On Thursday, DiBella Entertainment will return to B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in Manhattan for the first time since March 2016, with its highly anticipated year-end Broadway Boxing “Season’s Beatings” event. The tremendous seven-bout card will include three outstanding matchups featuring six undefeated prospects as well as the return of former world lightweight champion Dejan Zlaticanin. All bouts will be available for viewing by visiting the DiBella Entertainment Facebook page.
“This is the kind of boxing card that would make Showtime’s Gordon Hall very proud,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “Just like our recent ShoBox card in Cleveland, this event will match several undefeated prospects against one another as they vie to advance their careers. Former lightweight champion Dejan Zlaticanin will also begin his comeback on Thursday night. This is one of the best ‘Broadway Boxing’ shows we’ve had in the series and I’m thrilled to end the year with a bang for the local fight fans in attendance and those watching live on our Facebook page.”
Featured in an eight-round lightweight battle, Brooklyn’s Wesley Ferrer (12-0, 7 KOs) will face fellow unbeaten Will Madera (11-0, 5 KOs), of Albany, New York.
The 25-year-old Ferrer will be making his 2017 debut following two sensational knockout victories in 2016 versus Luis Alberto Pelayo and Angel Figueroa.
Fighting seven times in the Montreal area over a three-year period, the 26-year-old Madera returned to the United States in his last fight, earning an eight-round unanimous decision against Gabriel Duluc on September 23, 2017, in Schenectady, New York. The fight against Ferrer will be his fourth of 2017.
Co-featured this Thursday night in a six-round battle of top undefeated junior middleweight prospects,
Brooklyn’s Hurshidbek Normatov (4-0, 2 KOs) enters the squared circle against heavy-handed Puerto Rican Nicklaus Flaz (5-0, 4 KOs).
The 25-year-old Normatov, a native of Uzbekistan, has quickly impressed fight fans in the United States where all four of his professional bouts have taken place. Fighting for the second time in 2017, Normatov returns to battle following a stunning first-round knockout of Bruce Lutchmedial on October 28, at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Fighting on the same card as Normatov, the 22-year-old Flaz, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, won a dominant six-round decision versus veteran Elie Augustama.
In a six-round welterweight contest, Larry Fryers (5-0, 2 KOs), of Ireland, now fighting out of The Bronx, New York, faces fellow undefeated prospect Charles “Mr. Hollywood” Natal (9-0-2, 3 KOs), of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
The 27-year-old Fryers will be making his fifth start of 2017, coming off a six-round decision against Heberto Persico on October 14, in Ontario, Canada.
Currently fighting out of Cleveland, Ohio, the 25-year-old all-action Natal is riding a five-bout winning streak and will be making his New York City debut.
In a special attraction eight-round junior welterweight bout, former WBC lightweight world champion Dejan Zlaticanin (22-1, 15 KOs), of Podgorica, Montenegro, faces Barranquilla, Colombia’s battle-tested veteran Heivinson Herrera (22-13-1, 16 KOs).
Undefeated over eight years of his professional career, the hard-hitting Zlaticanin won the vacant world title with a third-round knockout of Franklin Mamani on June 11, 2016. In his first defense, he would lose the title in a shootout with current champion Mikey Garcia, on January 28, 2017.
Fast rising heavyweight prospect George Arias (9-0, 5 KOs), of The Bronx, New York, will clash with Taylor, Michigan’s Juan Goode (8-7, 6 KOs).
A native of the Dominican Republic, the 25-year-old Arias has shined brightly throughout his four victories in 2017, the two most recent taking place at Barclays Center. On July 29, Arias knocked out then-undefeated Elder Hernandez in the fourth round and followed up with a fifth-round stoppage of Mario Heredia, on October 14.
Goode has faced a number of top heavyweight prospects over his six years as a professional, including Darmani Rock, Cassius Chaney and Ed Latimore.
Also scheduled in an eight-round women’s middleweight clash, New York area fan favorite Alicia “The Empress” Napoleon (8-1, 5 KOs) takes on Sydney LeBlanc (4-5-1), of Gretna, Louisiana.
Fighting out of Lindenhurst, Long Island, Napoleon is determined to extend her winning streak in short order, following a six-round shutout decision victory versus Nicolet Papp, on November 18, in Queens, New York.
Among the top names included on LeBlanc’s record are current world champion Claressa Shields, Franchon Crews, Maricela Cornejo and Savannah Marshall.
Rounding out the card, junior middleweight prospect Jose “Cheito” Roman (4-0, 3 KOs), of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, will appear in a scheduled four-rounder. Just 23 years old, Roman won the first three bouts of his professional career by knockout and most recently won a four-round decision against William Hill, on June 3, 2017, at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Tickets for the Broadway Boxing event are priced at $125, $100, $75 and $55. Tables are also available for purchase, with VIP tables going for $1,000 per table (5 seats at $200 per seat), Ringside tables for $500 (5 seats at $100), and $375 tables (5 seats at $75). Tickets are available for purchase by calling the DiBella Entertainment office at (212) 947-2577. Doors open at 6:30pm with the first bout scheduled for 7:00pm. B.B. King Blues Club & Grill is located at 237 W. 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in Times Square.