By Ricardo Ibarra
A pair of undefeated super flyweights will battle for the vacant NABF title on Thursday night at Legends Casino in Toppenish, Washington. Squaring off in the main event of Roy Jones Jr Boxing Promotions’ first UFC FIGHT PASS streamed card of the new year, Ernesto Delgadillo (11-0-2, 2 KOs) will face heavy-handed Filipino Jade “Hurricane” Bornea (14-0, 10 KOs) in a ten rounder for the 115-pound belt.
Fighting out of Dallas, Texas, Delgadillo will be making his return to the ring after a seventeen-month stretch of inactivity. The twenty-five-year-old once held the WBC United States (USNBC) super flyweight belt, claiming the vacant strap with a unanimous decision win over Bryan Aquino in November of 2017. He last fought in August of 2018, making his second successful defense of that belt with a ten round decision victory over Nate Green.
Bornea, of General Santos City, Philippines, will be making his first appearance on U.S. soil, having fought the entirety of his pro career in his native land. A former IBF Youth super flyweight title holder, Bornea is currently ranked #7 by the IBF and #15 by the WBA. The hard-hitting twenty-four-year-old is on a three-fight knockout spree, with his last win being a second round TKO against Johnathan Francisco in April.
Also featured on the live stream will be rising unbeaten Irish middleweight Connor “The Kid” Coyle (11-0, 4 KOs), taking on Mexico’s Miguel Dumas (11-2, 8 KOs). Coyle, who hails from Derry, Northern Ireland, moved to Florida in 2016 and has claimed all but two of his professional wins in the U.S. In his last outing this past August, he scored a second-round knockout over Rafael Ramon Ramirez. Dumas, meanwhile, will be looking to shake off the ring rust after a fourteen month lay-off. He last fought in November of 2018, scoring a second round TKO win over Rodolfo Manriquez. His only two losses have come against undefeated Alexis Rocha in an unsuccessful bid for the vacant WBC Continental Americas welterweight title (L KO1, Mar. 2018); and against the once-highly touted Karim Mayfield (L UD6, Oct. 2017). The two will face-off in a scheduled eight round match-up at 160 lbs.
Kicking off the streamed portion of the event will be an intriguing clash between two of the top light heavyweights in the Pacific Northwest as Richard Vansiclen (7-0, 3 KOs) takes on fellow undefeated fighter Abraham Martin (5-0, 5 KOs). Vansiclen, a crafty boxer fighting out of Seattle, is hoping to solidify his claim as the best 175-pound prospect in the region and maintain his momentum after scoring a good six round decision win over Cameron Sevilla-Rivera last October. Medford, Oregon’s Martin will be looking to challenge that claim and maintain his perfect knockout streak, having scored all his professional wins inside the distance, and all within two rounds. Most recently, he knocked out John Peak in the first round this past September. Vansiclen and Martin will meet in a six-round bout.
Four fights will make up the non-televised undercard. Popular eighteen-year-old featherweight Willie Hernandez-Gomez (3-0, 2 KOs) will step back into the ring in search of his fourth win as pro, facing off with Vancouver, Washington’s Abdul Kamara (1-1). Gomez, of Burien, Washington, was a solid regional amateur and has looked sharp as a pro, scoring first round knockouts in two of his first three fights. He was last in action this past October when he knocked out Steven Hellman in the opening round. Kamara scored his first win as a paid boxer in his last fight, taking a unanimous decision win over Ian King last April. The match-up is scheduled for four rounds in the 126 lbs. division.
In what promises to be a smoker of a four rounder, Margarito Hernandez (0-0-1) and Joshua Wheeler (0-0-1) will meet in a super welterweight rematch. The two battled to a four round majority draw last October, engaging in one of the best fights seen in the Pacific Northwest region all year. Though originally the decision was announced as a win for Wheeler, the bout was declared a draw minutes later after a mistake in the tabulation of the scorecards was repaired, adding some controversy to the outcome and the need to see a rematch.
Rounding out the remainder of the card in four round bouts will be former Tacoma amateur stand-out Jerrell Barbour making his entrance into the paid ranks against Kendall Ward (0-5) in a featherweight match-up; and Daytona, Florida’s Glen Hagler, Jr. (4-1, 2 KOs) squaring off with Charon Spain (1-13-1) in a middleweight contest.
Doors to the event will open at 5:30 p.m. with the first fight set to kick off festivities at 6 p.m. The UFC FIGHT PASS stream will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Legends box office.