1, 8 KOs) hopes to rebound from his loss to Steve Cunningham when he fights Joshua Clark (2-2-2, 2 KOs) in a six round bout.
Two four round bouts will round out the card.
The Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation presents the annual event in conjunction with B. Riley & Company. Proceeds from the event, along with a silent auction, will go towards research and awareness for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes and to educate children to live healthier lives through diet and exercise.
For tickets or to donate for tonight's event, please visit:
http://www.sugarrayleonardfdn.org/big-fighters-big-cause/
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 (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
